Every summer Liam and Max roam the wild countryside of Northumberland – but this year things are different. One hot summer’s day a jackdaw leads the two boys into an ancient farm house where they find a baby, wrapped in a blanket, with a scribbled note pinned to it: PLESE LOOK AFTER HER RITE. THIS IS A CHILDE OF GOD.
And so begins Jackdaw Summer. A summer when friendships are tested. A summer when lines between good and bad are blurred. A summer that Liam will never forget…
A stunning novel from the author of the modern children’s classic Skellig – winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.
And so begins Jackdaw Summer. A summer when friendships are tested. A summer when lines between good and bad are blurred. A summer that Liam will never forget…
A stunning novel from the author of the modern children’s classic Skellig – winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.
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Reviews
One of the finest writers of children's novels today. Jackdaw Summer is a wonderful piece of writing for children - unsettling yet poetic. Nobody evokes childhood like Almond.
This is a novel of power and beauty.
Thought-provoking poetic stuff from the author of Skellig.
'a book of startling quality and tremendous beauty'
'Another brilliant novel from a master storyteller.'
Unsettling but, as ever, beautifully written.
'... exceptional, delicate writing ... make a moving and thoughtful story told with exceptional elegance.'
'exquisite prose which sparkles off the page'
Thought-provoking... poetic. (The Sunday Times' 100 Best Children's Books)
A rich and satisfying tale of lives turned around...sharp and snappy as well as thoughtful.
This gripping novel, beautifully crafted, is David Almond writing at the top of his game. Readers will be thinking and talking about it long after they've finished reading.
An outstanding novel, truly a challenging and thought-provoking read.
A vivid and unnerving portrayal of raw adolescent emotion. As ever, Almond's wiritng is lucid and accessible, and the novel's themes of acceptance and tolerance are complex and challenging.
Another brilliant novel from a master storyteller.
This evocative, intelligent and moving novel amounts to an essay about the potential savagery in human nature. Simultaneously poetic and down-to-earth.
Almond is a master storyteller. there is more than enough in this brooding story to keep readers engrossed right up to its near-cataclysmic ending.
Unsettling but, as ever, beautifully written.
Almond's writing is like the perfect outfit - it may look casual, but everything fits just right.
This gripping new novel by Almond cleverly explores themes of loyalty, savagery, friendship and goodness in an accessible and contemporary way. An expertly written novel that is intensely moving.
Nobody since William Golding captures so perfectly the savage intensity that underlies the joshing of young teenage males.