The Machine Gunners
Robert Westall
In a town in north-east England during the Second World War, German bombs fall almost every night. Chas McGill collects war souvenirs, and one day he finds the best one of all: a real machine gun from a crashed German plane. He and his friends decide to hide it from the grown-ups and build a secret fortress of their own.
- Length
- About 55,000 words
- To read it
- About 37 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 2
Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.
Where it is taught
Why The Machine Gunners is on the list
- Year 6, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader.
Reading it here
What your child does with it
- 1
Choose it and set a finish date
You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.
- 2
Check in along the way
A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.
- 3
Answer two questions
When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.
- 4
Get it marked, and redraft
Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.