Thunder and Lightnings by Jan Mark

First published: 1976; illustrated

Type of work: Domestic realism

Themes: Friendship, family, education, and social issues

Time of work: One summer in the late twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: The village of Pallingham, Norfolk, England

Principal Characters:

• Andrew Mitchell, an intelligent, compassionate schoolboy of twelve, who is new in Norfolk
• Victor Skelton, his awkward, good-natured classmate, who has a passion for airplanes and is believed retarded by teachers, classmates, and parents
• Mrs. Mitchell, Andrew’s very tall, easygoing mother, who was a librarian
• Mr. Mitchell, Andrew’s understanding, helpful, nondirective father, who is a computer specialist
• Mrs. Skelton, Victor’s fussy, house-proud and socially conscious mother

The Story

At first, Thunder and Lightnings appears to be the story of a boy’s adjustment to a new environment. When Andrew Mitchell’s family moves from London to Tiler’s Cottage in rural Norfolk, he is struck by the openness of fields and sky, but especially by the almost constant rumble of aircraft from the Royal Air Force field at Coltishall.

Andrew is a loner, because his family moves often. Bored with school, he becomes acquainted with Victor Skelton, a classmate who is also isolated. Andrew soon discovers that Victor is believed to be backward and unable to learn and, in deed, is barely literate. He is scorned by classmates because he is clumsy and dresses eccentrically, wearing seven layers of garments at a time. Andrew also discovers that Victor is fascinated with airplanes. Both boys are pleased to learn that they live in the same neighborhood and soon become close friends.

During the summer holidays, the boys visit each other and go for jaunts about the neighborhood. Andrew finds the formal atmosphere and emphasis on cleanliness that Victor’s meticulous, nagging mother maintains vastly different from his mother’s messy housekeeping and the amiable banter that goes on at home. He learns that Victor’s mother also believes her son is backward and denigrates him. The boys play with the model planes that decorate Victor’s room, run errands for Andrew’s mother, and visit the RAF airfield to watch the planes take off and land.

Andrew discovers that Victor is very knowledgeable about aircraft; he talks about them with atypical confidence and authority and without his usual country accent and incorrect grammar. Victor is particularly enamored of the Lightning, an important fighter plane used during World War II.

The central problem arises one evening when Mr. Mitchell announces that he has read that the Lightnings are to be phased out. Reluctant, Andrew passes the news along to Victor. Although Andrew’s mother remarks that Victor may be tougher than he thinks, he sets about helping Victor accept the loss by suggesting that they do a project on planes for Victor’s term report. When Victor resists the idea, Andrew believes that Victor simply refuses to accept the truth.

At Coltishall one Friday, they watch the Jaguars arrive to replace the Lightnings. When Victor remarks that nothing in life stays the same, Andrew realizes that Victor understands the phaseout, but he remains uneasy. The following Monday, a Lightning roars over the village in a magnificent, low-soaring dive and Victor announces with a grin, “What a way to go out, eh?” Andrew concludes that he has worried unnecessarily and realizes that Victor is a realist capable of accepting the inevitable with grace.

Context

Thunder and Lightnings, Jan Mark’s first book, catapulted her to fame in children’s literature when it won the Carnegie Medal in England. Seven years later, Handles (1983), for a somewhat older audience, also received the Carnegie. Although Mark has written fantasies, such as Aquarius (1982, winner of the Young Observer Teenage Fiction Prize) and short stories, she is best known for her novels of domestic realism.

Mark commonly explores the themes of friendship, social obligations, the necessity to confront issues and accept the truth, and the importance of self-assertion. These aspects unfold gradually and convincingly within her works without sentimentality or explicit statement and without the pedantry often found in children’s books where the adult’s viewpoint rather than the child’s predominates. Her protagonists tend to be loners, isolated by circumstances and their own inclinations or failings. In Handles, an adolescent girl who is interested in motorcycles simply does not fit into her aunt’s rigid, traditional family. Viner, in Aquarius, knows what it is to be ostracized and scorned, yet is too emotionally scarred, or perhaps too unfeeling or too pragmatic, to provide the support his king needs.

Critics acclaim Mark’s ability to create convincing images of home life and interpersonal relationships, especially within families and between peers. Her characterizations, her economical use of language, her believable dialogue, and her skillful use of humor are all evident in Thunder and Lightnings.