Young Quills 2015 winner, secondary category

1. I really liked Poppy as a character as she worked hard and was intelligent.  It was interesting to see how life changed for her due to WWI and read about her experiences as a nurse.  I really liked how it started to show the move for women's suffrage and would like to find out more about this as it was good to see more women taking an active role because all the men had to go to war.  I learned a lot about all the sorts of injuries soldiers faced during the war and how the nurses coped with these but it wasn't too difficult a read which was good and I wanted to keep reading rather than stop even when there were some really upsetting injuries.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is starting to study WWI or wants to learn more about what women did during the war as it is very informative and quite ‘readable'.

By Katie

2. Poppy's story was really easy to read as it followed her life just before WWI and as she joined the VAD to train to become a nurse.  We learn about her relationship with her employer's son which was really sweet and they continued to write to each other even when she went away.  We also learned a lot about the impact of WWI on women as she had a more respected role as a nurse and we see the start of the women's suffrage movement and how the war affected that.  It was sad to see all the injuries the soldiers faced and when they were scared of the injuries of those around them, the men were just called cowards and they didn't take into account how difficult they found it.  However, the story was quite easy to read and I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.

By Natalie

3. I found the story to be very slow-paced, and difficult to read. The plot line was predictable, and left a lot of things unexplained. The history, however, was well-researched and accurate. It has good characters and details, but I didn't find it challenging enough for me. However, it is a good book for those wishing to learn more about the VAD and the life of nurses throughout the war.

By Abigail

4. Poppy is a parlour maid in the De Vere family where we learn of the way she is expected to behave in society. Then when war breaks out her life changes.

The story gives a picture of the work of those who volunteered to nurse and had to deal with wounded soldiers and it shows how the war gave women some new opportunities to live their lives.

The author is quite honest about the way she describes the wounded soldiers' injuries.

I hope there is a sequel to the book as I would love to know what happens to my favourite character Poppy.

10/10

By Jessica