Product Description

Jamie Monaghan wishes the war would hurry up and arrive in Liverpool. Despite the nightly air raids, the food rationing, and the gas masks he and his friends have to carry with them at all times, World War II has had little effect on life in Jamie's neighborhood. Jamie longs for a taste of the drama and excitement he hears about every night on the radio.

Soon the war hits a little too close to home. Fearing for Jamie's safety, his parents arrange for him to travel to Canada aboard the City of Benares, a ship carrying 100 young British evacuees. But in wartime, danger lurks in the most unexpected places. Instead of carrying Jamie away from the front lines, the ship brings him closer to battle than he or his parents ever would have dreamed possible. Before his voyage is complete, Jamie's courage and heroism will be put to the test, and his life will be changed forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #570682 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-13
• Released on: 1998-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This historical novel, based on the sinking of the City of Benares during WWII, is "eye-opening and utterly gripping," said PW's starred review. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Twelve-year-old Jamie Monaghan finds the war exciting until an incendiary bomb destroys his bedroom while he, his parents, and the neighbors are huddled in their makeshift bomb shelter. Now his parents no longer simply talk about sending him to safety away from Liverpool; his father makes arrangements for him to sail to Canada on the City of Benares. Based on the historical account of a German U-boat sinking that passenger liner, which was carrying 100 children from war-torn England, the story will provide middle-graders with another perspective on World War II. Heneghan subtly exposes the courage, trust, and utter desperation so many Europeans felt as they sought any safe place for their children, as well as the anger, confusion, fear, and courage of the children themselves. Universal yet ancillary issues of child abuse, poverty, and adolescent cruelty add contemporary authenticity to this historical novel. The sinking of the Benares comes late in the story, and the Liverpool dialect is prevalent; however, readers will find plenty of action, awe, and premonition to carry them to the exciting climax. Although other fiction for younger YAs, such as Michelle Magorian's Good Night, Mr. Tom (1982), addresses the deporting of English children to safety, this story humanizes what is otherwise just an interesting footnote to the history of World War II. Frances Bradburn

From Kirkus Reviews
To Jamie Monaghan, the only excitement in his life is trying to figure out his taciturn new classmate, Tom Bleeker, despite the fact that wartime Liverpool is preparing for German bombs. In fact, the year-old war sounds like fun to him, but when the bombs begin to fall, reality sets in. People's homes are destroyed, and lives are lost nightly. Jamie's parents send him off to Canada for the duration, finding him a place aboard the City of Benares. To Jamie's surprise, Bleeker is aboard also, along with his little sister, Elsie. The ship is torpedoed in mid-Atlantic and begins to sink rapidly. Bleeker saves the badly-injured Jamie and Elsie from going down with the doomed ship; they make it to a lifeboat but Elsie is washed overboard. Jumping into the raging water, Bleeker rescues his sister before he is swept away. Even Jamie, knowing of Bleeker's tenaciousness (an early school scene sets the stage for Bleeker's later courage), believes him dead. In the development of several strong characters Heneghan's writing really shines, particularly in the friendship that emerges between Bleeker and Jamie. It's a great adventure tale that would be exciting enough if it weren't also based on the real sinking of the City of Benares during WW II--an author's note presents the facts. A fine work of historical fiction. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A great adventure novel with lots of suspense!!
This book was a real eye opener as to what the second world war actually was like. The book is slow at times but when it gets exciting it really gets exciting. My suggestion would be not to stop reading when it gets slow because it will pick up the pace very soon. Overal I would say that this is a very worthwhile book if your interested in World War II.

Wish Me Luck
Reviewer: Middleschool student
Wish Me Luck by James Heneghan.
Jamie lives in Liverpool during World War 2. During the first year of the war there were no air-raids or nothing, so kids and adults started ignoring the war, until one night when the war struck to close to home. Jamie�s parents decided to send him to Canada on a boat along with the new kid, Beeker.
On the boat a Navy escort for protection followed them from the U-boats. When the Navy Escort left, Jamie and Bleeker knew they were in danger. That night the boat was bombed, and Jamie and Bleeker were in for the most horrible night of their lives.
Exciting and suspenseful. James Heneghan�s creative writing makes you feel like your there. I recommend this book to eight graders and up because it�s a little hard to understand sometimes and has bad language.

Gripping novel about children evaucuated from WWII England.
My twelve-year-old sixth grade boy and I just finished this wonderful novel. I am a children's librarian, but my son is a picky reader. Our favorite book to date is The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, which won a Newbery Medal. Wish Me Luck has many of the same elements that make Charlotte Doyle so terrific: thoughtful, original characters, adventure and excitement. Kids who enjoyed the movie Titanic and like to read will enjoy this book. It has bombings, fires, lurking submarines and finally, a shipwreck. Any book that will induce your child to hide under the covers witha flashlight and read a chaper ahead, I consider a winner.