The Dolphin Crossing — Jill Paton Walsh

A gripping wartime adventure story for young readers, "The Dolphin Crossing" (first published in 1967) marked the fiction debut of Jill Paton Walsh, subsequently a celebrated author of detective stories and novels for adults.

"The Dolphin Crossing" is set in 1940 at the height of the Second World War, and concerns two boys: John, a boarding school boy, and Pat, an evacuee from a London slum. Together John and Pat make a daring plan to sail a boat across the English Channel to Dunkirk. Foolhardy as their plan may seem, the boys are sure they must do something to help the stranded British soldiers.

'A story of friendship and growth for two teen-aged boys... A comprehensive presentation of many points of view (the professional soldier, the battle-scarred, the wife and mother) combines with understanding of adolescent psychology in a well-paced evocation of the way it was.' "Kirkus Review"