Kit's Wilderness

by David Almond

The Printz Award–winning classic gets a new look.

The Watson family moves to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town, to care for Kit’s recently widowed grandfather. When Kit meets John Askew, another boy whose family has both worked and died in the mines, Askew invites Kit to join him in playing a game called Death. As Kit’s grandfather tells him stories of the mine’s past and the history of the Watson family, Askew takes Kit into the mines, where the boys look to find the childhood ghosts of their long-gone ancestors. Written in haunting, lyrical prose, Kit’s Wilderness examines the bonds of family from one generation to the next, and explores how meaning and beauty can be revealed from the depths of darkness.

A Michael L. Printz Award Winner
An ALA Notable Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Magical Realism, Teen

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 20, 1999

About the author

David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults.

His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002.

His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake.

He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.

Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.

Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).

Reviews

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kit's Wilderness is an underrated, unknown, incredible book. Two hours to read this book, on a whim, because I had free time and wanted to read something short in one sitting. Two hours to captivate me, pull me into an enchanting story, and rip out my heart, naturally. This book turned me into a crying mess, but it's also one that has resonated with me so much, the messages speaking directly to my heart. David Almond is an author from my area, who wrote Skellig, a great childhood favourite of mine. I got to attend a talk and then meet him while I was at university, and he gave me some great writing advice: Don't worry about coming up with the perfect idea, because at the right time, it'll just come to you, and you'll know it's the one. Well, the same often goes for reading books. Sometimes, the right one just comes to you at the right time, and you know it's a new soulmate. This book has become one of them.

People who don't live or know anything about Northern English culture, our towns and our history, might struggle to understand parts of this, and people who just aren't fans of the weird, whimsical and dream-like would probably struggle with it too.

What is it about? It's about thirteen year old kids in a coal mining town in the North East of England. It's about storytelling. It's about ghosts and magical realism. It's about life, and it's about death. It's compelling. It's beautifully written. And now I love it just as much as Skellig, which I'll have to reread very soon to give a worthy review to it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read "Skellig," so I knew what to expect from David Almond. Another powerful story set in Northeastern England. The Kit of the title is a boy whose family has moved into Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town. They did that to take care of Kit's grandfather, a man who had worked in the mines. Kit, of course, faces the problem of fitting in at school ( a problem that was a difficult one for me when I changed elementary schools as a kid). Kit meets a boy named John Askew, who invites him to join him and other children in a game called Death...
Almond writes beautifully, which is the main reason I wanted to read another book by him. I also like books that bring a particular time and place to life and Almond does that for his region of England ( in the area of Newcastle I believe). He has stated that he grew up in a place of old and abandoned coal mines and wild countryside. That place and the people who live there give him his stories...
It's a Young Adult book but, as with all the best YA literature, adult readers can enjoy the book. I give this book 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kit’s Wilderness I wonder how many times I’ve seen this title and assumed it was an American Girl book. Truly a shame… This has been out for 15 years… 15 years that I could have carried Kit and his story with me.

It almost eluded me once again, when I noticed the author, David Almond, I knew that name. A sudden surge, like a warm fuzzie or a premenopausal hot flash overcame me. Skellig.
Yes. Now, I remember.

David Almond has this incredible talent. His voice. He rambles, he doesn’t use paragraphs, his dialogues runs into each other, he’s got that British slang thing and he must say “Eh? Eh?” a hundred times which just reminds me of Eh? Eh!. Then I lose my train of thought and some random facebook picture of one of Eh’s dinners pop up and then I’m hungry and I have to focus focus focus.

His voice. It’s gentle, it lulls you.

“This is our world, he used to say. “Aye, there’s more than enough of darkness in it. But over everthing there’s all this joy, Kit. There’s all this lovely lovely light.”


The story is of two boys, Kit and John, aged thirteen. Living in Stoneygate, built over an old mine that holds a power of the boys, the ghosts of children who perished down there, the fascination with death, the escape of grandfathers suffering from dementia or drunk abusive fathers… something draws them together, a story that they need to tell in order to heal.

Or something like that.

What I know is that Mr. Almond was able to lure me into a story of two pubescent boys living in a bleak town in England and hold me there, tightly, until he decided he was done with me. Cast me off into the tunnels below Stoneygate. And now I feel hollow and I’m meandering, trying to catch Silky’s eye. (You have to be in the know)

[Maciek · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Everybody's got the seam of goodness in them, Kit," said Grandpa. "Just a matter of whether it can be found and brought out into the light."

Kit's Wilderness is an eerie, dreamlike novel, permeating with a feeling of sadness and loss. It is, at times, a rather dark book - as I was reading it I was reminded of Robert Cormier's work, though his novels are definitely much darker and ultimately depressing, whereas Kit's Wilderness is ultimately hopeful and beautiful.

The novel begins with 13 year old Christopher - "Kit" - Watson moving with his parents back to their hometown of Stoneygate, a small, former mining town in the northeast of England to care for his recently widowed grandfather. At school he is approached by a boy named John Askew, who recognizes him as being a part of "the old families" - families of coal miners who worked in mines which once operated beneath the city. Although the mines have been closed for a long time, they prove to be a source of fascination for the local children - Watson introduces Kit to a game called "death", where one of the participants is chosen to "die" by spinning a knife, and has to spend time in a dark pit- recreating the accident of 1821, where more than a hundred of Stoneygate's children died in mining tunnels in a pit disaster, including Kit's own great-grandfather. Although the game at first is just grim and dark entertainment, Kit soon starts seeing it as something more profound and even mystical: a way to bond with the long-lost children.

Kit's Wilderness is a truly delightful little novel which I enjoyed reading very much, thanks to David Almond's ability to create a compelling, multilayered story. Although the book is marketed towards younger readers, I think it can - and should! - be readers of all ages. Almond writers very well - although Stoneygate does not exist in reality, it is modeled on the many northern mining towns that he has known since his childhood in the county of Tyne and Wear. The eponymous wilderness does not relate only to the wild landscape surrounding the town. I like to see this wilderness - strange time between childhood and adulthood, where we're neither: we are not little children anymore, but we're clearly not adults yet. We're in the wild, discovering new things, often without anyone to guide us, like the children of this novel: we devour stories and long to experience them, and make our own. I loved how David Almond presented the relationship between Kit and his ailing grandfather, slowly succumbing to dementia. As he shares the stories of his own youth and the town's past, Kit's grandpa is slowly drifting away into darkness; he shares the past with his grandson as much as he himself is moving towards it, unavoidably. As his personality is slowly eroded by alzheimer's, his stories influence and help form Kit's own character and influence his life and decisions that he will make.

Kit's Wilderness is a surprisingly tender and touching book, with bits of real beauty in it; I can safely recommend it to pretty much anyone, and I will definitely be reading more of David Almond's work in the future.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, five stars... yes, everyone should read it. It's certainly not just for fans of Horror, or of Historical Fiction, though aspects of it resemble works in those genres. It's a great read about families of different shapes and flavors, families going through hard times. There's a lot of depth a young reader will miss the first time through. The language and styling is effortlessly beautiful and original.

I read it one afternoon, and much to my surprise I actually *enjoyed* it (I expected only to admire it, and to give it four star review).

I may just read it again someday, though I did read carefully and I don't think I missed anything... it's just that rich & satisfying....

[Seher Andaç · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yıllar önce iki öğretmenden okullarıyla ilgili bir hikaye dinlemiştim. Okuldan kaçan öğrencisini, mahallede sokak sokak dolaşıp arayan bir rehber öğretmenin hikayesi. Öğrencisini bulunca koşarak gidip; “seni çok özledik, merak ettik” diyerek kucaklıyor rehber öğretmen.
İşte bu kitap da, kaybolan çocukların peşinden gidip, bulup kucaklayan ve onlara arkadaşlıklarını sunan çocukların ve erişkinlerin hikayesi.
Ve bu yüzden dünya büyülü bir yer 🌟

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book about a 13 year old living in a coal mining town. Kit and his parents moved there to live with his grandfather after the death of Kit's grandmother. The meat of the story takes place in the wintertime, the setting and the town become important characters, lending great atmosphere to the plot. 13 year old, 'Kit,' Christopher Watson plays a game called 'death,' with some children in town; these children are from the 'old' families that have lived there for generations and lost many loved ones in the coal mines. The game involves spinning a bottle and whichever kid it lands on goes into the mine in dark isolation and stays, pretending to be dead. The leader of the game is John Askew, a dark, rough, and tumble character who's father is an alcoholic and takes his frustrations out on John. The friendship that develops between John, Kit, and Allie spoke volumes to me about the authenticity of true friends. Kit's grandfather is a wonderful part of the story as well sharing his memories of the mine with Kit. As grandfather goes into decline and Kit plays the game of 'death,' Kit begins to see the ghosts of children who died in the mines. With great imagination, Kit writes his own story inviting the magical reality of a far distant past to rescue John from a dark future. This book reminds me of why I fell in love with reading!!!

[Sali-steady-read · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was magical, yes. I like the way Mr. Almond narrates smoothly, as if the characters are flowing through the story, as if they were meant to be who they are, to do as they do. You never get tired, or bored reading this novel.
I still have Skellig by the same author as my favorite, but there are other novels by him yet to read. Will keep you posted.

[Ricky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing; the story is creative very dark and dappled with light throughout and moved towards a wonderful creative ending. The story is original and wonderfully crafted together, showing the brilliance of David Almond writing skills. After reading Skellig I thought how could David Almond ever match this book, but he proved me wrong; he not only matched it he may have just surpassed it. As the story progresses Kit (the main character in the book) starts to write a story that links into the main story's plot - overlapping in an amazing and clever way. I can't praise this book enough - beautiful, different and Remarkable.

[Lisa Calvert]

in a sentence: A story based journey with Kit Watson through the semi-dream/semi-reality experience in his family's hometown during his Grandfather's final times.

The story begins simply enough, with the coming home again to support a Grandfather during the loss of his Grandmother. We journey with Kit as he starts a new school, meets new people, and uncovers a plethora of family history within this small town that goes back hundreds of years. There is a genuine goodness in Kit, and a strong desire to know more that draws the reader to him. The elements in the book range from dark to light, fantasy to reality, and everywhere in between. Emotions run high in both the stories that Kit writes and in his real life relationships with the town.

The blending of reality and fantasy is incredible. The reader becomes blurred in what is really happening and what is not, and therefore puts us right in Kit's shoes. The comic relief of Allie is welcome in this otherwise heavy novel, and is tastefully done. The reader's heart breaks for John Askew and his dark and troubled past. The plot moves swiftly, but takes time to truly develop emotions and situations in a respectful way. The reader is kept in the dark with Kit, and I found myself having "ah-ha" moments at the same time as intended - nothing was revealed a moment too soon. It was gutsy to put a book of this intensity and darkness out there to a young adult audience, but it is done so respectfully and honestly and so genuine. The challenge of blending reality with fantasy is met in this novel, and takes it to a truly higher level of literature.

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almond writes a mixture of fantasy and reality that feels like a few too many sleepless nights in a row. It works.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book because it is an Award Winner. I honestly don’t know how it won.

It is a coming of ago fantasy. I just could not make it click.

2 1/2 stars

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful and incredibly meaningful story.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I am more drawn to Almond's earlier work. These earlier tales are more visceral and have a stronger connection to his home than some of his later work. Perhaps this is because of the audience he writes for here rather than the diverse range he now caters for. This, of course, should not take anything away from his recent accomplishments especially when we consider how good The Dam is.

Kit Watson and his family return to their hometown of Stoneygate, a small, fictional mining community set somewhere in Tyne and Wear. There he meets with families who have never left and in caring for his grandfather he finds that his stories and those of others here go back generations. But there is one family whose life has become tainted - the Askew's. John Askew's own family is broken and in need of mending and although gifted in art, John is bitter inside and is drawn to the ghost of previous generations. Can Kit save him or will he be drawn into the past, like John, never to return?

Almond's older books were always ambiguous like Garner's mid-texts for children/young adults. These are complex narratives yet deeply rewarding because of it. There are stories here about the passing down of the labour of generations and there are also stories here of ghosts and need to move on. For this reason alone, the book reminded me of Town Is by the Sea. I loved it and would happily share with Y6+ but I think some themes and words would better suit a more confident teacher or older children.

[Lokum Çocuk Kutuphanesi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dünya Büyülü Bir Yer, oldukça karanlık bir kitap olmasına rağmen içinde boğucu bir kasvet yok. Farklı (Steinhöfel) hikayesindeki gibi sizi içine çeken bir girdap var. Hikayenin nasıl ilerleyeceğini az çok kestirsek bile yazım dili öyle güçlü ki kitabı elden bırakmak pek mümkün olmuyor. Almond'un hem bu kitabı hem piranaları nasıl yazdığını anlayamadım :)

[ستایش]

بخش‌هایی از کتاب:

خوبی در همه‌ی انسان‌ها هست.

گفت:« نگرانی؟»
گفتم:« بله »
- خواهد گذشت. چیز جالبی هست که می‌توانی درباره‌ی همه‌چیز بگویی.

قصه‌گویی، نوعی جادوست

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best phrase I can think of to describe this story is somewhat paradoxical: "darkly sublime." It's so rich throughout, I don't think my words can come close to doing it justice here. My sister recommended that I read it after quoting a writing expert who said this book is a "master class" on how to create tone. I wholeheartedly agree.

In his appended author's note, David Almond writes "I think that stories are living things--among the most important things in the world." He certainly practices this philosophy throughout the book. The narrative is a living thing, taking place over a few months of a thirteen year-old boy's life. It weaves in and out of his subconscious, of his dreams, of his memories and present lived experiences. It breathes new life into literary descriptions of ghosts; it moves between his life and a narrative that he's creating himself, with some amount of slippage in between. It defies expectations consistently.

The book deals with very heady themes: life, death, light, dark, good, evil, dreams, lineage, ghosts, old age, youth, enemies, friendship. There is a dialectical tension at work throughout, pulling at each end relentlessly. The book is immensely heavy and dark. And yet there's an ebullience that skips lightly across it, courtesy of Kit's friend Allie. Thank goodness she's there, reminding the reader that there is light, there is beauty, there is hope.

In Aristotle's On Rhetoric, he calls a certain persuasive technique the "enthymeme"--a rhetorical device through which an orator can persuade an audience by allowing it to 'fill in the blanks.' The orator speaks sparingly, making logical arguments but still leaving portions out. Once the audience provides the missing parts to the arguments, they participate in the creation of the speech, feeling immensely satisfied as a result.

This is how Almond writes. The way he does it is nothing short of masterful. His tone is so exceedingly complex, and yet totally simple throughout. He writes sparingly so the reader can provide the visuals in his or her own mind, thus making the reading experience richer somehow. Almond is never didactic, he never overstates nor overexplains. Though the book is short, the reader feels like s/he lives in the wilderness with Kit. In some ways it feels like it lasts much longer than it does because it's so easy to adapt to the hypnotic dialogue and seductive tone.

The climax of the book is intense and completely enthralling. Somehow Almond is able to present a multitude of threads throughout the story and connects them all together, to the point where not one detail feels like it shouldn't have been there. It feels so timeless that its references to a Megadeth t-shirt and Walkmans (it was written in the late 90s) seem like anachronisms.

Thanks to my sister Stephanie for recommending this book to me.

[Chantelle Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had such an effect on me, I felt like I had been sucked into another world for the time I was reading it. I started it late one night and picked it up again in the morning to finish it. To say I was mesmerised is an understatement. There is something so simple yet beautifully profound about the writing and the setting of the scenery. This is the story of Kit, who moves with his parents back to the old mining town they came from Stoneygate, when his grandmother dies and his grandfather needs looking after. Kit feels immediately at home and welcomed back to the old town where he is eyed as someone who belongs, someone whose heritage goes back decades. Kit is drawn to a boy named John Askew, a dark, hulking brute of a boy, who engineers a spooky game with the local kids called Death. The kids chosen are the kids whose ancestors died as children in the mines. There is a very haunting scene where Kit's grandfather shows him his own name on a monument to the dead children. Christopher Watson, aged 13. Askew's name is also there; John Askew, aged 13. This link compels Kit to want to play the game of Death, during which a child is chosen by a spinning knife to stay in the dark on their own to die. When they emerge, they are born again. It's a child's game, yet there is something undeniably dark about it and Kit finds himself drawn to the brutish darkness of Askew, a boy who is brutalised at home. There is so much to this short and simple book, that it's hard to know what to say. Instead, I will say what I loved. I loved the characters to such an extent, I felt like searching for them after I'd finished reading. I missed them. Kit was a great main character and I also felt incredibly drawn to the sad darkness of Askew. Allie was a breath of fresh air, the bright, energetic young girl Kit befriends. The grandfather was also wonderful. These are people that will stay with me forever. I did not want this book to end. There is an eerieness to it. What is real and what is child's play? You are never quite sure how much is their imagination and how much is actually happening. The old mining town and it's past tragedies provided a remarkable and suitably haunting location for the story to unfold. There is a sadness emanating from this story. Just beautiful. I felt dazed coming out of the other side. This is a book about the light and the dark and what draws us to both. It's a story about family, forgiveness, love, hate and loneliness. It's a story about friendship, about refusing to give up on people. It;s just stunning.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason I thought this book would be about a boy running away from home and living off the land. Although one of Kit’s friends does run away, this book focuses on Kit’s adjustment to life in Stoneygate, an old coalmining town. His grandfather had been recently widowed so Kit and his parents moved in to care for him. Kit’s family is one of the old families that have mined coal for generations. There is a large monument in the local cemetery to remember the many miners lost in a mine disaster in 1821. Many of those killed were children, including one of Kit’s ancestors also named Kit Watson, age 13. Kit meets John Askew, another boy whose family worked and died in the mines. John creates a spooky game called “Death” where they play underground and pretend to die. John is an outsider, but has great talent as an artist and surprises Kit with several of his drawings. Kit hopes to become a writer and my favorite portions of the book include the short story he wrote about a pre-historic youth, separated from his family and trying to reunite with them.
This book won the Michael L. Printz award, which recognized literary excellence in young adult literature. I frequently say that I’m going to stop reading young adult books because so many of them seem like romantic garbage. But after reading a book like Kit’s Wilderness, I realize there are still many excellent young adult novels to read.

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in an old coal-mining town in Kentucky. I never played death, probably because the miners still work there. However, the connection to the past and the land really resonated with me. The Askews and the Watsons are like the Steeles and the Cobbs, where I'm from. When people see me, they see my grandfather. He died when my mom was only six, but I know him. Sometimes it's like how Kit found his name on the monument, I feel like my ancestors live through me. I hear stories, see pictures, and feel their presence when I'm with my family. It's like the end when Kit can feel his grandfather's hand in his. I loved this aspect of the novel.

It did get a little creepy, especially John Askew towards the end. I feel like he got lost in his obsession. It's that aspect, in fact, that would lead me to use this in teaching adolescents: the fear is exciting for them, and could be a mode of communicating larger ideas like heritage, family, life/death.

Overall, I loved the idea of this book. It was an easy read; it only took me a day and a half. Despite the simplicity of the actual text, the contents are profound and could reach to higher reading levels.

[Zora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Printz award winner is a fine piece of literature, one of those YA books that any adult should like, too.

Kit's family returns to the coal mining town where his ancestors have been for generations and Kit gets engaged in game-playing, story-telling, a girl, a tough boy, and connecting with his aging grandfather. But that's not all the book is about. It's about death, and life, and ghosts, and deep time (plate tectonics, the coal), and inheritances, and decency and commitment and imagination. There are stories within the story--stories the grandfather tells, the story of the Snow Queen, the story Kit writes of a boy in Ice Age times--and they thematically work together.

With gorgeous descriptions (he made coal seem beautiful to me), rich atmosphere, and real soul, the book took me away to what stories felt like when I was the age of the kids in the tale, full of magic, transporting me into a place more vivid than the real world outside my window. This book is the sort that makes you think, yes, yes, yes, this is why kids fall in love with reading.

[Sarah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book in which, only when I finished it, did I realise that actually it was quite a special book. David Almond's writing is simplistic and yet he's able to convey very large emotions succinctly, and there is always a whisper of hope and love in his work, and this book was no acception. The emphasis on giving people a second chance, people who'd barely been given a chance in the first place, and the importance of friendship has me often thinking about this book with warmth.

[Afton Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow David Almond is able to craft stories that are both dark and meaningful, deep and beautiful. I can't imagine a kid falling in love with this story right away. Rather, it seems like a story that lends itself to examination, lots of thought and discussion.

[Missy LeBlanc Ivey · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR POINTS: 6.0 READING LEVEL: 3.7
(Ages 12+, grades 7-9)
Michael L. Printz Award
--------------------
This story is a little too dark for me and deals with some pretty heavy stuff, not at all what I expected it to be about and is probably not one I’m going to give to one of my 10 grandies.

It starts off with a small group of 13-year-olds playing a game called “Death” in an old, dark and wet mining pit. It’s not okay for kids to play with death, or conjuring up angels or demons or ghosts. This could surely open up a doorway for other evils to enter into their lives if they were to play these types of games. Even the adults in the story, once the kids were caught playing this game, deemed it too dangerous. They had the town close up the opening of the pit and reported them to their parents and expelled the leader...John Askew.

I felt this part could have been left out or even dealt with in some other way in the story. Otherwise, this was a pretty good story showing sacrifice and love for family, alcoholism and abuse, and friendship.

Kit Watson and his family returned home to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town in England, to help take care of his grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s. The Watson’s, along with a few others still living in Stoneygate, including the dark and sinister 13-year-old John Askew, had deep roots to this town and its mining history.

Back in 1821, there had been a mining accident that killed 117 people. Most were children, from ages 9-15. Among those killed were Kit Watson’s 13-year-old uncle, his namesake, Christopher Watson, and also John Askew’s grandfather, his namesake, John Askew, was killed. Death seemed to draw the two boys together.

John Askew was being drawn deeper and deeper into the dark side because of his alcoholic father who beat him and tore him down mentally, and he spent most of his time in his drawings or in his cult-like practices in the mining pits.

After the disappearance of John, and the town believing he may actually be dead somewhere, Kit found John dealing with his greatest struggle at the end, hidden deep inside one of the mining pits, deciding if he should kill himself or his father. Kit offered his truest and greatest friendship and stayed with John the whole night. Kit began to tell his story, which turned out to be spiritually connected to John’s ancestor. As Kit was telling the story, they both saw visions of the story coming alive. The only way Kit knew for sure that the dreams weren’t just dreams was because Kit woke up in the morning with colorful pebbles left in his hand as a thank you from John’s ancestor. Those were real.

Kit's story, along with John's art illustrations, were perfectly captured together by their visions that night and hung in the halls of the school. This was the start of a true and lasting friendship.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not even know where to begin with how much I love this book. Mr. Almond really speaks to my heart. Small England coal mining town, ancestors, major supernatural elements, family and relationships, and all of this woven with beautiful skill into a wonderful story. This is written for youth but it does have elements of real darkness that may affect some more than others. This book felt like reading something by Bradbury mixed with Susan Cooper with a dash of Hans Christian Anderson for good measure. I highly recommend this to others who love fantasy, fairy, and folk tales. Some favorite quotes:

"He wanted to hurt me with his grip, wanted to frighten me with his eyes. But I could feel that his grip was also a way of clinging to me, that his eyes were also filled with yearning. It was Askew who needed someone to protect him. Askew who needed love."

"Everybody's got the seam of goodness in them, Kit," said Grandpa. "Just a matter of whether it can be found and brought out into the light."

"Yes, we need to be protected. There's light and joy, but there's also darkness all around and we can be lost in it."

"That's why I love it, Kit. It's like magic. I don't just have to be me. The world doesn't just have to be the way it is. You can change it, and keep on changing it." (Description of being on stage.)

"What I'd like to give you most of all is what's inside. The tales and memories and dreams that keep the world alive. One day," Grandpa whispered, "I won't be here anymore. You know that, Kit. But I'll live on inside you and then inside your own children and grandchildren. We'll go on forever, you and me and all the ones that's gone and all the ones that's still to come."

"On the brightest days, when the sun pours down and dances on the river and the air begins to tremble, I see Grandpa and Grandma before me. I follow them. I walk beside the river with my friends. I know that as long as there are others to see us, we will walk here forever."

[Mark White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deserving winner of multiple literary awards. While it is labelled as a children's book it has plenty to interest young adults and any parents reading together with them.

Kit (Christopher) return to their family's ancestral village to care for a declining grandfather, a retired coal miner. What follows is a tale of contrasts and parallels - Kit discovering life as his grandfather slips away from it; the very immediate present against the past of his grandfather, the ice age cave dwellers and the fossils found in the coal; Kit's budding literary flair against his friends Askew's drawing and Allie's acting; Kit's loving family against Askew's damaged and despairing lot; the black of coal against the white snow of its winter setting; the choice to seek light instead of darkness.

The book has a very strong sense of place and belonging. I do not have this myself but the setting is the area I was born in and passed my early childhood so I can vouch for it's authenticity. Kit's grandpa is lovingly described and brought to life my great uncles - big, strong, gruff yet loving old miners in black jackets, boots and caps. I remember the frost drawing ferns on the windows on winter mornings and playing on the ice slippery ground.

There is a lot packed into this comparatively short novel and it is deeply moving. It would be an excellent choice for a book club or high school English literature study. Highly recommended.

[Cindya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has so many layers to it; it contains much more than what the synopsis offers. I am so glad I read it. I saw a lot of positive reviews and decided to give it a try. Also I have read other books by David Almond and trusted that I wouldn't be disappointed. The writing itself was magical like a fairy tale although a lot of sentences didn't have subjects. I guess that was the writing style, and it didn't take anything away from the story. This is one of those books that is very hard to describe. It's difficult to put it into words but the feeling it left me was profound. There was sadness, hope, courage, and a mix of a lot of emotions. And I just love the story that Kit wrote! I am sure I will get new things out of it each time I read it because it's impossible for me to understand and digest everything in one go. But I will have to be in the right mood to read it again as it does make me sad.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a title that sounds misleadingly like an American Girl story, I had pretty low expectations for the book and no idea what it was about. My mistake. This book was WONDERFUL! Kit Watson has a gift for seeing ghosts and for storytelling, and these gifts enable him to befriend a boy deeply jaded and hurt by experiences in life. I did wonder sometimes if the themes were specific for a YA audience, since it wasn't your typical misunderstood teen/sexuality/identity exploration I think we too often associate with YA Lit. I loved the elements of a mining town with a history, of the significance of names, of finding a place within family and the community... and revering the dead and recognizing how they are alive, in and around us. Memory plays such a role as the grandfather is caught up in his (so maybe there are some transcendent YA themes, a wise instructor passing on the mantle to the up-and-coming generation) and as Kit imagines (or perhaps sees, through some gift) people who have gone on before whose names are still remembered. I think Almond wrote a winning book, and would recommend it to anyone. I didn't feel as though I was reading YA Lit.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this story. It opens with a game called Death, in which the young teenagers of the small town of Stoneygate play inside an old coal mining shaft. There is a girl who wants to be an actress, a grandfather who tells old stories but is starting to forget his past, and a number of children ghosts. I liked the story, but didn’t love it and I’m not really sure what else to say.

[Liesl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd read; it reminded me of his book, Skellig, with the "is this real?" permeating throughout. It has some nice moments with Kit and his grandfather and Kit with John Askew, however I found Allie's character grating and her speech very repetitive "Jeez, Kit!" and everyone is goggling at things. I also understood the connection of the Ice Age story Kit is telling, but found myself skimming most of those passages. David Almond definitely has a certain style and tone to his books.