The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips [Hardcover]

Michael Morpurgo (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

A stunning novel about friendship, war, and one girl's bravery which changes her life forever.

It's 1943, and twelve-year-old Lily Tregenza lives on a farm in an idyllic seaside village in England. Apart from her father being away and the "townie" evacuees at school, her life is scarcely touched by the war . . . until Lily and her family, along with 3,000 other villagers, are ordered to evacuate their homes to allow the Allied forces to practice their landings for D-day. It's a dangerous operation--guns firing and bombs exploding--and the whole area is off-limits. But Adolphus Tips, Lily's adored cat, has other ideas--barbed wire and "Keep out!" signs mean nothing to her. Tips (cont'd)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

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. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043979661X
• ISBN-13: 978-0439796613
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Europe
  • #72 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Military & Wars

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, if slight, WWII story with a clumsy narrative device, May 24, 2006

By 

Andrea "Librarian, mama, book lover" (IL, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips (Hardcover)

The heart of this novel is a sweet story of World War II set in the Devon community of Slapton Sands. It's told from a refreshing, unique perspective of a child on the British home front; this setting is particularly interesting, since it gives a glimpse into the Allies' preparations for D-Day.

Lily, the main character, misses her father, who has gone off to fight. She's also worried about her cat, Tips, who can't be found in time to take her along when the family is evacuated from their home in order to allow for military exercises, as Allied forces prepare for the D-Day landing.

Storylines involving Lily's family taking in a displaced boy from London and befriending two African-American soldiers are handled with subtlety and grace.

Unfortunately, the novel is framed by a modern-day narrative involving Lily's grandson, Michael. The framing piece is clumsy and unnecessary, and seems as though it was added in order to allow the author to tie up some loose ends without significantly lengthening the story. Sadly, it doesn't really work. I'd have much preferred to read more about Lily in the 1940s and less about her in the present.

Try a different Lily, in _Lily's Crossing_, by Patricia Reilly Giff, for a much more sophisticated World War II story of a young girl on the home front who makes an unexpected friendship.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and informative story on life during World War II, May 31, 2006

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips (Hardcover)

Michael had been close to his grandmother all of his life. So when she promises to write him a letter while on her mysterious trip, he believes her. Yet when the letter arrives, even Michael finds surprise at her incredible news. To help explain her shocking announcement, Michael's grandmother, Lily, also includes pages from her girlhood journal.

The journal begins on September 10, 1943 when Lily is 12 years old. She lives on a farm in England with her mother, father, grandfather and beloved cat, Tips. The war is tearing the world apart, yet it hasn't affected Lily personally until her father joins the British Military and ships off to who knows where. Then Lily's lack of involvement quickly changes.

A temporary refugee in her school comes to live on the farm with Lily, and she finds that she kind of likes having a little brother. And then Lily meets some soldiers from America and becomes friends with a fellow named Adie. But all too soon the tragedies of war become clear when her teacher's husband is killed in action. And then the war really hits home when Lily's town is forced to evacuate so that the soldiers can practice sea-side landings on the beach. When the day arrives for Lily's family to move down the road to her uncle's farm, Tips disappears!

Lily is devastated. She can't leave behind her best friend, but she must. She swears though that nothing will stop her from looking for her cat --- not even the danger signs, the barbed wire fencing, the soldiers' dogs, or the exploding bombs. She will find Tips no matter what.

THE AMAZING STORY OF ADOLPHUS TIPS is indeed amazing. Mostly written in journal formation, readers get a firsthand and very personal look at World War II from a 12-year-old's point of view. Lily's tears and fears and joys are expertly deployed by the author, Michael Morpurgo. He also adds a bit of humor and adventure, making this story a joy to both genders and any age group.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read, April 7, 2009

By 

LMR - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. I would recommend to adults as well as children. It puts a very human face on D-Day.