The Wall
William
Sutcliffe
Bloomsbury
Walker Books
Releases: 6.4.13
ISBN:
9780802734921
Hardcover,
304 pgs.
Author On The Net:
Publisher Page: http://www.bloomsbury.com/author/william-sutcliffe
Blurb From The Publisher:
Drawn from a frightening political reality, The Wall shows the devastating effect of occupation and segregation on ordinary lives.
Joshua lives with his mother and step-father in Amarias, an isolated town, where all the houses are brand new. Amarias is surrounded by a high wall, guarded by soldiers, which can only be crossed through a heavily fortified checkpoint. Joshua has been taught that the Wall is the only thing keeping his people safe from a brutal and unforgiving enemy.One day, Joshua stumbles across a tunnel that leads underneath the Wall. The chance to catch a glimpse of life on the other side of the Wall is too tempting to resist. He's heard plenty of stories about the other side, but nothing has prepared him for what he finds . . .Set in a tense reality closely mirroring Israel's West bank, this deeply affecting parable of a boy who undertakes a short journey to another world lingers long after completion.
Our Thoughts On:
Sometimes when you pick up a book,
it seems like fiction. There is a dystopian feel to the story and as the plot
develops and thickens a reader may wonder how society came to be some way. How
could a people segregate others, or deny whole groups of people something,
because they have determined it to be so. How can an army act a certain way, or
how can children be raised to hate or fear others, convinced that some people
are so different than them; their way of life so much different.
There is a Wall. One side believes
that they are a chosen people, that their ideals are superb and that their view
of life and structure is the only one. One side is suffering, covered in rules
and forced to abandon all they knew and held dear because they are on the
“other”, the “wrong” side of a Wall.
“The town of Amarias is fictional.”
It says in the Author’s Note, but the story of the West Bank is not. While some
places in The Wall are
representations of the West Bank, much of the book’s characters are fictional.
These characters face real challenges that real people do, with perceptions
that people also hold true all over the world. The characters in The Wall are riveting and discovering so
many things about each other and the different viewpoints on each side of the
wall.
This is a heart wrenching tale of
two families that are both struggling to survive from their own demons; whether
they be the constraints of a wall, or the abuse in a family plus the weight of
war. William Sutcliff has created a fictional dynamic that
feels like fantasy, but at the very real cost of possible present day outcomes
and war. Ripe with interpersonal conflict and love, this story captivates
readers into the struggles of two families on either side of the wall trying to
protect the ones they love. Joshua has been born on the Amarias side of the
Wall, his life has been sheltered, well fed and told horrible stories about the
other side of the wall. Leila lives on that “other” side of the Wall, her world
is full of danger, and hunger. The army is on the Amarias side, and Amarias is
not only looking for more land to call their own with which they take by force,
but also with displacing the people living on the other side as well. While
families and farms have been bisected by these Walls erected by Amarias, and
the destruction of the land nis not only destroying the families and their
livelihood, but also their freedoms and beliefs.
Joshua’s home is full of fear and
hate, with an abusive stepfather and a grieving widow of a mother, there is
much unrest. When crossing through a tunnel in the Wall, Joshua comes face to
face with the other world he has been taught to fear, but instead finds an
oppressed people and a friend.
Leila was only trying to protect a
boy, but soon finds that in helping Joshua she has threatened her family and
her home. As the story unfolds you find that the youth are discovering more
about their circumstance, and that trust and perseverance can make a garden
grow. The Wall is fiction, but
transpires along a thread that could be a story from families today. Well written and engaging this YA release with astound
readers, but also leave them conflicted because the themes of the story are
present day realities. Find out more about The
Wall today, by picking up a copy.
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