Musical Moments: Guest Post: Official Character Theme Songs by Natasha Farrant

It is with pleasure I welcome Natasha Farrant to Book Angel Booktopia today. Giving you the theme songs to each of the characters from The Things We Did For Love. Please check out Beth's review HERE. With that I'll hand you over to Natasha - ENJOY

Title: The Things We Did for Love

Author: Natasha Farrant

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Publication Date: 1 Mar 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

France: February, 1944. 

As war rages in Europe, teenagers Luc and Arianne fall passionately in love. But German forces are closing in and Luc, desperate to atone for his family's past, is drawn into the dangerous world of the Resistance. Arianne will do almost anything to keep him safe, but someone else is secretly in love with her - someone who will stop at nothing to get rid of his rival...

Once I started to think about what music my characters listened to, it was difficult to know where to stop! Alois, for example, listens to sentimental German opera, and Elodie is very fond of French popular songs. The Captain has a secret yearning for soulful, melancholy jazz, despite the fact that this was blacklisted by the Nazis. Mayor Jarvis hums patriotic songs in his bath. Paul doesn’t have a clue – he spends all day whistling tunes he makes up himself.

I am giving each of my four teenagers their own song:

Arianne is in love. Her song is La Vie en Rose, sung by Edith Piaf.

Romy is a dreamer, an old soul full of loss and longing. He’s listening to Hallelujah, the Rufus Wainwright version (the one everybody knows from Shrek!)

Luc is angry, ambitious and hungry for life. Coldplay’s Viva la Vida is his anthem.

Death has made Solange tender. I’m giving her one of my favourite songs, Angel Mine by the Cowboy Junkies.

Thank you so much Natasha I love seeing the diverse musical tastes people have.

Guest Review: The Things We Did For Love by Natasha Farrant

Title: The Things We Did for Love

Author: Natasha Farrant

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Publication Date: 1 Mar 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

France: February, 1944. 

As war rages in Europe, teenagers Luc and Arianne fall passionately in love. But German forces are closing in and Luc, desperate to atone for his family's past, is drawn into the dangerous world of the Resistance. Arianne will do almost anything to keep him safe, but someone else is secretly in love with her - someone who will stop at nothing to get rid of his rival...

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH OF THE PIECES OF ME

Oh this novel is so sad, in the vein of novels like The Book Thief by Martin Zusak, this novel is really really tear-jerkingly sad, all the more so because it’s based on true events. Although the characters themselves aren’t real, it’s not hard to believe that some of the individuals who went through the experiences in France in the later years of World War Two felt the same things and experienced the same emotions.

Luc and Ari fall desperately and passionately in love, at the worst possible time. The Nazis are on their way and the French Resistance are resolute but no match for the German forces. Luc gets drawn into the dangerous world of the Resistance with disastrous consequences whilst Ari pines for him. As well as Luc and Ari other key characters include Ari’s fun-loving and amiable cousin Solange and Romy who is not all he seems to be and becomes thoroughly dislikeable.

There is no deep characterisation of any of the characters in my opinion. They all seem symbolic and representative of an element of society affected by the trials of world war and how harrowing it can become. The italicised sections of the novel are the most emotional, especially towards the end when we learn who is ‘speaking’ these words.

This novel is a great accomplishment portraying an interesting and poignant period of history in an accessible and interesting way which meant I finished it in about two sittings. The love story between Luc and Ari adds a touch of realism and romance to a dark period of history.

Brilliant novel which delicately and cleverly discusses an essential area of European history.

Guest Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Title: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Publication Date: 6 Feb 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

I have two weeks. You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do. 

That's what you do to enemy agents. It's what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine - and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I'm going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France - an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH OF THE PIECES OF ME

This novel was a slow starter and quite long in comparison to some of the others I receive from Emma but this did not detract from my enjoyment. Once I realised what was going on the harrowing story began to unfold and I questioned whether this was even children’s or young adult fiction. Code Name Verity deals with the darkest elements of Nazi occupied France; it deals with torture, Gestapo interrogation and an enduring friendship between two young women.

Code Name Verity is heartbreaking, for the main part of the novel it’s told from the point of view of ‘Verity’ (or Queenie or Julie depending where in the novel you’re up to) as she ‘confesses all’ to her Gestapo captors. It’s intriguing as whilst we’re led through Verity’s story, she tells us as much about her best friend Maddie as she does about herself and despite her decrying that she’s a coward, she is far from it.

It’s impossible not to like ‘Verity’ she’s strong willed, powerful and stubborn even in her most difficult times and her strength of character makes seeing her beaten down and tortured all the more horrendous.

The second part of the novel comes from the point of Maddie, ‘Verity’s’ best friend from home and a trained WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) pilot. The reader then follows Maddie as she tries to find her friend in occupied France and is met with brick wall after brick wall until the heart breaking ending.

This novel is a brilliant example of how women’s role in the world wars should not be underestimated and they were involved in more elements than just the Home Front. This review comes at a timely moment as March is Women’s History Month and this book is definitely one that everyone should read as a reminder of what women are capable of. Similarly, this book should be added to the curriculum to educate everybody on the inner workings of the Gestapo as well as the British forces.

A Must Read. 

Tantalizing Trailers: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Title: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Publication Date: 6 Feb 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

"Two young women become unlikely best friends during WWII, until one is captured by the Gestapo.

Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a special operations executive. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted to each other.

But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in "Verity's" own words, as she writes her account for her captors. Truth or lies? Honour or betrayal? Everything they've ever believed in is put to the test..."


Code Name Verityis the story of two young women from totally different backgrounds who are thrown together during World War II.

Elizabeth Wein is a member of the Ninety-Nines, the International Organization of Women Pilots. She was awarded the Scottish Aero Club's Watson Cup for best student pilot in 2003 and it was her love of flying that partly inspired the idea for Code Name Verity.

I love how this trailer has captured the 'feel' of the era.

My wonderful Guest Reviewer Beth is reviewing this one for me, she loves books about WWII and it's a terrific resource in School Libraries.

MG Monday: Guest Review: Paradise Barn by Victor Watson

Title: Paradise Barn
Author: Victor Watson
Publisher: Catnip
Publication Date: 1 Sep 2009

Synopsis from Goodreads

September 1940. War rages across Europe, and thousands of people, men, women and children, have lost their lives.

Despite the air fights overhead life in the quiet village of Great Deeping in the Fens goes on much as usual, until an unthinkable event: a murder. Molly, Annie and Adam, an evacuee from London, are determined to solve the mystery of the Paradise Barn. But it’s one thing hunting for clues, another to track down a murderer. With the war bringing so many strangers to the village, who can they really trust?

GUEST REVIEW BY BETH OF THE PIECES OF ME

As a fan of World War Two novels, especially those that deal with the home front, I really recommend this novel, mainly to children. The reason I say this is because despite it being a great story, I pretty much worked out the ending within a few pages which was slightly disappointing but figure that this may not have been the case 12 or so years ago.

It’s a really well put together story and the characters are really well developed. The three children have powerful imaginations which combined with boredom, abject fear and natural playfulness leads them to be involved in this hunt for a murderer.

The inclusion of the murder mystery within the larger picture of the war in general is an extremely clever move and I think Watson is able to show us exactly how every death is as significant as the last. It’s hard to see how one individual death can be considered significant in a world where people are dying every five minutes but Watson shows exactly what this murder does to Molly and Abigail’s village and how it affects their lives.

The range of characters we meet is quite diverse considering the location of the novel in such a small village but it definitely shows how war can mix and match the way society normally runs from mothers doing “men’s work” (opening and closing the railway lines) to women working in the air force. Some of the characters really opened my eyes.

In whole, this book is an extremely entertaining and worthwhile read. Aimed at younger readers (maybe around 11/12) in my opinion it’s a great novel for understanding the impact of war covering issues from evacuation to grief to gender.

Spotlight: Library Lessons: WWII in YA

This week and next week we are looking at WWII in the library lessons as a way of bringing Remembrance Day into focus for the pupils. When I asked for suggestions for  YA fiction incorporating WWII on twitter I had such an amazing response, so thank you to everyone for all your wonderful help. I have only incorporated 4 books that advance the discussions and because we have these available in the library. I just have to give a special thanks you to Kirsty of The Overflowing Library - she really is an amazing history teacher, her school is very, very lucky to have her. Check out both her Book reviews at The Overflowing Library and her history site at Mrs Connor Loves History which was such a great resource for me when doing my presentation.

To start the lesson there are books on the tables for the pupils to look through all about WWII. I chose WWII because I think a lot of pupils still have Grandparents that were alive at the time and it is easy for them to relate to.

We then discuss what interesting facts there are about Bridgend to do with WWII:

Island Farm: POW Camp 198 at Bridgend :: SS8978
This POW camp was the site of the Welsh Great Escape.
The huts were originally built as accommodation for the workers of Bridgend's wartime munitions factories - but the workers declined, preferring their own homes to the functional huts despite the long daily commute from distant towns.
After a spell housing American troops destined for Europe it was then re-purposed as a prisoner of war camp for captured German soldiers. It was during this time that the famous escape occurred leading to German soldiers roaming the Welsh countryside.
At the end of the war it became a holding area for the defendants at the Nuremberg Trials.
The site was then abandoned and it deteriorated until it was eventually levelled in the early 1990s. Only Hut 9 (the "Escape" hut) was preserved. Now the hut is enclosed in a tall metal fence.
The surrounding camp area is now so overgrown that it is rumoured to be protected habitat.

There was also a large munitions factory on the site that Asda use now. My sister informed me that my grandmother actually worked there. I remember a few years ago when they were clearing the land to build Asda the area had to be evacuated when they find a life bomb underneath the rubble.

The Royal Ordnance Factory at Bridgend employed 40,000 workers at its peak, the largest in Britain at that time. The workers were mainly female and travelled from as far a field as Monmouthshire and Carmarthenshire.

WWII[1]

Following the book trailer for Duty Calls: Dunkirk by James Holland we discussed what it would have felt like to go to war at the age of 16. An age not far off for a few of the classes. Additionally how it would feel not to have a choice as to whether you went to war or not.

Following the book trailer for Annexed by Sharon Dogar  we talked about what it would feel like to be separated in society, to be made to stand out from everyone else and not in a good way and having your family torn away from you knowing that they were probably going to die.

Following the reading of the synopsis for Carrie's War by Nina Baldwin the discussion moved onto evacuation and how it would have felt like for both sides to have a stranger in their house.

The use of  The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak   brought the lesson nicely onto the topic of the book burning in Nazi Germany and I was able to emphasis the point that Library Lessons and being able to read is awesome, lol.

The rest of the presentation is self-explanatory and I have to say I have been so pleased with the response of all the classes to this topic. Priceless.