The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips

April 3, 2006
As he did with his WWI-era novel Private Peaceful, Morpurgo once again sets up a framing story for this tender novel about a family living through WWII in rural England. Shortly after Boowie's grandfather dies, his grandmother Lily takes a mysterious trip. Lily then sends him a collection of her diary entries from 1943, written mostly after her family was forced to evacuate from their seaside home, along with all the other residents of her village (Allied troops-mostly Americans-needed the beach to train for D-Day). During the move, the then 12-year-old Lily loses her cat, and her search for Tips gives her an upfront look at war's dangers (she sneaks into a restricted area, stumbling into shelling practice and live fire). She also makes a connection with an American soldier named Adolphus (or Adie) who tells Lily she's like "a ray of Atlanta sunshine." Readers will likely find a couple of impassioned speeches moving but rather scripted. Instead it's the small moments that will most stick with readers, such as when Barry, a 10-year-old evacuee from London, promises Lily he will not pick his nose if he can stay with her family, or when Adie and his friend return Tips to Lily, without their helmets on, making the girl notice that "they looked younger somehow, not men at all like the other soldiers. More like boys." Readers may not be surprised when Boowie's grandmother's reveals her secret, but they will be touched nonetheless. And they will learn about another important time in history. Ages 7-10.

August 1, 2006
Gr 5-7 -Morpurgo frames this story with a grandmother sharing her girlhood journal with her grandson and a letter explaining what she has recently done. In the main story, Lily is 12 in 1943 and lives in southern coastal England. The war brings a foreign teacher, American soldiers, evacuees from London, and the sound of warplanes to their rural area. The girl -s family is forced to move from their farm to an uncle -s so the army can use their land to practice sea landings. A boy evacuee moves in with them. Lily -s rocks during this unsettled time are her cat, Tips, and the friendship she strikes up with a black American soldier, Adolphus, better known as Adie. Decades later, Lily sees Adie and his son on the beach. Their friendship is rekindled and, after her husband -s death, she visits him in Atlanta, GA. As the story ends in the present, she tells her grandchild that she and Adie have just married and that she is bringing him home to London with her. This is an appealing story, but it has a nostalgic quality that may limit its interest to children." -Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 19, 2006
As he did with his WWI-era novel Private Peaceful, Morpurgo once again sets up a framing story for this tender novel about a family living through WWII in rural England. Shortly after Boowie's grandfather dies, his grandmother Lily takes a mysterious trip. Lily then sends him a collection of her diary entries from 1943, written mostly after her family was forced to evacuate from their seaside home, along with all the other residents of her village (Allied troops-mostly Americans-needed the beach to train for D-Day). During the move, the then 12-year-old Lily loses her cat, and her search for Tips gives her an upfront look at war's dangers (she sneaks into a restricted area, stumbling into shelling practice and live fire). She also makes a connection with an American soldier named Adolphus (or Adie) who tells Lily she's like "a ray of Atlanta sunshine." Readers will likely find a couple of impassioned speeches moving but rather scripted. Instead it's the small moments that will most stick with readers, such as when Barry, a 10-year-old evacuee from London, promises Lily he will not pick his nose if he can stay with her family, or when Adie and his friend return Tips to Lily, without their helmets on, making the girl notice that "they looked younger somehow, not men at all like the other soldiers. More like boys." Readers may not be surprised when Boowie's grandmother's reveals her secret, but they will be touched nonetheless. And they will learn about another important time in history. Ages 7-10.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2006
Gr. 4-7. Following a grandson's memories of riding on a motorbike with his beloved grandmother, Lily, this story goes back in time to Lily's journal entries, made during World War II in Britain, which show her as a fiercely independent person even then--as angry at her family as she is at the enemy. Lily, 12, feels guilty about quarreling with Dad before he left to fight (what if he gets killed?), but her most immediate concern is finding her beloved cat, Tips, which goes missing after the family is forced to evacuate its coastal farm to make room for the army to rehearse the invasion of Normandy. She is helped by a kind, black GI, Adolphus ("Adie"), with whom she develops a bond. The personal story of anger and love is as gripping as the war drama, and Morpurgo includes a fascinating note about the invasion rehearsal and why its history is seldom told.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2006
When Lily's beloved cat Tips disappears into the evacuation zone where the Allies are practicing D-day landings, Lily recklessly pursues her. Her continued search leads to a friendship with African Americansoldier Adolphus Madison that changes her outlook on life and the war. Lily's cantankerous voice propels this diary-format tale of connection and loss; her maturation is affecting and believable.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)