The beautiful imagery and symbolism made this book, sparking thought-provoking questions such as what is belonging, what is wild, and what is home?

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.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.

You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot! Home is the forest where a vegetable tunnel is worked, books are read, firewood is chopped and life is simple. I cared for her dad, and her mum, and Stig, and her newfound schoolfriends, and by the end I was just happy to see them be happy, even if I didn't think Balen put quite enough thought into resolving the issues that were making them unhappy in the first place. The other character to mention is the owl Stig, an obvious parallel to October herself: lost and abandoned on its mother’s death, the baby barn owl is cared for by October and even brought to London on her father’s accident.Take off your boots and sit by the fire with October and her father, let the eleven-year-old tell you stories about the shard of glass you found in the forest. The settings are sumptuous, the beautiful autumn forest, the cold mud flats of the Thames - the world here is fully realised and a joy to delve into.

October lives with her father deep in the woods; her mother, unable to cope with living ‘wild’, left when October was small and although she does try to keep in contact with her daughter, October doesn’t want to have anything to do with her mother. It’s a fantastic independent book seller that will actually be responsive and select appropriate books for you. October: a wonderful narrative voice, with neuro-divergent touches, and brave and sensitive and capable of growing.

October, who has never gone to school and spends all of her time with her father, is extremely close to him and she is, therefore, distraught when a serious accident leaves him hospitalised and unable to look after her.

She has worked in a variety of special needs schools as a teaching assistant, and more recently co-founded Mainspring Arts – a not-for-profit that provides mentoring and creative opportunities for neurodivergent adults. There was just the right amount of choice to suit everyone without being overwhelming and I received comments from parents and staff about the quality of books offered compared to previous sales which have always been based around current crazes and well known celebrity authors. So, even though this is the first of the Carnegie Medal Shortlist that I have read this year, I loved it and, yes, I believe it should win!They would also only drop off a case of books and leave us to run it – it was so lovely to have you on hand to chat to the children and recommend them books, as well as the small (but appreciated! I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. It might not work for everyone, but it worked for me, as did the autumnal imagery and the focus on atmosphere over plot.