The Prisoner of Bhopal by Tim Walker
Summary:
Amil has always dreamed of working at the modern, space-age pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, where he lives. Instead, on his tenth birthday, he is torn from his family and taken to work for Mr Kumar and his cruel son, Jalesh, in their dilapidated printing factory. There, hidden in a trunk, he finds a secret First World War journal. As its pages come to life, they reveal not only why Amil is there, but that he and the journal’s author – his great-grandfather, Sanjiv - share a magical gift: they can read the wind. Its purpose remains a mystery until, one terrible night, the pesticide plant leaks poison gas into the air above Bhopal . . .
Book Information
Title: The Prisoner of Bhopal
Author: Tim Walker
Release Date:
Genre: YA
Page Count:
Publisher: Andersen Press
Author Information
Tim Walker was born in Nottingham and lives with his wife and their black and white cat in rural Kent. He turned to writing following a career as a graphic designer and is the author of three previous children’s novels – Shipley Manor, The Flying Fizzler and Rise of the Rattler. When not in his garden shed either writing or staring at the horses in the field beyond, he can be found teaching academic skills at the University of Kent – where he is a former Royal Literary Fund Fellow – visiting one of his three grown-up children or huffing and puffing around his local tennis court.
Instagram: https://instagram.com/TimWalkerBooks
The Prisoner of Bhopal is a Middle Grade Book which is trying to be different genres at one time and for me Tim really did well with was the Historical Side which really gave me a reader a very good idea of the life of Amil's Great Grandfather and the reasons why Amil was where he was in Current Day. I would of liked if the chapters that were set in 1984 had them at the start of each chapter as in some cases I found myself being taken out of the story.
I did like the thought of magic in the story but feel that part of the book could have been added to and this would have given the story something extra.
Amil was an okay Main Character but for me Chunni outshone him she was so well written. As was Bhopal itself I was able to imagine what it was like.
For all the above reasons The Prisoner of Bhopal receives 3 stars