A Pig Squeal at Midnight by Michael Thame

 

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Outline...

Based on real people and real events. A Pig's Squeal at Midnight tells the story of four young siblings (John, Tom, Chrissie and Mary) and their friend Philly as they evacuate from the slums of Liverpool to rural Shropshire. Here they meet Meg, whose parents become hosts for the evacuee girls. Initially Meg resents the intrusion but eventually they all become firm friends. As well as dealing with the impending war and being transplanted to an unfamiliar environment, the children become aware of a pig rustling operation and set out to find the culprits.

My Review...

This is the first children's book that I have reviewed (or even read) for decades, so I found it difficult to judge where to pitch my review. In the end I decided to review it as I would for an adult book. I gave it 3 stars. However I think a regular reviewer of children's books would probably have given it more. 

While there is a vast amount of TV Programmes, films and books about World War 2 there is not that much, comparatively speaking, in the mainstream about the evacuees. As an aside, I remember speaking to my dad and asking if his village had any evacuees. He said that they had a few, one of which grew up to be the singer Petula Clarke.😲 Anyway I digress, back to the book.

The characters of the children are engaging and sympathetic and you feel invested as they progress on their adventure. There are several simple sketch illustrations which are a great help in imagining the children and several locations in which the action takes place.

I felt the book fell into two areas. The first one is the operation to catch the pig thieves. It put me in mind of a boy's own or famous five adventure. The author is cunning in using this to draw child readers in with this and while doing so they cannot fail to take in the historical points of the evacuation and the war. Learning by stealth. I like it! Like blending the veg and hiding it in the yorkshire pud!

While the plot to catch the pig rustlers was engaging it was the second area (the historical context) that I found more intriguing, The change from industrial slums to the rural area is a huge culture shock for them. We begin the tale with the children  embarking on their journey into the unknown and I found the chapter where the children are massed in the school hall, not knowing where they are going, chaos all around quite moving. Even more so when you read that this is based on a true story.

In addition there is an appendix at the back of the book that gives some statistics on Operation Pied Piper (the evacuation of built up areas) The scale and pace of this is quite breathtaking. The Government of today could learn some lessons from decisiveness and organisation of the Government in pre war Britain.

This book is as an engaging, entertaining and educational tool for children and would sit well alongside titles like "Carrie's War" and "Goodnight Mr Tom,"

A Pig Squeal at Midnight is the first part of the Conyers Street Gang Series. Other titles include...

"GeeGee and the Germans"

"Spies, Lies and Dangerous Skies" and 

"Land of Dragons"

Selected Quotes...

"It was noisy in the hall, but it was serious, not fun. No one quite seemed to know what was going on, including the teachers and the parents.

"None of them really knew what poaching was to start with, and when Uncle Fred told them it was catching wild rabbits and shooting pheasants or ducks or whatever you could find, so that you could take it home and cook it, none of them understood why it was illegal."

"We don't have anything like this amount of food back in Liverpool. Mam and Pop can't afford it, or it's too rationed. The war doesn't seem to be happening here."

About the author...

Michael Thame was born in Kent in 1974 and it was a lightbulb moment 42 years later that would result in the Conyers Street Gang series of whodunits. It's a series that brings to life the real life childhoods of John, Tom, Chrissie and Mary Boden and their friends GeeGee and Philly Brown.

For decades Michael listened to his grandfather, Tom Boden, as he told of his time in the Liverpool Blitzes, as an evacuee and of his time in the Royal Navy. Michael committed these memories to paper for future generations of his family. This was the kernel from which the Conyers Street Gang would grow.

Today Michael lives in Didsbury Manchester and has two daughters.Whereas Tom Boden provided the inspiration, his daughters provide the motivation to keep going.