Miracle of the Little Ships

The book is the fictional account of 5 young people and their leadup to WWII and the evacuation of Dunkirk. The characters are 2 English brothers, their younger female cousin, a Jewish teenage girl sent away from Austria at the beginning of the trouble that lives with the cousin, and a young german boy that attends school with the boys. And their fishing boat they use every summer. The story of the youngsters over the years before the war is pretty average, and at times tedious. The best bit is the last couple of chapters that describe the actual call-up of all sea-worthy ships by the British for some unknown reason. The reason being that the Germans have captured most of France in a week, and stranded the English and French soldiers at Dunkirk. And how those civilian ships end up picking up nearly 300,000 officers and returning them to England. Their is just too much coincidence in the book, even if one or two are realistic. Even for light reading, the book isn't quite worth it, as the middle part just drags. Too bad, as I think the idea was good.

4/10