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Forest
The forest is earth and leaves, sun and shade, feather and blood and bone. It is the old way, the true way, the wild way to live. But, for Kian, wilderness is not home.
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First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Sonya Hartnett
42 books311 followersSonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 18, 2015
3.5 ★s
The forest is earth and leaves, sun and shade, feather and blood and bone. It is the old way, the true way, the wild way to live. But, for Kian, wilderness is not home.
Kian, a five-year-old ex-tom, Jem and Cally, two kitten siblings, are dumped in the forest. Kian wants nothing more than to find his home, but first they have to run the gamut of the wild, & the feral creatures living there. For Jem & Cally it's more of an adventure, they're young enough that picking up the wild ways will not be as hard nor as terrifying as it would be for Kian. With the begrudging help of some other feral cats, they make their way towards their old home - Kian can feel he is heading in the right direction.
I can see that children would enjoy this story of the cats' adventures & the wild ways of the forest - "red in tooth and claw". For me, I just wanted to string up the mongrel who dumped them in the first place. What damage we humans do - dump a feline hunter in the bush & then complain when they survive, nay thrive, in the Australian bush. Don't blame it on the cats!
Well-written and well-imagined, the language is quite compelling. While the ending is saddening, it is realistic & I can well see it happening - more mongrels, & this time with guns!
The forest is earth and leaves, sun and shade, feather and blood and bone. It is the old way, the true way, the wild way to live. But, for Kian, wilderness is not home.
Kian, a five-year-old ex-tom, Jem and Cally, two kitten siblings, are dumped in the forest. Kian wants nothing more than to find his home, but first they have to run the gamut of the wild, & the feral creatures living there. For Jem & Cally it's more of an adventure, they're young enough that picking up the wild ways will not be as hard nor as terrifying as it would be for Kian. With the begrudging help of some other feral cats, they make their way towards their old home - Kian can feel he is heading in the right direction.
I can see that children would enjoy this story of the cats' adventures & the wild ways of the forest - "red in tooth and claw". For me, I just wanted to string up the mongrel who dumped them in the first place. What damage we humans do - dump a feline hunter in the bush & then complain when they survive, nay thrive, in the Australian bush. Don't blame it on the cats!
Well-written and well-imagined, the language is quite compelling. While the ending is saddening, it is realistic & I can well see it happening - more mongrels, & this time with guns!
October 15, 2016
I felt that 'Forest' was full of cats kicking ass and yet on the other hand also an emotionally touching novel. The fact that the animals could talk and it was written in third person which made the book more of the talking and dialogue rather than the actual story. For cat lover like myself I could understand the connection Kian had to his home and things he liked. For every cat or animal lover this book by an aussie author is purrfect :)
July 2, 2022
A family of cats are dumped in the forest to fend for themselves. For some reason, it didn’t click.
March 29, 2015
Loved it! Although it is a very sad story and I cried everytime I picked it up
March 6, 2025
achingly miserable, kind of loved it
September 27, 2025
Sadly, this story didn't grab me.
Read
August 31, 2014An interesting read with My 10 year old daughter, who kept stopping me so she could write down phrases that struck as particularly special. There were plenty, it is Sonya Hartnett after all. And her take on the cat personality is spot on. Arrogant, selfish, careless, particular. Plenty of interesting imagery to keep an adult going too.
August 1, 2023
This book really catches the true personality of domestic cats, and how easily they can mould themselves to survive in different environments.
I read this book back in primary school, and I swear I remember Kian safely returning to the suburban area. I am now gobsmacked at the ending.
I read this book back in primary school, and I swear I remember Kian safely returning to the suburban area. I am now gobsmacked at the ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2020
I haven't read this book in a long time, but the things I remember about it are all negative things. The book was an unsatisfying waste of time. I am fine with sad endings with merit, but this ending was obnoxiously tragic and everything that ever happened in the book amounted to nothing. It made me feel more cheated than "wake up and it's all a dream" endings.
There is more to the book than the ending of course, but none of it was too exceptional. I did overall like the 3 main characters. But there was not enough heart or intrigue, and too much unkindness that didn't serve a purpose or make me think. One of the only pieces of dialogue I remember clearly is wildcats insulting each other over their balls. There just wasn't enough interesting stuff going on, so that and the ending are the only things I have to remember it by. There are many other feline books out there that are far greater.
There is more to the book than the ending of course, but none of it was too exceptional. I did overall like the 3 main characters. But there was not enough heart or intrigue, and too much unkindness that didn't serve a purpose or make me think. One of the only pieces of dialogue I remember clearly is wildcats insulting each other over their balls. There just wasn't enough interesting stuff going on, so that and the ending are the only things I have to remember it by. There are many other feline books out there that are far greater.
April 5, 2018
Forest follows the journey of an abandoned litter of kittens and their older brother, Kian, and their journey home with, of course, detours. They encounter feral cats fighting to keep their territory. Also, they stumble upon a clowder of cats - a territory occupied by the female, the young, and the old. Here, the weaker of the species group together to stay safe in the forest. Plenty more happens during their journey back to human civilisation, including an encounter with a sly fox, a flat-cat (run over by a car T_T), and a steel-cage trap. These are all exciting for the little ones Gem and Cally, but not for Kian - he just misses his old lady and his concrete home, away from the dense trees, ferns, and unfamiliar danger. He watched the kittens change and adjust to the forest. This doesn’t come as easily to Kian because what he has known and loved all his life has been a lazy and sedentary metropolitan life.
Read full review on Bookmarks & Blue Light
Read full review on Bookmarks & Blue Light
May 7, 2018
I read a handful of Hartnett's novels as an adolescent, their stark savagery painting Australian Gothic in blue-green-grey across my suburbia. Forest is the one I remember best, and it was even more delightful this time around. The prose itself is always catlike - elegant, or playful, or razor-sharp. The feline lifeworld is convincing, as are many of the conceptual foundations of their language - their insults and curses are especially piquant.
March 27, 2021
This book is subtitled "A journey from the wild". After some cats are dumped in a forest, you might expect the rest of the story is about them finding their way back home, but it almost completely isn't. Just thought I'd warn prospective readers.
July 11, 2017
Read this one as part of a university course, in, I think, 2005.
I thoroughly enjoyed that course and all the books we read.
I thoroughly enjoyed that course and all the books we read.
September 12, 2017
Inside the mind of feral and urban cats. Very descriptive language, I loved it, but sometimes wondered if it was too much, mostly it wasn't, it read like poetry.
July 23, 2022
Sad ending but excellent book to read, loved the detail, it made it easy to visualise what was happening.
November 11, 2025
From the back cover: The forest is earth and leaves, sun and shade, feather and blood and bone. It is the old way, the true way, the wild way to live. But, for Kian, wilderness is not home.
When I informed an Australian writer friend that her fellow countrywoman Sonya Hartnett had won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature and she replied that she had never heard of Sonya, I made her curious enough to go in search of one of Sonya’s books and she came up with Forest. She found she couldn’t get further than the first chapter and didn’t seem able to pinpoint the reason the story didn’t grip her because she told me she thought it was because it was told from the viewpoint of animals, which apparently isn't her "thing”. That didn’t make a lot of sense to me, coming from a children’s writer anyway. I soon worked out the real reason and when I sent my thoughts to my friend she agreed with me. So here are those thoughts:
The story starts with two kittens and one fixed male adult cat bundled into a crate and driven to the edge of a forest, where the man responsible for crating them dumps them and drives off. Readers aren’t given the names of the cats until well into the chapter, never mind being allowed to experience their thoughts or feelings while cooped up in the terrifying dark, hearing only the equally terrifying roar of the car. We are told what is happening to them and that they are frightened, instead of being allowed to feel their fear. But things do improve. The male cat is determined to get them back home, and their resulting journey, along with the cats’ interactions with other feral cats, and the way they see the alien landscape of the forest, is all very well told. Unfortunately, I consider Sonya spoils her story with the ending. I feel it isn’t fair to let young readers down by making the protagonist’s efforts all for nothing. However, I won’t say more than that. I’d just like to warn parents thinking of buying this book for their children to read it first and then make up their minds as to whether they think their children can handle it. Sonya Hartnett is a hugely talented writer who deserves her win, despite my criticism of the way she ends this book.
I can't remember when I read this book; my date is guesswork.
When I informed an Australian writer friend that her fellow countrywoman Sonya Hartnett had won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature and she replied that she had never heard of Sonya, I made her curious enough to go in search of one of Sonya’s books and she came up with Forest. She found she couldn’t get further than the first chapter and didn’t seem able to pinpoint the reason the story didn’t grip her because she told me she thought it was because it was told from the viewpoint of animals, which apparently isn't her "thing”. That didn’t make a lot of sense to me, coming from a children’s writer anyway. I soon worked out the real reason and when I sent my thoughts to my friend she agreed with me. So here are those thoughts:
The story starts with two kittens and one fixed male adult cat bundled into a crate and driven to the edge of a forest, where the man responsible for crating them dumps them and drives off. Readers aren’t given the names of the cats until well into the chapter, never mind being allowed to experience their thoughts or feelings while cooped up in the terrifying dark, hearing only the equally terrifying roar of the car. We are told what is happening to them and that they are frightened, instead of being allowed to feel their fear. But things do improve. The male cat is determined to get them back home, and their resulting journey, along with the cats’ interactions with other feral cats, and the way they see the alien landscape of the forest, is all very well told. Unfortunately, I consider Sonya spoils her story with the ending. I feel it isn’t fair to let young readers down by making the protagonist’s efforts all for nothing. However, I won’t say more than that. I’d just like to warn parents thinking of buying this book for their children to read it first and then make up their minds as to whether they think their children can handle it. Sonya Hartnett is a hugely talented writer who deserves her win, despite my criticism of the way she ends this book.
I can't remember when I read this book; my date is guesswork.
April 18, 2013
Not so very long ago (though far longer than I'd like to admit) I was a university student taking Summer courses to pass the time. One of these was a Young Adults Fiction class, and "Forest" was on the reading list... I did not read it. In fact, I think it is the only one that I did not get around to, and when I heard the class discussion (they hated it! they loathed it to its very core!) I vowed that one day, I would not only read - but I would enjoy - this book.
Many years later, the spark of rebellion has worn down some, but I was browsing my bookshelf when this one caught my eye. I figured I'd give it a try... To begin with, this is a book about cats. Feral cats. That will put a lot of people off before they have even started. I'm not sure who the target audience is supposed to be; but cat lovers won't enjoy watching the pitiful creatures suffer, cat haters won't get through the first chapter, and young adults will probably be bored out of their brains, because in a world of "Twilight" and "The Infernal Devices", this one simply does not compare.
That said, those who can endure will discover an interesting story with exceptional writing. The prose itself is the star of this book, and Sonya Hartnett knows how to turn a phrase. She also knows a lot about cats, and imbues them with attitudes and ideas which can't be too far from the mark. They are definitely cat-like, but I'm not sure that they're very likeable or very interesting. I think that the best characters in the novel were the other wild animals, from foxes to dogs, possums to echidnas, lizards to rats. These were my favourite scenes.
Ultimately, the story is a bleak and grizzly one. All of the animals suffer needlessly, and there are no easy solutions to the feral situation. Hartnett doesn't pretend that there are. On the one hand, the ferals left unchecked will destroy the forest and each other, and yet the trapping and killing of the animals is shown to be a brutal and inhumane process. I wouldn't recommend this novel because I don't think anybody would enjoy reading it. This is one wayward animal story that not even Walt Disney himself could work with...
Many years later, the spark of rebellion has worn down some, but I was browsing my bookshelf when this one caught my eye. I figured I'd give it a try... To begin with, this is a book about cats. Feral cats. That will put a lot of people off before they have even started. I'm not sure who the target audience is supposed to be; but cat lovers won't enjoy watching the pitiful creatures suffer, cat haters won't get through the first chapter, and young adults will probably be bored out of their brains, because in a world of "Twilight" and "The Infernal Devices", this one simply does not compare.
That said, those who can endure will discover an interesting story with exceptional writing. The prose itself is the star of this book, and Sonya Hartnett knows how to turn a phrase. She also knows a lot about cats, and imbues them with attitudes and ideas which can't be too far from the mark. They are definitely cat-like, but I'm not sure that they're very likeable or very interesting. I think that the best characters in the novel were the other wild animals, from foxes to dogs, possums to echidnas, lizards to rats. These were my favourite scenes.
Ultimately, the story is a bleak and grizzly one. All of the animals suffer needlessly, and there are no easy solutions to the feral situation. Hartnett doesn't pretend that there are. On the one hand, the ferals left unchecked will destroy the forest and each other, and yet the trapping and killing of the animals is shown to be a brutal and inhumane process. I wouldn't recommend this novel because I don't think anybody would enjoy reading it. This is one wayward animal story that not even Walt Disney himself could work with...
March 3, 2016
While I found Forest, which I listened to on audiobook, difficult to warm to initially, it was a story that I loved in the end and I think it will stay with me forever. It is interesting to think what children would make of it as it is neither cute nor formulaic in its representation of the cats or life in the Australian bush. But then, is it kids who would find this off-putting or the adults who guide them?
While Hartnett does anthropomorphise the cats and other creatures to some extent, as much as they have conversations with each other, she does so with a careful hand, working hard to be true to the self-interested and territorial interactions that you might imagine these animals would really have. There is no 'Disneyfication' of their relationships here and that might be why many readers attracted to the idea of the book may in the end be put off by it. Yet in the end I found this treatment so much more authentic and my heart broke for 'shiny' Kian, trying to make his way back to the humans who so ruthlessly abandoned him and the kittens without, from the cat's point of view, explanation or reason.
While Hartnett does anthropomorphise the cats and other creatures to some extent, as much as they have conversations with each other, she does so with a careful hand, working hard to be true to the self-interested and territorial interactions that you might imagine these animals would really have. There is no 'Disneyfication' of their relationships here and that might be why many readers attracted to the idea of the book may in the end be put off by it. Yet in the end I found this treatment so much more authentic and my heart broke for 'shiny' Kian, trying to make his way back to the humans who so ruthlessly abandoned him and the kittens without, from the cat's point of view, explanation or reason.
December 8, 2015
I cannot fault this novel in the sense it was written well. It was written from the viewpoint of the cats. However, for some inexplicable reason it just didn't quite make me feel the emotions I have read from other reviews. My strongest emotion was anger that humans dump animals at all. If you love cats then this is a great book.
August 26, 2016
Just bought a new edition with the gorgeous cover.
This book won the CBCA book of the year competition in 2001 and has stood the test of time. I love a story told from the animal's perspective, which highlights humanity's thoughtless and seemingly arbitrary acts of cruelty and neglect towards animals that are supposed to be our companions.
Sad but thought provoking.
This book won the CBCA book of the year competition in 2001 and has stood the test of time. I love a story told from the animal's perspective, which highlights humanity's thoughtless and seemingly arbitrary acts of cruelty and neglect towards animals that are supposed to be our companions.
Sad but thought provoking.
November 9, 2016
From the opening lines I knew what I was getting into but I still read on. Kian is just too well adapted to the ways of humans. The two kittens though, they adore Kian, look up to him, and are torn between his stubborness and the new enticing ways. In a way it is a happy ending but it didn't feel like it. Sonya Hartnett was not writing a fairy tale.
July 24, 2012
EB listened to the Bolinda Audio Book of this novel. ISBN: 1 74093 115 7
She said it was very sad, and very realistic. She told me a fair few details from the story, so obviously found it engrossing.
She said it was very sad, and very realistic. She told me a fair few details from the story, so obviously found it engrossing.
May 12, 2010
I hate cats
Want to read
April 25, 2011A very different read but interesting if you like cats.
October 9, 2016
I love Sonya Hartnett books but when I saw this one was about a feral cat I didn't think I would like it. Wrong! This woman could make a story about a fly crawling up a wall impossible to put down.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews