LoveReading Says
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 19 November 2009.
Set around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, this is a hugely topical novel from a master storyteller, which at its heart makes a plea for peace and unity. The story is told through the writing form of a diary around a journalist called Max who travels to the West Bank to witness how life is for Palestinians and Jews living in the shadow of a dividing wall. Max strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic Palestinian boy, Said. Together the two sit under an ancient olive tree while Said makes another of his kites. As Max is welcomed as a guest, he learns of the terrible events in his family’s past and begins to understand why Said no longer speaks. Told from both Max’s and Said’s point of view, Morpurgo has created a beautiful tale of tragedy and hope with an ending that rings with joy.
And a comment from the author:
‘It’s a story of hope above all. I’m very cautious that it doesn’t take sides. It’s about suffering on both sides’.
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The Kites are Flying Synopsis
A television reporter's extraordinary experience in the West Bank reveals how children's hopes and dreams for peace and unity can fly higher than any wall built to divide communities and religions.
Travelling to the West Bank to witness how life is for Palestinians and Jews living in the shadow of a dividing wall, journalist Max strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic Palestinian boy, Said. Together the two sit under an ancient olive tree while Said makes another of his kites. As Max is welcomed as a guest, he learns of the terrible events in the family's past and begins to understand why Said no longer speaks. Told from both Max's and Said's points of view, Morpurgo has created a beautiful tale of tragedy and hope with an ending that rings with joy.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781406317985 |
| Publication date: |
2nd November 2009 |
| Author: |
Michael Morpurgo |
| Publisher: |
Walker Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Primary Genre |
Young Adult Fiction
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| Recommendations: |
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About Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo has written over 90 books and has an unparalleled reputation in the world of children's books. His books have been adapted for the cinema, TV and theatre and he has won numerous awards including Children's Book Award, Whitbred Children's Book Award and the Smarties Prize.
Michael Morpurgo is, in his own words, "oldish, married with three children, and a grandfather six times over." After schools in London, Sussex and Canterbury (one of which was horrible enough to inspire him to describe it obliquely in The Butterfly Lion), he went on to London University to study English and French, followed by a job in a primary school in Kent. It was there that he discovered what he wanted to do. "We had to read the children a story every day and my lot were bored by the book I was reading. I decided I had to do something and told them the kind of story I used to tell my kids - it was like a soap opera, and they focussed on it. I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me."
Living in Devon, listening to Mozart, and working with children have provided most of the stimulae Michael needs to discover and write his stories. He spends about half his life mucking out sheds with the children, feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up and writing stories.
Michael Morpurgo, former Children's Laureate and author of bestsellers such as War Horse and Why The Whales Came, is the inaugural President of the Historical Writers Association beginning in Autumn 2011. The Historical Writers' Association (www.thehwa.co.uk) will celebrate its first anniversary in October. It was founded to bring social and professional support to writers of historical fiction and non-fiction, publishers, agents and booksellers, all bound both by their common interest in historical books and by the sense of community that comes from a shared obsession.
STOP PRESS: The Harrogate History Festival
Author of War Horse and over 130 books, and much-loved by readers of all ages, Michael Morpurgo will be at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate on Friday 23 October. Prepare to be inspired! Click here to find out more.
More About Michael Morpurgo
