Under a War-Torn Sky

Under A War Torn Sky, by L. M. Elliott, is a historical fiction story about the crucial role of the French Resistance movement and how they helped the Allies in WW2. I enjoyed reading this thrilling war story about heroes that risked their lives and the lives of their families and towns to fight the Nazi’s. Henry Forester is an American pilot that crashed into France during WW2 after being gunned down by the German Luftwaffe. The French Resistance helped him escape being captured by the Nazi’s. The book helps you appreciate the role of the French Resistance during WW2. Throughout the story, Henry meets kind, beautiful, and daring members of the French Resistance, who helped him escape from the Nazi’s in France. Elliott’s style is short, simple, and smooth sentences, which makes the book easy to read. An example is on page 52, “When he opened his eyes, Henry saw a huge bell hanging over his head. He strained to focus. The room had many windows and was lit by starlight.” Elliott also helps you paint a picture by making vivid explanations of the settings in the story. An example of this is on page 29. “At 6,000 feet the planes bobbed up into blue heaven, with a sea of fleecy white below.”Compared to other historical fiction books, this one is more accurate but not as realistic as most war stories. While Elliott did not cite research sources, her father and his friends were pilots in WW2. This story was inspired by her father’s experiences with the French Resistance during WW2. While this book may not be based on real and researched events, it is realistic enough to read, for young readers (I am 12 years old).

I read this book in 3rd grade it’s still my favorite. I love how the author captures everything so vividly I’m still able to imagine imagine I walking next to Henry witnessing everything.

I enjoyed reading this with my daughter.

Tense YA action/adventure story about downed World War II American pilot and the civilians of the French Resistance who risk all to save him. The young main character works through some old hurts from his father as he spends his days hiding, fearing, fighting. The folks who help him are kind and brave and so real. Hopeful, sad & satisfying. Great read! The best part—the story is based on the experiences of the author’s father!

I love love this book!! Its getting harder and harder to find, but this guys were able to get it to me quickly and in perfect condition!

This book moves quickly so you don't get bored. I really like that it focuses on the people on the ground in the WWII conflict rather than the high-level political environment that you memorize for history class

This book keeps upturning pages, you can’t put the book down! Amazing story in many ways, makes you also think of the wars we have now!

We are writing as a small book group with people of all ages. We thought the book was interesting and informative. It was suspenseful in places but a bit slow in others. We thought it had a good range of characters and it gave a glimpse into life in French occupation. Because they were in several different places and there was a lot of traveling from across national boundaries, the book could use a map. Definitely recommended for teaching about American soldiers' experiences in WWII and occupied France.

Amazing but sad

This was a very realistic story. The descriptions and situations the downed pilot and underground found themselves in could very well have happened. I felt as if I was right there and had trouble putting the novel down. I had bought this for my 13 year old son who is interested in WW2. I am glad I read it ahead of him. I came to the conclusion that is was more for 15+. It was not the intensity of the story that brought me to that conclusion but the romance in the story, as well as the relationship the main character has with his father would be better understood by an older reader. As much as I loved the story, I was very frustrated by the amount of swearing. I understand that when a plane goes down, the pilot will be very stressed, I don't think it is an excuse for the author to misuse the Lord's name again and again. I took it out with liquid paper and put the novel away for my son the read later.

Great😅. My favourite part was when the dog died and my sun absolutely loved the part when the Nazis milestone jews