The Dolphin Crossing
by Jill Paton Walsh
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Pat and his friend John both know the risks they are running in taking a boat across the Channel in the spring of 1940. But they also know they have to do something to help the British soldiers stranded in Dunkirk.Tags
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A relatively classy "stirring story for boys," that doesn't make war as clean and jolly a scouting excursion as many of them do and that ends on a darkly ambiguous note that leaves the modern reader feeling less used. It was 1967, things were changing. Dunkirk was still a magnificent feat of heroism though and a good setting for this stuff. I wouldn't be ashamed to have my son read this.
Two boys from different economic classes find themselves as friends in WW2-England. They take out one boy's father's boat, unknown to their mothers, and sail it cross the channel to help evacuate British troops.
A good-enough story, but the characters are a bit flat and the story isn't as gripping as it could have been, I think. Enjoyable but not spectacular.
A good-enough story, but the characters are a bit flat and the story isn't as gripping as it could have been, I think. Enjoyable but not spectacular.
John and Pat, two boys from completely different worlds, meet and become friends in England. Both boys are disappointed to be just a little too young to enlist in the war that has taken both of their fathers off to fight. Then John and Pat find a way to do something to help the war effort.
An amazing story of bravery and courage.
An amazing story of bravery and courage.
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Children's Books about World War II (1939-1945)
143 works; 12 members
Reading history in Children's Books
78 works; 3 members
1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
774 works; 101 members
Author Information
59+ Works 8,500 Members
Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss on April 29, 1937 in London. She graduated from St. Anne's College in Oxford. She taught at the Enfield Girls' Grammar School for three years and was a permanent visiting faculty member for the Center for Children's Literature at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She was also an adjunct British board show more member of Children's Literature New England. She has written more than 15 books for children. She has won numerous awards including the Book World Festival Award for Fireweed in 1970, the Whitbread Prize for The Emperor's Winding Sheet in1974, the Universe Prize for A Parcel of Patterns in 1984, and the Smarties Grand Prix for Gaffer Samson's Luck in 1984. She has also written adult novels, including completing an unfinished Dorothy Sayers manuscript. Her adult works include Knowledge of Angels, The Serpentine Cave, and A School for Lovers. She is the author of the Imogen Quy Mystery series and the Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery series. She was elected as fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Dolphin Crossing
- People/Characters
- John Aston; Pat Riley
- Important places
- Dunkirk, Hauts-de-France, France; England, UK; France
- Important events
- World War II (1939 | 1945); World War II, British Home Front; Dunkirk Evacuation (1940-05-27 | 1940-06-04)
Classifications
- Genres
- Children's Books, Fiction and Literature, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .P2735 .D — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 142
- Popularity
- 229,697
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.19)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 6
