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Swan Song
Excluded from school, Dylan is forced to move to a tiny village in Wales where his grandad lives.
With no Xbox or internet, life is looking pretty bleak, but when Grandad takes Dylan out on his boat to see the whooper swans, things begin to change.
Out on the water, free from all the pressure he’s been under, Dylan begins to feel like himself again. But when the swans’ habitat is threatened and tragedy strikes at home, can Dylan keep going when it feels like everything is slipping out of control again?
A profoundly moving novel on the redemptive, healing power of nature from bestseller Gill Lewis.
With no Xbox or internet, life is looking pretty bleak, but when Grandad takes Dylan out on his boat to see the whooper swans, things begin to change.
Out on the water, free from all the pressure he’s been under, Dylan begins to feel like himself again. But when the swans’ habitat is threatened and tragedy strikes at home, can Dylan keep going when it feels like everything is slipping out of control again?
A profoundly moving novel on the redemptive, healing power of nature from bestseller Gill Lewis.
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2021
3 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Gill Lewis
76 books100 followersBefore she could walk, Gill Lewis was discovered force-feeding bread to a sick hedgehog under the rose bushes. Now her stories reflect her passion for wild animals in wild places. She draws inspiration from many of the people she has had the fortune to meet during her work as a vet, both at home and abroad. Gill Lewis has a masters degree in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University and won the 2009 course prize for most promising writer. Her first novel was snapped up for publication within hours of being offered to publishers. She lives in Somerset with her young family and a motley crew of pets. She writes from a shed in the garden, in the company of spiders.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 5, 2021
Swan Song is one of those stories that I went into expecting to find moderately interesting, going to a setting I've not read many books about, and seeing an interesting slice of the lives of the characters; and whilst it did deliver all of that, I wasn't ready for how affecting the story was, and how emotional it left me.
Swan Song begins with Dylan having reached breaking point, sitting in his head teacher's office after being given the told that he's being permanently excluded. Gill Lewis doesn't give us any build up, she doesn't tell us what's bothering Dylan, or how he's got to this point. Instead we begin at what might be the lowest point of his life, and see a young teen who just doesn't seem to care anymore. It's a brave way to start a book, to introduce us to the protagonist in a way that could make us dislike him, hate him even. He's punched his friend, left him injured, and torpedoed his mothers entire life.
It's not just just that he's been thrown out of school, but that his mother can't get him into another school. She has to home school him, which means that she can't keep her job, and as such can't afford their home. The books opening shows us a young man whose actions have completely altered the course of his family's lives. It's clear that this is just the final piece in something that's been building for a long while, and that this was just the final straw.
Unable to stay in their home Dylan and his mother travel across the country to move in with Dylan's grandfather in a small coastal town in Wales. With no friends, no internet, no television, and the wide open countryside around him, Dylan is left at something of a loose end and isn't really sure what to do with himself. Enter the perfect opportunity for some bonding with this grandfather.
The two of them go out into the bay on his granddad's boat, and its the first time that we get to see Dylan as something other than depressed and unwilling. Something about the wide openness, the freedom to steer the ship, and the small wonders of nature around him speaks to him and starts to draw him out of his shell. It's here that we get introduced to one of the best parts of the town, the Swan Field, the place where hundreds of Hooper Swans come to to spend the winter months. Not only is Dylan immediately interested in this, but it's something that his grandfather loves too, and its the perfect thing for them to bond over.
Later on Dylan discovers a sick swan and brings it home and begins to care for it, spending time just sitting with his swan, feeding it, reading aloud to it. It's here that we really see that despite his temper, despite seeming to not care about anything, Dylan was simply hurting. He's a young man struggling with depression and anxiety, who needed space and time to find himself and reach a degree of peace. Together Dylan and his swan begin to heal and form a bond.
Unfortunately, it's not all smooth sailing for Dylan and his family. When it comes to light that the Swan Field is going to be bought by a local businessman, who plans to turn the field into a holiday park, tragedy strikes. Not only does this mean that the swans are in danger, and could never return, but Dylan discovers that the swans were the one thing that helped his granddad through the loss of his wife, and that they mean everything to him. The possibility of losing them hurts him so much that he suffers a stroke. Not wanting to lose the swans, or to see his grandfather suffer, Dylan sets out to try and save the Swan Field.
Swan Song is one of those stories that I could very easily see being made into one of those feature length television special, one of the those feel good shows that leaves you feeling happy come the end, but slightly teary eyed. There were a few moments during the book where I felt the tears starting to form, where I realised that I'd become so engrossed in this family and their struggles that I was worried for their future. I wanted Dylan and his family to be okay, and I wanted the swans to have a happy ending.
It was a story that I thought was just going to be about a teenager learning to deal with their issues, to see the world differently and realise that things weren't as bad as they thought once they got a chance to step back from things and reflect; and whilst it is it's also about the healing power of nature. Swan Song is a story about finding things that mean something to you, that give you a sense of passion, that do good, and giving them a shot. In this story its the swans, but it could be anything, it could be something that means something to you. I think that's the main message of this story, to try and do good and be happy.
Whether you have an interest in nature or not, or whether you've had to deal with depression or isolation, I think that there's something in this story for a lot of people. It's a feel good story that helps to show kids that even when you feel at your lowest, when everything seems to have gone wrong, there's still hope and beauty in the world.
Swan Song begins with Dylan having reached breaking point, sitting in his head teacher's office after being given the told that he's being permanently excluded. Gill Lewis doesn't give us any build up, she doesn't tell us what's bothering Dylan, or how he's got to this point. Instead we begin at what might be the lowest point of his life, and see a young teen who just doesn't seem to care anymore. It's a brave way to start a book, to introduce us to the protagonist in a way that could make us dislike him, hate him even. He's punched his friend, left him injured, and torpedoed his mothers entire life.
It's not just just that he's been thrown out of school, but that his mother can't get him into another school. She has to home school him, which means that she can't keep her job, and as such can't afford their home. The books opening shows us a young man whose actions have completely altered the course of his family's lives. It's clear that this is just the final piece in something that's been building for a long while, and that this was just the final straw.
Unable to stay in their home Dylan and his mother travel across the country to move in with Dylan's grandfather in a small coastal town in Wales. With no friends, no internet, no television, and the wide open countryside around him, Dylan is left at something of a loose end and isn't really sure what to do with himself. Enter the perfect opportunity for some bonding with this grandfather.
The two of them go out into the bay on his granddad's boat, and its the first time that we get to see Dylan as something other than depressed and unwilling. Something about the wide openness, the freedom to steer the ship, and the small wonders of nature around him speaks to him and starts to draw him out of his shell. It's here that we get introduced to one of the best parts of the town, the Swan Field, the place where hundreds of Hooper Swans come to to spend the winter months. Not only is Dylan immediately interested in this, but it's something that his grandfather loves too, and its the perfect thing for them to bond over.
Later on Dylan discovers a sick swan and brings it home and begins to care for it, spending time just sitting with his swan, feeding it, reading aloud to it. It's here that we really see that despite his temper, despite seeming to not care about anything, Dylan was simply hurting. He's a young man struggling with depression and anxiety, who needed space and time to find himself and reach a degree of peace. Together Dylan and his swan begin to heal and form a bond.
Unfortunately, it's not all smooth sailing for Dylan and his family. When it comes to light that the Swan Field is going to be bought by a local businessman, who plans to turn the field into a holiday park, tragedy strikes. Not only does this mean that the swans are in danger, and could never return, but Dylan discovers that the swans were the one thing that helped his granddad through the loss of his wife, and that they mean everything to him. The possibility of losing them hurts him so much that he suffers a stroke. Not wanting to lose the swans, or to see his grandfather suffer, Dylan sets out to try and save the Swan Field.
Swan Song is one of those stories that I could very easily see being made into one of those feature length television special, one of the those feel good shows that leaves you feeling happy come the end, but slightly teary eyed. There were a few moments during the book where I felt the tears starting to form, where I realised that I'd become so engrossed in this family and their struggles that I was worried for their future. I wanted Dylan and his family to be okay, and I wanted the swans to have a happy ending.
It was a story that I thought was just going to be about a teenager learning to deal with their issues, to see the world differently and realise that things weren't as bad as they thought once they got a chance to step back from things and reflect; and whilst it is it's also about the healing power of nature. Swan Song is a story about finding things that mean something to you, that give you a sense of passion, that do good, and giving them a shot. In this story its the swans, but it could be anything, it could be something that means something to you. I think that's the main message of this story, to try and do good and be happy.
Whether you have an interest in nature or not, or whether you've had to deal with depression or isolation, I think that there's something in this story for a lot of people. It's a feel good story that helps to show kids that even when you feel at your lowest, when everything seems to have gone wrong, there's still hope and beauty in the world.
October 31, 2021
The Barrington Stoke books are both edited, printed and tinted in order to be accessible to dyslexic readers and I am constantly impressed by the quality of the stories too. This is one of my favourites from the publisher and although possibly pitched at KS3 there is nothing in it that means it couldn't be read with UKS2 children.
Dylan finds the pressure of home life and school is too much for him and when he finds himself expelled for punching another student, his mum takes him to live with her father in a coastal village in Wales. Here, life moves at a far slower pace and although Dylan is hesitant about converting to this new mode of life, he begins to fall in love with his grandfather's boat and the coastal wildlife.
This is a story of finding peace within oneself through the natural world; something quite prescient for our times and rightly so. I loved the intergenerational relationship that grew between Dylan and his grandfather and the sense of acceptance he feels as he allows himself to be liked and loved by the community.
Dylan finds the pressure of home life and school is too much for him and when he finds himself expelled for punching another student, his mum takes him to live with her father in a coastal village in Wales. Here, life moves at a far slower pace and although Dylan is hesitant about converting to this new mode of life, he begins to fall in love with his grandfather's boat and the coastal wildlife.
This is a story of finding peace within oneself through the natural world; something quite prescient for our times and rightly so. I loved the intergenerational relationship that grew between Dylan and his grandfather and the sense of acceptance he feels as he allows himself to be liked and loved by the community.
January 28, 2021
This is such a lovely book with a wonderful story of how nature can truly heal someone both physically and mentally. Dylan has just been expelled from school, after punching another student when he got angry. With his mother having to home school him instead, and not able to keep her job, the two move to live with Dylan’s grandad in Wales, miles away from any city. But will Dylan be able to cope living in a new and different environment or will the nature of the countryside be exactly what he needs?
This story is easy to get into right away and we soon learn about how frustrated Dylan is with his life and how he’s suffering from some mental health problems which are later shown to be depression. I like what happens with this story. At first Dylan doesn’t really know what to do with himself or how to enjoy life living in the countryside, but he soon starts spending time with his grandad, the two sailing on a boat and seeing the beautiful wildlife that’s in the area. Dylan’s grandad ends up showing him the whooper swans arriving for the winter and it isn’t long before he ends up getting closer to one particular swan, but in helping a swan the swan in turn helps him, in more ways than one.
I don’t want to give away what happens but this story is just so sweet and the perfect tale to show how powerful nature can be in healing someone. Dylan ends up looking after a swan that’s not well and the act of looking after it, feeding it and spending time with it helps him mentally. The caring behaviour has an impact both on Dylan and the swan and it isn’t long before something else amazing happens which helps Dylan not only smile but gain confidence in himself too. The story is lovely but it’s also very powerful and I just love how, despite some problems and sad things that happen, it is also a wonderfully inspiring story and might help inspire those reading it.
The ending is really good, I like how everyone ends up healing, or starting to heal, after what happens. The confidence, happiness and meaning to his life Dylan gains through his stay in Wales is life changing to him, and I like how even the incident at the start of the book is resolved at the end. As someone who suffered depression as a teenager myself, I know how difficult it can be to verbalise such emotions and deal with them. This book does an excellent job of showing how it’s okay to feel depressed and how something as simple as going out in nature and getting involved in something different can be the key to helping overcome those depressive thoughts.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a heart-warming story featuring nautre, in this case swans. The story has a good and positive message about depression and even, to some degree, about the healing power of nature on physical health as well. It’s also just a really lovely story about the swans and how we should be protecting natural habitats. The copy I had to read is a proof copy of this book (so the picture above doesn’t reflect the actual book inside), but the final book will have thicker off-white pages with special text that’s especially easy to read for dyslexics. The paragraphs are all separated too with a lovely image running along the bottom of each page making it feel like an easier to read book for reluctant readers as well as anyone with some visual/reading problems. This really is a lovely book with a lovely front cover image too, and one I’d recommend to everyone regardless of age!
-Thanks to Barrington Stoke for a free copy for review.
This story is easy to get into right away and we soon learn about how frustrated Dylan is with his life and how he’s suffering from some mental health problems which are later shown to be depression. I like what happens with this story. At first Dylan doesn’t really know what to do with himself or how to enjoy life living in the countryside, but he soon starts spending time with his grandad, the two sailing on a boat and seeing the beautiful wildlife that’s in the area. Dylan’s grandad ends up showing him the whooper swans arriving for the winter and it isn’t long before he ends up getting closer to one particular swan, but in helping a swan the swan in turn helps him, in more ways than one.
I don’t want to give away what happens but this story is just so sweet and the perfect tale to show how powerful nature can be in healing someone. Dylan ends up looking after a swan that’s not well and the act of looking after it, feeding it and spending time with it helps him mentally. The caring behaviour has an impact both on Dylan and the swan and it isn’t long before something else amazing happens which helps Dylan not only smile but gain confidence in himself too. The story is lovely but it’s also very powerful and I just love how, despite some problems and sad things that happen, it is also a wonderfully inspiring story and might help inspire those reading it.
The ending is really good, I like how everyone ends up healing, or starting to heal, after what happens. The confidence, happiness and meaning to his life Dylan gains through his stay in Wales is life changing to him, and I like how even the incident at the start of the book is resolved at the end. As someone who suffered depression as a teenager myself, I know how difficult it can be to verbalise such emotions and deal with them. This book does an excellent job of showing how it’s okay to feel depressed and how something as simple as going out in nature and getting involved in something different can be the key to helping overcome those depressive thoughts.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a heart-warming story featuring nautre, in this case swans. The story has a good and positive message about depression and even, to some degree, about the healing power of nature on physical health as well. It’s also just a really lovely story about the swans and how we should be protecting natural habitats. The copy I had to read is a proof copy of this book (so the picture above doesn’t reflect the actual book inside), but the final book will have thicker off-white pages with special text that’s especially easy to read for dyslexics. The paragraphs are all separated too with a lovely image running along the bottom of each page making it feel like an easier to read book for reluctant readers as well as anyone with some visual/reading problems. This really is a lovely book with a lovely front cover image too, and one I’d recommend to everyone regardless of age!
-Thanks to Barrington Stoke for a free copy for review.
February 21, 2021
Somehow this was a profounder and more affecting novella than I was expecting. Written for pre-teen readers it's written from the point of view of Dylan, a lad who hasn't made a smooth transition from primary to secondary education and has now been permanently excluded from his urban school.
Taken by his mother to stay with her estranged father in Wales he appears to be at rock bottom, friendless in a strange land and offline to boot. But it turns out to be the best thing that has yet happened to him as he learns to look outwards rather than remaining locked in within himself.
Throw away any preconceptions about this being a mere run-of-the-mill feelgood story. It alludes to childhood depression, the difficulties facing one-parent families, loss of loved ones, trauma and the threat of environmental despoliation. And it shows that, given not only the will and the right conditions but also an innate predisposition, it's possible to see a way through what seems like an intolerable situation.
It's a paradox that we're often never so alone as when we're in a crowd. Dylan is unable to cope with school and has even provoked a fight with his only remaining friend, Asim. Following his exclusion his mother Gwyn now has to give up her job, and together they leave their urban environment and travel to a small Welsh fishing village where her widower father has a cottage. Here Dylan comes to assuage his simmering anger with fishing trips, gradually learning to manage a boat and letting nature provide the balm that he needs. Having the opportunity to care for an injured whooper swan which has flown into the estuary from Iceland to overwinter allows him to gain a new perspective, and the chance to be involved in music -- especially in Wales, the Land of Song -- provides for him not only a solace but also a place within a new community.
A recent entry in publisher Barrington Stoke's mission to cater for reluctant and dyslexic readers -- Anthony Mc Gowan's excellent Lark is another -- Swan Song is about encouraging alienated individuals to make connections. It is also a plea for understanding, particularly the notion that school may not be for every child and that learning can happen in alternative ways. Home-schooled, with opportunities to acquire appropriate skills through tutoring and practical applications, Dylan is able to achieve a greater measure of fulfilment: from navigation, choral singing, nature study, community action, and helping nursing the stricken back to health, he sees how education is more than mere rote-learning, how friendship comes from goals held in common and from joining activities. And with knowledge of his family's history -- how his mother grew apart from her father, how his grandfather misses his wife -- he is in a position to play a part in helping heal others as well as himself.
I've tried to avoid giving away too much but in this novella's seeming complexity there is simplicity, and humanity, and love. Only a personal read will reveal the interconnectedness of musical themes and the relevance of the title: the metaphor of the swan song comes from the sounds made by particular birds like whooper swans as they breathe their last, but in the author's story a human song could be what ensures that these magnificent birds might still be heard every year in this section of the Cardigan Bay coast. Gill Lewis' naturalist credentials bed the novella in reality and go a long way to make Swan Song both credible and moving.
Taken by his mother to stay with her estranged father in Wales he appears to be at rock bottom, friendless in a strange land and offline to boot. But it turns out to be the best thing that has yet happened to him as he learns to look outwards rather than remaining locked in within himself.
Throw away any preconceptions about this being a mere run-of-the-mill feelgood story. It alludes to childhood depression, the difficulties facing one-parent families, loss of loved ones, trauma and the threat of environmental despoliation. And it shows that, given not only the will and the right conditions but also an innate predisposition, it's possible to see a way through what seems like an intolerable situation.
It's a paradox that we're often never so alone as when we're in a crowd. Dylan is unable to cope with school and has even provoked a fight with his only remaining friend, Asim. Following his exclusion his mother Gwyn now has to give up her job, and together they leave their urban environment and travel to a small Welsh fishing village where her widower father has a cottage. Here Dylan comes to assuage his simmering anger with fishing trips, gradually learning to manage a boat and letting nature provide the balm that he needs. Having the opportunity to care for an injured whooper swan which has flown into the estuary from Iceland to overwinter allows him to gain a new perspective, and the chance to be involved in music -- especially in Wales, the Land of Song -- provides for him not only a solace but also a place within a new community.
A recent entry in publisher Barrington Stoke's mission to cater for reluctant and dyslexic readers -- Anthony Mc Gowan's excellent Lark is another -- Swan Song is about encouraging alienated individuals to make connections. It is also a plea for understanding, particularly the notion that school may not be for every child and that learning can happen in alternative ways. Home-schooled, with opportunities to acquire appropriate skills through tutoring and practical applications, Dylan is able to achieve a greater measure of fulfilment: from navigation, choral singing, nature study, community action, and helping nursing the stricken back to health, he sees how education is more than mere rote-learning, how friendship comes from goals held in common and from joining activities. And with knowledge of his family's history -- how his mother grew apart from her father, how his grandfather misses his wife -- he is in a position to play a part in helping heal others as well as himself.
I've tried to avoid giving away too much but in this novella's seeming complexity there is simplicity, and humanity, and love. Only a personal read will reveal the interconnectedness of musical themes and the relevance of the title: the metaphor of the swan song comes from the sounds made by particular birds like whooper swans as they breathe their last, but in the author's story a human song could be what ensures that these magnificent birds might still be heard every year in this section of the Cardigan Bay coast. Gill Lewis' naturalist credentials bed the novella in reality and go a long way to make Swan Song both credible and moving.
May 23, 2021
A great book to read with upper KS1 and also lower KS2. This book is an easy read but nonetheless still very interesting. The main message in this story is about finding things that have a meaning to you, things that bring you happiness and show your passion ans perusing this and giving them a shot. This conveys the message of always trying to do good and be happy in life to children (this can be explored in PSHCE. I really liked the use of of Swan being a signal for hope, love, emotion and guidance. This book could be a great starting point for exploring the key themes and teachers could use this as a key text in the classroom to analyse and explore in greater detailed. The use of key geographical terms leads onto cross curricular links with geography looking at estuarys, rivers and the sea alongside exploring wilelife in particular swan's. In English children could also explore poetry and use the song at the end of the book to create their own piece of poetry sharing their feelings. A letter to the grandad could also be written about saving the Swan farm and children could think about the positive and negative impacts of this. On the over hand children could write a letter to the local council explaining the benefit of the farm to the village and how a life had been saved. Drama could also be used; children could use freeze frames to develop characterisation of how the young boy felt when excluded from school and then transition to how he felt when out at sea with his grandad (key words: enclosed, trapped, angry vs freedom, happiness, calm). Overall, a really great book which can be explore in so many different ways. Due to it being quite a simple and short read, children will be able to explore this book in greater depth, analysing the key events. Similarly because the book is set around a young boy, children will be able to relate to him. I enjoyed reading this book and think it's a great story to use in the classroom.
November 23, 2024
Beautiful..just Beautiful
February 15, 2021
I’ve really enjoyed a lot of Gill Lewis’s work in the past, but I feel like this might be my new favourite (it’s very close between this, Sky Hawk and Scarlet Ibis, if you’re wondering). It’s about a boy named Dylan, who is really struggling at school due to depression. and him being forced to move in with his grandfather after he is expelled from school. Although Dylan is reluctant to say the least, he ends up trying to save an area swans fly back to every year from being built upon, amidst serious family illness and healing himself. As someone who didn’t have the best experience at school myself, albeit for different reasons perhaps, I really felt like I was able to understand Dylan’s situation and it was very powerful seeing his journey back to wanting to live, and I I absolutely loved that one thing that helps do this is reading, because I can definitely relate to that too. The conservation part of the storyline was also wonderful and I found it fascinating to learn more about swans and their habits, and I was so worried about Dylan’s grandfather after he got ill. I felt like everything came together so perfectly at the end, and I look forward to reading more Gill Lewis in the future.
January 3, 2021
A massive thank you to Barrington Stoke for this review copy!
This was such a good read. I read Swan Song in one sitting, and it pulled at my heartstrings.
Dylan is going through a tough time at school, and eventually his behaviour ends in his expulsion.
He and his mother move to his grandfather’s home in Wales to get a fresh start, and it doesn’t take long for Dylan’s mental state to change.
All with the help of a swan.
Dylan realises just how much good he can do in the world. When he has the chance to save a swan, his whole personality changes, and the old Dylan returns.
This is a moving story of teenage mental health and how nature can be powerful and healing.
Dylan learns to relax, he learns that there are other ways to do things, and that taking time out for yourself can sometimes be all you need.
This was such a good read. I read Swan Song in one sitting, and it pulled at my heartstrings.
Dylan is going through a tough time at school, and eventually his behaviour ends in his expulsion.
He and his mother move to his grandfather’s home in Wales to get a fresh start, and it doesn’t take long for Dylan’s mental state to change.
All with the help of a swan.
Dylan realises just how much good he can do in the world. When he has the chance to save a swan, his whole personality changes, and the old Dylan returns.
This is a moving story of teenage mental health and how nature can be powerful and healing.
Dylan learns to relax, he learns that there are other ways to do things, and that taking time out for yourself can sometimes be all you need.
February 24, 2021
We meet Dylan waiting for an angel.
The year before, we are in the headteacher's office as he is about to be expelled from the grammar school he had worked so hard to get into, for punching his best friend. He'd given his friend a black eye and a busted his eyebrow so badly that it was now bulging with stitches.
Dylan hadn't known how to tell his mum, or anyone, how he was feeling. He didn't really seem to have the words. The feeling of not fitting in, or believing what he'd been told - that he wasn't a team player - had only compounded his overwhelming sense of being lost.
Dylan can't go to school, so mum can't go to work. Mum can't go to work, so they can't keep their home. So, they pack up and set off to live with grandad. A fairly remote little village in Wales where the river meets the sea. Mum's relationship with her dad is not an easy one at first. They had both found things so difficult when grandma had died that they had let things slide into not really communicating at all.
There isn't much to do at grandad's - no TV, no games console, no internet - just lots of books ( I liked the thought that removing the things we see as essentials might be a catalyst for healing too!)There isn't much to do in the village either, the local choir which he is persuaded to join by the only other young person in the place, Elsie. But there is something else, grandad has a little fishing boat. He takes Dylan out in it and it appears that Dylan has landed in that little corner of Wales at just the same time as the annual visit from the whooper swans. He and Elsie find a swan that is injured and of course they help.
This is where the freedom and the nature start to work their ancient magic and Dylan starts to feel like himself again.
This isn't all sunshine and roses, apart from the injured swan, their habitat is threatened and grandad has problems of his own. I guess the test of whether this healing process will hold is if Dylan can keep it together and figure out a way to help.
I loved this book because it dealt, in an untangled way, with the issues of being a teenager - that feeling that no one understands and the sensation that you don't really understand yourself - without overcomplicating it. The story deals with lots of relationship issues, the relationship between Dylan's mum and her dad, the relationship between grandad and grandma, the relationships between the older people in the village and the youngsters. I felt myself thinking about those things long after i had put the book down. The grounded feelings we get from being in the natural world have been much talked about ( this book reminded me of Joe Harkness' Bird Therapy) but not always from the child/teenage perspective.
Loved it. I am going to read more of Gill Lewis' work, for sure.
The year before, we are in the headteacher's office as he is about to be expelled from the grammar school he had worked so hard to get into, for punching his best friend. He'd given his friend a black eye and a busted his eyebrow so badly that it was now bulging with stitches.
Dylan hadn't known how to tell his mum, or anyone, how he was feeling. He didn't really seem to have the words. The feeling of not fitting in, or believing what he'd been told - that he wasn't a team player - had only compounded his overwhelming sense of being lost.
Dylan can't go to school, so mum can't go to work. Mum can't go to work, so they can't keep their home. So, they pack up and set off to live with grandad. A fairly remote little village in Wales where the river meets the sea. Mum's relationship with her dad is not an easy one at first. They had both found things so difficult when grandma had died that they had let things slide into not really communicating at all.
There isn't much to do at grandad's - no TV, no games console, no internet - just lots of books ( I liked the thought that removing the things we see as essentials might be a catalyst for healing too!)There isn't much to do in the village either, the local choir which he is persuaded to join by the only other young person in the place, Elsie. But there is something else, grandad has a little fishing boat. He takes Dylan out in it and it appears that Dylan has landed in that little corner of Wales at just the same time as the annual visit from the whooper swans. He and Elsie find a swan that is injured and of course they help.
This is where the freedom and the nature start to work their ancient magic and Dylan starts to feel like himself again.
This isn't all sunshine and roses, apart from the injured swan, their habitat is threatened and grandad has problems of his own. I guess the test of whether this healing process will hold is if Dylan can keep it together and figure out a way to help.
I loved this book because it dealt, in an untangled way, with the issues of being a teenager - that feeling that no one understands and the sensation that you don't really understand yourself - without overcomplicating it. The story deals with lots of relationship issues, the relationship between Dylan's mum and her dad, the relationship between grandad and grandma, the relationships between the older people in the village and the youngsters. I felt myself thinking about those things long after i had put the book down. The grounded feelings we get from being in the natural world have been much talked about ( this book reminded me of Joe Harkness' Bird Therapy) but not always from the child/teenage perspective.
Loved it. I am going to read more of Gill Lewis' work, for sure.
May 11, 2021
This is a very special book by Gill Lewis. It’s a melancholic journey through a young boy’s mental health struggles (and how he climbs out of them), but depicted in a gentle, not-too-heavy way.
Dylan is a boy who isn’t suited for school. He gets into all kinds of trouble because he simply cannot handle being told what to do. And the work is just too much for him. Eventually, he is expelled for punching his best friend and his mum takes Dylan to live with his Grandad in the middle of nowhere in Wales.
After some initial struggles with the change, Dylan’s mind starts to slow down...and Gill has cleverly written the book so that the reader really feels Dylan’s mind become calmer as the story moves along.
Dylan’s Grandad takes him fishing out on a boat and Dylan learns about the Swan Fields on the estuary banks. He helps rescue an injured swan, that later becomes his “saviour” because she helps him see he can still have a relevant, purposeful life even if he can’t go to school.
Some parts of the story are quite sad, but the whole book is very realistic and generally uplifting. A beautiful take on how nature can heal that children and parents will enjoy!
Dylan is a boy who isn’t suited for school. He gets into all kinds of trouble because he simply cannot handle being told what to do. And the work is just too much for him. Eventually, he is expelled for punching his best friend and his mum takes Dylan to live with his Grandad in the middle of nowhere in Wales.
After some initial struggles with the change, Dylan’s mind starts to slow down...and Gill has cleverly written the book so that the reader really feels Dylan’s mind become calmer as the story moves along.
Dylan’s Grandad takes him fishing out on a boat and Dylan learns about the Swan Fields on the estuary banks. He helps rescue an injured swan, that later becomes his “saviour” because she helps him see he can still have a relevant, purposeful life even if he can’t go to school.
Some parts of the story are quite sad, but the whole book is very realistic and generally uplifting. A beautiful take on how nature can heal that children and parents will enjoy!
January 31, 2022
This is a beautifully written, short and simple, middle grade book. Our 9 year old has just discovered Gill Lewis and is working her way through all of the books by this author, and I am reading them alongside her, although she is a few books ahead of me. This one was very easy for me to read, and a real pleasure to escape into for an hour or so. Beautiful descriptions of the natural world in general and the whooper swans in particular. Thoroughly recommended.
May 25, 2021
Gorgeous little tale about the healing power of nature, as wild swans provide the angelic catalyst for a family to mend the scars of grief & depression.
Beautifully simple & easy to read, in true @BarringtonStoke style, this is a book to fill you with a deep wonder for the wild.
Beautifully simple & easy to read, in true @BarringtonStoke style, this is a book to fill you with a deep wonder for the wild.
June 4, 2023
This book was genuinely very uplifting and sweet and I enjoyed reading it :)
August 16, 2024
A very profound children's story. Not at all what I was expecting. An outstanding novel.
October 27, 2024
super heartfelt
November 21, 2024
“Being brave is knowing you’re scared but going anyway.”
August 1, 2025
I’ve never been so happy reading a book. It was so relatable, some of the things Dylan said.
December 3, 2023
A sweet story about family, second chances and a love of the natural world.
February 20, 2022
I read this aloud with my 9 year old (who enjoyed it so much we had to read Gill Lewis' other novellas) Short enough to keep his attanetion span and finished within a week. He related to the mc getting into trouble and loved the idea of saving an animal. The dynamics between the family members was particularly interesting as it was clear they were all dealing with their own issues.
April 13, 2023
Swan Song is about a boy called Dylan who is permanently excluded from school after hitting another pupil. Everything had changed since he got into grammar school, and a few weeks into year 8 it’s over. Dylan’s mum has to make a difficult choice, she can’t hold down a job AND home school her son. Tensions run high.
Full Review Here https://justimagine.co.uk/review/swan...
Full Review Here https://justimagine.co.uk/review/swan...
December 21, 2023
A lovely story!
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