Book Review

A Carnegie Medal winner tells the true story of an urchin in Victorian London: the orphan boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to set up his famous children’s refuge.Jim Jarvis is a runaway. He has fled the dark and terrible workhouse where he was dumped when his mother died. But London in the 1860s is a dangerous and lonely place, and life is a constant battle for survival. Just when Jim finally finds some friends, he is snatched away and enslaved by the cruel Grimy Nick. Constantly watched and hounded by Nick’s vicious dog, Snipe, will Jim ever be free?

"It was a very impressive book. The story took me through a rollercoaster of emotions.The book is extremely engaging and hard to put down at the end of an evening.

I really did feel sorry for Jim when fate caused him to end up in the workhouse.But I felt happy when Jim outsmarted his captors to achieve his freedom from this madness-filled and malevolent institution.

I felt particularly worried when Jim Jarvis fell into the company of Grimy Nick and Snipe.The descriptions during these chapters are hard to bear because of his terrible maltreatment.

This is an outstanding novel of superb description, packed with heartfelt emotion and based on fascinating historical fact."

by John