چراغ را خاموش کن

by Terry Deary, نوشین ابراهیمی (Translator)

پشت آن تاریکی کیست؟ دوست یا دشمن؟

جنگ است و داستان همزمان در شهر شفیلد انگلستان و داخاو آلمان می‌گذرد.

در شفیلد خواهر و برادری فهمیده‌اند که به صدا در آمدن آژیر خطرِ حمله‌های هوایی، با سرقت پول از خانه‌ها بی‌ارتباط نیست. و در شهر داخاو ماجراجویی دو پسر آلمانی برای فراری دادن دختری لهستانی باعث می‌شود خودشان از وسط میدان جنگ سردربیاورند…

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult

274 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2010

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sara Pahlevani · Rating 3 out of 5]

جزو کتابایی بود که به اسم نویسنده اعتماد کردم و خریدمش. پایان کتاب باعث شد بهش یه ستاره بیشتر بدم :دی خود داستان چندان چنگی به دل نمیزد و یه جورایی خسته‌کننده بود.
این کتابو پایانی بر خریدن کتاب نوجوان میذارم :)) احساس میکنم دیگه براشون پیر شدم

[Parastoo Khalili · Rating 4 out of 5]

کسایی ک میخان این کتاب رو بخونن باید بگم که این کتاب دقت بالا میخاد:)
شاید دوباره بخونمش

[Sima Ghafouri · Rating 5 out of 5]

مردم همه‌ی کشورها با هم دوست هستند، زندگی‌های شبیه به هم دارند. اگر هم به یک زبان حرف نزنند، اما شبیه به هم هستند. مثل شخصیت‌های داستان چراغ را خاموش کن که در جنگ جهانی دوم اتفاق افتاده است. بچه هایی که سر راه هم قرار می‌گیرند...

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Deary is a a writing god. His Horrible Histories books have turned so many children on to history, and I often wonder whether I might have been a little more successful in my O-Level history exam if those books had been my main source of information instead of the dreadfully boring teacher I have mentioned in a couple of previous posts. He is also the author of a host of fiction titles for young readers, and Put Out The Light is the latest of these (and, would you believe it, his 200th book). It was released at the beginning of September, on the 70th anniversary of the of the start of the Autumn 1940 Blitz.

Put Out The Light follows the lives of two different groups of children: in Sheffield we follow the story as narrated by young Billy Thomas, whilst in Dachau, Germany the story is told from the third person and focuses on Manfred and his friend Hansl. Billy is very much a typical schoolboy growing up in a difficult time, and the story starts off during the school summer holidays as he and his sister Sally run around their suburb of Sheffield as darkness falls, searching for excitement and making fun of the friendly Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden as he does his rounds bellowing "Put out the light!" at any offending household. Meanwhile, over in Dachau, Manfred and Hansl are equally typical examples of boyhood, yet their society is even more difficult as they have to constantly think before they speak in order to toe the line of the ruling Nazi Party.

The book consists of a different storyline for each of the two key locations. In Sheffield the two siblings suspect that someone has been stealing small amounts of cash from many houses in the neighbourhood, whilst their residents are waiting safely in shelters whilst the air-raid sirens sound. This all becomes a big game for them, as they pretend to be like their favourite radio detectives, Sexton Blake and his assistant Paula Dane. Over in Dachau Manfred is playing a much more dangerous game as he is plotting to help a young Polish girl called Irena escape from the factory in which she is forced to work, and the concentration camp she must live in when she isn't working. Time is running out for Irena and her fellow Polish prisoners as it was around this time that the Nazis started killing more and more of the people they believed to be sub-human.

These two storylines are complemented by the narrative taking occasional short visits to focus on other secondary players, whose parts seem fairly unrelated at the beginning but become increasingly more important as the story progresses. We therefore witness the young RAF pilots on their training missions, or waiting with nervous and excited anticipation for the call that will have them scrambling in their Hurricanes to head off the Luftwaffe's bombers as they head towards Sheffield. We also spend some time with their German counterparts, the men who will just as bravely take to the skies, but theirs is an attack mission with the sole aim of dropping bombs on British factories and airfields. At no point do these excursions away from the two main storylines cause us to lose the thread of the overall plot - instead they give us an even greater sense of being there.

I found the two concurrent storylines very tense and engaging, although I have to admit that I preferred the Sheffield-based story. Part of this is because of the great voice in which this part of the story is told; Billy tells is exactly how it is, and his relationship with his sister is both funny and heart-warming. Sally is a great character - she is the typical annoying little sister whose mouth gets her and her brother into trouble time and time again - and she has most of the best lines in the book. I did struggle at times with Manfred's story as I found I had to suspend disbelief a little more and question whether a German boy would have risked all to save a Polish girl who he hardly knows. Despite this thought I still found their story very exciting and tense, and I think 9+ kids will love it. It is, after all, not supposed to be a historical documentary; it is a story about young people not really understanding the true nature of war and all the horrors it brings, and the courage and resilience they can show in these situations.

In my opinion, there aren't enough books set in this period published these days, although more recently we have seen the likes of John Boyne (The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas), Paul Dowswell (Auslander) and Craig Simpson (Special Operations series) addressing this situation and producing some excellent World War II stories for Young Adults. With Put Out The Light Terry Deary has produced a hugely enjoyable book for a slightly younger audience and I hope that other authors will continue this pleasing trend as it is such a fascinating time in which to set stories for young people, many of which will study this period at some point in their school careers.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never read a Terry Deary book before but know his Horrible Histories books are really popular. I enjoyed this story about the first world war and how it focused on children on both sides of the divide. I also thought it was good that death and the harrowing circumstances people went through were described in detail as it's important not to sugar coat issues like this. A good book for younger readers and the far fetched elements like a child parachuting from a plane with another kid holding on added to the drama.

[Bella Mousavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

امتیازم ۳.۵ از ۵
بخاطر ی عده احمق بدون انسانیت، تر و خشک باهم باید بسوزن💔
دزد خاموشی رو هم حدس میزدم کی باشه و حدسم درست بود😎 کاراگاه بازیای خواهر برادره خیلی خوب بود😆
اینکه منفرد کم کم عقاید و طرز تفکرش عوض شد خیلی خوب بود. کاش بعدش هم اونقدر سختی نمیکشید😢
چقدر دلم برای ایرنا سوخت😢
چقدر آدم ها بودن مثل ارنست که بخاطر ترس از دست دادن جون خودشون و عزیزانشون مجبور شدن برن جنگ💔 آلمانیا حتی به همدیگه هم رحم نمیکردن...🤦🏻‍♀

وسطاش یکم خسته کننده شده بود واسه همین خوندنش یکم طول کشید ولیییی ۵۰ صفحه آخر خیلی هیجان داشت ی لحظه نمیتونستم کتابو زمین بزارم

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook format.
Quite a far fetched story but as a child’s historical novel, it’s still pretty good. The narrator had his work cut out for him with all the various accents. There was action, mystery and a bit of humour. One character in particular, made me chuckle a few times.

[M.K. Aston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever little story focussing on the bombing raids carried out by both sides during WW2. The narrative unfolds from both German and British view points in a gripping yet convincing style. Well worth a read.

[Bookgirl888 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story about 2 children who turn into detectives when someone has been stealing money during blackouts. They have a list of suspects and manage to rule some out. Will they work it out? There are twists and turns and some loveable characters.

[AmirM · Rating 4 out of 5]

هیجان انگیز و باحال بود!

[Mahdieh · Rating 4 out of 5]

متن منسجم و روانی داشت با اینکه دو تا داستان مختلف رو هم زمان پیش میبرد اما خیلی ماهرانه این کار رو کرده بود آخرش خیلی زیبا تمام شد
فقط اولش یکم حوصله سر بر بود تا این که وارد کشمکش داستان بشی

[Sophie]

Such fond memories of reading this in primary school

[Hinata · Rating 2 out of 5]

به عنوان یه رمان نوجوان خوب بود
اون کارآگاه بازی اون خواهرو برادر واقعا جالب بودد
و اینکه پیوند دادن شخصیت ها بهم از نظرم گاد بودش ولی خب محتوایی به اون صورت نداشت

[King Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting world war books I have ever read; the non-bias attitudes from both German and British children during the war truly gives an honest and genuine feel to what war was like. Also the opportunity to learn facts such as types of shelters and planes etc is a wonderful experience. This book is very well written and I would age it from 7-13 years due to the fact that it's non graphical etc which is very good for a book based on the war. There are many plots weaves into this novel not counting the war; for example the crusade to discover the blackout burglar in Sheffield and the quest to help a polish girl to escape Germany. If your child were to read this novel they will certainly be impressing there teachers with all there history knowledge..

Overall I would rate this book 9/10 because it's faultless, terry deary certainly shows off his history expertise throughout his novel and I'm sure by this book alone would interest the most procrastinated of readers to reach the end of the book. Also just to mention I read this book in 3 days and I feel that it's good value for money as well.

[Steven Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a wonderful book and shows the power of fiction. This one book will teach children so much about WW2. And, better than any text book , school lesson or film, it places you right there: empathising with the characters, feeling the peril, imagining what it was like.
The plot threads are tied up superbly at the end and will have you sniffing away the odd tear if you’re a sentimental, old so-and-so.
Full review at: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014...

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good quick read. Good for anyone interested in the war.

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thrilling world war II story.

[Jo Dugan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely 'watered down' tale of WWII.

[Stargazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for kids researching World War 2.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

For KS2 children learning about WWII -
My 8-year-old son is currently learning about the second world war from the perspective of a child of similar age to himself. We have just read Terry Deary's 'Put Out the Light' alongside Judith Kerr's 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'. The books take a contrasting approach to portraying the mood of the time: Judith Kerr's is set before the start of the battles when the Nazis have just come to power, and tells of refugee life from the perspective of an innocent young Jewish girl - with all the emotional warmth that is typical of the author, and nothing hugely upsetting; Terry Deary's takes place during the Battle of Britain of 1940 and dives into the action to give a more abrasive view of war.

Put Out the Light has both German and British children as protagonists, although there is bias towards the young boy from Sheffield, for whom Deary writes in the first-person. The story alternates between Dachau and Sheffield, allowing direct comparison. There are some graphic accounts of the horrors of war, which some children may find upsetting. Although Deary provides the reader who desires all to be well in the end with a satisfactory conclusion, he sustains the air of realism. Therefore, not quite the comforting ending that makes you feel warm and snug inside, but that is reasonable.

Deary is very much a hero of my sons (11 and 8) for his funny accounts of history in his Horrible Histories series. It was interesting to see their responses to each of these stories: they are typical boys in that they enjoy re-enacting battles and running at each other with menace, however it was Kerr's gentle story to which they both lit up and shared a giggle. She just has the ability to convey everyday feelings of children so easily that young readers cannot fail to connect. Deary's priority appears to be the history lesson of the second world war - he does not allow you any significant connection to the characters, which I feel is what most people want from a story?