The Wild Way Home - Sophie Kirtley (released July 2020)

Charlie lives on the edge of Mandel Forest and, with friends Beaky & Lamont, the trio spend much of their time there. However, everything changes on Charlie's 12th birthday with the birth of Charlie's baby brother, Dara, who is ill and requires an immediate heart operation.  From feeling excited, Charlie is suddenly resentful and scared - so Charlie runs ... and runs ... back to the forest to hide but comes across an injured boy.  Charlie tries to go for help, only to discover that Charlie has run all the way back to the Stone Age where the boy, Harby, needs help to find his missing sister, Mothga,  And so begins a race to save 2 babies separated by thousands of years.

This is a great book which crosses wonderfully from modern day life to the Stone Age.  The story is easy to get into and is a gripping read - I found myself saying, 'Just one more chapter' and then finding the end of the chapter being such a cliff-hanger that I had no choice but to read on! (hence why I read it in under 24 hours!).

Charlie is impulsive but finds that life changes so suddenly, it's difficult to comprehend what's happening (something I'm sure many children will have experienced at the minute with the changes to our everyday lives).  What was supposed to be a joyous occasion suddenly turns on its head and Charlie's jealousy erupts from nowhere and takes over which is what causes Charlie to run.

You may have noticed that I've used Charlie's name a lot in this review and I haven't used any pronouns and there's a deliberate reason for that: whilst I was reading, I realised that Charlie's gender is never revealed - a deliberate move by Sophie I found through our Twitter conversation and one I particularly like as I think it will help more readers to identify with Charlie (although, I take my hat off to Sophie: I've had enough trouble writing this blog without pronouns so I can only imagine how hard an entire book must have been!).

I very much noticed that nature runs right through this plot in its descriptions and the way nature links the past and the present.  The beginning very much feels like it's taking us back to a time when children spent their summer holidays heading off for long days of exploring and having adventures, a time that was care-free and this contrasts so well to the upset Charlie faces and as well as with Harby's life which is clearly much more difficult and dangerous.  The bond forged between the pair is heart-warming and shows us that language really isn't a barrier - they learn so much from each other and I think, in turn, we can learn so much from them.

The Wild Way Home is a story about family, courage and keeping those we love safe.  It's an adventure through time and nature that will have you gripped.