SuitabookThe Skylarks’ War
Hilary McKay
- Reading
- Allow time for the gradual early development and pause after wartime sections to talk about loss, separation and changing family roles. The glossary may help when technical vocabulary interrupts understanding.
- Themes
- Growing up and gender expectations: Clarry is described as thoughtful and smart, pushing the boundaries of what girls could do in the early twentieth century. The restrictive expectations are presented as something Clarry challenges rather than simply accepts.
- War and its human effects: Rupert enlists, while the war affects the family and people remaining in England through conflict, nursing and food shortages. The story presents war through several connected experiences rather than only through fighting.
- Family, belonging and change: The children’s summers with relatives contrast with ordinary life at home, and the war threatens the family’s established relationships and hopes. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- It also includes restrictive attitudes towards girls, abandonment, food shortages and a character’s new life as a nurse.