A Funeral for an Owl A Novel edition by Jane Davis Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : A Funeral for an Owl A Novel edition by Jane Davis Literature Fiction eBooks 
A schoolyard stabbing sends wingbeats echoing from the past.
One shocking event. Two teachers risk their careers to help a boy who has nothing. Three worlds intersect and collide.
‘If you want to laugh and cry and stamp and cheer – all in the space of a few hours – then this book is the one for you.’ Bookmuse
The best way to avoid trouble, thinks Ayisha Emmanuelle, is to avoid confrontation. As an inner-city schoolteacher, she does a whole lot of avoidance.
14-year-old Shamayal Thomas trusts no one. Not the family, not the gang. And at school, trusting people is forbidden.
Jim Stevens teaches history. Haunted by his own, he still believes everyone can learn from the past. History doesn’t always have to repeat itself.
A powerful exploration of the ache of loss set in a landscape where broken people can heal each other.
Fresh, funny, heartbreaking and real, this original and compassionate study of when to break the rules and why is perfect for fans of Maggie O'Farrell, Rachel Joyce and Ali Smith.
“A perfect balance of gritty and feel-good.”
“...offers an ever-changing, intense view of what it means to be human.”
"...absolutely nails the moral dilemmas we live with in a modern society that is supposed to protect the most vulnerable."
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A Funeral for an Owl A Novel edition by Jane Davis Literature Fiction eBooks
Every once in awhile you read a book that really makes you stop and think about the relationships people have with other people or family members that shapes their whole future. I believe that this is one of those books.Jim Stevens starts out as an eleven year old kid growing up in a not-so-wonderful neighborhood and he tries to stay away from other kids and be by himself to study birds. He and his mother especially like to watch the barn owls. He’s an excellent artist it seems, of birds and of some people. He comes from a broken home and tries very hard to make his mother proud of him.
This book moves ahead to when Jim Stevens is an adult, a teacher in fact, and meets a young boy who lives in the same neighborhood that he used to when he was a boy. He also has the same problems, but Jim tries very hard to protect him from the neighborhood kids.
The story goes back and forth from past to present and what Jim learns and does to help others learn is amazing. This story was a little hard to follow, but once you understand what is going on, it sucks you in and doesn't let you go. I enjoyed this book very much!
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A Funeral for an Owl A Novel edition by Jane Davis Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
This was a very insightful book that gives a glimpse into the lives of people living in poverty in Britain. It was disturbing to read about the gangs and the pressure youth have to join them. It switches back and forth between Jim Stevens', one of the teachers, present and past after he is stabbed on the school grounds and seriously injured. Alisha is the first teacher on the scene after he is wounded. She tries to help him and later checks up on him in the hospital. She discovers he has befriended a student, Shamayel, which is against the rules. I found Alisha to be rather selfish in that she was more concerned about her job than Jim's life. The characters are well developed and the plot interestingly told. We find out that Jim was deeply traumatized as a child by a friend who disappears. He fears that she is dead. He is left on his own a lot and his mother helps him develop and interest in birds, which ties into the title.
Ms. Davis writes about childhood in the violence-soaked housing projects. The children born and raised there have practically no hope of escaping the brutal life of poverty, ignorance, and crime. Jim, a history teacher, raised by his mother in such a project, almost miraculously manages to evade the common fate of his peers thanks to his wise and understanding mother, a pair of binoculars, and a consuming passion for birdwatching. That is why he identifies with Shamayal, one of his students who lives practically across the wall from Jim's old apartment. Shamayal seems to be Jim's double in his effort to survive the terrible life conditions he is living under. When gang troubles catch up with Shamayal , Jim puts his career and his safety on line, thereby involving Ayisha, a fellow teacher. But Jim's past hides a terrible scar that both haunts and motivates him.
The book is well written and flows nicely to make a good read. And yet, it is a good bestseller but also a class B literature. Everything is too pat, too schematic, too PC. Shamayal's argot is constantly oscillating between ghetto jive and public school syntax, with witticisms and insights worthy of an Oxford don. The action flows rapidly, but upon re-examination seems artificial, contrived. It is good entertainment with appearances of real depth. And the inescapable identification of the reader with Jim, Shamayal, Ayisha, or even Bins, will make him/her like themselves. And this is a sure way to bribe your audience.
Setting The poor side of London. The scenes alternate between the 1990’s and twenty years later.
Theme Life without hope
Plot This touching story is about what children from the wrong side of the tracks had to live through if they were lucky enough to survive the threat of brutal gangs and absent or abusive parents. When a teacher tries to save a 14 year boy from a life on the streets, he discovers that the boy’s childhood and his own childhood have similarities that left him scarred the rest of his adult life.
Characters Well developed, engaging, empathetic
Shamayal – a street smart 14 year old boy who was abandoned by his mother when he was 10. He forms a bond with his teacher who teaches him bird watching.
Jim – a caring teacher who tries to teach his students about life without boundaries
Ayisha – a good teacher who is trying to sort out her relationship with her mother when she inadvertently gets mixed up in Shamayal’s and Jim’s lives when Jim is shot by a gang member
Aimee – a 13 year old girl from the upscale side of the tracks who is miserable and misunderstood by her parents
Style Excellent attention to detail. Made me feel as if I were right there even in the simplest scenes. Dialogue was appropriate for the characters, but the dialect of the London streets was sometimes hard to understand.
Conclusion – I felt it ended too abruptly, like a slap in the face, I didn’t see coming. Although I understood the ending, I wanted a clearer explanation of what happened to the characters rather than making assumptions.
If they allowed me to, I would list the book as hopeful, dark, nostalgic, suspenseful and thoughtful.
Loved it and finished it in three days. Planning to read all of Jane Davis' novels. Her prose is delicious. I love her use of metaphors and similes. Her descriptions come alive.
She writes the novel using past and present and changes the narration from one primary character to another. This may be confusing to some, but she heads each chapter with the date and name of the character talking.
Every once in awhile you read a book that really makes you stop and think about the relationships people have with other people or family members that shapes their whole future. I believe that this is one of those books.
Jim Stevens starts out as an eleven year old kid growing up in a not-so-wonderful neighborhood and he tries to stay away from other kids and be by himself to study birds. He and his mother especially like to watch the barn owls. He’s an excellent artist it seems, of birds and of some people. He comes from a broken home and tries very hard to make his mother proud of him.
This book moves ahead to when Jim Stevens is an adult, a teacher in fact, and meets a young boy who lives in the same neighborhood that he used to when he was a boy. He also has the same problems, but Jim tries very hard to protect him from the neighborhood kids.
The story goes back and forth from past to present and what Jim learns and does to help others learn is amazing. This story was a little hard to follow, but once you understand what is going on, it sucks you in and doesn't let you go. I enjoyed this book very much!
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