Don't Shout at the Guns by Lawrence Harris

[Kate]

Synopsis (taken from Amazon):

World War 2 veteren Hank Jensen leaves New York for a nostalgic trip back to the battlefields of northern France. With him go his grandchildren, Aaron and Esther. When they find a camcorder which has an amazing flashback mode they have a real adventure.

 

 

This was an interesting read which has left me stumped as to how to review it. It is clearly a young person's book about WW1. The story follows Hank, his grandchildren Aaron and Esther and two young Britons Hank met at the battlefield's memorial a few years before, Polly and Tommy. They go back to France to visit the sites of WW1 and the teenagers, with the help of the camcorder, travel back to 1918 and experience an adventure of their own. This book did keep me gripped and wanting to know what happens but I do have complaints about the book.

Firstly, I was not convinced by the storyline of Jenson, the WW1 fighter. Although a good, engaging story, I did not find it realistic, and actually was not particularly informative about the War.

Secondly, I was not convinced by any of the characters. None of them related to me, known of them touched me, I just wasn't particularly interested in them.

And thirdly, I found it hard to believe that two teenagers would be allowed to travel to France with people they barely knew.

However, that said, I did not put the book down and was intrigued to know the ending.

This is a fictional, young adult book based around World War One.

5/10