Julia is spending the summer holiday in the Scottish island of Unst due to her parents' work: her father is fixing the island's lighthouse so it works automatically whilst her mum, a marine biologist, is searching for a rare shark that reportedly swims off the coast of the island. When they get there, Julia befriends a local boy, Kin, and they spend their days together; however, things aren't all rosy. The other local boys bully Kin and also begin to bully Julia; on top of this, her mum is acting rather strangely and Julia is getting worried.
I am an enormous fan of Kiran's work and when she visited school a few years ago, it took me all my restraint to remain composed and not to fan girl all over the place! I find her writing mesmerising and soothing, no matter what the subject of the book is, and I always look forward to reading her novels; therefore, being lucky enough to have received a proof copy of Julia and the Shark was a huge honour for me and I decided to restrain myself from reading it as soon as it landed on the door-step in favour of waiting a few days so that I could just curl up and read without the distractions of things like work! It was difficult but I'm glad I waited as it made starting the book all the more exciting. Unexpectedly, it didn't disappoint and I instantly found myself transported to Julia's side as she began her journey up to Scotland and settled into the lighthouse where the family would be living for the summer.
The setting itself is beautifully depicted through Kiran's descriptions and I could almost smell the salty tang of the village and the sea as I read. Descriptions of the night sky as well as the lighthouse and the voyages at sea were predictably (I mean that in the most positive way) beautiful and I found myself longing to spend a summer up there!
Julia is a lover of words, just like her mum, and she often finds it difficult to understand how her dad loves numbers as much as he does; she finds comfort and escape in books but does collect data in her book, including data on her mum's success in her quest for the elusive Greenland shark, as well as on the night sky she is introduced to by Kin.
Family is of real importance in this book, both Julia's but also the relationships between other characters' families. Julia loves her family but is aware that her mum's driving force is her work, which seems to consume her more and more the further through the book we get. Her behaviour changes and, although Julia is aware that her mum is changing, she doesn't fully understand why ... until the night her dad comes into her room to wake her. I won't give anything away but will say that Kiran tackles mental health issues in a way that will help children to understand them a little better (perhaps many adults too). It also highlights the fact that children are incredibly perceptive when it comes to their parents and that, trying to hide things, isn't always the best way to tackle situations.
I cannot complete this review without a word about the collaboration between Kiran and her husband Tom de Freston in this book: his illustrations perfectly compliment the story and are magical to look at in their own right. Once I'd finished the story, I went back, just to spend time with them again. I'd love to see the pair do more work together.
Love is at the heart of this book, in many different guises, family too, as well as finding yourself and this is a book I'm convinced you will find yourself falling in love with as you read it.
Julia and the Shark is a beautifully told tale that will wrap you up like a hug; the language is soothing and comforting, despite some of the topics raised, and I defy you not to love every single page of this book. As with books that I love this much, I do not feel that my words are really doing justice to Kiran's writing; no matter how I try to put things, my words seem inadequate and really not able to say exactly how I feel, so I will simply end this review by saying, please go out and pre-order/buy this book: it's gorgeous and I promise you won't regret it!
Due for release: 2nd September.
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