Escape from Shangri-La
by Michael Morpurgo
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"When her grandfather suddenly appears after having been absent from the family for fifty years, twelve-year-old Cessie helps him escape to Dunkirk to recover his past"--Amazon.Tags
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Book 247 - Michael Morpurgo - Escape from Shangri-La
I haven’t read a Morpurgo novel since I was teaching…probably over ten years..I will have to change that. I was sitting waiting for my daughter who had an appointment and noticed they had a lending library. Could I really finish the 200 page book in an hour ? Well…yes…yes I could…and indeed did.
The downside to his stories is that can get dark ..very dark. With a modern story that revolves around broken families…inter generational conflict…memory loss and throw in a dose of WW2 intrigue, you have a wonderful story that could be developed into a superb school project.
When a long lost grandfather turns up …the previously broken relationship between father and son seems to show more about to take central stage…and then…rather brilliantly we are shifted into familial tales of a grandfather and granddaughter, Cessie… building bridges, a father and son..wary of being apart from nearly 50 years and a mother, father and daughter..being driven apart due to lack of simply being prepared to listen.
After an accident causes him to lose his memory it develops into the grandfather trying to remember where he has been, where he lives and how he links to Dunkirk in WW2.
The emotional and thrilling climax involves an escape from a nursing home with other septuagenarians and a race across the Channel to discover the truth…leading to a wonderfully poignant finale. I’m not crying…I just have something in my eye. show less
I haven’t read a Morpurgo novel since I was teaching…probably over ten years..I will have to change that. I was sitting waiting for my daughter who had an appointment and noticed they had a lending library. Could I really finish the 200 page book in an hour ? Well…yes…yes I could…and indeed did.
The downside to his stories is that can get dark ..very dark. With a modern story that revolves around broken families…inter generational conflict…memory loss and throw in a dose of WW2 intrigue, you have a wonderful story that could be developed into a superb school project.
When a long lost grandfather turns up …the previously broken relationship between father and son seems to show more about to take central stage…and then…rather brilliantly we are shifted into familial tales of a grandfather and granddaughter, Cessie… building bridges, a father and son..wary of being apart from nearly 50 years and a mother, father and daughter..being driven apart due to lack of simply being prepared to listen.
After an accident causes him to lose his memory it develops into the grandfather trying to remember where he has been, where he lives and how he links to Dunkirk in WW2.
The emotional and thrilling climax involves an escape from a nursing home with other septuagenarians and a race across the Channel to discover the truth…leading to a wonderfully poignant finale. I’m not crying…I just have something in my eye. show less
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Author Information
300+ Works 31,554 Members
British author Michael Morpurgo was born in St. Albans, Hertforshire in 1943. He attended the University of London and studied English and French. He became a primary school teacher in Kent for about ten years. He and his wife Clare started a charity called Farms for City Children. They currently own three farms where over 2000 children a year show more stay for a week and experience the countryside by taking part in purposeful farmwork. He has published over 100 books and several screenplays. He won the 1995 Whitbread Children's Book Award for The Wreck of the Zanzibar, the 1996 Nestle Smarties Book Prize for The Butterfly Lion, and the 2000 Children's Book Award for Kensuke's Kingdom. Private Peaceful won the 2005 Red House Children's Book Award and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. Five of his books have been made into movies and two have been adapted for television. He was named as the third Children's Laureate in May 2003. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Tempête sur Shangri-La
- Original title
- Escape from Shangri-La
- Original publication date
- 1998
- Dedication
- For Conrad and Anne
- First words
- I WAS KNEELING UP AGAINST THE BACK OF THE sofa looking out of the window.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)They hugged and hugged, long enough, I thought - and I hoped - to make up for all the years they hadn't.
- Original language*
- Anglais (Royaume-Uni) (Royaume-Uni)
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Children's Books
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .M82712 .E — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 331
- Popularity
- 95,249
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.64)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, French, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 5
