We have read a number of what I term World War stories, stories about fighting and living through the World Wars but I am not sure how many dealt with the consequences, what happens after, how you pick up the pieces and what a World War does to an ordinary person just trying to survive it. A topic which I think is just as important for our kids to read about and this is what Out of the Rubble addresses and does so beautifully in a way which draws any younger reader in.

The story is based around a young girl Judy who is returning to London after being away (she was one of the children sent to the countryside to escape the bombing) for five and a half years. Judy and her mom now have the task of rebuilding their relationship in a world where their house has been bombed, they now live in a trailer in her uncles back yard, where her dad is still away, school is yet to return and her mom is working at a shelter. It’s a strange and uneasy world for Judy and in that mix is the fact that her mom was in the house when it was bombed and is now dealing with nightmares and the after effects. It is a story which I imagine a lot of families in England had to live, a story which would ring true of the after effects of lots of wars.

Out of the Rubble is part of a series of books called Super-Readable Rollercoasters aimed at encouraging struggling KS3 readers to get to grips with a good book. We have now read three books in this series (Lightning Strike, and Edgar and Adolf) and they have all been written in a easy to read yet engaging manner. My daughter, who is an avid reader really enjoyed this book, she loved the story and was captivated by the thought of what it must have been like to try and put your life back together after World War Two. For her it was a quick read but an enjoyable, thought provoking read. I also read it and I do think the writer has written it in a manner which would engage struggling readers.

Like all of the Super-Readable Rollercoasters this book comes with a Free to download Resource Pack. We have used a number of the Resource pack for different Rollercoaster books and I have to admit I really enjoy the resource pack’s that they have created for these Super-Readable books.

The packs start with a brief introduction to the book and an overview of the scheme of work (so number of lessons and what is covered in the lessons). This book has been split into 10 lessons which I think is really manageable and would work well if you split them over anything from a 2 week to a month period. Each lesson comes with a lesson plan and resources, plus with this pack have they included suggested answers.

One of the reasons I like these Rollercoaster Resources is the activities which they include are always varied. We have worked through quite a few of these Rollercoaster packs and the activities included are always different and always relevant to the story (I never feel like they have just slotted a worksheet in to tick some box, it always links into the story). For example in this pack the activities included were writing a play script, using metaphors and powerful adjectives in a poem, nightmare settings, timelines and different types of homes and a lovely jigsaw activity. All of the activities really did suit the story, the themes in the story and just seemed liked a natural progression of what the kids were reading.

My kids and I are huge fans of the Rollercoaster stories and I love having access to these Free to download resource packs. Out of the Rubble is yet another excellent addition to this series and one both my daughter and I would recommend.

Admin – Out of the Rubble was given to us along with a few other English books by Oxford University Press. Which books we choose to use and choose to write posts about was entirely up to us. We were not paid for this post.