A Map of the Sky (Paperback, New edition)

Kit doesn't understand why his family has been uprooted to a remote coastal village in the North. Why did they leave so suddenly, and why has his Dad not joined them? At Askfeld Farm Guesthouse, he meets an eclectic group of new neighbours and forms an unlikely friendship with Beth, who suffers from a chronic illness he does not understand. Kit learns that Beth, who cannot leave the guesthouse, is trying to draw a map from memory that shows all her favourite childhood haunts. Kit makes it his quest to help her remember by visiting places for her and hopes to solve the problems of the other guests along the way. But becoming a hero like the ones in his favourite books is trickier than it seems. Can Kit work out that the person who really needs his help is much closer to home?

General

Imprint:	Lion Fiction
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	September 2019
First published:	2019
Authors:	Claire Wong
Dimensions:	198 x 130 x 21mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	240
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-1-78264-269-5
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	1-78264-269-2
Barcode:	9781782642695

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My review

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 | Review by: Breakaway R.

A touching and poignant tale about understanding the world through a child’s eyes 11-year-old Kit Fisher doesn’t understand why his life has been suddenly uprooted to a remote coastal village in North Yorkshire, nor why only his mother and sister Juliet have come along, leaving his father behind in London. Staying at the Askfield Farm guest house, Kit befriends Beth, the pregnant wife of the owner who suffers from a mysterious chronic illness that means she cannot go outside or walk very far. He decides to make it his quest to help her complete a special map she is drawing, which shows all the places she visited in her childhood. As well as this, Kit decides to also try and help the other guests with their own various problems, including eccentric researcher Bert and grumpy introvert Maddie. Unfortunately, succeeding in these quests is not as easy as it seems, and Kit learns that the people who need his help the most may not be who he thinks. This was a beautifully written and heart-warming book that really gets inside the mind of its young protagonist and makes the reader see the world and all its complexities through his eyes. The author perfectly captures the wonder that children feel when faced new environments and her descriptions of the coast and ocean are so vivid and full of character that the reader feels as if they can almost see them. She also flawlessly recreates the frustration that every child will experience which comes from knowing adults are hiding things from you but getting only avoidance and cryptic answers to your questions and also excellently portrays the struggle of trying to be 'grown-up' when your heart still wants to play and imagine like only a child can. This really resonated with me, even though I’m well into my twenties and left me feeling nostalgic for my own childhood and sad for how quickly and easily the innocence of youth is lost. The characters in the novel were likeable and original, and the reveal at the end was unexpected and touching. All these factors combine so that the story stays in your mind long after you put it down. I had only a few minor issues with this story, namely that the exploring and adventures Kit has on the Yorkshire coast weren’t as numerous and well developed as I thought they would be. I would have liked more descriptions of the wild countryside and more detail on Kit’s vivid imagination. I also wasn't sure precisely what illness Beth was meant to be suffering from, which frustrated me slightly. In conclusion, this was a beautiful, engaging and uplifting book that I would certainly recommend. Daenerys Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

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