War is coming. Everybody says so. Noah doesn’t like his dad leaving to fight Hitler, but must accept it. Just before he leaves, Dad makes a deal with Noah. If Noah looks after their much loved dog, Winn, Dad will be sure to come home again. Noah takes the deal seriously, not knowing what’s coming.

The government has announced that all children in London must be sent to relatives in the country if possible, or put on a train to stay with strangers in the countryside. This will keep the children safe until the war is over and they can return home. Noah doesn’t like this idea much either, but as long as Winn will be with him, he’ll be fine.

The next decree from the government is that all pets must be destroyed. What! Noah pleads and begs his mum to look after Winn, but she agrees with the authorities that it will be better for animals not to be frightened by bombs, food shortages and all that war brings.

Noah has made a deal. Winn must be kept safe. There is no way he is going to break it, rules or no rules.

He comes up with a plan. He’s good at ideas and jumps into them almost as quick as they come to him. He decides to run away with his best friend Clem, who also has a beloved dog, named Frank. They’ve heard a rich lady is taking animals in. She lives well out of London, and seems their only hope. Taking the Queen Maude, (his father’s boat), they set off down the river Thames.

Problems quickly arise. The boat is old, they have little food and water, and the boy that has bullied Noah his entire school life has forced his way aboard with his pet – a large, cranky, python named Delilah. Also onboard is a donkey they name Sampson, and two kittens they save from a rowboat.

Noah and Clem’s menagerie are about to face a war of their own to save their pets. Cold, boredom, bridge authorities, hunger, thieves after the python (who will fetch a pretty penny), and the continuing war between Noah and his bully, are all up against the trio reaching their goal.

Add in the police looking for them, and the tension rises up notch after notch. Will they ever get to the animal haven?

While the Storm Rages is an untold story of the Second World War. It has everything – Action, adventure and animals, not to mention courage, and a quest – all as war breaks out in the UK.

I’d never heard animals had to be destroyed by govt decree, and can instantly sympathise with the main character, let alone factoring in a deal that in Noah’s mind will keep his soldier father safe.

Dealing with all the animals is a mission in itself, let alone avoiding trouble on the filthy waters of the Thames and the police on the riverbanks. A snake needs to be kept warm. Dogs and kittens need food and water, as does an often cantankerous donkey. But these animals are all important parts of their plan and their escape to a rumoured animal haven.

Phil Earle is a brilliant writer and I dived on this new novel when I discovered it. I wasn’t disappointed. The legitimacy of the squabbling children, the bully’s behaviour, the animal’s courage and what faced Noah at the end was wonderful to read. There is no tidy or expected conclusion to their quest either, making it even more believable.

I gobbled up the final pages, hoping…  wishing…

Author – Phil Earle

Age – 9+

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(2022, Animals, Action, Adventure, Conflict, Courage, Crime, Historical, War, Donkey, Kittens, Dogs, Python, Bully, Shoplifting, Spitfire crash, Thames, Quest, River Journey, WWII, World War II, Escape, Evacuation, Conscription, Conscientious Objector, Duchess, London, Government rules)