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Summary
Summary
In her first novel, beloved author Shirley Hughes presents a World War II adventure proving that in extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things.
Italy, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though -- and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings -- with only a bicycle to help them -- do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.
Author Notes
Author and illustrator Shirley Hughes was born near Liverpool, U. K. on July 16, 1927. She studied drawing and costume design at Liverpool School of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford. At first, she was an illustrator of other author's works, but in 1960 she published Lucy and Tom's Day, which was the first book she wrote and illustrated. Since then, she has written over 50 books and has illustrated 200 children's books. In 2015, she wrote a young adult novel entitled, Hero on a Bicycle. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Dogger in 1977, the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished services to children's literature in 1984, and the OBE for services to children's literature in 1998. Hughes was given two Honorary Degrees, one from the University of Liverpool in 2004, and the other from the University of Chester in 2012. In 2017, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Shirley Hughes died at her home in London on February 25, 2022. She was 94.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (7)
Publisher's Weekly Review
After more than 50 years of writing and illustrating children's books, two-time Greenaway Medal-winner Hughes delivers her first novel, a tense and emotional thriller set during the German occupation of Florence in 1944, near the end of WWII. With an absent father and a British mother, 13-year-old Paolo Crivelli and his 16-year-old sister, Constanza, suffer isolation and scrutiny under the tight security of the Nazis and their neighbors' suspicion (their father is believed to be a Partisan, part of the pro-Allied resistance). Paolo secretly violates the city's curfew each night to ride his bicycle across town, and Partisans approach him one evening, setting in motion their plan to have Paolo's mother harbor escaped Allied prisoners of war. The third-person narration shifts smoothly among Paolo, Constanza, and their mother, giving readers profound insight and perspective on their individual worries and pressures, as their situation becomes all the more perilous. The Italian setting is vibrantly presented, and Hughes creates both a memorable cast and a palpable sense of danger at a critical juncture of the war. Ages 10-14. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In her first novel, veteran picture-book creator Shirley Hughes moves from the small dramas of contemporary young-child life to a story of wartime survival/adventure in 1940s German-occupied Florence. The titular hero is Paolo, a thirteen-year-old boy who misses his father, away fighting with the partisans, and chafes at the restrictions of his otherwise all-female household: his mother, the English-born Rosemary; his older sister, Constanza; and the housekeeper, Maria. While Paolo finds some respite in his secret nightly bicycle rides through the tense city, he hopes that they might also be his ticket of admission to the resistance activities of the partisans hidden in the hills around the city. With the narrative's point of view moving among Paolo, his mother, his sister, and, briefly, a Canadian P.O.W., some intimacy is sacrificed, but setting and atmosphere are surely established, and the sense of danger is everywhere, allying us with the characters' efforts to survive and subvert their conquerors. roger sutton (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
The resistance movement in WWII Italy is the backdrop for a beloved picture-book creator's first full-length novel. In 1944, with Nazi soldiers occupying the city and their father away, teens Paolo and Costanza Crivelli are bored. Paolo, 13, sneaks out to bike through the streets of Florence at night, seeking adventure, avoiding the occupying Germans, and hoping to meet his heroes, the Partisans, while his 16-year-old sister sulks in her room. In spite of their mother's attempts to shelter them, the war comes far too close when their mother, already under suspicion because of her English background and her husband's known anti-Fascist views, reluctantly agrees to hide a pair of escaped prisoners of war. Soon Paolo becomes part of the escape strategy, and his bicycle becomes a Partisan tool. An omniscient narrator switches focus among the three family members as the action takes place in and under the family villa, in dark city streets, and in the surrounding countryside. The mounting suspense will keep readers turning pages. An absorbing survival adventure.--Isaacs, Kathleen Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
HISTORICAL fiction has an interesting place in the world of children's literature. Regularly celebrated by adults with awards like the Newbery, these books nonetheless raise the question of whether the intended audience feels the same enthusiasm. What I've observed as a classroom teacher is that while not in the multitudes that flock to the goofy fun of Wimpy Kid or the wild fantasies of Percy Jackson, there are still plenty of young readers who can't get enough of the past. Those among them who find the excitement and anguish of World War II especially fascinating, along with others who enjoy a gripping wartime tale whatever the time period, are going to relish Shirley Hughes's realistic adventure, "Hero on a Bicycle." A much-lauded British creator of picture books like the Alfie series, the octogenarian Hughes was inspired to write this historical novel for older children by a family she met during a postwar visit to Italy. It is the summer of 1944 in Nazi-occupied Florence, and without school or friends to keep him busy, the bored 13-year-old Paolo Crivelli spends his nights taking clandestine bike rides about the city. Paolo believes his family is unaware of his activities, but his 16-year-old sister, Constanza, and British mother, Rosemary, lie anxiously awake waiting to hear him safely return home. All three are on edge, missing the family's anti-Fascist father, who has gone into hiding, and coping with the stress of the occupation and the wait for the front, growing closer day by day. Paolo worships the partisans, the shadowy resistance fighters lurking in the nearby hills and, after being roughly rebuffed when he attempts to join them, is shocked to learn that they've asked his mother to hide two escaped Allied prisoners of war. Vividly evoking the closing-in conflict, with tanks rumbling along a nearby road, zooming fighter planes and relentless shellfire, Hughes ratchets up the tension. Frightening searches initiated by the suspicious Gestapo collide with the family's intense efforts to first keep the escapees concealed and then to ferry them safely away. "Constanza, Rosemary and Paolo then sat in strained silence, listening to the sounds of the search progressing overhead; heavy boots crossed the floor, cupboards were flung open and furniture was pulled around." Sensitively, she moves readers into the heads and hearts of the three family members: Paolo with his youthful yearning to be part of the action; Rosemary, terrified of what might happen to him; and Constanza, moodily playing the same songs over and over while dreaming of the life of a regular teenager. Huge as the war is, this story is an intimate one - centering on the courageous actions of one Italian family as the conflict arrives at their doorstep, forcing them to grapple with the harsh complexities of good and evil. The actions of secondary characters like a young German officer, a careless wealthy friend and the brother of a loyal family servant reinforce Hughes's clear desire for her young readers to understand that those on either side can have a myriad of honorable and dishonorable reasons for their behavior. The simple sketches at the beginning of each chapter, along with the third-person omniscient narration that drops into the mind of one character after another, give the tale a somewhat old-fashioned sensibility, and young readers will probably be more interested in what Paolo and Constanza do than in Rosemary's fretting. But noble and brave they all are, and by the end, Paolo with his bicycle is only one of many heroes in this dramatically told historical novel. Monica Edinger teaches fourth grade at the Dalton School in New York City and blogs at Educating Alice.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-The first novel (Candlewick, 2013) by octogenarian Shirley Hughes, the award-winning picture book author and illustrator, is set in Italy in 1944. The story follows 13-year-old Paolo, his 16-year-old sister Costanza, and their mother. The family lives in the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Florence. Their father, an anti-Fascist, fled when the Nazi's took control, leaving the family in a politically precarious position. Paolo's nighttime forays into the city on his bicycle have brought his family into contact with the Partisans, the Italian resistance, who ask them "in a convincing manner, made more convincing because of the gun" to help them. Told in third-person narration, the story builds in tension, skillfully shifting between the perspectives of each main character as well as the many well-developed secondary characters who add depth and understanding to an age-old question this story seeks to answer: What motivates people's actions in times of war? Simon Vance's incomparable vocal style is a perfect fit for this intense and suspenseful work of historical fiction. With his strong and consistently paced narration, as well as subtle and skillful character voices, Vance's performance is both nuanced and captivating. A website (www.heroonabicycle.co.uk) offers additional material to supplement lesson plans or deepen book discussions. For those interested in offering students more in-depth information about the time period, other supplemental sources would be required. Highly recommended for students who enjoyed John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (David Fickling Bks., 2007) and historical or WWII fiction.-Chani Craig. Converse Middle School. Palmer, MA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Guardian Review
There's an essay to be written on the significance of the bicycle in Italian culture. From Vittorio de Sica's film Bicycle Thieves and the Roman urchins of Pier Paolo Pasolini's writings to Niccolo Ammaniti's I'm Not Scared, this humble form of transport brought new freedom to the disadvantaged, from the peasant and artisan to the child. In Hero on a Bicycle, Paolo's relationship with his bike is as important to him as that with his faithful old dog, and both have a role to play in Shirley Hughes's first novel. It's set in a place and period little written about outside Italy: Florence during the German occupation of 1943/4. Thirteen-year-old Paolo sets out each night on his bike for the city centre, believing his excursions to be a secret. But his mother and older sister Costanza know all about them, and are wearily waiting for his safe return so that they can sleep. What none of them knows is where Paolo's father is; his political views have put him in danger from the fascists and he has had to go into hiding. Meanwhile the hills are full of partisans waiting for the moment when the allies will arrive to liberate the city. The increasingly desperate Germans are a danger to all they believe to be part of the resistance. Into this heady mix are introduced two escaped allied prisoners, a Brit and a Canadian; the partisans have decided that Paolo's mother should hide them until they can be safely smuggled out of the city and back to their units. Tense scenes follow as the Gestapo come to search the house, a villa in the hills south of Florence. Paolo's mother is English and can speak to the prisoners. English David is captured trying to escape into the city and Joe the Canadian is wounded. Only Paolo's fierce courage - and his bike - get Joe back to the villa, where the dangerous game of hide and seek continues, sweetened by a developing romance between the prisoner and Costanza. I fear that a lot will be made of Hughes publishing a first novel in her 80s. If you think about it, though, she has been telling us stories for 50 years; this is just a logical progression. The illustrations here are limited to small black and white chapterheads but you can find more by the author-artist at www.heroonabicycle.co.uk. It is a story that Hughes has wanted to write for years, as the foreword tells us, based on her experiences at the age of 19, and on people she knew in Italy just after the war, where partisans still gathered in the piazzas to sing "Bella, Ciao!" only a few years after killing collaborators. The book has a deliberately retro feel, which I hope won't put young readers off. The font size and the protagonist's age suggest a readership of nine or 10 but the language - excuse the pun - takes no prisoners, and there is a higher proportion of exposition to dialogue than this age group has come to expect. But it's an exciting story, well told, by someone with a strong feeling for the time and place. I hope it finds the right readers in today's crowded market. Any girl or boy who has ever gone freewheeling down a hill towards an unknown adventure should be among them. Mary Hoffman's David is published by Bloomsbury. To order Hero on a Bicycle for pounds 7.99 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0330 333 6846 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop - Mary Hoffman There's an essay to be written on the significance of the bicycle in Italian culture. From Vittorio de Sica's film Bicycle Thieves and the Roman urchins of Pier Paolo Pasolini's writings to Niccolo Ammaniti's I'm Not Scared, this humble form of transport brought new freedom to the disadvantaged, from the peasant and artisan to the child. In Hero on a Bicycle, Paolo's relationship with his bike is as important to him as that with his faithful old dog, and both have a role to play in Shirley Hughes's first novel. It's set in a place and period little written about outside Italy: Florence during the German occupation of 1943/4. Thirteen-year-old Paolo sets out each night on his bike for the city centre, believing his excursions to be a secret. But his mother and older sister Costanza know all about them, and are wearily waiting for his safe return so that they can sleep. - Mary Hoffman.
Kirkus Review
Thirteen-year-old Paolo Crivelli dreams of being a hero in Nazi-occupied Florence. It's a tricky business living in an occupied city. The Allies are advancing from the south, Paolo's father is missing (thought to be fighting for the Partisans), and the Crivelli family is caught between the Nazi occupiers and the sometimes ruthless Partisans. This first novel by acclaimed children's picture-book writer and illustrator Hughes expertly captures the tension in the Crivelli home, as Rosemary tries to raise her two children and keep them safe while covertly supporting the Partisan cause. Not so easy with a son like Paolo, who risks sneaking out at night on his bicycle, looking for his own way to be a hero for the cause. There are plenty of heroes here, as layers of resistance to the Nazis are carefully delineated--the obvious bold resistance of the Partisans in the countryside, Rosemary's agreement to house escaped prisoners of war in her cellar, a lifesaving tip from the captain of the local military police and even a sympathetic member of the Gestapo who conveniently finds nothing when searching the Crivellis' cellar. The townspeople, a dog and even Paolo's bicycle play a role in the resistance movement, though the dangers and the realities of war are always tangible in this fine novel. A superb historical thriller. (Historical fiction. 10-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
