Cuckoo Summer

by Jonathan Tulloch

'A ripping wartime adventure and a love letter to Lakeland’s farms and fells' Melissa Harrison

'With a brilliant cast of characters, dialogue to die for and a tone reminiscent of Robert Westall at his finest, I was hooked from the very first page' Phil Earle

Summer 1940. As the cuckoo sings out across the Lake District, life is about to change for ever for local boy Tommy and his friend Sally, the mysterious evacuee girl who lives on the neighbouring farm. When they find a wounded Nazi airman in the woods, Sally persuades Tommy not to report it but to keep the German hidden. This starts a chain of events that leads to the uncovering of secrets about Sally’s past and a summer of adventure that neither child will ever forget.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2022

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like the writing much. Couldn't keep me interested even though I was interested in the events that are happening.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to Cuckoo Summer because the title and cover reminded me of books I read as a child - nostalgia is a powerful force!

Set in a Lake District farming community in 1940, the story follows the adventure of two children, local boy Tommy - who tells the story - and Tyneside evacuee, Sally. (The latter is a bit of a mystery, as she never talks about her home or family.) When the two friends find an injured German airman in the woods, they face a dilemma about what to do next...

The characters are a delight, especially the determined and resilient, if headstrong, Sally, whose Geordie accent is lovingly rendered, and the Lake District setting is vividly portrayed. The quiet farming community may seem almost untouched by war compared to the cities, but that's clearly not the case, as Tommy awaits news of his missing father. Tommy's Auntie Annie is also a great character. And there's a thoroughly dislikable antagonist in the shape of the unpleasant Mr Scarcross.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Tracy Lander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is set in the Lake District during wartime. Tommy is a Lake District boy whose family own a small farm. His mother died and his father is missing in action, so he lives with his three aunts. His friend Sally Smith is a bit of a mystery, she is an evacuee From Newcastle but she doesn't tell anyone about home, or her family.

But then they find a German airman, he'd parachuted out of a plane that was coming down in Woundale. They hide him, from the Home Guard, the leader of whom is a man who fought in WW1, and has become bitter and twisted. Through the book we find that his attitude is quite awful. Sally is kind to his animals but he isn't, nor is he kind to Simon who works for him or to Sally. He certainly isn't going to capture the German airman alive....

But Tommy decides the secrets are too much and he has to tel his Auntie Annie.

Can they help Sally and the airman before it is all too late?

We have children at school that love historical fiction especially those about the war. This is fantastic. We've just read The Valley of the Lost Secrets and I think is is on a par with that.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a heart warming story! Of friendship and strength, adversity and courage. I loved the plot from the get go, and this book made for very easy and entertaining reading.

The authors easy writing style effortlessly eases you into the times. Thrust into the drama of the Second World War, you’re thrown into an adventure with Tommy and Sally, who discover an injured German airmen and conspire to keep him safe from those who would shoot him on sight.

I loved the setting of this book too, in the green countryside of the Lake District, farming for victory and doing what they could for the war effort. I speedily devoured the pages and it flew by in no time. A really enjoyable book!

Thank you to the author and publisher via NetGalley for this book in return for my honest thoughts and review.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delighted to have discovered Jonathan Tulloch’s first foray into children’s lit. thanks to happening to visit the White Rose Bookshop on the day he was promoting “Cuckoo Summer”. A great addition to the genre, carefully crafted, and bringing great gusts of Lakeland hill farming with it . Ideal class read for y5/6/7 to compliment or introduce a study of WWII but any keen young reader will enjoy this story.

[Claire ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

CUCKOO SUMMER is a charming wartime novel about friendship, compassion and secrets.

Tommy and his evacuee friend Sally find an injured German airman close to their home in the Lake District. When Sally convinces him to keep him hidden, Tommy must wrestle with the truth as the town searches for him, but Sally has secrets of her own...

I saw Phil Earle blurb the book and was immediately intrigued to this book. Given that Earle wrote WHEN THE SKY FALLS, one of my favourite wartime stories, as well as the more recently published WHILE THE STORM RAGES, which I also thoroughly enjoyed, my expectations were high... and sadly lowered as the book went on.

The Lake District is untainted by WWII, with only the evacuees and drafted soldiers any indication there is a war going on, which was a refreshing take of the children's wartime novel – so many stories of the same genre often thrust you right into the action. There's also the titular cuckoo, a gentle reminder of time passing through the countryside and a nice metaphor for the story arc.

Unfortunately, I found Sally's character to be utterly insufferable. Her accent (not the slang she uses) is written phonetically making her dialogue unreadable. Her and Tommy's conversations end up extremely one-sided, where she doesn't listen to him or brushes off his valid concerns with the same energy of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I only started to vaguely feel interested in her when her secrets came to light, and even then she was frustrating. I don't think she's a bad character, per se, but she definitely didn't appeal to me.

I also found there to be so many side characters that I couldn't keep straight, like the aunts. Mr Scarcross, Sally's caretaker, was a really great villain, however. Utterly terrifying.

CUCKOO SUMMER is sweet wartime novel but ultimately wasn't for me.

WILL I READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR? Depends.

eARC received from Andersen Press via NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This title releases on the 7th July 2022.

LAST REVIEW

[Stephen Dilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuckoo Summer is a lovely children's adventure story set in the Lake District during summer 1940. The novel is centred around the friendship of two children living on neighbouring farms: Tommy, whose father is solider who is missing in action, and Sally, an evacuee from Tyneside. When they discover a wounded German airman they decide to hide him to keep him safe from Mr Scarcross, the vengeful and embittered farmer with whom Sally lives. However, they soon find that they are in danger too, and questions are being asked about Sally's past.

Apart from the gripping plot, one of the best things about this book is its sense of time and place - it makes a real effort to capture the language, traditions and rhythms of a lakeside farm during the Second World War. Tulloch's use of the dialects spoken by Tommy and Sally is fascinating (particularly the numbers used for counting sheep) and the novel is full of beautiful descriptions of nature, including the eponymous cuckoo. This all adds to the rich haze of nostalgia one associates with the best children's fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review!

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in the UK you're going to get all sorts of nostalgia from reading this book. Set predominantly in the Lake District, you can practically see the rolling hills and hear the sheep shuffling at the grass. It's just so evocatively written - and what a triumph to see this landing in young readers hands, not only sharing the beauty of the countryside but also sharing a little bit of our history too.

The story starts in 1940, when Tommy and Sally have a life changing encounter with a wounded soldier - an airmen - hiding in the woods. They soon come to realise that reporting this discovery might not be the wisest idea in the midst of 1940 and instead they try to keep him hidden. The catch? He's not fighting for their side! The German airman needs their help, but there are much bigger secrets afoot for the children to contend with.

A brilliantly emotional, beautifully written and captivating book. The chapters are short, keep you interested and the only thing missing for me was a little bit of heart to make you fall in love with Sally and Tommy.

ARC provided from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so nice, having read a pile of books for the library recently, to find something that has been crafted and cared for. Characters that have individual voices and personalities; a landscape that is as vibrant and interesting as the story; real danger; risk taking; hope, trust, friendship. The story is gently spiced with natural history to give a sense of space and surroundings, a backdrop to the dramatic events that take place amongst the characters. You hear the dragonflies, get splashed by the water from the force, smell the lady’s bedstraw.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It kept me interested from the first page to the last, and even gave a little emotional kick at the end. Looking forward to more from this author.

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuckoo summer by Jonathon Tulloch is an exciting, touching story about trust, loyalty and the importance of bravery even when it’s hard. Set in the summer of 1940, World War II is taking place and in the safer part of the Lake District,England Tommy and his friend Sally are playing in the woods. Here thee cuckoo sings and the sun shines through the trees but the wood is not all quiet and peaceful as it may seem. After sightings of a German plane crash and all of the men found dead except one, the people of Woundale are extra cautious with rules stating that if you find him you must hand him in immediately. Sally then finds the German navigator and persuades Tommy to help her hide him in the woods to protect him from her evil evacuee host,Scarcross,who is determined to kill him and goes searching for him armed with weapons and guns. In the secret den they help the weak and injured German by covering his cuts and bruises and bringing him food and water. Along the way Sally‘s mysterious past is uncovered and we realise that she is not all who she claims to be.

I really enjoyed this book as it explores morals and people’s different opinions on what was the right thing to do in the times of war. The suspense kept me intrigued and curious throughout the book. I liked the range of personalities in the book and thought it drew up some really interesting ideas. For an example when Tommy is uncertain of whether he should agree to help the airman or not, he thinks back to what his father told him before he went to fight. He remembers asking his father about how shouldn’t they fight and distrust the opposition but the father explains that Every man is still a brother, father or a son.

I rate this book 4/5 stars just as I found it a little slower at the start but overall it had a great ending as well as a great message being portrayed. I highly recommend and believe this is a great read for ages 10-11 and higher.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this wartime story. The author has a wonderful knack of describing the natural background of the Yorkshire dales and that makes for a rich setting for the action of the novel. The plot centres on Tommy and his friend Sally, an evacuee at a neighbouring farm. They discover a German paratrooper and decide to help him hide from the authorities- at least for a while. Sally is a great character and I would have liked to have her as a childhood friend. As an added bonus, in one scene the children listen to "Singing Together" on the wireless and I remember doing that myself at primary school in the early 60's.
I would recommend this book for young readers aged 8-12.

[Laura Geater · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Sally the evacuee and her friend Tommy find a German airman stuck in a tree in the middle of the countryside her first thought is to keep it secret whilst Tommy wants to tell his aunts.

But Sally knows what it’s like to be alone and have to fend for yourself; she’s been doing it her whole life. Set against the summer of 1940 this story explores friendship and trust in a world turned upside down by war.

Read by our year 5/6 readers group who were not used to the slow pace and had problems with reading accents but understood the importance of the story being told and the power friendship can have in unnerving times.

[Wendy Bamber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wartime adventures are great for age 9+ and the German airman missing in the Lakes was an easy draw for me. And the Phil Earle recommendation on the front. I did enjoy this, I liked the characters and a lot about it but found it a little bit slow on the action and the ending anticlimactic. Concerns me that many of my readers won’t be drawn in and stick to it like I did.

[Jason Towers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear prose with lots of local detail and nature references. Plot meanders at first, so much so that I struggled to keep reading. The story gains considerable momentum in the second half, but for some reason the final payoff is omitted when the author skips forward several months.

[Suzanne Bhargava · Rating 4 out of 5]

WW2 home front adventure for middle grade readers, set in the Lake District with plenty of colloquial language to bring the characters and setting alive. Really rather lovely.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book, set in the Lake District during the war, even manages to introduce a little of the Cumbric language. A must read book.

[Viraj Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book ive read in a longtime