Eleven Eleven

Description

Set during the final 24 hours before the armistice at 11 a.m. on 11th November 1918, the story follows a German storm trooper, an American airman and a British Tommy. Their destinies converge during the death throes of the first ever conflict to spread across the globe. War becomes incredibly personal as nationality and geography cease to matter to each of these teenagers on the Western Front, and friendship becomes the defining aspect of their encounter. But who will live and who will die before the end of the day?

A former senior editor with Usborne Publishing, Paul Dowswell is now a full-time author. He has written over sixty books, including Auslander, shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Paul lives in Wolverhampton with his family. http://www.pauldowswell.co.uk/

(Eleven Eleven) will sit well alongside the poetry and factual accounts of life in the trenches and in the air. It is a deep and sad story . . . made so poignant because it all takes place on the last morning, leading up to Eleven Eleven * The Independent * This action-packed thriller combines historical detail with three very personal stories of courage, strength and tragedy, to produce a gripping and thought-provoking account of the final hours of a brutal conflict. This powerful page-turner is ideal for use in history teaching, as well as making compelling reading in its own right * The Book Trust * The excitement in Paul Dowswell's new book is of the terrifying kind... With every turn of the page mature readers will hold their breath, expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Paul Dowswell deals with war head on, leaving his readers in no doubt of its complexities and horrors * The Scotsman * The main thrust of this thrilling novel - the futility of war - is vividly portrayed through the actions and interaction of three sometimes puzzled and overwhelmed young men * The Irish Examiner * Auslander is a superlative, at times almost agonisingly compelling, piece of historical fiction . . . The climactic escape to freedom is pure muck-sweat tension * Financial Times * Dowswell is one of the best new writers of historical fiction for children . . . [Auslander] steps outside the victim culture of novels such as those by Morris Gleitzman and comes close to classics such as The Silver Sword. Admirers of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas should look at this novel as a model of imaginative sympathy * The Times *