Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes is, unbelievably, Hughes' first novel. Best known for her books for younger children including Alfie and Dogger, Hughes is tackling a YA novel here with great success.
Paolo is thirteen years old and living in German occupied Italy at the end of WWII. His mother Rosemary is English and his Italian father is in hiding with the partisans. His older sister Constanza appears bored and interested only in teenage girl things.
The story that spins out from these characters has a centrifugal force of its own: childhood rebellions, teenage stubbornness, the invincibility of youth and attractions of romance exacerbate the central event (hiding of two airmen) into something far bigger than any of the participants could have imagined. The era was perilous and it would be so easy to makes this book too frightening but Hughes contains the elements within the YA frame whilst making it still seem so very real. The adults are suitably flawed as desperate frightened adults are in war-time and unusually for a children's book we get much of the point of view of the mother including a sense of her desperate loneliness as she tries to handle the ever increasing danger alone and without her husband. A happy, loving marriage is beautifully implied.
I couldn't put this one down!
Watch points:
Peril: constant. The threat of death or capture and tortures un-named is ever present. To be honest the threat is probably worse for an adult reader as we know the sort of things that might entail whereas a child might not. But still, to watch a child fearful for their mother is hard. I think Hughes' use of the mother's point of view is so effective here. We see she is scared too, but more for her children than herself, and that is somehow reasuring as it keeps the focus of fear moving between the characters and slightly dissipating as it goes. the mother's mind often drifts back to London and her own mother and the bombing there, again dissipating the fear across the continent. It is still not for the super sensitive though.
Death: this a war book and there are bombings and executions and surprise attacks. Exactly who dies and when is not always clear. Presumed dead characters pop up later. Paolo's beloved elderly dog is shot by the Gestapo. A German soldier whom the family know dies unpleasantly in front of Constanza.
Violence: see death and peril above.
Relationships: this is fairly subtle and not the main focus of the book. At the start there are mainly looks and glances between Constanza and some of the soldiers and airmen, as it progresses and the danger increases there is more in the way of kisses and declarations. All the love is sanitised and no details of the facts of life are assumed.
Religion: mass is attended and brief references to the mother's faith and its nature are made.
Anything else: I think some background on the war in Italy (and how the Italians ended up occupied by the Germans) would aid enjoyment.
Overall: I loved this book and can see it achieving classic status. The plot and the children's adventures were believable, the fear realistic but not too overwhelming, the setting of the streets and countryside of Florence admirably evoked with an artist's eye. I also liked that there were sympathetic Italians and Germans, and that no one nationality was the arch-bad-guy. If your child is solidly unflappable in the face of fictional peril then this book is suitable across the whole age range but it is not for the faint-hearted of any age.
Other reviews and useful sites:
The book has its own site with a lot of useful background detail.
Hero on a Bicycle was shortlisted for the Blue Peter prize.
There are reviews on The Guardian and on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure (blog run by a number of chidlren's authors)
There's also a great reveiw on Did you ever stop to think & forget to start again?
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