Shadow

by Michael Morpurgo Narrated by Abdullah Afzal, Mike Rogers

Overview

A stunning and moving novel from Michael Morpurgo, the nation's favourite storyteller - featuring the bravest dog in all the world...

This is the story of Aman, as told in his own words - a boy from Afghanistan fleeing the horror of the Afghan war. When a western dog shows up outside the caves where Aman lives with his mother, Aman is initially repulsed - it is not customary for people to keep dogs as pets in his part of the world. But when Aman and his mother finally decide to make a bid for freedom, the dog Aman has called Shadow will not leave their side. Soon it becomes clear: the destinies of boy and dog are linked, and always will be...

The bestseller Shadow by Michael Morpurgo, the Sunday Times bestselling author, is a historical fiction that explores themes of military wars, immigration, and family. It's a top pick among juvenile and children's books, with its social themes resonating with kids and parents alike.

For fans of Katherine Rundell (Rooftoppers), Philip Pullman (The Secret Commonwealth), Michelle Magorian (Goodnight Mister Tom), Dick King-Smith (Martin's Mice), and Louis Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger).

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Morpurgo (War Horse) fuses the devastation of war, anguish of the refugee experience, pain of losing loved ones, healing power of friendship, and redemptive influence of a dog's loyalty in this multifaceted novel, first published in 2010. The author also effectively balances three narrators: Matt, an earnest British 14-year-old; his best friend Aman, who escaped to England from Taliban-occupied Afghanistan six years earlier and is now awaiting deportation; and Matt's compassionate grandfather, who uses his skills as a journalist to fight Aman's deportation. Aman's flashbacks to life under the Taliban (who killed his father, imprisoned and tortured his mother, and blew up his home) and to his arduous flight to England with his mother make up the novel's most harrowing passages. At its emotional core, though, is Aman's relationship with Shadow, a remarkably intuitive spaniel with a surprising past that wanders into his family's cave in Afghanistan and guides Aman during their escape. Despite many sobering plot elements, the novel's subject matter never overwhelms Morpurgo's streamlined storytelling and subtle characterizations. Ages 10–14. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

Shadow is the perfect book for classroom teachers looking for a contemporary tale of the old, sad story: war's devastating ramifications for everyone, including children.” —Horn Book

“Morpurgo humanizes the asylum story through one refugee boy's viewpoint.” —Booklist

“Heart-rending and heart-affirming…” —Kirkus, starred review

“Shadow succeeds in evoking empathy and inspiring readers to take a stand for their beliefs.” —School Library Journal

School Library Journal

Gr 4–8—Friendship transcends cultural and generational differences in this deeply moving novel. It's been six years since Aman and his mother escaped a nightmarish existence under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan for a better life in England. However, their request for asylum is denied, and they're sent to an immigration detention center to await deportation. After several appeals for release go unheeded, they begin to lose hope. Aman's best friend, Matt, shares the tragic details with his journalist grandfather in the hope that he'll visit Aman and write an article garnering public sympathy. Grandpa visits Aman, and after a tense start, gets the boy to open up. At the heart of the story is Shadow, a bomb-sniffing dog for the British army who becomes attached to Aman in Afghanistan after being separated from her unit. Shadow's presence reassures Aman and his mother, as they trek from their village to Kandahar, where they are miraculously reunited with the dog's unit. The memory of Shadow's resilience buoys the teen and his mother as they continue their arduous journey to England. As he did in War Horse (William Morrow, 1983), Morpurgo displays keen sensitivity in using the intense bonds between young people and animals to relate the devastating impacts of war. A useful postcript provides facts about the war in Afghanistan, the real-life Yarl's Wood detention center in Bedfordshire, and bomb-sniffing dogs. Shadow succeeds in evoking empathy and inspiring readers to take a stand for their beliefs.Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Kirkus Reviews

Two 14-year-old boys, one Afghan and one English, find friendship with each other and with two exceptional dogs. Aman and his mother have fled the horrors of life under the Taliban for asylum in England, only to face deportation six years later. His best friend in school and on the soccer fields is Matt, an English boy spending the summer with his grandfather and his grandfather's dog, Dog. Morpurgo tells the story through the voices of Matt, his grandfather and Aman. In the beginning, Matt convinces his grandfather to visit Aman, who is being held in Yarl's Wood, a detention center. His grandfather continues the story, gently persuading Aman to recount what happened in Afghanistan and during the long, treacherous journey to England. The grandfather then organizes a demonstration to protest the deportations, receiving help from sympathetic ministers and an exploding volcano. The titular Shadow is a spaniel, a sniffer dog, trained to alert soldiers to roadside bombs, and she just about steals the story. The dog had bonded with Aman after being separated from her British army unit. Morpurgo has long championed the plight of children and animals in wartime and here ably succeeds in dramatizing the far-reaching repercussions of the decades-old war in Afghanistan. Humanity triumphs over evil and bureaucracy in this heart-rending and heart-affirming story. (postscript, background information on Yarl's Wood and sniffer dogs) (Fiction. 9-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170213825
Publisher:	HarperCollins UK
Publication date:	09/30/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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