Title: The Bombs That Brought Us Together
Author: Brian Conaghan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Teacher review

I first encountered Brian Conaghan’s work while reading for the 2015 Cilip Carnegie Book Award. The book was When Mr Dog Bites, which is a wonderful story about a boy with learning difficulties, and friendship, love, romance and family relationships. It made me a fan of his work.

The Bombs that Brought us Together is a completely different story from When Mr Dog Bites, but is replete with the themes and characterisations that made me fall in love with Brian’s work the first time round. TBTBUT is a novel that is timely and also timeless. We are currently experiencing the largest mass migration of peoples displaced by war since World War Two, and the best way for anyone to experience what people under threat of war and hatred experience is through reading. Closer to home it also deals with bullying, peer pressure, corruption and the experiences refugees have in a new country.

TBTBUT is funny, touching and at times sad, but makes a wonderful reading experience and will be a fantastic follow-on novel for fans of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Five Children on the Western Front.

Matt Imrie is librarian at Farringtons School.

Pupil reviews

Charlie Law is from Little Town. Life is fairly normal, until he meets Pavel Duda, who is from Old Country. With the severe animosity between the two cities, was the friendship really the best idea?

This book was unlike anything I’d ever read before. It kept me guessing throughout the whole of it. Its uniqueness and the wonderful twist in the plot made me want to turn the pages more and more. This book is one of the most original books I have ever read and it is guaranteed to have you gripped!

Overall, I think that this is an amazing read and will appeal for all teenagers who are fans of drama and mystery.

Emily Hollands, Year 8

In brief, this book is about a boy named Charlie Law, who lives in Little Town, and a boy named Pavel Duda, a refugee from Old Country who comes to Little Town. Old Country is Little Town’s sworn enemy. They despise each other, and Old Country basically decides to bomb a majority of the town. Also Charlie and Pavel get into a bit of trouble with the Big Man but end up better off than they expected.

This book is absolutely thrilling. It is most probably the best book I have ever read. I got so hooked into it and couldn’t take my eyes off the book.
My favourite character was Charlie Law, because of his personality. He was so enthusiastic, believed he could do what he wanted and never gave up. He really inspired me by this. The characters felt very realistic to me; it was as if they were actually right here, talking to me!

The story really kept me guessing whenever I stopped - “What’s going to happen next?” or “What if this happens?” I was even tempted to skip a few pages, but I didn’t. My favourite part was the ending and how it shocked me, as I was not expecting there to be a twist.

There were also a few mysterious scenes - Pavel’s sister, for example, really got me thinking. This book made me feel a little bit like a spy or a detective.

There were quite a few rude words too, and sometimes the language was slightly difficult to understand. But I would recommend this to anyone aged 12 and over. Also, for fans of mystery, this is an amazing book to read. I would definitely rate this book five stars out of five, and I wouldn’t doubt it at all.

Rhea Patel, Year 8

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