Product Description

Kit has just moved to Stoneygate with his family, to live with his ageing grandfather who is gradually succumbing to Alzheimer's Disease. Stoneygate is an insular place, scarred by its mining history - by the danger and death it has brought them. Where the coal mine used to be there is now a wilderness.

Here Kit meets Askew, a surly and threatening figure who masterminds the game called Death, a frightening ritual of hypnotism; and Kit makes friends with Allie, the clever school troublemaker. As Kit struggles to adjust to his new life and the gradual failing of his beloved grandfather, these two friendships pull him towards a terrifying resolution. Haunted by ghosts of the past, Kit must confront death and - ultimately - life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41570 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
When Kit moves to Stoneygate--a once-thriving mining village haunted by a long-ago tragedy which killed 117 children--he is befriended by the wretched, sullen John Askew, a boy whose very soul has been fractured by his violent upbringing. As Kit's grieving grandfather begins to lose his grip on life, Kit is irresistibly drawn into a treacherous game played for the highest of stakes. Coming face to face with the ghosts of the wilderness--the space between the houses and the river where the ancient mine once flourished--this game ultimately tests his perceptions of life and death.

David Almond, the award-winning author of Skellig, has set this extraordinary novel on a canvas of bleak, uncompromising landscapes which perfectly echo the simmering tensions that drive the story. With its all- consuming, chilling and surprisingly sensual depth Kit's Wilderness is packed tight with emotions that resonate on the page, making it a truly remarkable and unforgettable novel for older children. (Ages 11 and over). --Susan Harrison

Review
'Could a children's book win the Booker? The best writing is the kind that defies categories, and Almond's Kit's Wilderness makes the grade.' -- The Times 'You can feel the chill from the ghosts that haunt its pages. An essential read from an original voice in children's books.' -- The Daily Telegraph 'David Almond is a writer of subtle, page-turning and daring exactness, and he applies the same potent poetic and emphatic skills in his equally moving new novel.' -- Times Educational Supplement 'A children's book of stunning freshness and individuality.' -- Literary Review

Review
'Could a children's book win the Booker? The best writing is the kind that defies categories, and Almond's Kit's Wilderness makes the grade.' (The Times )

'You can feel the chill from the ghosts that haunt its pages. An essential read from an original voice in children's books.' (The Daily Telegraph )

'David Almond is a writer of subtle, page-turning and daring exactness, and he applies the same potent poetic and emphatic skills in his equally moving new novel.' (Times Educational Supplement )

'A children's book of stunning freshness and individuality.' (Literary Review )