October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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However, we follow her as she navigates her journey through school for the first time and socialising with her peers. Yet October is happy with the way things are – she doesn’t go to school, preferring to live as wild as she can in the woods, learning about nature and doing things the old-fashioned way with Dad. Some big questions were posed and left unanswered (Why, for example, would October's mum get in trouble for not sending her daughter to school, when October lived in the woods with her father for years without a scrap of formal education and there were no repercussions? Yet, when her mum reappears on October’s twelfth birthday, Dad is horribly injured in an accident and October is forced to leave her wild home in the woods to stay in London with her mum. Autumn is by far my favourite season and every single element about this novel exuded exactly what I so adore about it.

Her journey from feeling trapped and scared through to her gradual realization that beauty and wonder can be found anywhere (if you look hard enough) is one of the captivating themes of the book. The problem with reading any of these prize longlists is that every time I read a book – each and every book – I am convinced that it will and should win! We also experience the joy of reconciliation, which is something we all yearn for in our broken relationships.

However on October's eleventh birthday, everything changes in October, October, as when October's father falls out of a tree and is rushed to hospital, October is pulled from her treasured and beloved woods, from the only home she has ever known and is placed into her mother's care in London, where trapped in a tiny house in a busy and frenetic metropolis and with a woman that October has not seen in years, has no interest in meeting and getting to know, October struggles to understand this new world, often lashing out, often reacting with anger and frustration, but also slowly learning to adjust and to even finally be able to a least somewhat appreciate both her mother and that there might indeed be some positives after all outside of the woods. Take off your boots and sit by the fire with October and her father, let the eleven-year-old tell you stories about the shard of glass you found in the forest. From the gorgeous cover on the front, to the beautiful writing inside, this is an extraordinary book about a young girl raised in the forest by her father. This is a beautifully lyrical novel written for an audience of 9 years and above which pulsates with the energy of the natural world and the stories that bind us together. A tender and beautifully written story of family, nature, imagination and the fear that comes with change.

This is a story about how one moment can change the rest of your life and the difficulty in overcoming the hurdles along the way. I read this to my 9-year old and we were both gripped from the beginning and loved it all the way through. Mafalda is a nine-year-old girl who knows one thing: some time in the next six months her sight will fail completely.

There is much here about what it’s like to live in an estranged family, but also about the power of friendship and the ordinary things that give necessary structure to children’s lives like school and activities. Bronnie is so lovely with the boys and we also felt that having a man enthusing about the books set a great example. I know not everything has a perfect ending and I know that some things have a perfect place and that some things don’t and that all this can change anyway.