Fish

by L.S. Matthews

My story starts the day that my parents told me we must leave our adopted home forever. Because of the soldiers and the drought we barely had enough to eat and we could no longer stay to help the people in our village.

Right before we were leaving I saw a fish in a small brown puddle and I knew I had to take it with me. The journey would be hard to get across the mountains—to the safety of the border and the people there who could help us . Yet when I put the fish in the pot I never realized what we would have to face. It never occurred to me to leave Fish behind.

A subtle and sophisticated exploration of life, the strength of humanity, and survival in an unforgiving world, Fish is a story that will teach those who doubt that, when hope is almost extinguished, miracles can happen.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Childrens

192 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

L. S. Matthews (born August 29, 1964) is the pen name of Laura Dron, a British children's author of several critically acclaimed novels.

She was born near Dudley in the West Midlands in England, youngest of five children of parents from the South West who had moved to the industrial area for work. She attended state school there, leaving at 18 to study English Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where she gained a first class honours degree.

Matthews lived and worked in London for six years and has also lived in Hull in Northern England, the West Midlands, Alsace in Northern France, and Hertfordshire.

Matthews currently resides in Dorset with her husband and two children.

Her first novel, Fish (2003), won the Fidler Award and was also Highly Commended for the Branford Boase Award and nominated for a Carnegie Medal. Her other novels are The Outcasts (2004), A Dog For Life (2006), Lexi (2007) and After the Flood (2008). Matthews also wrote two short SEN titles, Deadly Night and The Game, which were both published in 2006.

Reviews

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onvan : Fish - Nevisande : L.S. Matthews - ISBN : 385731809 - ISBN13 : 9780385731805 - Dar 192 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2003

[Fateme H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب خوبی بود، داستان روانی داشت و خواننده را تا لحظات آخر با خودش می کشاند، گرچه گاهی کمی خسته کننده می شد.
تنها چیزی که خیلی آزارم داد، این بود که کل داستان در هاله ای از ابهام روایت شده بود. ما نمی فهمیدیم اسم واقعی "ببر" چیست، از چه کشوری آمده و حالا در چه کشوری زندگی می کند.

[Asia young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Fish by L.S Matthews was appealing to me, I did like the book because it showed that we still have people with hearts and humanity. The main character is a little kid name Tiger who is a worker in a war in the country .after they have to leave their country Tiger finds a helpless almost fatal fish, who he takes with him on their journey and is determine to save. I love how the child goes so far by even putting the fish in his mouth to save him. This book shows that one person can change the faith of a living thing by having a heart. I recommend this book to anybody who likes a subtle but still very compassionate and heart filling story maybe to kids my age or higher. I hope you like it I much as I do.

[Joy Kirr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, in its simplicity, is also very deep. There are metaphors upon metaphors - I know I didn't get many of them! The inside flap says ages 10 and up. I want to ask my niece and nephew (who are 9) to read it and let me know what they think! I'll bet they get something out of it I did not!

[Kimi21]

I read this approximately 14 years ago and I distinctly remember it because I woke up last month thinking, "What was that book I read from the public library about a kid who walked through a desert with his family and kept a live fish in his mouth the entire time?" Then I googled "fish in mouth boy book" or something and found this. The cover unlocked a memory. Plus, it's just called "Fish" so it checks out. Lol.

[Kelly Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my kids (13 and 17) and while it's a simple book, probably aimed at middle-grade, we all really enjoyed it. It had a survival plot that felt similar to Hatchet or Island of the Blue Dolphins, but simpler.

Tiger is the child of aide workers and when war comes closer to their village they are the last to flee. They have no choice but to walk to the border to catch a flight back home. The land is in drought and before they leave, Tiger happens to find a fish in a dried up puddle. Tiger insists on taking it with them across the border.

Quick read, lovely story.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent story about a family escaping political unrest. They are led by a guide who has lost his own family in the wars. The trip is dangerous. At times, the readers of the story are lost in the mind of different members of the family. Death is little more than a breath away, but they continue working toward freedom.

[Kristen]

The book I read was Fish by: L. S. Matthews
The book starts off with a small boy finding a fish; this fish is an important symbol throughout the book. A boy and his parents leave their country. The reason they have to leave their country is because it is doing well and they need to help others in another country. Once they are in this new country they see people dying because there is not enough medicine, food, water, etc… The family has to move into a different country because the war is coming there and it is not good to be living there. Everyone they know has left so it is about their time to leave.
When the little boy and his family are getting ready to leave he remembers about the fish. He goes and gets the fish and brings it with him and his family all the way to the border of a different country. The guide to take them to the border was unsure if they would let the family in. When the family gets to the border they…
The book was good. It was very intriguing; I wanted to keep reading on to see what was going to happen to the family. At parts I felt the family’s sadness/happiness. They family stayed together through the whole book, no matter what happened to them.
I think girls or boys would like this book, it really doesn’t matter. Anybody could read this, it was so easy to read and super fast.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended for J510 at Chase Academy

A fairly simple read in terms vocabulary, sentence complexity, and plot, but definitely enough to talk about, especially the parallel between the fish's survival and the protagonist's journey.

I think it'd also be interesting to talk about the author's choice of avoiding specifics (e.g., the protagonist's gender or the non-specific setting).

[Ronna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book on Audio CD. I loved the reader and the book was fabulous! A wonderful journey of culture and change of perspective.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that involves a simple fish that means the world to the main character, Tiger.

[Traishuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

loveit good book

[Jake Bormann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a interesting book because it takes place during ww2. Tiger the main character who is a small boy but tough he sees a fish in a mud puddle and decides to save it. Their village has been taking in those who are ill or need help that is why tigers faimly is down there. They have been told a war is coming there so tiger and his faimly with a very wise and kind guide go on an adventure back to a town to go home. They dicide they would use their papers to basically bribe gaurds because they hapled people in the war but they were turned down. They have been hiking/surviving in this tough region tigers feet start to oze yellow puss and other missfortunes happen to them on there way to another border that they think is there best chance to get back home. will they make it?

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable little children's book about a refugee family. Their child, Tiger, saves a fish and takes it with him across the border. The author never says what country the family is from originally (they're aid workers), or what country they're in or going to, or Tiger's gender or real name (which all holds up in the audiobook). You hardly even notice, and it makes the book seem (tragically) timeless. It's gripping and sad and slightly horrifying, but in the way many children's historical books are, it shouldn't be too much for most kids and it addresses a still-timely issue that we don't see much in kids books in America.

Extended review: https://hannahgivens.wordpress.com/20...

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book report book was Fish. The main theme of my book is hope. The plot is when tiger, his family and the guid run into bad guys and get shot at. The reason that it is hope is because throughout the book Tiger (the main character) had determination that he was going to flee to another country. The reason why its called fish is because when he is fleeing his county he carried a fish with him the whole way. Tiger found the fish in a puddle. The static character is Tiger and the dynamic character is the Guide. I rated this book five stars because it tells a very good story.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick little read that tackles the resilience of children in the face of danger and how we cling to hope in the darkest of times. A young boy, Tiger, is the son of aid workers in a country that is breaking out in war. They must flee to a neighboring country to return to their own, but must endure a harrowing journey to get there. Tiger refuses to leave without bringing along a fish that had been washed out of the river by a flood. A touching story about the compassion of a child and the way hope carries us through.

[Moshe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story as a family story and the journey they go
through together. The story is told from the girl's point of
view. The challenges and difficulties they experience along
the journey strengthens their bond. Especially if the journey
is accompanied by a person who lost his entire family.

But nevertheless, the fish, despite its presence throughout
the joint journey, does not really serve as a factor (as I would
expect). It is actually present - absent. Because of that, I didn't
catch the hidden meanings in it.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can tell this was a first attempt at a YA novel by a poet. Sadly, you cannot tell because of beautiful language (the writing is fine, not great), but instead by the overuse of metaphor and underuse of any kind of underlying logic.

Seriously, I do not think I have ever read a book that was so heavyhanded and yet not had any idea what it was trying to say.

Was there a reason the fish changed size? Did it matter? Was the Guide a ghost? Do I care?

[Vladyslava · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has almost no fantasy elements—perhaps only the fish—but the entire journey feels like it does. The child’s perspective brings a sense of wonder and curiosity to the heavy setting, which is intentionally vague. The parents try to shield their child from a traumatizing reality, but reality proves to be much stronger.

It reminded me a lot of my own journey from a war zone. Maybe I should have had that fish too.

[Luckee Vang · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book "Fish" is a good book that i like and it's abut a little boy and his family running away from the disaster's that are going to happen to them and the town. their goal is to cross over to another state before anything else would happen to them like to some others.

[Tamera Mcmahon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Metaphorical...Tiger and his parents, with the help of a guide and donkey, must leave a refugee camp to head home. Just as they are about to leave, Tiger finds a fish and is allowed to carry it with them on their trip. Dangers await them along the route.

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don't remember a lot about this book, just that one day in 3rd grade i picked it off the class book shelf, and it became the first chapter book i ever finished
anyways this book may have been the reason i ever learned english as well as i did [how well is a good question]

[Tobreth Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

children's book but still cool - i can really appreciate that this could be eye opening for 5-9 graders maybe

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A roundabout picture of war as told from a daughter of fleeing aid workers. Quick read and intense for the intended audience. I liked it, but probably good that we didn't read aloud as a family.

[Gülay Akbal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Savaştan kaçan yardım gönüllüsü bir anne baba ve küçük oğulları.
Kaçmadan önce oğlanın bulduğu balık ve onu yaşatma mücadelesi. Ben çok keyif aldım okurken.

[Ginger Budd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn’t wrap up satisfactorily enough for me to give it 4 stars, though I was intrigued through most of it.

[Deborah Horton Core · Rating 5 out of 5]

The parallels in the story are many. The metaphors are many. The theme is beautifully uplifting. I'm still guessing about he guide. Was he real or wasn't he real??? HMMMM.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it and the message it portrays but I found the first half of the book very uninteresting.

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Fun Read

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Keep in mind this is a young adult book so the reviews about simple language needs to be interpreted in that view