The Weather Girls by Sarah Webb

The Weather Girls by Sarah Webb

This wonderful historical fiction book, written by Sarah Webb is a junior read, catered towards children ages 9 to 12 year olds, so the latter side of primary school, 4^th to 6^th classes. ‘The Weather Girls’ is set during World War 2. The front cover is in colour and was designed by Charli Vince . All of the internal illustrations are beautifully drawn and factual, with all of the chapters mentioning the names of old weather devices and what they were used for. These were done by Eoin O’Brien. An example of these is a drawing with the word “Altostratus – A mid-level grey overcast layer of cloud which often produces light drizzle.”

This diary styled book, dates all the chapters, and includes the day of the week. The Weather Girls‘ main story is set in 1944, but the entire book is set between 1941, with the prologue, and the fictional story finishes with the epilogue set in 1955 at the end, fast-forwarding ten years and reflecting on the character’s lives from 1944/45 to 1955.

This book is about friendship, family, war, as well as love and loss. A German plane crashes into the cliffs in Mayo near the Blacksod Lighthouse, and the story is written and based around that.

The blurb for The Weather Girls:

It’s 1944. Twelve-year-old Grace Devine lives at Blacksod Lighthouse and weather station in County Mayo with her parents and little brother. When a German plane crashes nearby, she and her best friend Sibby risk their lives to save the young pilot. Grace’s family take him in, but their neighbours are horrified at having an ‘enemy’ in their midst.

Meanwhile, the Met Office in England suddenly asks Blacksod to send them weather reports every hour. But why? As the wind and rain howl outside, Grace begins to understand that something important is happening, something to do with the war – and she is right in the eye of the storm.

Real Characters

At the back of The Weather Girls are photos of some of the ‘real’ characters that are in Sarah’s fictional tale, as well as the real people who inspired fictional characters in the book. These were Maureen and Ted Sweeney who really did live and work in the Blacksod Lighthouse. The Devine family was made-up. Sarah said: “In 2019 I watched RTÉ’s Great Lighthouses of Ireland and first heard the remarkable story of Maureen Flavin and the Blacksod D-Day weather reports, as told on screen by her husband, Blacksod Lighthouse keeper Ted. I was fascinated. I knew immediately it would make a great story for children but I also knew I’d need to make some changes to the real events…”

There are also some historical notes, as well as some of the author’s research in creating and writing The Weather Girls, and some black and white photographs. Sarah actually went to Mayo and visited the Blacksod Lighthouse and Maureen and Ted’s grandson Fergus Sweeney who gave her a tour, as well as valuable information for her writing. Just like the fictional characters 12 year old Grace and her 9 year old brother Dannie, Fergus lived in Blacksod Lighthouse, where he really is a tour guide for County Mayo’s famous lighthouse.