Part 1:

I am (naam van jou) and I am in (klas). My book assignment is about Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden. This book is published by Penquin Books. The very first edition was published in 1973, and my edition was published in 2013. My book contains 192 pages. The genre is historical fiction. 

Part 2:

Carrie Willow and her younger brother Nick are evacuated to a mining town in Wales during the Second World War. It was difficult to find a family to foster them but they found Mr. Evans, a shopkeeper who is in charge of his gentle but weak younger sister, whom they call Auntie Lou. Carrie became friends with Albert Sandwich, another evacuee who stayed at a country house called Druid’s Bottom. Albert stayed there with Mr. Evans older sister, Mrs. Dilys Gotobed who was dying, and with Mrs. Gotobed disabled cousin Mr. Johnny Gotobed. Hepzibah Green, the housekeeper, told many tales, including one about a curse on Druid’s Bottom, which would be activated if a skull is removed. Mr. Evans doesn’t like his older sister Mrs. Gotobed because she married a rich Englishman whose family owned the mines where their father died. Mrs. Gotobed claims she wrote a will saying Mr. Johnny and Hepzibah Green they can continue living in the house. When Mrs. Gotobed dies the will is gone, Albert Sandwich suspects Mr. Evans. He says he stole the will and destroyed it so Mr. Johnny and Hepzibah Green can’t live there anymore. Carrie doesn’t believe what Albert is saying, Albert gets more confident of his theory when Mr. Evans gave Carrie a ring that belonged to Mrs. Gotobed. Carrie changes her mind when Albert remembers there was an envelope in Mrs. Gotobed's jewellery box. The envelope disappeared when Mr. Evans visited the house to take an inventory of Mrs. Gotobeds belongings. Carrie and Albert both think the will was in the envelope and Mr. Evans destroyed it. Carrie wants to put an end to it by throwing the skull with the curse in the horse pond. After that Mrs. Willow arranges a new home for her family near Glasgow. While the children leave in the train they see that Druid's Bottom is on fire. Carrie feels guilty for this because she released the curse on skull. In the end Carrie learns that Mr. Evans was innocent and the envelope didn’t contain a will. The ring Carrie got was a present Mr. Evans once gave to Mrs. Gotobed. 

Part 3:

 setting

 i - what is the location of your novel? Support this with a textual reference. Carrie’s War started in 1973. Then they take you back to Londen where Carrie and her brother Nick left to go to a mining town in Wales. In the mining town they lived nearly 2 years.

Textual reference: “Lived where? There were no houses in sight: the wooded mountain rose on one side of the old railway track and fell steeply away on the other. No sound of people, either: no cars, no aeroplanes, not even a tractor. Only a pigeon or tow in the trees and sheep, baa-ing below in the valley. ‘Druid’s Bottom,’ Carrie said. That’s where we lived. 

ii - in what time period is your story set? Support this with a textual reference. The story takes place 30 years after the war, when Carrie (as an adult) sees the old house in the woods in Wales with her children. The story takes place in the present (1973) and then goes back to WW2 in 1942-1944.

Textual reference: “No one’s been here for hundreds of years… ‘ ‘Not hundreds, thousands… ‘ ‘A hundred, thousand years. A million, billion, trillion… ‘ ‘Only about thirty,’ Carrie said. She spoke as if this was no time at all. ‘I was here, with Uncle Nick, Thirty years ago. During the war - when England was at war with Germany’.

iii - how long does the story take (a couple of days, months or years even)? How can you tell? This story is called a frame story, this means that it is a story within a story. The story is being told by Carrie herself. The story takes around a couple days. Telling the story and the kids going to Druid’s Bottom while their mother is sleeping at the pub.

• characterisation

Caroline Wendy Willow (Carrie): 

Carrie had long dark hair and green eyes. She was young when she (Carrie as an adult) lived in the mining town. In fact she was eleven years old. She wasn’t very tall either. Young Carrie experiences love with Albert which makes her feel delighted. She also feels guilty for what happened with Druid’s Bottom when she threw out the cursed skull. Carrie tells the story so it is told from her perspective. The story also revolves around Carrie because she is the main character. You see the whole story throw Carrie’s eyes, that is why she is so important. Carrie makes big decisions in the book, like throwing out the cursed skull. Carrie is a round character because she develops throughout the story. I think she learns from her choices and has a complex character. Her character is hard to describe, that is another reason why she is a round character.

Nicholas Peter Willow (Nick):

Nick was 9 years old when he lived in the mining town in Wales. Nick has brown hair. It is not specifically mentioned how tall Nick is, but i am guessing he isn’t tall because he is very young. Nick is reckless and adventurous but scared sometimes, his sister is very protective over him but also jealous because he gets away with everything. In some moments in the book it is obvious that Nick really looks up to his sister and wants to become more like her. Nick is important to the events in the story. Because Nick and Carrie experience a lot with each other in the story without Nick the story would be a bit boring, because then it would just be Carrie. Nick is glad and relieved when they finally leave the mining town. Nick is a flat character. I know this because he doesn't change much throughout the story. Nick keeps being Nick and doesn’t develop his character.