Almost a Hero

by Ken McCoy, Anne Dover (Reading)

Billie Challinor's mother dies during an air raid, but the child grows up confident that in her jazz musician father Chas she has the best dad in the world. Seeking refuge from the London Blitz by moving to Leeds, kindly landlady Liz Morris befriends them: the scarred, wisecracking man, who isn't afraid to overstep the mark if the cause is a good one, and his clever and resilient little girl. Billie needs every ounce of courage she possesses when her father joins the Army just before the D-Day landings and fails to return. Though Liz is happy to raise the child as her own, Billie is claimed by her Uncle Cedric, an outwardly respectable and prosperous solicitor. But he is also a ruthless criminal mastermind who will stop at nothing to secure the fortune to which Billie is sole heiress. Confident of his superior strength and cunning, he foolishly overlooks the fact that she is her father's daughter: resourceful, quick-witted, and ready to seize any chance she can to escape his deadly clutches and return to her beloved Aunt Liz.

10 pages, Audio CD

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[Leo Lloyd Catalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little heartbreaking, a bit predictable tho

[Ranu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is set in the era of Blitz where Londoners become the target of Hitler's bombing campaign. Billie, the young girl, loses both her parents at a very young age in the campaign against Britain. Her father, Chas, leaves a mark on Billie leaving her to think of him as her hero despite of being downgraded as "almost a hero". She is a privileged child (and not so privileged) as she founds love and care in her aunt Liz who fights the world like a hero to save the little girl from many adversities that came her way. The story certainly leaves one remembering and thinking about the true heroes in one's life.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billie is a young girl in London when the air raids begin. Her mother is killed and her father wounded. Her father Chas is a jazz musician and does the best he can to provide for her. This includes enlisting. Billie is left in the care of their landlady/friend Liz. Follow Billie as she grows up and how her father becomes a hero but is downgraded to "almost a hero".

[Isaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

a book for 10 year olds