“As Rob helped Millie over the wall, he couldn’t resist taking a final glance back at the house.
Again – from the end attic window . . . a flash of white.
Rob’s breath caught in his throat. Then he laughed
at himself. It would be a gull nesting on the windowsill. Not a ghost.
There were no such things as ghosts…”

Rob and Millie’s father goes missing in action while serving at the front during the First World War. The children desperately search the hospital trains returning to Edinburgh with the wounded. But there’s no sign of him.

An abandoned building deep in the woods is suddenly full of doctors treating soldiers with shellshock – but after Rob and Millie overhear a suspicious conversation they decide to uncover what is really going on at this new hospital. Who is the ghostly figure the children spy looking out of one of the top windows? And will their beloved father ever return to them alive?

‘If a WWI story can be lovely, this is it. Lots of brave acts from lots of people, and much kindness.’
THE BOOKWITCH

The post Ghost Soldier appeared first on Theresa Breslin.

In the second story, Kezzie and Lucy are reunited with Grandad in Clydebank. The Second World War breaks out, and the family spirit is put to the test. Kezzie’s strength is needed by so many – she must save an Italian family from the racial hatred they encounter, and rescue her old school friend Peg. As Clydebank is bombed and becomes a burning inferno, will Kezzie be strong enough to turn a tragedy into a triumph?

The post Kezzie at War appeared first on Theresa Breslin.

How do you react when the country is swept by war fever? If you’re young and eager to fight for your country with your older neighbours and friends. Would you forge the date on your birth certificate and run away from home?

What if you don’t believe in the senseless slaughter of young men in the name of politics and empire – what do you do when others label you a coward?

Rights for Women

In a world where women have few rights and aren’t consulted on the important topics of the day, would you have the strength to use the opportunity of war to stretch your mind and grasp the possibilities that it opens up? Could you leave the safety of your family and challenge the way the world works?

Love

How can love survive in the horrific conditions of loss and bereavement that a world war results in? What can you do in the face of death?

All these issues are faced by the young men and women of Stratharden, for whom life after the war will never be the same again.

The post Remembrance appeared first on Theresa Breslin.

Is Phil a pacifist at any price? When Sarah decides to join the Army Cadet orientation course, Phil is stunned: ‘You’re joking. Join the Death or Glory Boys?’

And always near, moving in a terrible dance of death, is Cal, waiting to bomb again…

A terrifying thriller that challenges our response to terrorism, and to soldiers fighting to keep the peace with weapons of war.

The post Death or Glory Boys appeared first on Theresa Breslin.

For Kezzie, the war began when the German planes fired at the cruise liner on which she was traveling home from Canada to Scotland. Yet she and her younger sister, Lucy, find that they have some months to enjoy their time reunited with Grandad in Clydebank before the war starts in earnest.

Soon, however, the family spirit is put to the test. Kezzie’s strength is needed by so many. First, she has to save an Italian family from the racial hatred they encounter, then she rescues her old school friend Peg. But as Clydebank becomes a burning inferno, will Kezzie be strong enough to turn a tragedy into a triumph?

The post Kezzie (A Homecoming for) appeared first on Theresa Breslin.

But their luck turns very sour when Lucy goes missing and is taken up by an adoption agency who send her to Canada. Without hesitation Kezzie sets off to find her little sister but will she be able to save her?

The post Kezzie appeared first on Theresa Breslin.