Armistice Runner (Conkers)

Product Information

Your words, like your reviews, bring books to life and give them a voice before the front cover is even turned. This isn't only a book about sports or war it's just a great story, expertly told, and one that every child should have a chance to read. But whilst staying with her grandparents just before her first big race of the season, Lily discovers her great-grandfather was a runner too.

She’s struggling to compete in her junior fell-running races and, worse, she’s losing her gran to Alzheimer’s. On a visit to her grandparents' in the Lakes, and in the run up to a very important race, Lily is given a box containing some of Ernest's things. Armistice Runner’ is a moving and inspirational story fromTom Palmer, who is something of a master when it comes to sport-themed writing. By linking the historical aspect of the story to a modern day character in a familiar setting and emphasising the relatable, human aspects of one soldier’s experiences, Tom has skilfully crafted a way for young readers to connect with an event that could too easily seem a world away from them.The narrative is compelling and perfectly pitched to bring the big themes of war to young readers without being either too frightening or too reductive. When her family visit her grandparents, she discovers the running diaries of her great-great-grandfather. It was a real eye-opener to me because I really got a clear understanding of what it would have been like out on the front line, fighting for your country. I found the grandad and the Captain the most interesting because their stories aren’t the normal ones you read about.

He is well known for his hugely successful football fiction for Puffin, and is one of Barrington Stoke's top-selling authors, writing about both sport and history with great appeal. A connection that gives her an edge of fortitude when she most needs it … Armistice Runner will enhance readers’ understanding of the tragedy of war – and I hope, too, it inspires some to lace up their studs and head out into the fells. I n Armistice Runner, I tried to capture the impact this has through Lily’s warm relationship with her ailing gran. I’m not sure that there was anyone I didn’t particularly like but in the way the author has written the book I feel like a shadow has been cast over Abbie’s Dad (Abbie is a rival fell runner to Lily), he is made to be a bad person, therefore meaning that he is the ‘villain’ of the story. Bronnie is so lovely with the boys and we also felt that having a man enthusing about the books set a great example.The whole book was set on running and world war and this was shown in different ways throughout the book: some scenes were when they the Germans and English were fighting and some was when the firing was happening and other parts were when the soldiers were being helped from being shot. But as we can see in this story, it doesn’t mean that you have to disconnect from that person but learn how to reconnect with them on a different level.