The Midnight Zoo

Bought this in Kindle version for my daughter from a recommended reading list for Y7/8 at her school. She read it in 2 days and loved it! Would definitely recommend.

This is an unusual story - it's one that I enjoyed even though it was not a particularly happy tale.

Was a good holiday read and quite thought provoking. A nice change, original story and likeable characters. I recommend it

A very good story about the holocaust and how two boys survive it, which is very hard. I like it.

Such a lovely story.

The story is set in Eastern Europe during World War 2. Two Romani gypsy children, carrying a baby in their backpack, have been on the run for weeks after soldiers ambushed their settlement. Fearing for their lives, they travel under the cover of darkness, scrounging food where they can. One night they arrive in a bombed out village, deserted apart from a few animals trapped in a zoo. Over the course of the night, both the boys and the animals will share their stories of how the war has affected them and also the inhabitants of the now-deserted village.This is officially a young adult book, but the language and themes are quite adult and therefore it would suit older readers. It's a moving story and beautifully written - one of those books where you find yourself re-reading passages for the sheer pleasure of the words. For children, it introduces concepts such as the persecution of the Romani people during World War 2 and the impact of war on innocent bystanders. It is more fantastical and less plot driven than a book like  The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas , but would probably appeal to a similar audience. I also found it reminiscent of Yann Martel's writing. A slim, but magical book.

This is an unusual story with beautiful writing.It was sad but entertaining.I enjoyed the gypsy boys.I liked the back story told by the animals.However this book is not a 5 star because its unforgetable.Like i cant really remember much that happened.And the chracters arnt really uniqe.other than that i really enjoyed it.

Having read Hartnett's book, The Silver Donkey and enjoyed it, I pounced on The Midnight Zoo when I found it in our local library. I thought it was beautifully written, and although the language is simple, the ideas they describe and the emotions the words provoke in the reader are not. It is a tale of three Romany children, separated from their parents in WWII, and how they are roaming the countryside, simply trying to survive. The weight of responsibility weighs heavily on the oldest boy, Andrej, and his difficulties are crystallised when the children end up taking shelter in an abandoned zoo one night. The book gets rather mystical here, as the children find that they can communicate with the caged animals, and every creature shares their story of capture and their experience of the war, and their dreams of release.This is not an easy book to read, not because it is not simple, but because it is profound and requires a lot of thought to really appreciate it for what it is. I recommend it for fourteens and up.