A Definite Purpose: Writing The Last Summer

I imagine that sooner or later most authors get asked where their ideas for a book come from.  Mine come from any number of directions but "The Last Summer" was written with a definite purpose in mind.

The Last Summer challenges young readers to think for themselves.

I was at a conference for authors of children's books and one of the speakers said that no one would think of writing a book in which the main character was on Franco's side during the Spanish Civil War.  I don't remember the context of this remark, but my first thought was, "Why not?  Why not let the young reader be challenged to think things through for themselves, rather than be given just a one-sided view of such a complex  and tragic situation?

From my own experience of being married to a Spaniard whose extended family was on completely opposite sides both during and after the conflict, I felt I was sufficiently competent to take up the challenge.

And so Eduardo and Gaviota came into being, a boy and a horse, both innocent victims of a senseless and brutal confrontation, where the concepts of good and evil had lost all meaning, and yet where kindness and hope somehow survived.