The Colour of the Sun - David Almond

The Colour of the Sun - David Almond.

“The day is long, the world is wide, you're young and free.”

"Walk on in peace, son."

Set in Felling, in Tyneside, this is the story of Davie.  His dad has just died and he wakes up on this hot, sunny summer's day and is sent out for a wander by his mam.  Meeting his friend, Gosh, he discovers that Jimmy Killen has been killed and he thinks he knows who killed him; however, instead of hanging around to find out what happens, he wanders off away from the town, away from the trouble and towards some answers.

O's opinion.

This is basically a book about how Davie finds Jimmy dead and goes for a walk but it is told so superbly that it makes you feel like you are walking alongside him and you can see everything he sees and smell everything he smells. I found it such an interesting read and I would read it again and again.

The first chapter was my favourite because it takes Davie on a tour of his past, visiting times when he loved to play outdoors and times when he loved to colour in. I loved this part of the book because it helped me find the real Davie before the book started so I felt like I knew who I was following on his walk. A truly amazing read, this book should be on wish-lists in every house all over the country.

K's opinion.

This is a beautifully written book... 

I could leave my part of the review there and would feel that I’d told you everything you need to know!  However, I won't ...

Although the main event in the story is the murder of a boy, the book has a calmness to it. To me, the main event is Davie's wandering up the  hills above Felling and not the murder.  

The story is set over just one day. It begins when Davie gets up and ends as the sun sets.  Nothing happens and yet everything happens at the same time, and it's Almond's skill as a storyteller that draws the reader in, that compels you to read on and to empathise with Davie.  Written with the Geordie accent audible in the characters' voices, the story wends it’s way leisurely through the day and through Davie's thoughts and encounters. The heat of the summer's day reflecting the pace of the story perfectly.

This is a story of finding the light from the darkness, of loss and discovering how to accept that loss and learn to live again. It's s story of friendship, relationships, acceptance.

Although you never know exactly when the story's set, I imagine it begin set in the 70s, a time when children were sent off in the morning and told not to return until tea-time.  There's a real feeling of nostalgia running through the book (or perhaps that's just me showing my age).  As such, I feel that adults will appreciate this book just as much, if not more than children, but probably for very different reasons.