Goodnight Silver - Abi Elphinstone

Emmy and her family have only just arrived in Mongolia when Emmy heads to collect wood for the fire but ignores her parents' warnings to stay close and quickly becomes lost in a blizzard. In her attempt to avoid a snow storm, she shelters in a cave where she meets the rarest of creatures, a snow leopard. This one is a cub who has lost their mum. Together the lost pair head out to find their way when they come across Tuli, a boy who is desperate to help.  Before long, the pair find themselves on the adventure of a lifetime, trying to avoid hunters, find Silver's mum and find their way home. 

I have a real soft spot for Abi's books and I adore the way she writes. There is something quite magical about it and that rings completely true with Goodnight Silver.  From the start, I need to say that this is a book to be savoured. It's beautifully written and transports readers to a simply magical place.

Emmy is a pessimist by her own admission and is listing everything that could go wrong in the trip before it's even begun.  It is clear that there is something awful that has happened before they came away, something that is weighing on Emmy. She is lost and is looking for answers. Quite by accident, she ends up lost in Mongolia and has no choice but to find answers. She needs to find an inner strength and positivity that she didn't know she had.  In contrast, Tuli is very much an optimist who loves poetry and finds the joy in almost everything.  These two opposites stumble across each other and become a wonderful balance. 

I remember Abi talking when she visited school about writing stories based on maps and creating stories that follow the map. Goodnight Silver demonstrates how well Abi does this, and the map of 'somewhere in Mongolia's Mountains' is beautifully illustrated at the beginning of the book (shout out to Olivia Lomenech Gill for the illustrations) meaning that readers can track Emmy and Silver's journey. And what a journey it is!  Adventure, danger and just the right amount of suspense weave seamlessly in this perfectly crafted tale of hope, finding yourself and learning to let go. 

This is a book full of magic, wonder and utter joy; it's a book to savour (although the temptation to gobble it in one sitting will be real), and it's a book you will want to hug once you have finished reading it (yes, I shed a tear!). Goodnight Silver cements Abi's place as a master of storytelling (as if we didn't already know that).

Get ready to lose your heart to Silver and Emmy when Goodnight Silver publishes on the 27th October.