The Kingdom by the Sea (Aerial Fiction) [Paperback]

Robert Westall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993 | Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Aerial Fiction

Brilliant student and accomplished rugby player Robbie turns his school's losing team into a winning one, becomes involved with his beautiful teacher, Emma Harris--who is almost twice his age--and must choose between glory and honor.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-- A riveting story of a boy's struggle to survive after the loss of his family in World War II. Harry, 12, accompanied by a dog he finds, must provide for the two of them while avoiding the authorities who will certainly turn him over to his dreaded Cousin Elsie. On his travels, he meets physical and emotional challenges with growing confidence based on innate resourcefulness and sensitivity. The novel is sparely written but rich in details of time and place and especially in character. Even minor characters are vividly depicted. Adult concerns Harry must contend with (the death-dealing destructiveness of war, potential child molestation) are handled appropriately for young readers. The plot is engrossing, studded both with moments of drama and action, and quieter, more reflective scenes. Sights, sounds, smells, and emotions are all revealed with clarity and honesty. British terms and occasional dialect are discernible in context. The one real flaw in an otherwise superior novel is the resolution, which takes an unfortunate change of direction without preparing readers, a change that seriously undermines the magic of what has gone before. It also seems gravely unfair to Harry, who has undergone so much and matured so greatly. This concern aside, Kingdom would be an excellent selection for private enjoyment, for reading aloud, as a supplement to units on war, or as a discussion starter on the human capacity to survive extreme adversity. --Barbara Hutcheson, Greater Victoria Public Library, B.C., Canada
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Harry Baguely has just made it to the bomb shelter when a Luftwaffe bomb obliterates his home, parents, and little sister. Horrified by their fate and by the prospect of going to live in a cousin's overcrowded flat, Harry takes the blankets he was carrying at the time of the blast and a briefcase containing family documents and sets off up the coast north of his home near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, accompanied by Don, a stray dog. Like the dauntless puss in Blitzcat (1989), Harry encounters a variety of people who reveal their characters by their manner of enduring the war. A wrathful farmer violently evicts him from a haystack; an alcoholic recluse teaches him survival lore of the beach; a fatherly corporal befriends him until the return of a vicious homosexual associate, whose advances force Harry to move on. After a terrifying night crossing from Lindisfarne to the mainland, when he and Don are caught by the tide, Harry is taken in by a gentle schoolmaster who is grieving for his own son. Their mutual solace is not quite the end of Harry's journey--with a startling final twist, Westall sets his entire story in new light. Meanwhile, Harry is revealed, to himself and the reader, as a 12-year-old with intelligence, competence, and conscience, a boy with the resilience to cope with the blow he receives at the end. A fine survival story, winner of the 1990 Guardian Award. (Fiction. 11+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374440603
• ISBN-13: 978-0374440602
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,061,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding adventure story!, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kingdom by the Sea (Aerial Fiction) (Paperback)

I'm a teacher and I use this book as a class novel. It's a great one for learning about how the war affected families in Britain, but more than that, it is a story with an appealing main character the reader cares about. It grabs you from the first chapter and makes you want to keep reading to see what happens to Harry. It's been very popular with my students. From an instructional point of view, it's a great book for teaching characterization and figurative language. There are many similes, metaphors, and personification. I've read it dozens of times and I still love it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I had never thought ..., March 20, 2003

By 

E.H. Noort (Zwolle, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom by the Sea (Hardcover)

I have never thought that a book written especially for youngsters could bring tears to my eyes  This book actually has done this and not only once Maybe, it is because I found myself in a bit of an unstable period while reading this story, but I was really surprised that the choice of words by Robert Westall made me a little emotional at times. On the other hand, main character Harry Baguleys strong will to survive and his sense of humour never left him, so there was enough that made me smile. I loved the frequently used nice expressions and metaphors in the story and I was really touched by the beautiful description of Harrys journey back to his hometown, by car in less than an hour. The whole story passes in review, but backwards.
What I DID NOT LIKE nor understood was the way the story ended. The book left me with a very unsatisfied and indignant feeling. I had to peruse the first chapters again to see what I had missed  but even then, I could not find any indications.

After all, I am very curious if the story has the same effect on young people as it has had on me 

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent survival story, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kingdom by the Sea (Aerial Fiction) (Paperback)

For my independent reading book this month, I decided to read:

The Kingdom by the Sea By Robert Westall

I chose this book for two reasons:

First of all, when I read the summary on the back cover, I realised that the story was a fight for survival.

At the moment, we are studying all about survival stories and survival methods in English Literature.

Secondly, the story takes place in England, during World War 2.

I am very interested in books and films about World War 2 because my grandfather was a young German soldier in this war.

When I was younger, he always used to tell me stories about how he survived the war. He was only a young man of 17 when he was sent to the front lines of Russia to fight for his country. I used to listen to his tales eagerly, trying to imagine how he could possibly survive all the danger he lived through.

The Kingdom by the Sea looks at World War 2 from another angle. This time, through the eyes of a 12 year old English boy, the same age that I am now.

Harry Baguely lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England during the war. His town was bombed regulary by the German Luftwaffe. One night, he had just made it safely to a bomb shelter, when a bomb drops on his home and wipes out his family and house. Left alone and unsure what the future will bring, he runs away. The story follows his fight for survival, along with a stray dog, who joins him on the way.

The story helped me to understand what life was like during World War 2 and how you can't trust everybody you meet. Each chapter makes you want to read on to see what happens to Harry. There's also an amazing twist to the story at the end. I could read this book again!