The Mushroom in the Sky
Written by Jackie French
Reviewed by Jenny Ruge
The Mushroom in the Sky is the latest in a long line of exceptional and thought-provoking stories from multi-award winner Jackie French.
It’s 1942 and sixteen-year-old orphan Harry Oswald, ‘Ossie’, plans to lie about his age and enlist once he finds a carer for his beloved dog, Lucky. Help comes in the form of thirteen-year-old Kat, devoted to Lucky and determined to help kind Mrs Plum care for forty-six dogs for their soldier owners. When Ossie is taken to Japan as a prisoner-of-war and witnesses the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, risking everything to help the survivors, he must face the question of what it means to be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Lucky’s special connection to both Ossie and Kat allows them glimpses of each other’s experiences, bringing both comfort and hope.
At first glance, this novel presents a mismatch of expectations. Readers expecting a warm and fuzzy dog story may be disconcerted by the depth of war detail, while readers looking for an exciting war story may find the pace of the early chapters a little slow. But just as Kat must be endlessly patient caring for Lucky, helping Mrs Plum on the farm and waiting for word of Ossie, so too must the reader be patient and determined to understand French’s message.
The language is accessible to readers even at the younger end of the YA demographic, while the growth in maturity and understanding of Kat and Ossie across the last three years of the war will keep older readers engaged. French makes it clear that war isn’t about heroism and adventure. For those in the thick of it like Ossie, it’s about unthinkable suffering and a quiet determination to survive. For those like Kat, it’s about waiting and hoping, doing countless little tasks to ‘help the war effort’. And for everyone, whether at home or at the front, it’s about the realisation that the world will never be the same.
At its core, The Mushroom in the Sky issues an invitation: to ask, was it worth it? Were the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the destruction of whole cities worth it to stop the war in its tracks, to prevent the deaths of many millions more? Importantly, this is not just a question of historical reflection: in a time when nuclear war may once more be on the horizon, French insists it’s a moral question we must all ask ourselves. Bound to open deep discussions in classrooms and homes, this novel is recommended for all readers 12+.
Teaching Guide
HarperCollins AU 2025
Jackie French
