World Book Day special - The Time Tunnellers step into the shoes of a favourite character

Happy World Book Day everyone!

We’ve got some great news. We’re thrilled to be able to announce that we have a new member of the team!

Author Matt Wainwright

Matt Wainwright, a previous guest poster for the Time Tunnellers is joining us to help dig for the stories in history – and share his love of reading and writing historical fiction for young people.

Matt is the author of the fantastic adventure, Out of the Smoke (Wakeman Trust), which tells the story of young Billy the chimney sweep who, when he finds himself plunged into the criminal underworld of Victorian London, must battle to survive against notorious gang leader, Archie Miller and his friends. Help, when it arrives, comes from a very unexpected source in the shape of the famous educational reformer, Lord Shaftesbury –  the ‘Poor Man’s Earl’. But will Billy’s pride let him accept the offer? And if he turns on Archie, will it mean freedom or certain death?

What’s it like to be joining our merry band, Matt?

'It's an honour! From the first time I saw the Time Tunnellers assemble I was struck by how enthusiastic and knowledgeable you all are. It's a fantastic initiative, sharing your love for history and the stories it contains, and I feel privileged to be a part of it. I'm also excited to share some of the things I've learned - there is so much to discover in the past, and leading children (and adults!) down some of those paths, exploring the nooks and crannies, will be a real joy. Thank you for inviting me into the team!'

Our pleasure!  We’re really looking forward to having you on board too!

In this week’s blog we’re celebrating World Book Day – and Matt’s arrival on the team – by stepping into the shoes of a favourite character in a great historical fiction read for young people. 

Ally Sherrick: Boy in The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
(Published by Chicken House Books)

I studied medieval history at university so it was brilliant to have the chance to travel back to those times again in the company of Murdock’s plucky underdog hero, ‘Boy’. When the story opens it is the year 1350 and Boy is looking after the goats that belonged to the lady of the manor before she was carried off by the plague. Boy is different from other people. He can talk with the animals and birds. But he is also taunted and called ‘Monster’ by his fellow villagers because of the hump on his back. So when a mysterious pilgrim stranger – Secundus – arrives in the village and offers Boy the chance to join him on a quest for seven priceless relics – ‘rib tooth thumb shin dust skull tomb’ – he decides to take the risk and join him.

I loved accompanying Boy as he experienced all the incredible sights, sounds and smells of the places he and his new master encountered on their long journey through France and across the sea to the tomb of St Peter in Rome.  And listening in on the conversations he has with the animals and birds he meets on the way. But it is the special secret he keeps hidden from others and which finally brings him the freedom and happiness he craves which enthralled me the most.

A great read for anyone who enjoys historical stories with a twist of magic realism.

Barbara Henderson: Moss in The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff

(Published by Egmont)

I credit two books with sealing my love of historical fiction: Mary Hoffman's Troubadour and this, The Executioner's Daughter. 

The reign of Henry VIII is famous for its many executions - but what if your father is the one whose job it is to do the deed, again and again? Meet Moss. Growing up in the infamous Tower of London with only her taciturn dad for company, she longs to escape. The river flows past, carrying everything away with it - could Moss leave it all behind and find freedom? 

I loved the vivid descriptions of Tudor London, the dangers and secrets Moss has to navigate, and her reluctant friendship with streetwise Salter who survives by thieving. I was with Moss every step of the way, particularly when she realises that there are stranger, deeper powers at work beneath the surface of the Thames. 

My favourite chapter by a country mile was the one about the Frost Fair when the Thames froze over entirely - something that really happened! Moss encounters terrible danger, but so much beauty too. One of those books that stayed with me from the moment I read it almost a decade ago. 

Catherine Randall: ‘Cat’ in The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding (Egmont)

This thrilling adventure story set in and around the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London is narrated by one of the most engaging fictional characters I’ve ever come across. Cat Royal is an orphan who has lived backstage in the theatre ever since she was rescued as a baby by the famous playwright and theatre owner, Mr Sheridan.

As soon as you open the book, you are in Cat’s shoes and completely immersed in the world of late 18th century London. Cat thinks that she is simply guarding a diamond for Mr Sheridan, hidden somewhere in the theatre, but then she becomes friends with the mysterious new Prompt and a talented young African violinist – the new sensation at Drury Lane. It soon becomes clear that much more is at stake than a mere jewel. You experience the sights, smells and characters of Covent Garden market, the backstage of the Theatre Royal and the drawing rooms of Grosvenor Square as if you were there, while Cat and her friends – a wonderful mixture of boys from street gangs and refined young aristocrats – battle to save the ‘diamond’ who is really hiding at the theatre, not to mention their own skins.

This novel is a heady combination of vivid, engaging characters with authentic historical and geographical detail.  

I think Cat is one of the great heroines of modern children’s literature. I couldn't put the book down.

Jeannie Waudby: Ellen in The Secrets Act by Alison Weatherby (Chicken House)

It would be scary but also interesting and exciting to time-travel back to the Second World War in Ellen’s shoes. She is one of two teenage main characters in The Secrets Act. The story begins with her journey to the codebreaking HQ, Bletchley Park, where she is going to become a codebreaker. I once met a 90-year-old lady on a train and she told me she had worked there during the war. When I asked her what she did, she looked at me and said: ‘It was secret.’

I felt the sheer strangeness of this situation through Ellen’s eyes, travelling from Wales on her own, arriving in the pitch dark of the blackout. Everything is strange and even asking questions feels forbidden and dangerous. This is a tense and exciting story – Ellen meets new people; so many of them young. But always there is the question: who can you trust? This story doesn’t glamourize Bletchley Park; in fact in many ways it feels like a hostile environment with threats and dangers lurking round every corner – including the danger of accidentally committing treason. But it’s also a story of true friendship. 

I recommend this book as a thought-provoking journey into a time of war.

Matt Wainwright: Stepping into the shoes of … Sig Andersson in Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Part of me wouldn’t actually enjoy stepping into Sig’s shoes. Throughout most of the book Revolver, Sig is threatened, bullied and held hostage in his family’s remote Alaskan cabin by the enigmatic and seemingly unstoppable Wolff - which would not make for a particularly pleasant experience!

However, Sedgwick wrote the book so well that you can’t help but feel that you’re right there in the scene with the characters. He conjures up the vast frozen wilderness of the far north of turn-of-the-century America in vivid, startling detail: the crack of ice, the buffeting of the wind, the crunch of freshly-fallen snow. You can see every clouded breath, smell the pungent odours of oil and gunpowder and fur, feel the creeping fingers of perpetual winter worming their way through every crevice … It’s a masterclass of description!

And in the end, of course (no spoilers!) Sig learns how to grow beyond his fear and find a way to stage a near-impossible escape. He’s the kind of character I love: one who starts the story as a person we recognise but wouldn’t necessarily want to be, but who gradually becomes someone we can admire. Which just goes to show that, no matter what era they are from, people throughout history are like us in many ways, with so much for us to learn.

Susan Brownrigg: My Friend the Octopus by Lindsay Galvin
(published by Chicken House)

There is something very calming about wandering around an aquarium - the low light, the gentle movement of the fish and it is the perfect place for 12-year-old Vinnie Fyfe to find solace when she is abruptly sent away by her milliner mother to live with her aunt.

Vinnie loves to draw, and she is soon enchanted by the beauty of the aquatic life around her and especially a fascinating new arrival - an octopus! She quickly realises she has a special connection with the cephalopod and that they can communicate using colour.

I was enchanted by the gorgeous descriptions of how the octopus moves and learned lots about these intelligent, powerful creatures.

This wonderful adventure story is set in Victorian Brighton and the aquarium there - the world's oldest - still exists with it's beautiful period arcade having been lovingly restored. 

I loved exploring the aquarium with Vinnie and meeting her new friends - Charlie and Temitayo - who team up to solve a mystery which opens their eyes to cruelty close to home.

This book is so gripping you will think you have been grabbed by a tentacle or eight!

On this week's You Tube video the Time Tunnellers and our guest authors share their recommended historical reads for World Book Day - to watch CLICK HERE!

 

 

 

Bletchley Park special by guest author Alison Weatherby

Secrets. 

We all have them. Some are small – when you’ve eaten your little brother or sister’s sweets or bought a surprise for your mum’s upcoming birthday. Others are so big they involve tons of people and sit at the back of your mind always. When I was young, I blurted out my sister’s birthday gift casually, a coveted doll my mother had driven miles away to buy. I’ve always been lousy at secrets, especially when they’re juicy. Thankfully, most people know that and don’t ask me to keep them for very long.

But what if you had to keep a secret for decades, one that was so big, it involved secret codes and massive machines, life-saving decryptions and even spies? Could you do it? 

Bletchley Park

That was one of the first questions I had when I visited Bletchley Park, Britain’s headquarters for codebreaking during WW2. Workers from the Government Code and Cipher School moved to Bletchley before the war started with the primary goal of assembling a team to break the cipher the Germans were using to keep their radio communications secret. This cipher, called Enigma, had many variations and was considered “unbreakable.” Bletchley recruited some of the top minds -- including linguists and mathematicians, chess champions and historians, students from Oxford and Cambridge – to help break Enigma. But before any person could start work at Bletchley, they had to sign something called the Official Secrets Act.

The Official Secrets Act stated, essentially, that no one could tell anyone anything about what they did at Bletchley. This meant workers couldn’t tell their parents what they did all day, or chat with their co-workers about what they were doing over lunch in the canteen. And because no one knew what other people at Bletchley did, they never knew if their decrypts were successful or what part their work played in the war effort. Very few photographs were taken and, when Bletchley closed its doors after the war, buildings were left to ruin and records were destroyed. People still had to keep their lips sealed for decades after. In spite of this, the workers at Bletchley helped immensely with the war effort. It’s said that their efforts shortened WW2 by at least two years. 

 Decoded messages

But in spite of this great secret, the employees at Bletchley worked hard. Whether it was trying to figure out clues to the encoded messages, operating the loud, hot machines that helped decode messages, or archiving information to for future messages. Thankfully, the workers at Bletchley also had time off, where they were able to relax. They certainly had a lot of fun – putting on plays, cycling through the countryside, taking the train into London – because they needed the relief from their high-pressure jobs.

When I set out to write The Secrets Act (and yes, the title is inspired by the Official Secrets Act), I knew I wanted the book to focus on two things – friendship and secrets. I was fascinated by the idea of two friends working together, yet not able to tell each other anything about what they did or saw or heard. Most of the workers were women – 75% of wartime employees were young women – and they worked long hours, around the clock. And because Bletchley grew so quickly, the hastily constructed huts where they worked were draughty, cold, and damp, with heaters that often smelled or spat out smoke. I couldn’t imagine working in such a place and being alone and away from home for the first time, as it was for many of the girls. 

The radio used in the wireless listening stations.

I realized rather quickly, though, that if everyone obeyed the Official Secrets Act and kept mum about what they did, my story would be rather boring. That’s why I based my character, Pearl, on a real worker at Bletchley, the youngest employee at the Park. Pearl was based on a 14-year-old messenger who took memos and communications from office to office, hut to hut. And while I’m sure the real messenger at Bletchley didn’t spill any secrets, I knew Pearl would not be so careful. I needed her to hear and see things, to be unable to resist the eavesdropping so that she knew the bigger picture of what was happening at Bletchley. Ellen took shape from a few accounts of girls who had been recruited to the Park because of their academic achievements. 

 

The lake at Bletchley Park

Many girls were interviewed or given puzzles and quizzes before being asked to join the war effort, then sent to Bletchley with no idea what they’d be doing or what Bletchley was. Though I couldn’t imagine getting on a train to some unknown destination, girls like Ellen were excited by the opportunity to help their country through employment that was previously reserved for men.

But as I put all these characters together against the fascinating backdrop of Bletchley Park, I wondered, what secrets would I keep? What would you do if ordered to keep your entire life a secret? Would you tell? Even one person?

Alison grew up all over the USA as a child, moving to five different states before she was 13. Now she lives south of Dublin with her husband, two daughters and very naughty dog. Alison has worked in computers and technology her entire life, but has always loved writing stories for children, mostly because her favorite books are those she remembers from her childhood.

 

After being discovered in Chicken House’s Open Coop competition in 2020, The Secrets Act was published by Chicken House in January 2022. A historical mystery for teens, The Secrets Act follows two friends and workers at Bletchley Park during WW2, whose lives are turned upside down after a tragic incident that uncovers many dangerous secrets.

Instagram @alisonweatherbyauthor

twitter @aliwea

Find out more about Bletchley Park at https://bletchleypark.org.uk/