London Calling, Edward Bloor
London Calling, Edward Bloor
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London Calling

Author: Edward Bloor

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Unabridged: 7 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/26/2006


Synopsis

Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in between--floundering.

But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?

Where did this boy come from, with his strange accent and urgent request? Is he a dream? It's the most vivid dream Martin's ever had. And he meets Jimmy again and again--but how can his dreams be set in London during the Blitz? How can he see his own grandather, standing outside the Embassy? How can he wake up with a head full of people and facts and events that he certainly didn't know when he went to sleep--but which turn out to be verifiably real?

The people and the scenes Martin witnesses have a profound effect on him. They become almost more real to him than his waking companions. And he begins to believe that maybe he can help Jimmy. Or maybe that he must help Jimmy, precisely because all logic and reason argue against it.

This is a truly remarkable and deeply affecting novel about fathers and sons, heroes and scapegoats. About finding a way to live with faith and honor and integrity. And about having an answer to the question: What did you do to help?

About The Author

Edward Bloor is the author of the celebrated novel Tangerine which was an ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, a Horn Book Fanfare Selection, and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. The author lives in Winter Garden, FL.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Hope on November 26, 2018

Um, so this book is just a jumble. I thought this book was about time travel and Big Band music and the Blitz, but it turned out to be a father/son relationship story with some time travel thrown in. And this story of this depressed 7-20 year old (I literally could not tell how old this child was) w......more

Goodreads review by Anita on November 18, 2020

The book London calling by Edward Bloor is about a boy which hates his conservative school. In there he only gets bad grades and is always compared to his straight A's sister. Many people don't understand that the main reason why he gets bad grades is because his life at home is pretty hard. He has......more

Goodreads review by Cindy Dyson on April 26, 2015

When I start to read a book, I usually weigh the volume in my hands, look at the back cover blurb, and flip through pages to the beginning. I'm reading them yet, just assessing the font size and word count. It kind of gives me a clue about what to expect. With an audiobook, I do none of that.  I just......more

Goodreads review by Blakleayahoo.com on July 04, 2010

"London is calling", and I should have hung up. I only read the book to the end, so that I could review it completely. One star because Bloor wrote a book and the other star because I like his rather simplictic prose style. That's it. Johnny the teenage main character who lives in modern day New Jer......more


Quotes

“Bloor continues to demonstrate his range, this time mixing historical fiction with time travel in a poignant adventure story about fathers and sons. . . . Have tissues on hand for the final pages.”–Publishers Weekly

“Martin’s determination and the vivid scenes of London during the Blitz are sure to appeal.”–Kliatt


Awards

  • Virginia Young Readers Program Award