Scarecrows Hb (New Windmill) [Hardcover]

Robert Westall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1984 | Series: New Windmill

One of a series of top-quality fiction for schools, this novel won the 1981 Carnegie Medal. A boy's anger and misery about his detested new stepfather are worked out through three scarecrows in a field near his home.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Westall was born in 1929 on Tyneside, where he grew up during the war. He went to the local Grammar School and then studied Fine Art at Durham University, and Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He worked as an art teacher in Cheshire and for the Samaritans. His first novel for children, The Machine Gunners, published in 1975, was an instant success and was awarded the Carnegie Medal. His books have been translated into ten languages, dramatised for television and he won the Carnegie again in 1982 for The Scarecrows, the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Biltzcat, and the Guardian Award in 1991 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Between 1986 until his death in 1993, he devoted himself to his writing. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann ed (October 15, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435122894
• ISBN-13: 978-0435122898
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,718,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dark and Powerful Story - Carnegie Medal Winner, September 20, 2008

By 

S. Barnes (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scarecrows (Definitions S.) (Paperback)

A dark and deeply disturbing story of a boy overcome by hatred when his mum decides to remarry after his father's death. Even worse, is that she's chosen to marry Joe Morton, the man who embarrassed him at his boarding school Parents' Day, by turning up with his mum, no tie, in his flashy white Range Rover. Simon is torn apart with anger that his mum and little sister, Jane, seem to have forgotten his dad so easily. Having to return home in the school holidays, Simon explores an abandoned mill near his house, but there's something quite weird about the mill, and the way it's been left untouched for so many years. There is another powerful hatred here too, just waiting to be unleashed, and Simon is forced to face his fears.

Powerful and at times violent and deeply disturbing - a story for teens.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, January 24, 2007

By 

Daniel Clark - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scarecrows (Definitions S.) (Paperback)

I first read this when I was about 10 years old, and it has never left my mind.
It was my first real encounter with a deeply disturbing sort of thriller, and I have been grateful always. This is no mere blood and guts raggedy man story, this one is much more frightening, with an ending that won't be forgotten. It is very subtle, but the dread and fear just keep building up until there's nowhere left to hide. Give this one a chance, you'll be glad you did.

4.0 out of 5 stars Scary stuff, October 27, 2011

By 

Hatbox Dragon (somewhere on a train) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scarecrows (Definitions S.) (Paperback)

The premise for The Scarecrows is initially very simple. Simon's father is dead and he is appalled to learn that his mother is going to remarry. Worse, his mother's fiancé Joe is a slobbish cartoonist with piercing insight into the weaknesses of those around him, open about his feelings and uncaring of what people think of him - a huge contrast to the straight-laced army officer Simon still idolises as a hero. So Simon finds an unwelcome dose of reality entering his life as he is forced to realise that his mother has her own wants and needs, that maybe his parents' marriage wasn't as happy as he thought it was, and that his mother is going to marry Joe whether he likes it or not. But just as Simon has an unexpected wellspring of violence inside him, unleashed when another boy at his school insults his mother, he seems to have the ability to attract the supernatural. As his anger and resentment grow, an atmosphere of violent evil draws ever closer to his house as a love-triangle from the past with a murderous ending starts spilling over into the present. Or is it all in his head?

This book does a really good job of blending Simon's family dramas with the supernatural. The characters are lively and sympathetic, especially Simon and Joe. Joe reaches out, Simon pushes him away; but Joe has limits in what he'll tolerate from Simon, and you get the feeling that he'd be a good father if only Simon would put his resentment aside and accept him. The plotting is well-paced and concise, the use of language good, the supernatural atmosphere suitably eerie, and the denouement satisfying. Recommended.

(Originally published in the 1980s, I believe. Suitable for teens.)