I adored seeing a story that reflected my Welsh working-class upbringing. I think this story will be adored by many for generations to come

The cover of this book is beautiful and is one the reasons I was drawn to read it. I love stories based around the war as it’s a topic we study in year 5/6 and I’m always looking for different perspectives on this theme. I was impressed with the Valley of lost secrets. The title didn’t give much away but I knew it wasn’t going to be ordinary- in fact far from it. It was a heartwarming story full of love, new friendships, exploration, adventures with some sad moments thrown in to make you really think and that really take the characters to another level. I really enjoyed reading this story and I particularly enjoyed the fact that it was set in Wales. Definitely one to read and share as part of a war topic or just for a good read aloud. I’ll certainly be preordering this for our class library!

What a delightful children’s book.
I didn’t know much about this before starting this but I know that I love books about evacuees. Jimmy and Ronnie were both such lovely characters and I loved seeing them settling in to the Welsh village where they have been evacuated to.
Mr and mrs Thomas were so kind and welcoming to the two boys, despite the town often being against them. The story was warm, wholesome, moving and fun. I highly recommend this book!

(Thank you to Bloomsbury publishing and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review).

Beautifully written war time adventure set in Wales, I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the siblings which was tender and sweet. Lots of details that could be explored in a topic on evacuation. A strong historical adventure with a distinct 'Carrie's War' vibe to it.

4 stars

This is such a good book, I didn’t really have any expectations when I began reading it but I’m so glad I did.
It was a short but interesting story. With real people and real stories. A beautiful setting of Wales and a mysterious setting for the story.
Highly recommend this book!

I knew just a few chapters in that this would be a future classic. The writing is beautiful and touching and funny and completely gripping. The story is packed with mystery and adventure and the characters are so wonderful and so real that you can't help but care about them and feel with them.

The experience of evacuated children during the Second World War is a difficult one to depict. It takes a special kind of sensitivity and Lesley Parr has this in spades. It's an important book that will bring out and develop empathy in young readers, opening up conversations, hearts and minds. I'll be telling the whole world about this book. I can't stop thinking about it.

This book was great to explore the emotions children would have had when they were evacuated during World War II - how some coped and adapted easily while for others it took longer.

The book also covered the issue of bullying as Jimmy is bullied by his best friend from home and is hurt by this but forges a new friendship with a girl who he bullied when living in London based on her circumstances alone. Jimmy learned not to judge people by what they see outwardly only.

I also liked how Jimmy uncovered the mystery of the skull he found and how it linked to the villagers life.

An absolutely outstanding book - I was gripped from the first page until the last. This book has everything: well developed characters, beautifully written narrative, a real sense of mystery and adventure and a truly authentic storyline.

Jimmy and his brother Ronnie have been evacuated from their London home. Sent to a mountainside Welsh mining community, everything feels strange and unknown. When Jimmy makes a frightening discovery, it sets them on a very unexpected path to discovery.

This book brought me on an emotional voyage: it was an incredibly immersive read. The characters and the setting are intricately created and feel utterly real. The relationships between characters really drive the narrative. The World War Two backdrop, and the idea of displacement, are well considered.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to any class. Reminiscent of Micheal Morpurgo’s Friend or Foe, this book is not as graphic as many other children’s book set in the same time period. The subject matter is quite dark, and could be upsetting, so it would be most suitable for Year 4 upwards. If you are studying WW2, you would be really missing an opportunity if you did not include this book. I very much look forward to buying a copy when it is published and know that my class will love it just as much as I do. Thank you to NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to fall in love with Lesley Parr’s writing.

The characters, the story and the setting was amazing in this book. I loved it. Very well written, addictive, fun read.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

I requested this on a whim, purely because i was charmed by the cover, and thank goodness I did.
I was completely immersed in the story and thought the characters were fantastic.

Wow! Cried from Ch 1, raced through this tale of brotherhood, British history & belonging. So much scope for cross-curricular links to PHSE/WW2/Humanities/Science/Creative Arts. I CANNOT wait to teach this next term, UKS2 themes through vocab all children can access & loveable characters everyone can see themselves reflected in.
Absolute must read for New Curriculum for Wales and UKS2 classrooms across the UK.

This is the story of two boys evacuated to a Welsh mining town during World War Two. Jimmy doesn't settle as quickly or as easily as his younger brother but slowly begins to come around and show an interest in his new surroundings. When he discovers a skull in the hollow of a tree, he is determined to find out who it is and he finds himself with an unlikely new friend to help him.

I loved this book. I have delayed reviewing it as I was worried I wouldn't do it justice and I'm still unsure of how to. It's like reading an old classic. There are echoes of Goodnight Mister Tom and an almost Famous Five sort of adventure. The descriptions of the Welsh town are incredible and I could so easily picture the setting.

In short, an excellent and enjoyable read that you don't want to miss.

This was simply beautiful. It was lot more emotional than I was expecting it to be, especially the ending, but at other points in the story too. I absolutely fell in love with the characters, they were all so lovely and lovingly written and the different relationships between them all and how these changed throughout the book was wonderfully written. I could just imagine myself in the welsh countryside whilst reading and how the illustration of the tree changed during the story to reflect what was happening was brilliant. Although the book description suggests the main focus of the story is the skull mystery, that mostly took a back seat for me (at least until the end) because everything else that was going on was so engrossing. I will definitely be purchasing this for my school library!

Thank YOU for the advance copy. I really enjoyed this book. It made a wonderful change to steady the pace of a book and go back in history. Though that doesn't take away from the fact it was an exciting adventure for the MG age range. Will certainly be recommending this book for the library book club we run

This debut middle grade novel is already getting fab reviews on social media and so when I was given the opportunity to review it via NetGalley, I jumped at the chance. It didn't disappoint. The Valley of Lost Secrets is a wonderfully authentic, historical novel full of larger than life characters that will make your heart both sing and weep.

When Jimmy and his younger brother, Ronnie are evacuated from London to the Welsh countryside, Jimmy struggles to adjust. But when he discovers a human skull in a tree, things take an even more worrying turn. With bullies on his tail and a younger brother to fend for, will Jimmy be able to solve the secrets of the valley and make peace with his new life?

This novel not only provides a fantastic emotional and educational insight into what it must have been like to be evacuated, but offers up a plot full of mystery and suspense alongside themes of family and friendship. Jimmy is a flawed, sometimes sullen character, but Lesley Parr writes beautifully from his perspective to show how deeply vulnerable he feels as an evacuee sent away from his family to a strange place. His protectiveness over adorable Ronnie is completely heart-warming and Ronnie's character lightens the tone with deftly written scenes of humour.

For me, the developing (and expertly-written) relationships between the characters is what makes this novel stand out. Jimmy and Florence, Ronnie and Florence, Jimmy and Mrs. Thomas are all new relationships that each evolve on the page in very different ways. Through them, Lesley Parr conveys how fragile and complex burgeoning friendships can be but also how solid they can become. However, it was Jimmy's emerging bond with Mr. Thomas that really made me emotional and I absolutely loved Mr. Thomas' character and the power of slow, silent communication.

The Valley of Lost Secrets also effectively highlights the negative impact that gossip and prejudice has on both an individual and on an community as a whole. This felt stark in comparison to the love and acceptance which the Thomas' chose to bestow on Jimmy and Ronnie and which Florence also received from her new family. I loved that both the children and the Thomas' were affected by the negative behaviour of some of the villagers, showing that bullying can affect people of all ages. I winced at the scenes where Ronnie disappeared and found this section of the novel a challenging but eye-opening read.

Although set during the war, the mystery of the skull provides a mystery that culminates in the most heart-wrenching and heart-warming end. Tears were shed, again because of the power and beauty of the relationships and the writing.

Overall, this is a stunning novel about evacuation, hardship, challenging times and the strengths and weaknesses of human behaviour. The characters feel like real people and the pages literally transport you back to the Welsh countryside in the 1940's. You are there experiencing life with Jimmy in a fully immersive story.

The Valley of Lost Secrets is released on Jan 7th 2021 and is available to pre-order. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

When Jimmy and his little brother Ronnie are evacuated from London to Wales, he finds it hard to settle in. His best friend from home doesn’t speak to him anymore and he is forced to spend time with Florence, a girl who everyone made fun of back home. As he gets to know her better, Jimmy realises that Florence is ok and as she reveals snippets about her family, he begins to understand why she is better off in her new home.

In the village we meet a host of characters. Some are happy to have the evacuees, some aren’t, and some are quick to blame the evacuees for anything that goes missing. The boys find themselves in a tight knit community where everyone knows everyone else and it becomes clear that these people have long held grudges and secrets they aren’t sharing. When Jimmy finds a skull in a tree he sets out to discover who it belonged to and how it came to be there.

This is a lovely story. I was hooked from the very first page and I’m sure it will become a classic. If you are teaching about evacuees in WWII, this would be a great book to go alongside the topic. It reminded me of Goodnight Mister Tom in that it has hints of hardship and abuse, but is not as graphic in the descriptions, therefore is suitable for a younger audience.

A book that I'm really excited for readers to discover and love next year is definitely The Valley of Secrets. I expected it to be good; it has a really interesting blurb and the cover is lovely. However, I didn't expect it to be this good! If it wasn't for the fact that I have to adult sometimes, this would've been a one-sitting read! 

I think the thing that really shines through and makes this such a wonderful book is the characters; they really drive the story and are so believable and interesting. They very much come to life and have so much depth; people aren't always who you expect them to be and that's very real. I also loved the setting; I could really imagine being in Wales and, again, the writing really made that possible; there was just enough description to really draw you in and make you feel that you were really in Llanbryn. 

A further aspect that really makes this such a good read and perfect for a wider audience is that it's not too dark despite the time it's set in and the mystery element. I think it caters for many more readers that way and will allow for more people to enjoy the story of Jimmy and the evacuees from London. It's certainly a book I would've loved when I was a child (that's not to say I don't love it now as an adult!) and I think it lends itself perfectly to opening up a gateway into further reading of these genres. 

Overall, I'd highly highly recommend The Valley of Lost Secrets for anyone who's just looking for a very good children's book! I'd say ages 8+ would be the most suitable target audience, and fans of Lisa Thompson are another group of readers that I'd say would love this book! Lesley Parr is an outstanding new voice in children's literature and definitely one to look out for!