I haven’t read a lot of WWI novels and never one that talked about the homing pigeons to this extent. Told in the voice of a teen boy, everything is presented in a simple, straight-forward manner. It made the book very accessible.

Pigeon has some messed up teeth and they kind of give him a little beak because his front teeth stick out funny. Even though the name was given to him as a joke, he swiftly adopted it and from there grew his love of real pigeons. He comes from a progressive family – his dad is a peace-loving vegetarian and his mom is an active member in the Suffragettes. As war breaks out, harsh slang against Germans swiftly become popular, but not in Pigeon’s house. They talk to their kids about how not all Germans are evil, like the kind bakery owners where they get their muffins. In some ways, this did make the atmosphere of the book a little too modern PC. I’m sure there were some people who were farther ahead on the enlightenment rainbow in London during WWI, but I often find that everyone has some foible. I was hard-pressed to find such foibles with Pigeon’s family, so that made certain interactions a little unbelievable.

This story really features the boys – Tommy and Pigeon. Both are underage for the military but both are tall for their age and the military is usually willing to turn a blind eye to the age requirement as long as the kids lie convincingly. Tommy makes it in and Pigeon doesn’t, because of his teeth. Seriously! I found that very interesting that they were concerned he would have serious problems with his teeth in the field, so no go for him. I learned many such interesting things from this story.

Since the boys didn’t want their parents to know they were trying to get into the military, they found a signup well from home and used fake names. Alas, this made it difficult to find their brother later. For me, this added suspense even tho I thought it was a little far-fetched. After all, Tommy is sending letters home. Wouldn’t he have signed his full assumed name at some point? Or wouldn’t it be on a return address?

I did love how the boys’ attitude about the war changes over time. It goes from a big party, something exciting and brave and daring to boring, miserable, and daunting. The government was doing their part to drum up support for the war, making it sound wonderful and like victory was just around the corner. So I can’t blame the impressionable young lads too much for their initial enthusiasm. The story also shows how Pigeon’s mom and other women are drawn into the war effort too, like working at the munitions plant.

There’s also this part about white flowers and cads. I hadn’t heard of this before either, but often women (who weren’t allowed to serve in the military) would present eligible males with white flowers and taunt them for being cowardly cads for not volunteering. Very interesting stuff.

Anyhoo, back to the war pigeons. Food is so scarce, people can be fined for feeding the birds. But Pigeon takes up raising pigeons anyways as a secret hobby. Eventually tho, there’s a great need for homing pigeons and pigeon keepers in the war effort. Pigeon is still underaged by the time he joins the fight. It’s all just as miserable as his brother said in his letters.

The tale ends with a big sense of relief that the war is over even as families mourn their lost ones. All told, it was an educational and entertaining read. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Rafe Beckley did an amazing job with this book. I adored most his pigeon impersonations. Yes, he actually makes distinctly different pigeon noises. I have no idea if they are accurate but it was a very nice touch. He had a great young man’s voice for Pigeon and distinct voices for all the characters. His female voices, tho few and far between, were believable. The pacing was perfect and there were no tech issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% my own.