Tug of War by Catherine Forde
In 2012, The Emergency begins as terrorist bombs shatter cities around the UK and wreak havoc. Molly’s parents send her and her brother John to safety in the countryside. Molly is sent to Paradise Farm where she is cared for by Pernilla, who has always wanted a child, and gives Molly everything she desires.
Pernilla’s youthful enthusiasm is in stark contrast to Molly’s own frumpy mum. Sadly, Molly’s friend Fergal, tells her that John has been sent to live with an abusive farmer. It is not until her mother comes to visit, that Molly realises how important her family is, and how close she is to losing them. Who will Molly choose? Eeny-meeny, miny mum.
There are 5 review(s) for Tug of War
Review by olivia, Sunday 27 January. Link
This book is just o.k because i found it a bit too simple and i regret to say boring ! i liked someparts like when she sees her brother again and her fathers alive but it still didnt seem to grip me enough…sorry catherine forde !
But one thing that i do not regret to say is that pernilla can be a bit weird sometimes and I know she can’t have children she is really bosy and she treats molly like her barbie doll ! I did like the realism of it all and the way in which there is a new age war and the storyline.
Lastly, i would just like to say the book is good KEEP GOING CATHERINE FORDE! Just a few pointers to help you on your way>>>
Review by samara , Monday 12 November. Link
I found it quite moving and realistic.
It was about a girl called Molly who was in the middle of ‘The Emergency’. Molly was evacuated to the counrty-side with another couple who couldnt have children of their own. Molly’s new family lived on Paradise farm and promised to give her everything she ever wanted but Mollys real mum couldnt give her everything she wanted except for being there for her.
Molly had to choose who to live with for the rest of her life, her real mum or her new mum on paradise farm.
It made you want to read on and never put the book down! It was one of the best books i’ve ever read. i would highly recommend it to anyone!
Review by Rebecca, Friday 26 October. Link
A moving and believable account of a (nearly teenage)
girl’s dilemma, this book is set in the all too near future, the year 2012. All the major cities in the UK have been bombed by terrorists and the inhabitants have been left with no electricity, no clean water and a very limited supply of food. Molly and her brother are evacuated from the destroyed city of Glasgow, where they live with their uncool, fat, embarrasing, but loving mum. Molly stays on Paradise farm with Pernilla, a glamourous farmer’s wife who is everything Molly’s mum isn’t- wealthy, pretty, young, and able to spoil Molly with everything she could want except one thing- a mother’s love. When Pernilla asks if she could legally adopt Molly, she feels caught in the middle- both mums want her, but she can only choose one.
This book was really interesting because it is based around something we think of as very much part of the past- war, evacuation and so on, but it is modern at the same time, as it is set in the future. It is quite scary that this could quite easily happen in a few years, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
A really amazing book- Catherine Forde is the new, (and more talented) Jaqueline Wilson!
Review by sophie proctor, Tuesday 23 October. Link
This story is about a girl called Molly. She has two mums and she has to choose which one she wants to spend the rest of her life with. One mum is old and frumpy and lives in a bombed out city, the other is young and beautifl and lives on paradise farm. One mum promises to love her no matter what, the other will give her all she wants. The girl decides to choose the one who promises to give her everything she wants.
Suddenly everything changes her mother says that she is sending her to boarding school and she said dont send me to boarding school with her saying that she will give her all she wants, but her mind was set and molly was going. She writes to her other mum and said that she wants to come and live with her instead because pernilla was going to sent her to boarding school, so she went to live with her other mum instead and a dad called john.
Review by Georgia.k.m, Sunday 03 February. Link
MONEY CANT BUY LOVE, OR CAN IT?...
In tug of war a girl is tossed by a future devastating war into the situation where she is forced to choose between the ideal materialist life with every bought thing she could imagine or a life were she could be sure she is truly loved. I think Catharine Forde is brave and bold to face such a question which is so very relevant to the present day and the present consumerist way we think. With many storylines all running together it is a stunning many pronged plot which after a long adventure winds up nicely to form a perfect, though thought stirring novel.
At the end of the book I was shocked by the way molly had trouble choosing a mum. The thought that she was wrapped up in such a terrible materialist mind set was shocking and stunning! This book was 1st class!