Haywire by Claire Saxby

"You think I want to be here? You think I had any choice? ... They just rounded us up like so many cows. Did they ever ask why we were in England? Why we'd left Germany? Did they ask what we thought about Hitler and his madmen. No. They just stuck us in a prison like we were criminals, then bought us halfway round the world and dumped us in the middle of a desert."

It is October 1939. Two boys live on different sides of the world. 

Tom Hallon, aged 14, lives in Hay, NSW Australia. Tom has two older brothers who have just signed up, an older sister on the cusp of falling in love with a young soldier, a baby sister, and his mum and dad. Tom has ambition - he hopes to win a scholarship and go to university in Sydney but with his brothers now gone Tom must leave school and help his father in the family bakery. 

Max Gruber, aged 14, lives in Bockhurst, Germany. He is an only child. Hitler has just invaded Poland and so his mother takes him from school and sends him off on his own to the safety of London where his Uncle Ferdy now lives. But London is not safe. Uncle Ferdy and Max are first sent to Huyton internment camp then they are put onto a ship which is supposed to take them to Canada - the Arandora Star - but the ship is bombed. It sinks. Max and his Uncle survive but his Uncle is badly hurt in body and mind. Once more they find themselves in a UK internment camp but the government don't want them and so they are ordered onto another ship - the Dunera. This ship is travelling to Australia and once again Max is placed in an internment camp - this time in Hay, NSW and this time he is alone.

This book is on CBCA 2021 Notable list for Younger Readers which is how I discovered it. Haywire is also on the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge in the 7-9 category. I think this book will be enjoyed by mature readers aged 11+. The story is told through alternating voices. Claire Saxby gives each boy a unique and authentic voice. Haywire is the perfect title - something to discuss with a class. I also need to mention the two bullies who regularly attack Max. They are so horrible. I was desperate for Max to find peace and for these two older boys to be caught and punished.

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of the writing:

Max

"Papa and I will come soon.' She nods firmly. 'But now you must go now.' Her shoulders are tight and her brow furrows ... One side of her mouth lifts a little, but only for a second, and the smile does not fit with her worried eyes."

"Jump!' a sailor tells me. 'Then swim to the life raft. Understand?' ... The tilting ship gives a whale-size burp and makes the decision for me. I tumble over the railing into the water. I sink, then pop back to the surface, the life jacket around my ears. The icy water quickly finds the last warm parts of me, soaking through everything."

"I trip into something soft and squelchy. It's hard to tell, but I think it's a dead lamb. I feel bones inside the softness and deadness fills my nostrils. Even in this light though, I see maggots twist and squirm. I retch ... "

Tom

"I knew that working in our bakery wasn't just jam and cream, but I didn't realise just how hard the work is. Or how much carrying and cleaning there is. My arms ache, my back aches, my everything aches. ... Each morning as a crawl out of bed, I curse every German who ever lived. They started the war, they took my brothers away."

There are two scenes in this book that linger with me.  One comes after Max escapes. Tom tracks him down but the situation is very dangerous. A loner, a man damaged in the Great War, is holding Max captive. Tom knows he cannot fight this angry man so instead he reaches out to shake his hand. This diffuses the situation in such a perfect way.

The second scene is near the end of the story. Mrs Brandon visits Max in hospital. While Max was on the run he took food from their house. Mrs Brandon brings Max clothes and food. She hopes her son, who is away fighting in the war, might receive the same kindness from another mother far away.

 This story has an authentic Australia feel with expressions such as: don't get ya knickers in a knot; back-of-bloody-beyond; strewth; poor buggers; and stone the flammin' crows.

Publisher blurb: In 1939, 14-year-old Tom lives in Hay where his family runs the local bakery. Max Gruber is nearly 13. He is sent to his Uncle Ferdy in London, but is then interred and shipped to Australia aboard the Dunera. He arrives in Hay and meets Tom. The two boys become friends and find their lives and their friendship influenced by a far-away conflict in Europe.  Shortlisted, 2020 NSW Premier's History Awards.

Superbly written and presented, Haywire is a powerful read. It focuses historically, on the prelude to WW2 and the crumbling of people’s lives. Reading Time

This is a novel that deserves a wide readership among young readers with an appetite for learning something about our history while being taken on an adventure.  Claire Saxby’s prose is crisp. Short and sharp sentences provide bold, vivid images that carry urgency and tension equal to the characters’ actions and emotions. Kids' Book Review

Background reading:

BBC News  The Dunera Boys - 70 years on after notorious voyage

National Museums Liverpool Maritime tales - tragedy of the Arandora Star

BBC Liverpool  Wartime camps in Huyton

Take a look here to see other books by Claire Saxby.

Haywire is the second book in this series entitled Australia's Second World War.  Here is the first book by Sophie Masson:

There are other books for Middle Grade readers which explore the conditions in internment camps during World War II. This is a list of books set in camps for Japanese Americans. Here are four books I suggest as companion reads after Haywire:

Red Day by Sandy Fussell

Charlie lives in Cowra. Her High School link up with a school in Japan and they regularly host exchange students. Cowra has historic links with Japan because over 1000 prisoners of war were held there during World War II. In 1944 the prisoners staged a breakout. Over 200 prisoners died.  Today you can visit the Japanese war cemetery and the Japanese Garden.  Charlie is very familiar with these historic sites.  Charlie is not happy that her mother has agreed to host Kenichi, a Japanese exchange student. Charlie is a sensitive girl - she sees the world and people in colours. This is a condition called synaesthesia.

She has no intention of becoming friends with Ken but she begins to have day time flash backs which link to the breakout. Her family are also connected. The museum has a photo of a young man who sheltered at her grandparents farm. At first it seems Ken has no connection to this photo but he is oddly very curious about everything to do with Cowra and gradually the surprising links between this photo and his family are revealed.

If an author wants to tell a story from history they need to find a way to turn facts into a narrative. The whole story can be set during the actual historic event as was the case with a book I talked about recently - Pirate Boy of Sydney Town by Jackie French. Another technique is to take a character back in time often via a portal. A third device is via dreams or visions of the past and that is the device employed by Sandy Fussell in her story about the Cowra breakout. The setting is modern day Australia, but as these High School kids delve into the mystery of the man in the photo we are also given little insights into the actual night of the breakout.

This book will be published in March 2020. Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my Advanced Reader copy. Read more at Walker Books.

I've been thinking about the audience for this book. When I talked with a fellow children's literature enthusiast she asked "Why would kids want to read about the Cowra breakout?" I have pondered this important question over the last few days. I think the answer is yes. Sandy Fussell says she had a personal fascination with this event in Australian history and this led to spending quite a lot of time exploring historic sites Cowra. Young readers might not be able to do this but I think reading Red Day might mean some readers will then want to discover more about the events of 5th August, 1944. It was the largest prison break during World War II. 

I remember when I read A Blinding Light by Julie Lawson. I had absolutely no idea about the terrible destruction in Halifax Harbor during World War I.  Red Day made me curious about Cowra and this part of Australian history. I think readers aged 10+ who enjoy mysteries, books about friendship and readers who are curious about history will enjoy this book. I found myself racing through the 237 pages keen to solve the mystery alongside Charlie and Ken.

Here is an interview with Sandy from 2011 where she talks about writing Historical fiction.

Image Source ABC News, 4th August, 2019

You can read more at the Cowra visitor site.  Adult readers who are curious about this topic might look for this book by Australian author Thomas Keneally. You can find a list of other titles in this article in The Conversation.

Cloud Boy by Marcia Williams

Harry Christmas (yes that is his name) and Angie Moon build a tree house in the backyard with the help of their fathers. These kids are great friends and almost share a birthday since they were born two days apart.  Angie calls them "almost twins." The new tree house is the perfect place to explore their passions. Harry loves clouds and Angie loves to draw. They name their tree house Artcloud. Angie is not keen on writing but she is given a diary and so much is happening in her life the diary becomes the perfect place to share her roller coaster of emotions.

Harry becomes ill. No one seems to want to tell Angie what is wrong. Harry is taken to hospital and it is clear this is very serious.

"Dear Diary,
I went to see Harry today! He was whiter than the bed sheets, his head was just one big bandage and there were drips and tubes everywhere - it freaked me out. He didn't talk but when I stroked his hand he grabbed by finger, like little Solo."

The relationship and difficult times experienced by Harry and Angie (as told by Angie through her diary) are only half the story, though. Grandma Gertie is staying with Angie and her family following the arrival of a new baby (Solo) and she has also come to see the exhibition of a special quilt. When she was a child Grandma Gertie was taken prisoner in Singapore and sent to Changi. The treatment of the prisoners, including very young children, was utterly terrible but Gertie survived and so did some of the letters she wrote to her cat, a quilt made in the camp by the children and the young boy who she later married when they were reunited as adults. Reading these letters allows Angie and Harry glimpse what Gertie went through during World War II and they are an interesting way to share this period in history with a mature primary school reader.

The making of a quilt is also used as a way to link the stories of past and present. Angie decides to make a quilt for Harry and to fill it with shared memories. The pace of her sewing and her decisions of the images to include match the details we read in the letters written by Gertie as she and the other prisoners work on their quilt. Make sure you watch this video about the making of the quilt.  You can hear Olga Henderson (nee Morris) who was the inspiration for Cloud Boy. Marcia Williams explains how she saw the Changi quilt in the V&A Museum in London.

"I saw the Changi Guide quilt in 2010 ... I was immediately struck by how, after so many years, this quilt is still a powerful symbol of young people's love and endurance."

If you share this book with a mature senior primary reader and they are curious to know more about the fall of Singapore I would recommend reading Lizard's Tale followed by The Happiness Box by Mark Greenwood.

When I read an emotional book I usually cry even when I anticipate the sad ending but in the case of Cloud Boy I didn't and this puzzles me. I did find Cloud Boy a compelling read and I did enjoy the voice of Angie along with the way she honestly expresses her emotions including her anger at Harry for being ill and her confusion about the way all the adults she trusts want to protect her from the truth.

Click on this link to read another review:

This is not an easy read in terms of subject matter, but it is worth acknowledging that not all children’s books can be filled with happy endings – not everything does end happily. However, there are glimpses of hope and optimism, and the possibility of how life continues despite the adversity faced. Minerva Reads