Cam's Connection

Charlie Wilcox’s Great War Book Review By Sharon E. McKay 267 pages, $8.99 Penguin Canada Charlie Wilcox’s Great War is an exciting and fast paced sequel to the Canadian bestseller Charlie Wilcox. As you might have guessed, the main character’s name is Charlie Wilcox. He is a 17 year old boy from Brigus, Newfoundland. The book is set a long time ago, in 1919, during The Great War, or what we now call World War I. The book starts off with Charlie Wilcox arriving back home after being in France fighting the war for 5 years. He hasn’t seen his friends or family for all that time! I know that I can’t imagine being separated from everyone I know and love for that long. The war is officially over, but Charlie carries a lot of scars from battle that aren’t physical. He knows that war isn’t an adventure or a cheerful task. He’s witnessed firsthand the horrors and atrocities of war. Many of the friends he made while in Europe died gruesome deaths. These memories haunt him. During the book, Charlie has a lot of flashbacks about what happened while he was at war, in fact, most of the book is taken up by him dreaming of events that happened years earlier. He also harbours some secrets that he will have to deal with during the book. But to find out how it ends, you’ll have to read it yourself. I thought that this book was very well written and believable. The characters were also very likeable (some were quite humorous, too) and you were rooting for them the whole time. The book was very hard to put down, because you were always on the edge of your seat wondering how Charlie would get out of some of the sticky situations he found himself flung into. I think this book has a lot of relevance today, because another war might be starting overseas. People should read this book before they agree to support a war, because it will make them think twice about the terrible consequences. I would recommend this to anyone ages 12 and up, or younger if you’re a strong reader. The book would probably appeal more to boys than girls, but I think anyone would enjoy it, even adults. I would also recommend that you read the prequel first, because it explains a lot about how Charlie got to war in the first place, even though he was too young. At the beginning of this book, they summarize what happened in Book one, but reading the first book would be more enjoyable and make more sense.