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'Our Castle by the Sea' follows the life of 12-year-old Petra and her family during the first year of the Second World War. Petra lives in a lighthouse in the fictional seaside village of Stonegate, Kent, where there is a looming threat of Nazi invasion. Despite the story being purely fictional, it addresses many real aspects of World War II England, such as the treatment of 'enemy aliens' (German, Austrian and Italian nationals living in Britain), the passing of the Treachery Act in May 1940, the threat of German U-boats in the Channel, and the assistance of British citizens in evacuating Allied soldiers from Dunkirk in May-June 1940.
Due to the length (over 300 pages) and difficulty of the book, I would read it with pupils in Years 5-6 (older children and adults would definitely enjoy reading it too, though!). Not only could the book be used to learn about World War II, but the author's use of descriptive language and a cleverly devised plot mean that it could be used to help the children with their own writing. Overall, I feel that this is a very good book, and would be an excellent choice to read with an upper Key Stage Two class.
