What do you think?
Rate this book
Evacuee
Fanny Clegg is sent to America during World War 2.
199 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1988
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 18, 2021
AMAZING I was able to just transcend time back to 2014 and live out my evacuee dreams but ALSO fall in love with Jay (if he was called Laurence he would be perfect 👌) I have to say that the travel sickness was very #relatable but not a fan of the name Fanny or Fan I think she could do better can’t lie
ABYWAY 5 stars simply excellent
ABYWAY 5 stars simply excellent
Read
July 31, 2023My CHILDHOOD. This book is so perfectly emotional and 9 year old me to NOW has been obsessed Jay.
July 5, 2018
The story is made up but loosely based on the author’s personal experience as an evacuee from the war.
The characters are vivid and their development throughout the book is well-planned.
Fanny is a stoic, earnest young lady who misses her family and worries for her brother in the Royal Navy. She is placed in the custody of Aunt Bird, the friend of a friend of her father’s. Aunt Bird is a loud American socialite. She has a couple of kids already: Pepper (same age as Fanny) and Jay who is mostly away at college.
It is impossible to read this book without getting caught up in the emotional turmoil. There is the weight of concern and homesickness, humiliation, shyness, budding love (or at least a young crush), despair, frustration, hope, excitement and gratification.
I love this book. I read it dozens of times as a preteen. The characters and their tale have stayed with me for the subsequent 30 years.
The characters are vivid and their development throughout the book is well-planned.
Fanny is a stoic, earnest young lady who misses her family and worries for her brother in the Royal Navy. She is placed in the custody of Aunt Bird, the friend of a friend of her father’s. Aunt Bird is a loud American socialite. She has a couple of kids already: Pepper (same age as Fanny) and Jay who is mostly away at college.
It is impossible to read this book without getting caught up in the emotional turmoil. There is the weight of concern and homesickness, humiliation, shyness, budding love (or at least a young crush), despair, frustration, hope, excitement and gratification.
I love this book. I read it dozens of times as a preteen. The characters and their tale have stayed with me for the subsequent 30 years.
April 27, 2013
I'm currently watching Band of Brothers, and the latest episode made me think of this book, which I read back when I was about 12. Mostly because I've been thinking about how young some of the men were and how many of them lost their lives before they'd really had a chance to even do anything with them. And that particular thought reminded me of the girl's brother in this book.
She was sent to America as an evacuee. I think to live with distant relatives she'd never met. So she was separated from her family, including her brother, who she missed terribly. He had to fight and she loved him to bits, so was very worried about him. She really looked up to him, partly because he was so inspirational - he was one of those people who always made himself do things he was scared of to overcome his fears. In particular, I remember her saying that he was scared of heights so made himself climb a tree and jump out of it over and over again. Or off a wall or something. Anyway, I just thought he was an amazing character - I've thought about him a lot over the years since I read this. And I think this book must actually have been one of the first ones I read that made me cry my eyes out because it was so sad.
Of course, having read it a long time ago, I might not have remembered everything quite right. And part of me would like to read it again because it had such a big impact on me. But the other part doesn't want to in case it turns out to be not as good as I remember. I guess it's one of those things where it depends what's happening in your own life, and what sort of person you are at the time, that might make you get more out of a book at one particular time than you would at another.
So I'm going to stick with the memories I've got, and remember it as being amazing :)
She was sent to America as an evacuee. I think to live with distant relatives she'd never met. So she was separated from her family, including her brother, who she missed terribly. He had to fight and she loved him to bits, so was very worried about him. She really looked up to him, partly because he was so inspirational - he was one of those people who always made himself do things he was scared of to overcome his fears. In particular, I remember her saying that he was scared of heights so made himself climb a tree and jump out of it over and over again. Or off a wall or something. Anyway, I just thought he was an amazing character - I've thought about him a lot over the years since I read this. And I think this book must actually have been one of the first ones I read that made me cry my eyes out because it was so sad.
Of course, having read it a long time ago, I might not have remembered everything quite right. And part of me would like to read it again because it had such a big impact on me. But the other part doesn't want to in case it turns out to be not as good as I remember. I guess it's one of those things where it depends what's happening in your own life, and what sort of person you are at the time, that might make you get more out of a book at one particular time than you would at another.
So I'm going to stick with the memories I've got, and remember it as being amazing :)
November 28, 2012
The story of Francis an English girl evacuated to America during world war 2. Fanny has to deal with all the social issues of a shy 13 year old girl trying to fit in in a different culture as well a being homesick and dealing with the worry of her parents and brother being involved in the war.
Beautiful book with lovely believable characters, one of my favourite books.
Beautiful book with lovely believable characters, one of my favourite books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews