'With his family struggling for money George has to go work with his dad in the local coal mine. It's a dangerous way to earn a living, and not long after he starts, a summer storm leads to flooding in the mine. Trapped down in the dark, George spots a shadowy figure that seems to be beckoning him. Can a ghost from the past lead him to safety or will George meet the same fate as his long lost uncle?'
Barrington Stoke have produced a number of excellent children's books that take place in historical settings that don't shy away from teaching young readers how much harder it was for children in the past. The Storm and the Minotaur is one of these titles, as even from the very first few pages it hammers home the awful situation that young George finds himself in; battling his fear at having to go deep underground in order to work in the local coal mine when he wants to do other things with his life.
Author Lucy Strange does a wonderful job at showing the internal struggle that George has, being afraid of having to work underground, but knowing that his family are struggling, and that an extra income will help them all out. George, unlike his father and his uncle, stayed on a bit longer in school, and has done well for himself with learning how to read and write, and definitely seems built for using his mind. But, opportunities to do so are few and far between in his home town, and the mine is the easiest way to bring money into the family home.
As George is preparing to start his first day in the mine he goes to his treasure stash, where he hides things that mean something to him, and discovers an old book hidden there decades before by his Uncle Mal, who died before George was born. The book is filled with stories about myth and legend, and George reads the story about the Minotaur. After that, once he begins working in the mine, George begins to feel like something down there is watching him, a shadowy figure always on the edge of his vision. After his father tells him a story about how his Uncle Mal died in the mines years before George becomes convinced that the figure is his uncle come back.
When a huge summer storm causes massive rainfall the mine ends up in danger, as the water floods down into the tunnels. George and a number of other children become trapped in one of the tunnels, with the water quickly rising. It's then that he sees the figure of the Minotaur once again. George decides that following the ghostly figure is the only chance they have for survival, and the children set off deeper into the mines.
One of the most surprising things about the book is that once you're done with the story there's a historical note, telling you that the narrative was partially inspired by a real historical event, the Huskar Pit disaster. As in the story, a summer storm caused flooding in the Huskar Pit mine in Yorkshire, unlike in the story though, the children did not make it out alive. The book contains a list of the twenty six children, ranging from the ages of seven and seventeen, who drowned in the mines that day. This note at the end of the book changes this kind of uplifting historical story into a book that leaves you feeling kind of sick.
Strange does a decent job at portraying how frightening the situation is, and there are times when the children in the book feel like they're in danger, but there's also this feeling that nothing truly bad is going to happen to them. This is a children's book after all, you can't just drown kids. I do wonder if there was a version of the story where there were deaths involved, but I think that the sudden shift from a happy ending to a note on the real world version actually hits a lot better than having a more realistic outcome. You've got this great high from seeing George and the other kids escape, which then comes crashing down. For parents reading this book to their children, I can see potentially skipping the last part, wanting to leave the book on a happy note, but I do think its also worth reading the historical note too.
This is what I meant earlier when I said that Barrington Stoke does a great job at showing children how much the world has improved, and how things for children especially have gotten better. The idea of having to go work down in a dark, dangerous mine all day every day might be shocking enough for a young reader, but then learning that children died doing such jobs makes it hit all the harder. I also think that books like this are a wonderful gateway into learning about history, and can easily spark your child's interest in the subject.
The book comes with a number of illustrations, by artist Pam Smy. Having seen Smy's work before on Thornhill, which I adored, I was excite to see what she'd bring to the project; and I wasn't disappointed. The illustrations are perfect for this kind of story, and the pictures showing what it's like in the mines are just the right level of dark and depressing. When George starts seeing the Minotaur in the mines the images start reflecting this, with some of them quite clearly showing the large creature standing in the shadows, but others requiring you to take a moment to try and spot them.
The Storm and the Minotaur is an engaging story with great characters that kids will enjoy reading about, and a setting that services the story brilliantly. Strange does a wonderful job at creating a story that feels oppressive and frightening, yet also filled with hope. A fantastic read.
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