The Sky is Falling by Kit PearsonPenguin (Viking Kestrel), 1989

The flap copy of this book notes that Pearson is “a librarian as well as a writer,” which might be part of why the book includes so many pleasing library-ish and book-ish moments. The novel is the story of two British children who are evacuated to Canada during WWII, and while parts of it are sentimental, I loved the characters of the children (Norah with her collection of shrapnel, Gavin with his toy elephant called Creature), and the friends they make in Canada. I love that Norah discovers books by Arthur Ransome, and that she reads aloud to her brother from Five Children and It.