London Calling
Edward BloorBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in between—floundering.
But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?
Where did this boy come from, with his strange accent and urgent request? Is he a dream? It's the most vivid dream Martin's ever had. And he meets Jimmy again and again—but how can his dreams be set in London during the Blitz? How can he see his own grandather, standing outside the Embassy? How can he wake up with a head full of people and facts and events that he certainly didn't know when he went to sleep—but which turn out to be verifiably real?
The people and the scenes Martin witnesses have a profound effect on him. They become almost more real to him than his waking companions. And he begins to believe that maybe he can help Jimmy. Or maybe that he must help Jimmy, precisely because all logic and reason argue against it.
This is a truly remarkable and deeply affecting novel about fathers and sons, heroes and scapegoats. About finding a way to live with faith and honor and integrity. And about having an answer to the question: What did you do to help?
Synopsis
Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in between—floundering.
But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?
Where did this boy come from, with his strange accent and urgent request? Is he a dream? It's the most vivid dream Martin's ever had. And he meets Jimmy again and again—but how can his dreams be set in London during the Blitz? How can he see his own grandather, standing outside the Embassy? How can he wake up with a head full of people and facts and events that he certainly didn't know when he went to sleep—but which turn out to be verifiably real?
The people and the scenes Martin witnesses have a profound effect on him. They become almost more real to him than his waking companions. And he begins to believe that maybe he can help Jimmy. Or maybe that he must help Jimmy, precisely because all logic and reason argue against it.
This is a truly remarkable and deeply affecting novel about fathers and sons, heroes and scapegoats. About finding a way to live with faith and honor and integrity. And about having an answer to the question: What did you do to help?
Children's Literature
When Martin Conway inherits an antique radio from his grandmother, he soon finds that the radio connects him with a boy. Through the radio, Martin begins to experience this boy's life during the Blitz in London. At first, Martin is sure he is imagining things. After some research, however, he realizes that the things he sees at night are true historic facts. When an encounter with a bully at school strengthens Martin's determination to leave the exclusive prep school his mother insists he attend, he asks to use this radio as a springboard for a school project. The project culminates in a visit to London with Martin's father, an alcoholic on tense terms with Martin. That trip allows many ill feelings in Martin's family and others to be put to rest. Once again, Edward Bloor creates a masterful tale of human emotion. He expertly weaves fantasy, historical fiction, and coming-of-age pains into a touching and thought-provoking story that also explores how history is made and sometimes unmade.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
When Martin Conway inherits an antique radio from his grandmother, he soon finds that the radio connects him with a boy. Through the radio, Martin begins to experience this boy's life during the Blitz in London. At first, Martin is sure he is imagining things. After some research, however, he realizes that the things he sees at night are true historic facts. When an encounter with a bully at school strengthens Martin's determination to leave the exclusive prep school his mother insists he attend, he asks to use this radio as a springboard for a school project. The project culminates in a visit to London with Martin's father, an alcoholic on tense terms with Martin. That trip allows many ill feelings in Martin's family and others to be put to rest. Once again, Edward Bloor creates a masterful tale of human emotion. He expertly weaves fantasy, historical fiction, and coming-of-age pains into a touching and thought-provoking story that also explores how history is made and sometimes unmade.VOYA -
John Martin Conway despises his exclusive prep school. A lowly scholarship student, he clashes with the obnoxious great grandson of "Hollerin' Hank Lowery," a famous World War II general and the school's founder. The confrontation results in damage to a statue of the famous general that is being erected at the school. Until things cool down, Martin elects to study at home. He is fascinated by a vintage 1940s Philco radio that once belonged to his grandmother, and falling asleep in front of the radio one night, he travels back in time to London during the Blitz. He meets Jimmy, a young boy whose life has a curious connection with Martin's own ancestor, his grandfather who was an aide to "Hollerin' Hank." Through Jimmy, he learns that the general and his grandfather were not quite the American heroes that they were cracked up to be. Yet the story is more than just a time-travel journey; it is also a journey of personal growth for Martin. Not only does he put to rest a mystery surrounding Jimmy's death, but Martin also comes to terms with his feelings of depression and the sorrow of an absent, alcoholic father. This time-travel fantasy has two deftly woven, parallel story lines that occasionally intersect in intriguing ways. Observant teens will appreciate the contrast between Martin's and Jimmy's lives, particularly with the personal problems that they both strive to overcome. There is a bit of something for everyone in this novel, with its elegant blend of contemporary teen angst, time travel, and history.KLIATT
Martin is an unhappy 8th-grade student at a snobbish New Jersey prep school that reveres the memory of such famous graduates as General "Hollerin' Hank" Lowery. When Martin inherits an old radio from his grandmother, he starts having weirdly realistic dreams set in London in 1940, where he meets a boy named Jimmy. With the help of his older sister, Martin researches historical details from his dreams. When they turn out to be true, he realizes that he is really traveling through time, and what he learns ends up changing the historical record on General Lowery, bringing peace to an old man's life, and altering a number of lives for the better, including his own. Bloor, author of Tangerine, Story Time, and other offbeat tales for YAs, neatly ties up all the strands in this tale of historical intrigue and wrongs righted. Martin's determination and the vivid scenes of London during the Blitz are sure to appeal. KLIATT Codes: J--Recommended for junior high school students. 2006, Random House, 304p., $16.95.. Ages 12 to 15.—Paula Rohrlick