Shadow Creatures

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Shadow Creatures by Chris Vick, read by Nina Yndis.

Tove was 12 and Liva 9, when the Germans occupied Norway. They remember everything as if it happened yesterday. A middle grade story of bravery, resilience, rivalries and shadow creatures in the night.

Mose and her daughter Agna are incomers in the village, treated with suspicion. But young Liva, left out of the secrets her sister Tove and brother Hakken share, idolises Agna and follows her everywhere. Unwittingly, they lead the German soldiers to a perfect island. Once a haven for picnics and story-telling under the midnight sun, it is transformed into a grim POW camp. This is an unlikely place to find buried treasure, but it's there.

Friendships are made and broken, family trust is turned upside down and lives change forever as Tove and Liva recall their childhood experiences of living through WW2 in a story that moves from light to darkness to light again.

Critics Review

'A triumph. Vick is a masterful storyteller. This beautifully written story should whet readers’ appetites... Given that the Second World War is no longer a compulsory part of the primary school curriculum, such books are all the more to be cherished.'
The Telegraph
'Tense, evocative and compelling'
The Guardian
I loved it. The story, the style, the history, the depth of meaning and feeling: it’s all there. More than a historical novel.
Tom Palmer, author
A heart in your mouth adventure, perfectly crafted by a brilliant writer.
Natasha Farrant, author
Lyrical, yet hard-hitting and packed with fascinating historical facts, Shadow Creatures by Chris Vick is storytelling at its very best... [it] will be a brilliant empathy-building addition to the World War Two classroom canon
Tia Fisher
Has courage, resilience and fortitude in the face of great suffering at its heart. It has a vivid sense of place and will appeal to fans of historical fiction set during World War Two wishing to explore undiscovered territory
Books For Keeps
'The blend of history, adventure and folklore is masterly – the story is tense, exciting and intriguing in equal measure'
Bookseller, Hatchards Children's Book Club Choice
A cracking read
World's Smallest Library
A powerful and illuminating historical novel... An ideal novel to share with KS3 students with a keen interest in history, providing rich opportunities for wider research and exploration
Just Imagine
Written for age 9+, Shadow Creatures is best suited to slightly older children (Key Stage 3) with stamina to tackle a more challenging, weighty story.
Scope For Imagination
Chris Vick writes with such power and I have yet to read one of his books without an emotional reaction. This would be a brilliant read aloud for a class studying WWII
My Shelves Are Full
This location of World War Two is less known outside Scandinavia, and Chris Vick shines a light on it expertly and with great humanity and compassion. This will be an excellent addition to school libraries
Historical Novel Society
This is a great adventure, blending its story of wartime courage and resilience with traditional Norwegian folklore
The School Librarian

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