Andersen Press scoops new Second World War book from Earle

Andersen Press will release the third book in Phil Earle’s award-winning Second World War series for children. 

Until The Road Ends follows on from The British Book Award award-winning When the Sky Falls and While the Storm Rages. The series follows the true story of the Blitz’s “bravest and most decorated bomb-dog”.

World Rights were acquired by publishing director Charlie Sheppard from Jodie Hodges at United Agents, as part of a three-book deal. Until The Road Ends will publish in paperback in June 2023, with another novel to follow in 2024.

The synopsis reads: “In Until The Road Ends, the third book in Phil Earle’s World War II collection of novels, Peggy saves a stray dog from near-death and a beautiful friendship begins. Peggy and Beau are inseparable: the only thing that can ever come between them is war. Peggy is evacuated to the safety of the coast, but Beau is left behind in the city, where he becomes the most extraordinary and unlikely of war heroes.

“Night after night, as bombs rain down and communities are destroyed, Beau searches the streets, saving countless families. But then disaster strikes, changing Peggy’s life forever. With her parents killed, both she and Beau are left alone, hundreds of miles apart. But Beau has a plan to reunite them at long last…”

Earle said: “World War II is littered with rich, intrepid and little-known stories, so it’s been an absolute delight to weave the tale of the Blitz’s bravest and most decorated bomb-dog. To work with the team at Andersen Press for the third time has been a joy: their support and faith in my writing has been overwhelming and, together, we can’t wait to get out on the road in June and beyond.”

Sheppard added: “Working on Until the Road Ends has been a true joy, and with this story of animal heroism in World War II, Phil has cemented himself as the true heir to Michael Morpurgo and Michelle Magorian. Everyone at Andersen Press loves working with Phil, and we look forward to yet another major marketing and publicity campaign to get the book into as many hands as possible this summer.”