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Posted on March 9th 2023
Joint Year 7 Effort Wins Michael Morpurgo Writing Competition
Congratulations to Agit, Joseph, Yuen and Noah in Year 7 for winning our library’s Michael Morpurgo writing competition!
To celebrate Michael Morpurgo month in February, children were asked to write a short historical fiction story, inspired by Morpurgo’s most famous historical tales, such as War Horse.
Teaming up, the boys chose to write an emotive and richly descriptive story set during the Holodomor (death by hunger) in 1930s Ukraine. It’s especially impressive that the boys collaborated to write this, combining their collective creative talents to achieve this sensitive piece of work, and also doing research to paint a realistic picture of what went on.
Well done boys for your efforts and we are happy to publish an extract for you to read and enjoy below.
The Family of the Starving – an extract
By Agit, Joseph, Yuen and Noah, Year 7
It has only been a few months. How can I escape this depression? Father is in prison, the family has been torn apart and worst of all, there is no food left. Mother is looking very depressed, especially without father. Alexsei is constantly begging for food, his bones showing through his skin. Karina can’t stop wailing to the point where I hear it in my dreams. We are all suffering. Our secret stash is empty. Deep inside, we know food will never arrive. We will starve.
The entire family is suffering physically and mentally. Karina keeps screaming for food with mother telling her to save her energy in case something happens. Since father was taken for hiding grain, the family is just falling apart. Karina gets up from the small table walking over to Alexsei, sitting on the floor. Karina shouts at Alexsei for hoarding the breadcrumbs, causing mother to walk over and stop them. She didn’t have to walk far. Our house is so small, it only takes 15 steps to reach the end. We only have enough room for a small kitchen, table and the mats to sleep on. We only have a few more loaves of herbal bread and cherry leaves. Mother eats less every day. I feel concerned by mother’s lack of food. Her spine is becoming more obvious by the day. No one can do anything about it. We are all exhausted. Why have we been cursed? What have the people of Ukraine done to deserve this? Oh lord, make it stop. Let the pain wash away the pain…
