Today I am bringing you another brilliant collaboration between author-extraordinaire, Tom Palmer and dyslexia-friendly publisher Barrington Stoke. Ahead of the First World War armistice centenary, ‘Armistace Runner’ pays tribute to some of the war’s forgotten heroes.

This beautiful story focusses on the lives of two runners whose lives are connected across time through memories.

Lily has a lot on her mind – she just can’t seem to beat her bitter rival in her fell-running races and her gran’s suffering from Alzheimer’s and forgetting who people are.  However when Lily and her family pay a visit, something Lily says about her racing seems to trigger a memory in her grandmother.

Following her Gran’s instructions,  Lily discovers an old box in the attic containing her great-great-grandfather’s diaries from the First World War.  Hoping that the diaries might be a way to reconnect with her gran and provide inspiration for her upcoming race, Lily finds herself secretly reading the diaries late at night. At this point the story spilts into two different time periods and narrators – Lily in the present age and Ernest (Great-great granddad) in 1918.

What unfolds is an incredible story of loss, family and bravery which informs readers about the dangers and miseries of life on a First World War battlefield.  This is done in a sensitive manner, appropriate  for its intended readership of those aged 8+ and is sure to elicit a lot of questions about that time.

Being a Barrington Stoke book, you are guaranteed to get short, snappy reads by fantastic authors – and there are few better at historical fiction than Tom Palmer.  This book is also part of the Conkers List which aims to bring highly-illustrated quality fiction to its readers.

Library Girl (@BookSuperhero2)

*Many thanks to Barrington Stoke for sending me this title to review*