The Peace Child

By Ann Phillips and Ann Phillips

"A drawn sword lay on the table, with its point towards Alys. She looked at it and shivered, not only with cold. There were ten of the family around the table in the high, dark room. Their emotions seemed to Alys to vibrate in the air just as the light from the many candles shimmered and shook. There seemed to be anger there, and grief."
Set in the fourteenth century, amidst the Peasants' Revolt and the Great Plague, this is the story of a spirited young girl torn between two hostile families. She is Alys, the Peace Child.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192715607
• ISBN13: 9780192715609
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Wonderful historical adventure

The story in this book moves along at an exciting pace as a little girl finds out the family who raised her is NOT her family and sets off on her own to find her real family, escaping kidnappers, plagues and a class uprising. I read this to my 9 year old daughter and we loved it. Ann Phillips really makes the history come alive.

It is history come alive.

In my opinion this is one those books that make history come alive. History can be hard to swallow for some. This book makes it so easy to get more interested in history. Especially since Ann Pillips did her homework. I am one of those people who likes her books that much more when the people in them are believable. I find that very true for the Butler and the Castell families. Alys' journey is worthy of a book.I think the main themes of this book are: family, understanding and that live is an adventure no matter what century you live in. I highly recommend this book. No matter who you are boy/girl, young/old, history buff/history disliker you should read this book.

The Peace Child story review

I'd have to say the book starts off very well. It's starts off with suspense, and the story line is excellently written. The story is of a young girl, Alys, who is the Peace Child.She is torn between two hostile families, who exchanged babies at birth so that whenever they wanted to start a fight, they would remember they could not kill others of that family, for their own child was in it. Once Alys learns of her true parents, she sets off to live with them. But Alys discovers a few things she never knew, and about how different her real family really is. Set in the fourteenth century, admist the Peasant's Revolt and the Great Plauge, this is an excellent book for all readers.