The Secret Shelter

By Sandi LeFaucheur

Book Overview

Three London twelve-year-olds travel between the present and the 1940's in WWII wartime England and the Blitz. One stays in the past to change it while the other two find their way home to a slightly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974648140
• ISBN13: 9780974648149
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Brown Barn Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.3" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Suspenseful

Reviewed by Megan Kurz (age 12) for Reader Views (3/07) This story is about a girl named Sophie Pinkerton who goes back in time to the 1940's with friends and a teacher. They discover a secret shelter that takes them back in time to World War II. When they get there, they find themselves in a small town in England. They had to wear gas masks because the war was going on and if they were bombed, they had to be protected from the gas. They also did not have any identity and no food. They found a lady to take them into her home. Her name is Ester and she is really good to them. She gives them food and shelter. One day Sophie gets shot by one of the planes and has to go the hospital. Ester takes care of her until she gets better. Quigs' grandfather who is a pilot gets shot and dies. That leaves Ester all by herself to take care of her son Joseph. She has a hard time taking care of him because food is really hard to get with the war going on. Mr. Schmitt, the teacher, ends up getting a job as the head master of the school. So that gives them the extra money they need to pay the rent at Ester's house. They end up going to hide in the shelter with Mr. Schmitt and they hurry down the stairs to go back to the 21st century. They are really glad to be home where there is no war and they are not scared of dying. The main part of the story is a teacher and three students go back in time in the 1940's. They have a lot of things happen to them and they meet new people. They also experience what it was like to live during a war. Then they need to return to their lives in the 21st century. I think the author was very successful because all the events wrapped up the story in the end. I think the author writes very well. She can paint a picture in your mind of the events that were happening and you felt like you were there. She also got the story across to the reader. This book would be for a reader who has an interest in history. The age would be for 10 to adult. My personal opinion is I would not like to go back in time. It could be dangerous and some things are best left in the past. The best part is when the children go to the school and learn what it was like to live in the 1940's with a war going on. The story was very suspenseful and it keeps you wanting to read more to find out if they were going to be able to return back home. I really enjoyed "The Secret Shelter" and was happy the way it all ended.

child's eyeview of the Battle of Britain

Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE SECRET SHELTER as an engaging & authentic recreation of a child's eyeview of a desperate time when ordinary people did extraordinary deeds, love shone like the Sun through the clouds of war, & danger fell from the sky. When Sophie, Marina & Quigs thought of digging down through 60 years of earth to open the WWII air-raid shelter outside their school, Mr. Martin, the janitor, had warned them not to meddle with things past. Undeterred the classmates & their teacher find the door & open the dark, dank space. Once inside, Mr. Martin disappears & Mr. Schmidt falls through the rotted staircase & hurts his head. Frantic, the friends drag their teacher out into the fresh air... except it's not the same place or time they'd just left. Now their school is painted a disgusting brown with all the windows covered with brown paper. Then the air starts humming, a hair-raising siren starts wailing & hordes of airplanes come rumbling overhead. That's when it dawns on them they have traveled back in time to 1940. Without homes, families or identities, carrying only the fake ration books Mr. Schmidt had made as samples for their class project, Sophie, Marina, & Quigs must avoid the dangers of the nightly bombardment by the Luftwaffe, suspicious classmates & the authorities on the lookout for German spies. Will they survive long enough to find out how to get back to the 21st century? Moved me to tears & because I've been there & done that, brought up many memories. Outstanding, & perfect for (great)grandparents to tell (great)grandchildren what it was like.

A Time-Travel Tale

The Secret Shelter is an amazing book that takes you right back to London in the bombing raids in the World War. I couldn't put the book down till I got to the very end. It's very exciting.

Time Travel Made Easy

Well researched, The Secret Shelter provides insight into the lives of those who struggled through the Blitz. I especially liked the time travel concept and how the three modern-day kids had to learn to deal with the bombs, scarcity of food, and blackouts. This book would be a great introduction to some of the realities of WWII. And it's was much easier to digest this information while being entertained by likeable main characters. I learned about barrage balloons (who knew?), air raid shelters and how the women and kids in a close knit community in South London coped with unimaginable burdens. I believe The Secret Shelter would be a great read for teens as well as those a bit younger. It's a part of history that shouldn't be forgotten.