This book is set in World War One and tells a story of a young boy growing up with a terrible secret. It shows him falling in and out of love and facing the horrors of trench warfare. It is a gripping story of Tommo writing about his past in the trenches.

Michael Morpurgo tries to tell an all-round story of love, war, greed, jealousy and anger. He does it well. It is easy to read and is very well written.

I was tied to the book from the very beginning and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I didn’t really like the end though, because it was a bit of a let-down after the rest of the book; you expect him to do something amazing and heroic and when he is sent to the Somme you know the likelihood of his returning home is very slim and yet his last words are "I must survive" so it leaves you wondering whether or not he does survive and, if so, how were things when he returned home: did he find the right sort of love in the end? It made my imagination run away with what could have happened and what Michael Morpurgo could have written but I like to know the way the author wanted it to end and I was a bit disappointed with the ending of this book.

I strongly recommend reading it, however, as it is fun and easy reading. I thought that Michael Morpurgo aimed this book at nine year-olds up to adults . I think this book deserves to win and hope it will as it is one of the best books I have read for quite a while. Its content was excellent and it was just a very good book.

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