Description

Discover this amazing adventure story set in the Second World War

‘If you meet Ruth or Edek or Bronia, you must tell them I’m going to Switzerland to find their mother. Tell them to follow as soon as they can’

Having lost their parents in the chaos of war, Ruth, Edek and Bronia are left alone to fend for themselves and hide from the Nazis amid the rubble and ruins of their city. They meet a ragged orphan boy, Jan, who treasures a paperknife – a silver sword – which was entrusted to him by an escaped prisoner of war. The three children realise that the escapee was their father, the silver sword a message that he is alive and searching for them. Together with Jan they begin a dangerous journey across the battlefields of Europe to find their parents.

BACKSTORY: Read a letter from the author’s daughter and find out about the amazing true stories that inspired The Silver Sword.

Publisher Review

"One of the great and enduring tales of survival, courage and hope. Ian Serrailler tells this extraordinary wartime story simply and directly, so that we feel the full force of its truth" -- Michael Morpurgo "As a child I was tremendously moved by Ian Serrailer's The Silver Sword; the combination of childhood heroism in a bleak and horrific environment left me with many questions about the dichotomy of good and evil, as well as the importance of loyal friendship" -- John Boyne "One of the most exciting books I've read for a long while" * Daily Telegraph * "Old-fashioned storytelling about courage at its best" * The Times * "One of the most remarkable children's books since 1945" -- Oxford Companion to Children's Literature