On The Wall

This is a school story where teachers and pupils respect and like each other, talking freely and showing concern when it is needed. There is no bullying from either quarter and plenty of good humour in the staff room, smaller and more intimate than is normal in today’s big comprehensives. Pupils are equally positive, happy to accept the arrival of a true eccentric in their midst. This is Finley Tandy, an amiable non-joiner content to sit on the playground wall every break in silent, peaceful contemplation. Both staff and pupils end up by gravitating towards him given his ability to calm down others in moments of crisis. He does not change, and those who get to know him, young and older, learn from the experience.

Nothing much happens; there is no tragic end as it Michael Morpurgo’s brilliant The War of Jenkin’s Ear about another pupil too much on his own trajectory. Although the story is set in the present there is little mention of social media and its part in potentially troubling issues facing contemporary adolescents. Told mostly in dialogue the pace may seem slow for readers expecting descriptions of playground dramas or personal trauma. But the warmth of the narrative and the liveliness of the conversations in and out of the classroom are a treat for those in the mood to accept them. Anne Fine has written over 70 books for children, plus some pretty good ones for adults. She is one of a number of older children’s writers sometimes in danger of being overlooked as library stocks go down and bookshops, where they still exist, concentrate on the new. But she remains a star, with this latest gentle, almost elegiac story yet more evidence of her unique talents.