October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022
October, a girl who lives in the woods, faces change after an accident and the return of her mother. The novel ties the feel of nature closely to the pain of growing up.
Work Information
Freedom in the woods is shaken by the reality of change.
October, October follows a girl raised in the woods as she searches for a place to belong after an accident and a family change. Its nature writing is vivid enough to make solitude and freedom feel equally real.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Childrens Books
- Published
- 2020-09-17
- Pages
- 304 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 20.6 x 3.2 x 13.9 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781526601902
- ISBN-10
- 1526601907
- Price
- 1419 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Children's Books/Growing Up & Facts of Life/Family Life/Parents
Katya Balen’s October, October is a very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status - Times Children's Book of the Week A classic in the making for anyone who ever longed to be WILD. October and her dad live in the woods. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They live in the woods and they are wild. And that's the way it is. Until the year October turns eleven. That's the year October rescues a baby owl. It's the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October's mother comes back. The year everything changes. Written in Katya Balen's heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul.
Katya Balen is an award-winning author of books for children. Her debut novel, The Space We’re In , was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award, October, October won the Yoto Carnegie Medal and the UKLA Book Award, and The Light in Everything was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal. When she’s not writing books, Katya likes to scroll through dog-rescue websites, bake and attempt to keep her house plants alive. She lives in London with her partner and their dog.
Reviews
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Perfect for any wild children or those still wild at heart
Beautifully immersive, this middle-grade coming-of-age story is packed full of nature and wildness that will make you want to get outside and explore coast and woodland immediately. I immediately recognised and empathised with main character October’s affinity with nature and wildlife over people and cities (although my experiences have never been quite as all-encompassing as hers!). Her anguish and bitterness at the separation of her parents, her desperate love for her father and Stig, her defiant loneliness – everything is felt so deeply and vividly that I ached along with her throughout reading. The story explores themes of reconciling the past and present, woods and city, and the two very different – but with hidden similarities – sides of October’s personal heritage. It is about family and friendship, change and compromise and the healing powers of both a connection with the natural world and a connection with other humans. Katya Balen’s writing is spell-binding and brings to life not only her characters but the various settings of woodland cabin, city flat and river mudflats so that you roam them along with October and experience her respective comfort, claustrophobia and freedom alongside her. This is a fantastic children’s book, perfect for any wild children or those still wild at heart.
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Beautiful book. Beautiful cover. Amazing.
Beautiful book. Beautiful cover. Amazing.
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Muy contenta
El libro es precioso, el estado en el que ha llegado el libro ha sido estupendo. Tiene la letra bien de tamaño y aún no lo he terminado, pero la historia por ahora me está gustando.
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Obnoxious Main Character
This book is beautifully illustrated, and I liked the author's writing style. However, the main character, who ages from 10 - 12 during the course of the story, regularly throws temper tantrums like a toddler. She's prone to screaming in rage (a word that is frequently used in the story), and she throws/breaks items when she doesn't get her way. I just couldn't bring myself to like her at all. I thought her father was selfish, too, in his decision to raise her as a recluse in the woods, without any opportunities to make friends her own age. He tells her, "you didn't want to go", i.e., leave the woods when she was four, but four-year-olds aren't old enough to make crucial decisions like that. While both characters mature by the end of the book, it's too late, and I didn't like either of them. I liked the writing enough that I'd read another book by this author though.
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A captivating story with some wonderful writing
October is a young girl thriving in her alternative off-the-grid lifestyle when she’s suddenly plunged into one of the biggest cities in the world and is forced to grapple with the fast-paced and metronomic nature of urban life – as well her own hostility towards her mother, who she holds responsible for this unwelcome change. Her journey from feeling trapped and scared through to her gradual realization that beauty and wonder can be found anywhere (if you look hard enough) is one of the captivating themes of the book. The book explores the challenges faced by the outsider, those who don’t quite fit into a neat box, but how it’s still possible for everyone to find companionship. We also experience the joy of reconciliation, which is something we all yearn for in our broken relationships. There’s some wonderful writing to enjoy, particularly in the tactile and invigorative natural world. Here in this story, we can all find reassurance and comfort, particularly at this time of upheaval, when many of our comforting routines are being replaced by things that feel strange and unsettling. Recommended and applause for Katya Balen, who’s somehow managed to write a wonderful story without putting a single word wrong.