When the Sky Falls

Name: When the Sky Falls
Rating: 4.36 (3937 reviews)

by Phil Earle Book 3 in the Historical Animal Stories series.

First published 2021

Amazon

4.4(3,937)

In 1941, angry and isolated twelve-year-old Joseph is sent from Yorkshire to London, where he lives with the formidable Mrs Farrelly and helps at her struggling zoo. Mrs F’s greatest responsibility is Adonis, a powerful silverback gorilla whose captivity initially mirrors Joseph’s own sense of abandonment.

As bombing intensifies, Joseph’s distrust gives way to a fierce bond with Adonis and a more complicated understanding of Mrs F. The danger of the Blitz forces them to confront what must happen if the zoo is struck and the gorilla escapes, turning an unlikely friendship into a test of courage, grief and responsibility.