London Calling, by Edward Bloor

London Calling, by Edward Bloor
Alfred A. Knopf, 2006
YA/upper MG

Martin Conway is a scholarship student (that means he gets a discount because his mother is the secretary) at All Souls' Preparatory School in New Jersey. All Souls' exists because of the a glorious endowment from a WWII hero named General "Hollerin' Hank" Lowrey, whose grandson makes life miserable for Martin and his friends. Martin isn't a stranger to glorious ancestors; his aunt keeps a shrine to his own grandfather, who supposedly hobnobbed with ambassadors in London during the war.

The same time an unfortunate fight between Martin's friends and Hank Lowrey IV's friends lands Martin in independent study for a semester, Martin inherits a 1940s-era radio from his grandmother. Wallowing in depression and listening to radio static, Martin falls asleep--and wakes up in 1940 London, where a boy named Jimmy Harker needs Martin's help. There, Martin sees the real (and rather less glorified) actions of Hollerin' Hank and his own grandfather. He also meets the true heroes of the war--not just the wealthy who could run off to safety when danger struck. At first, Martin thinks he's just dreaming. But over the course of his visits, too many details he couldn't have known about otherwise turn out to be real. And there's something he's got to do.

"Do you remember the question they ask you when you die?" [Jimmy said.]

"Yeah. What did you do to help?"

"That's right. Well this could be what you answer, then. You did this, to help me. And my dad."

London Calling has a lovely voice to it--it feels like a guy is telling you something that really happened to him. It's the most significant turning point in his life, and he wants you to believe, but even if you don't, it doesn't change things for him. Because he knows it was real. Because it happened. I really, really loved this book, and would definitely recommend it to people who love stories about the Blitz (so, if you are a Connie Willis fan), to people who love the mix of faith and fantasy found in books like Tyger, Tyger (Kersten Hamilton) or Madeleine L'Engle, and to people who love stories about fathers and sons, whether real or fantastical.