One Year, One Night (2Nd Edition)

LoveReading4Kids Says

A young girl's experience of the start of World War II from an engaging narrator, with challenges, historical insight, love and family. In 1960 Annie returns to her childhood village for a World War II commemoration and discovers her diary that covers 1939 and 1940, when her father volunteers to go to war.

Taking us back in time through those diary entries, we see Annie gaining the responsibility of running the family hardware shop. The small village life with its gossip and interesting characters are brought to life. We gain insight into the experience of the evacuee children taken in by the villagers.

The arrival of soldiers leads to opportunities for romance and scandal. There’s also pop-art style illustrations throughout that help bring certain scenes to life, which fits perfectly with the 1960s starting point of the story. Our main character Annie is an intriguing and engaging character; her voice through the diary entries and the added narration that picks up where those entries leave off and is endearing and honest.

The different fonts help to separate the diary entries and the additional narration and which helps to keep the two timelines separate but the story as a whole still flows seamlessly, like memories related by a friend. The focus of this book is on the time period of the diary, 18th December 1939 to 19th May 1940, although it was interesting to hear more about Suzie’s perspective and her different experience of the war.

It also helps to add a new dimension to Ben’s story. I enjoyed Annie’s romance with Remy, it was sweet and gentle but the differing experience of Peg highlights the cultural expectations and risks of the time period for young women. I liked that we get a glimpse of the end of Annie’s story though I have been left wondering about events that happened in the interim - Annie is returning to the village in 1960 but where from?

What happened to the rest of her family and the other villagers? The synopsis also mentions that the narrative is based on a true story and I would have liked an outline of which parts of Annie's story were true and their origins at the end of the book. However in all this is an engaging historical fiction that would be enjoyed by teen readers with an interest in historical fiction.

Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading4Kids Ambassador

About One Year, One Night (2Nd Edition)

It's never easy to go back, especially when the memories you've been running from suddenly resurface.When Annie returns to her home village after a long absence, she rediscovers the diary she kept the year she turned 16, the year that changed her life. We follow Annie as she navigates a blossoming love story with a handsome soldier and her growing affection for an evacuee child. With tender and amusing moments, this story-set in a small English village during World War II-explores love, resilience, and loss with a fresh new voice.

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