The War of Jenkins' Ear

Susan says: Recommended in Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud treasury. I have always heard about this book, and this is my first time reading it. It is about boys in a boarding school who are managing just fine when a new boy comes in. This boy begins to have weird seizures and says he has voices telling him he is the Son of God. Then things begin to happen that seem to echo the New Testament. It is a thought-provoking book in that seeing the faith and doubts in young boys makes you see Jesus in a new light. Their cruelty to each other and to the boy who says he is the Son of God is very calculated and yet real. The teachers make the boys denounce him and kick him out at the end to maintain peace and order, much like what happened to Jesus. On show more the other hand, this is pretty strongly done - there isn't a lot of sublety. One of the side themes - the village boys v. the boarding school boys - also reminds me of Jellicoe Road, and I wonder if Marchetta had read this book and incorporated some of this same idea. Overall, chilling and interesting. show less

A remarkable book by a remarkable author. Really thought provoking. What would you do in this situation? I think this would be great for a book discussion group. Unfortunately we don't have any copies in the library for my book group to use.

My son introduced me to this author as they were reading his work at school. Since then I've been picking up the odd book for him but I have also been reading them.
This is the story of Toby Jenkins, a pupil at a private boarding school in the fifties who befriends a new pupil Chistoopher.
During the course of the term he has to balance his beliefs with events at the school.
Good story and worth reading. Good for pre teen children too.