Customer Reviews

London Calling

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked this up because I loved Tangerine, by the same author. I decided my boys are all going to read Tangerine when they get a bit older because it is a great story and I loved how the main character takes on the bully in his life.

This book will also be on my list of reads for them, but for a different reason. It's also a great story and once again there is an obnoxious bully who needs someone to stand up to him. But there is also a message. I know, kids don't like message books, but it's really just a small part of the story and it's a good message. I think I read a similar sentiment in a Margaret Frazer book, where she wrote something like, "it will be asked how you spent the time you have been given." Here, it's "what did you do to help?" Either way it applies to the hero here. At the beginning he is spending his summer sleeping - he doesn't do anything. No interests, hobbies, nothing. He is very unenthused about life.

And then Martin's grandmother leaves him an old radio that transports him to 1940s London. The story gets sort of Sixth Sense-y, but it is a very satisfying story.

Martin Conway can't stand the snobbery at All Souls Preparatory School, not to mention the uniforms and the tradition. He'd love to just get away from it all and disappear into the anonymity of public school. But he can't, because his mother works as a secretary at the school so that Martin can have the chance one day to join the diplomatic corps to which his grandfather belonged.

Martin doesn't want a better life in the future; he just wants a better one right now, away from the nasty but popular Hank Lowery and his friends --- tormentors of the weak and helpless. They attack Martin and his friends after the latter question the war hero status of Hank's grandfather. Although Hank and company strike the first blow, somehow it's Martin's friend who gets expelled (for fighting back in defense). But that's the way it works at All Souls: money and power win every time.

In addition to the dismal atmosphere at school, Martin has plenty going on at home: his mother won't listen to him, his father, an admitted alcoholic, doesn't even live with them anymore, and his beloved grandmother has just died. Worst of all, perhaps, are the dreams he's been having: dreams that place him back in World War II and that leave him with intimate knowledge of things that happened 60 years ago --- things he couldn't possibly be aware of unless he was actually there. During these bizarre happenings, he meets a young boy named Jimmy Harker who asks him a seemingly simple question: Will you help?

Edward Bloor is an author who can always be counted on for writing something different --- and LONDON CALLING is certainly that. Part time travel, part ghost story, part problem novel, LONDON CALLING does a great job of linking these different elements into one coherent and compelling whole. As with his previous books, Bloor's strength is with his characters: Martin, of course, who comes across as determined and curious even in the face of extraordinary experiences, but also his intriguing sister Margaret and straightforward best friend Pinak. Martin's unfolding relationship with his father also drives the book, as he learns to see his father as a much more complex person than he originally thought.

Readers who enjoy historical fiction with a twist will be intrigued by LONDON CALLING --- as will anyone who likes books that challenge the status quo, especially through unexpected and unusual elements. This is an effective and compelling novel that will make readers think not only about the way we view our past but also about the way we understand our present.

--- Reviewed by Paula Jolin

"London Calling" is one of the most emotionally wrenching YA books I've had the pleasure to read in the past year. The character of Martin (JMartinC is his IM username) is as real as any kid I've run into recently. Yes, there is time-travel of a sort. Martin is somehow transported to the past through the agency of an ancient Philco Radio, and Jimmy, his raggedy companion in World War II London, is a masterful, albeit tragic, character.

Martin, of course, would rather this whole thing be a dream, because the alternative seems to be insanity. But when his "dreams" start giving him historically accurate answers about things he's never heard of, then all bets are off.

"What did YOU do to help?" -- The question that reverberates through this marvelous is answered for Jimmy and Martin. Could it be answered for the reader?

Sorry for what seems like an excess of superlatives, but this is a superlative book.

I really couldn't put this book down. Granted, it's a bit predictable, but the path that Bloor takes his reader on is interesting, thrilling, and emotional. I can't wait to use it in my classroom. It's not the typical historical fiction piece that some of my students usually shun. This book has something for everyone.

It never fails to surprise me how certain books will turn out. You start a book, and you think you have its number. You say, "Book, I know exactly who you are and where you are going." Many times, you are right. But therein lies the joy of discovering a book that adds to your life. Edward Bloor is one wacky guy. He comes up with original plots, but he is also a very good writer. In Story Time, his protagonists went to a private school where the students sat in windowless rooms, taking standardized tests, and drinking noxious shakes blended to keep the students chained in their educational prisons (Yes, down with standardized tests!). With many authors, they are good at only one aspect of writing (plots, characters, pacing). Bloor has all of these elements of writing nailed down, plus he creates characters that will touch your heart.

In London Calling, Bloor again shares his loathing of private schools. Our protagonist is Martin Conway, a bright, unhappy 12-year old with little drive. He is a self-proclaimed hermit. He lives in the basement, where his crazy uncle once lived, and his dad used to live before he set the place on fire. Martin's nuclear family consists of an alcoholic dad that works for an airport steakhouse chain, an unhappy mother who works as a secretary at the school so that Martin can attend (She thinks he will have better opportunities.), and a sister who is a genius and works at an encyclopedia company as a fact checker. See what I mean? You have to be pretty creative to make this stuff up.

Martin has only two friends at his private Catholic school, which appears to be run by the Lowery family. The Lowery family claims that their ancestor, Hollerin' Hank Lowery, was a World War II hero. They have some money, and so the school kowtows to that family.

The current reigning Lowery loves to pick on the weak, and he makes regular sport of picking on Martin and his friends. On one such occasion, Martin's friend, Manetti, takes a piece of concrete and chucks it at Lowery's head, causing Lowery to whine like a little girl. It also, unfortunately, breaks off a chunk from a statue the school is getting ready to unveil for the Hall of Heroes. The school, in a guise of a fair trial, rules that Martin and his friends are completely responsible, suspending Martin from school.

At the same time, Martin loses a family member. His Grandma Mehan, his mother's mom, passes away. Grandma Mehan is another wacky family member. She believes that she came back from the dead while in hospital. No one really takes her seriously. Martin, however, is quite fond of Grandma Mehan. When she passes away, she gives Martin a vintage radio from the 1940s.

This is where our story elements come together. Martin begs his mom and principal that he be allowed to remain on regular suspension. In lieu of attending school, he asks to do a home study about the radio his Grandma gave him. He gets permission, but Martin has a secret agenda. The radio is actually a time travel device. When he sets it to a frequency that receives static, Martin is transported back to 1940s London, where he meets a Jimmy Harker. Jimmy says Martin has something he needs to do, but he doesn't know what. Martin reluctantly follows Jimmy on several late night adventures, involving blackouts and Germans bombing London. Martin suspects he is going crazy, but this is where his sister comes in. As a fact checker at an encyclopedia, she can verify or deny the facts he records from his travels.

Martin discovers he does have a mission to fulfill, and it will impact not only the Harker family, but his own family as well. Martin is asked repeatedly, "What will you do to help, when the time comes?" Martin finds out that he, yes, even he, a 12-year old boy, can make a difference. He also learns to hope again, and his family receives some healing.

I just loved this book. Any book that causes me to shed a tear is usually a winner for me. There was also a lot of talk of a higher power; that we can't do things on our own without the help of a higher power. In addition, this story had so many elements. It was historical fiction, and it was also fantasy. It had the adventure and purpose that boys crave, and it had relationships that would appeal to girls.

I would recommend this to teens that love historical fiction. I would also give it a fantasy fan that has to read historical fiction.

LONDON CALLING opens with a fight at school between the rich boys and the scholarship boys. A stone hits one of the statues in the new walkway causing damage. The commotion from the fight catches the attention of the headmaster who decides that he will determine the punishment at the end of the summer vacation. Martin dreads going back for this meeting. He hates the school so much that he requests to have independent studies for the entire new school year.

His grandmother dies, leaving him this old radio from the 1940's. One night, Martin falls asleep listening to the sounds on the radio and is transported back to the 1940's in London during World War II. There he meets Jimmy, a young boy, who asks for his help.

England during the wartime scares Martin and he can't tell if he's dreaming or if he's really traveled through time. He begins writing down names of people he meets and events that he hears mentioned to research later. Digging deeper into the past, he begins to unravel historical differences between today's understanding of history and the actual events. Martin realizes how history changes--with the victor's side writing the accounts of the events. The deeper he digs, the more truths he uncovers, and the more the radio calls him to help Jimmy.

This fascinating book takes a look at how historical moments and figures are shaped by the outcome of an event. While this books starts off slowly, it quickly picks up, drawing the reader deeper into Martin's time-travel adventures. LONDON CALLING will be a thought-provoking book for classroom discussions.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

I liked this book and Martin from the very beginning. The story has a religious backdrop without being too denominational, schmaltzy, or preachy. Martin's father is an on-the-edge alcoholic. Martin hates his school, All Souls, where he is treated as a second class citizen. Martin has to deal with the school bully, Hank Lowery. Lowery is not just the bully, but the darling of All Souls whose great grandfather is supposedly a revered WWII hero. After suffering a humiliating run-in with Lowery Martin refuses to return to All Souls and is on his way to developing agoraphobia (literally fear of the marketplace, fear of going out in public) dubbing himself the Basement Dweller. He drifts through his life like a zombie. This all changes when his aunt sends him an antique radio, a Philco 20 Deluxe. He falls asleep listening to the radio and is transported back to World War II where he meets Jimmy who needs his help.

I would have given this book five stars, but I felt it was just a little bit predictable and ...I don't want to give away the ending. Also, I'm not in a medical field, but I'm pretty sure the medical establishment doesn't use the term "petit mal" seizure anymore. All in all it was a very enjoyable read.

Is time travel really possible? Many people wonder about that. That's also the question this book asks. As for the answer, you'll have to read this book to find out.

Martin Conway is confused. His grandmother has been calling him late at night, telling him he has to help "the boy". At first, he doesn't know what she's talking about. When she dies, however, and leaves him her old antique radio, he's transported to World War Two London, and the adventure begins.

Edward Bloor's fourth book really tells Martin's story in his own voice. This story is about redemption and courage. It's really interesting to see how the whole story comes together, and when it does, you're left with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Anyone who likes historical fiction will love this book. I know that I did. London Calling is a dramatic journey that you'll want to ride. Trust me.

-Paul Brandt

Edward Bloor's LONDON CALLING comes from the best-selling author of TANGERINE and provides a satisfying blend of time travel, ghosts, and mystery. Martin's meeting with a young British boy who magically appears in his bedroom will lead him to London on the adventure of his life - which may or may not be the product of a dream.

This is fabulous historical fiction, a little fantasy, and coming of age story all in one. My son wanted me to read it after he did and I loved it!