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|borrow=Yes

|isbn=9781405258210

|pages=452

|publisher=Electric Monkey

}}

It is probably impossible to read this book without crying. It is one of the most heart-breaking and yet uplifting books around, and reading it feels like a privilege. Begin it early in the day, because you will not want to put it down until you have reached the very last page, and when you do you will care for many of the main characters like friends. You will weep for those who die (or most of them, at any rate: even the gentlest of readers will be glad that the world is rid of one or two). You will be proud to be human, if people like these are in our world, and you will burn for shame that others can be so cruel, so cold and so vicious. And the worst of it is, our study of history tells us that even if these precise events did not happen, then there are many other events in war, both in the past and doubtless now as well, which resemble them. The whole book is a testament to human courage and human frailty.

Another excellent book about young people in an age of horror and cruelty is [[Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin]]. And if you haven't read [[Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo]] yet, then seek it out. But be warned: buy another box of tissues first. You'll need them.

{{interviewtext|author=Elizabeth Wein}}