The River Tree

This engaging short novel (106 pages) has as its central character Peg Price, who is 15 years old as the Second World War begins and whose family farm in the south of England. Ties are strong in this book - family, friends, community - and the characters inhabiting the pages are clearly and realistically drawn, providing a vivid microcosm of events on the larger canvas of Britain at war. Peg struggles to reach maturity: denying the jealousy she feels when her hero and her sister fall in love; coming to terms with the death of their farmhand in the fighting; supporting her neighbour's son, Dan, in his stand as a conscientious objector. The River Tree of the title is the symbol for her attainment of that maturity and her realisation that she must be responsible for her own decisions and opinions. Book box material, third-years plus - and don't ignore its fascinating historical content.