After the War was an amazing book that really brought me into what was happening throughout. It could also get emotional at times, especially when the main character Yossi was reminded of the times in the concentration camps. It is written in a way that someone can feel like they are experiencing the events in the book. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in learning more about World War II, especially the holocaust but are prepared to break into tears.
– K.D., Manor CE Academy

Tom Palmer’s novel After the War is a beautifully written story where we get an insight into the lives of a few of the survivors of the holocaust. I have read many books about this subject but this one is not only based during but also after the war. We are taken on a journey through the memories of 15 year-old Yossi as he reacts to things in his new life. A group of 300 children are sent to the Lake District alongside Yossi and his two closest friends, Leo and Mordecai, hoping to get rid of the painful memories of Auschwitz.
The different characters’ personalities are really shown throughout the course of the book, and I really felt I was getting to know them and their backgrounds. The scenery was described beautifully, and I could imagine it all perfectly. From the summer of 1945 (when they arrived) to early 1946 (when they left Calgarth Estate) you could really see them change from frightened boys to strong young men, and understand that there were plenty of kind people willing to help them.
It may have taken a while to really get into but once I did I moved through the book quickly as I began to really enjoy it. While I would definitely recommend it to other readers, I do think this is a book for over-10s as I think they would understand fully what these boys truly went through. The book was based on a true story so all the memories and events were all true, which made the whole book very traumatic but also made me sympathise with the characters all the more. This really was an incredible, heart-warming story about kindness and true friendship.
– M.P., Manor CE Academy

I enjoyed this book. It tells a powerful story in very few words and is engaging from beginning to end.
I love the three main characters and the harrowing back stories. When they are suspicious of everything after they get to safety and hide food for fear of starvation is heart-breaking. I also liked how there isn’t a forced happy ending and characters carry the scars they received from concentration camps.
Furthermore, the element of love is really strong here. The friendship the three boys possess is admirable and speaks for itself after the many sacrifices they make for each other.
– Szymon, Year 8, All Saints RC School

Great book. Loved it and would read it over and over again. One of my favourite books and makes you realise how bad the Holocaust was and how people got affected by it. Love how he describes the characters, it gives you a clear picture of how the characters look and the setting. Amazing!
– Theo, Year 8, All Saints RC School

This book was great. It was made up of hope and friendship. This novel is about a young boy called Yossi and his friends Leo and Mordecai. It is set in Summer 1945 and the war has just ended. They have just moved to the English Lake District, hoping for a better life of safety and peace in England, after just surviving the terrors of the Nazi Concentration camps. Although things are better, Yossi can’t help feeling haunted by the heart-breaking losses of his loved ones and his father’s mysterious disappearance. In addition he is also worried that Mordecai and Leo will move on without him however, they are both the closest thing to family he has left.
While reading this book, I felt a bit of hope that Yossi might first find his father however on the other hand, I felt sad that Yossi had lost his mum and sisters and other family members. I think the book was well written and was easy to understand. It highlights the effect of after the war and how many children and families suffered terribly and how many children had to face this new beginning. Although this book was very heart warming, I personally think that the ending could have been stronger. Overall, the book was really good.
– Suhani, Year 7, All Saints RC School

This story is based around three boys Yossi, Leo and Mordecai who were kept in a Nazi concentration camp before WW2 ended. They were Jews form Poland and only had each other . After the war ended they were taken away with 300 other children to England to keep them safe. Yossi the main character keeps remembering about before the war and what happened . His two sisters were not fit for work in the labour camp and they were put in a different line. His mother then joined the line with his sisters. During the journey there a person fell on Yossi and Yossi did not know they were dead for a few days. The story made me cry as they went through so much suffering.
– Lottie, Year 7, Fulford School

I liked this book because the very emotive language made me understand the characters’ feelings in a deeper way than a non-fiction book. I also liked it because of the way they wrote the story. They showed how the characters react to things. It was also smart to use memories as a story of how horrible the holocaust was.
– Joshua, Year  7, All Saints RC School

After the War is a nostalgic book about three Jewish boys coming to England and wondering whether it is safe. After being locked in concentration camps and ghettos for six long and painful years they are released but still worried about what the world will bring them. It ends on a cliffhanger, as they have just decided what they would like to do now.
– Emily, Year 7, Bootham School

The characters are mostly kind and are Jews that have survived the concentration camps. We find out what suffering they have had to go through. I like that the book looks back at the war so we can see before and after at the same time. I recommend this to people who like to imagine what other people’s live are like. I think it is good in that it shows that anyone can settle anywhere and can be accepted and welcomed so they feel at home.
– Hannah, Year 7, Dixons Cottingley

I found the book After the War very powerful. It gave you an insight on what they might have felt. Tom Palmer explained the characters and settings very well, you could picture it in your head. The story had a flow. Also I thought that maybe he would find his father like most common books but it made you think about what really happened and how some of them had to find their own way. 
– Annabelle, Year 7, All Saints RC School 

I enjoyed After the War a lot. This is because the Holocaust is an important event to learn about and this book does a great job of describing the traumatic events which children of a variety of ages had to go through. The main character’s name is Yossi and his two best friends Mordecai and Leo are the closest thing to family he has, this is because Yossi lost all his family to the Nazis, who killed them, and the only person he has left is his father however he’s gone missing but Yossi has still got hope that he’s alive. The story flowed well and was very easy to read, it didn’t get boring after a while. 
– Ricky, Year 9, All Saints RC School 

Written by Tom Palmer and first published in 2020, this book tells a tale of friendship. After the War shows times when some people lost all hope, when many lost family and had no one left. It tells the story of how a boy and his friends are saved from the miserable camps and ghettos they were forced into.
Yossi, Mordecai and Leo and 3 normal Polish Jewish boys until the Nazis came, driving them out of their homes. Finally, after years of being in a concentration camp the war ends and they can be free and live their lives. Escaping the camp, they were brought to England where they could live in peace with no war or fighting. They meet other children and adults who want to help, but it was not easy for them to adjust after being imprisoned for so long.
This book is an amazing read and I really enjoyed it. I think it is a great book that gives us an idea of the suffering of the Jewish people. I found it sad at times when Yossi had flashbacks about bad times he had faced but I am so glad to have read it.
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who likes books like Carrie’s War or Goodnight Mr Tom. It’s less than 200 pages and didn’t take me long to read.
– M.P., Manor CE Academy

After the War belongs to an author who, when wanting to write this book, made sure it was correct and realistic as possible out of respect, empathy and determination to make sure the Holocaust would never be forgotten and people would realise and learn what people went through – the horrors, death, pain and hunger, fear and loneliness. Such suffering should never be forgotten or ridiculed by anyone.
Throughout the book we are given snippets of Yossi’s childhood which give us information on how life for a child would have been during the Holocaust and in concentration camps.
The book has an emotional storyline with Yossi being alone with his 2 friends Mordecai and Leo and hoping to one day find his father.
This book was very shocking to read because I hadn’t known anything about the Holocaust until I read this book. If you are looking for a book about the Holocaust that would keep you reading I absolutely recommend this one. Something sad about this book is how traumatised the children are because of the Nazis and how they treated Jews, for example Yossi, Leo and Mordecai rush to the canteen area to get food because it was a ‘eat or starve’ situation in the camp. Talia, one of the people who was helping the children adjust to a safer, healthier and happier (hopefully) lifestyle, raises her voice to reassure everyone that there will always be enough food and they are happy and free to get it if wanted.
A lot of books make me want a part 2 to them and this is one of them (this is one of the reasons for why I like series) but obviously the author may be having other plans at the moment. Something that really emphasises the suffering of the Jews in the concentration camps was the ‘hopelessness’ to do anything. To make myself understandable, I will recall to the point in the book where Yossi tells Talia why should he get up and wash his face or go outside only to get tired enough that he wants to go to bed (etc) but then Yossi realises keeping himself clean was the only way to show the Nazis that he wasn’t an animal and so he cleans himself up and goes to the doctor.
Another subject about this book was family and losing all or most of them. Due to how the Nazis treated Jews if they disobeyed/went against them lots of Jews died – members of families that were lost (which are mentioned), including Leo’s brother, Mordecai’s parents and basically every member of Yossi’s family apart from (possibly) his father, which I find really sad because Jews were treated the way they were for traditions and beliefs. Apart from how cruel the Nazis were and other things that don’t go in the same category of ‘I love this book’. If words truly won’t express how much I love this book and I’ll say this now that I’ve read Boy, Everywhere and When the Sky Falls but this book tops both of them in my opinion – I’ve never read anything like this book before and I really recommend this.
– Milie, Year 7, All Saints RC School

After the War is a book based in fact about the Holocaust survivors that came to England after they were freed from the Nazis. The book main characters do have a bit of story to them but I have to say this book may be quick to read but it is incredibly boring and bland it does not have any interesting parts at all, it is like reading a textbook that is not based on facts but rather facts and fiction thrown together to make an incredibly boring and bland book. Yossi is not really an interesting main character. I don’t think he realised yet his dad is most likely dead if he disappeared when he did it is most likely he died. I don’t think I will ever suggest the book to anyone it does show a lot about the way the holocaust went but otherwise it is not really useful or interesting it might be interesting to some but personally I really did not enjoy this book at all. I don’t think it is one I would ever read again. It is not one you could read over and over again. I don’t think it is worth reading it at all. I give this book a rating of one star and a half. This book really was not a good book.
– Rosie, Year 9, Bootham School

I think this book deserves 5 stars because the way Tom Palmer wrote the story makes it a gripping tale. The way he designed the flashbacks is really moving, and the fact that he takes the experiences from real Holocaust survivors makes you realise even more how horrific it is. A thrill to read.
– Franny, Year 7, Bootham School

After the War is a brilliant book that focuses on the life of three Jewish boys, Yossi, Leo and Mordecai as they are rescued from Auschwitz and brought to the Lake District. Here they meet other boys and make friends with the local people of Ambleside. The frequent flashbacks explain how Yossi, the protagonist arrived at the Lake District. The story flowed well although the story was not very exciting, it was very informative and easy to read. The past horrors of the three boys were portrayed well and through the characters made me feel empathy. Although it is a harrowing read the story is based on fact and I would recommend it for people interested in the history of the Holocaust.
– Luce, Year 8, Fulford School

This book was my first on the topic of the Holocaust and I was blown away by the details of the horrendous thing normal people like Yossi went through.
The first thing I will mention is the shocking contrast between the Nazi rule / Auschwitz to the boys’ new life in the Lake District and I think it is this juxtaposing of good and bad which powers the reader through the book.
Also, although the vocabulary is simple as this book is Dyslexia friendly, I believe this simplicity adds to the beauty of the story. This book uses simple everyday actions to convey complex emotions and that is what sets it apart from other books about the same topic.
My only criticism is how the book barely has an overarching plot but not all books should be the same and is completely outweighed compared to the positives. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
– Clara, Year 7, All Saints RC School

It showed the tragic events of WW2 and the affect it had on the victims, who were just children and had their lives completely changed. It focused on 3 boys who tried to adapt to their new life and were strengthened by their friendship. 
– Saad, Year 8, Dixons Cottingley