Bomber by Paul Dowswell

Bloomsbury, 2015 ISBN 978 1 4088 5849 3
(Age: Upper Primary and Lower Secondary) Well recommended. A realistic and grim account of a US crew flying a B-17 bomber to England to support the RAF and then the perilous flights to bomb strategic places in Germany in 1943. Told from Harry Friedman's perspective, the reader is enveloped in the everyday detail, from the devestating explosion of a retuning bomber when all the aviators died on landing, to the intricate detail the mechanics went to keep the bombers flying. The unseen horrors of night flying over Germany for the crew of the Macey May, the bail out over occupied Holland on a training run, the first successful sortie followed by a heart stopping final flight gives the reader a taste of the real horror of war and of being brought back to England by the French Resistance. The descriptions of the crew and their reactions bring a touch of normality to this gripping and believable story, loosely based on places the author knows.
The pace moves swiftly along with story line and has clear, well spaced text.
There is a clear double page explaining the positions, names and aeroplane details of the crew of the Boeing Flying Fortress B-17 G. There are 3 pages called 'Fact Behind the Fiction' where the author is interviewed.
Sue Nosworthy