Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2015 *Starred Review* Remember the Lusitania! That fateful day in May 1915 certainly won’t be forgotten by 12-year-old American castaway Merry, who is saved on the Scilly Isles off the coast of Cornwall, England, by fisherman Jim Wheatcroft and his son Alfie, who heard a humanlike noise coming from the uninhabited St. Helen’s Island. They bring the girl, her teddy bear, and her blanket home, where the family patiently nurses the girl back to health, though her lost speech is the most difficult affliction to remedy. Merry, known only as “Lucy Lost,” becomes a curiosity to the townsfolk, who begin to wonder if her mysterious origins mean that she is German. Soon they start to believe that retribution against the Wheatcrofts will show they mean business about harboring enemies. Morpurgo traces Merry’s tale from New York and her trip to see her father recovering from war injuries in England to the sinking and her rescue, and always with a deliberate pace. Chapters intertwined with the narrative describing Merry’s interests in music, drawing, horses, and the moon help readers understand the girl. While back matter duly describes the tale’s historic and geographic significance, it is Morpurgo’s finely woven tapestry of community, trust, endurance, and unconditional family love that keep the Lusitania best remembered. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2015 Gr 5 Up—The place: the Scilly Isles, off the coast of Cornwall, England. The time: May 1915, during the bleak early days of World War I when German U-boats patrol the seas and sink British ships. While fishing near a deserted island, Alfie Wheatcroft and his father hear a child crying and discover a sick, traumatized, speechless girl. "Lucy" is all she can say, and "Lucy Lost" is what she is named. Alfie and his parents take her in, and although she slowly recovers her physical health, she remains silent. Brief glimpses of who she might be—her ability to tame the cantankerous workhorse Peg, her skill at drawing, her adoration of music—tantalize the islanders. Early tales that Lucy is part mermaid or ghost, though, soon veer into suspicion that she's actually a German spy, and vicious persecution follows. Since chapters about the Wheatcrofts alternate with the recollections of Canadian American Merry MacIntyre, who is traveling to Liverpool aboard the Lusitania, readers are well aware of Lucy's real identity and root for her recovery all the way. This is a superbly written, gripping novel of friendship, family, healing, and war that is primarily geared toward middle school readers but will appeal to adults as well. By framing Listen to the Moon as a historical study, quoting fictional primary sources, and including helpful background information, Morpurgo may also inspire students to interview relatives and document their own family stories. VERDICT This is one of Morpurgo's best works to date; a first purchase for middle grade and teen collections.—Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.