The Wild Way Home

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This was a really interesting debut and I’d be interested in reading more from Sophie Kirtley in the future! I would recommend this book to anyone, I found it an interesting read as I found out about history and the story was exciting to read. This is appropriate to Charlie’s sense of disorientation, when, after squeezing the deer tooth tightly in his hand he finds himself in altered surroundings. Although the familiar landmarks are recognisable, the forest seems wilder and the colours and sounds have taken on a greater intensity. Then he spots the body, face down in the stream…

Hello there! The Wild Way Home is a story of friendship, courage and adventure, set in the Stone Age. There may be dangers… there may be mysteries… there may be secrets…The clarity of writing and plot and fully realised main characters, combined with emotional depth and range of themes to discuss, would make The Wild Way Home an excellent UKS2 class reader, particularly if linked to the Stone Age topic - I would choose The Wild Way Home over Stig of the Dump any day. The pace rattles along (I can already imagine the 'just one more chapter!' cries) with plenty of gasp-out-loud moments, but also moments for quiet reflection and deep discussion. Writing about a friendship between two children who, on the surface, have so little in common made me think about the things Charlie and Harby do share, the things everyone shares; our shared humanity. No matter who we are on this planet (or when we were on this planet) there really are some universals that transcend all the surface details: the BIG things – birth, death, family, love, but also the SMALL things – like the pure joy of a good giggle or a yummy meal. My own children adored this book…and still do. I think it’s the perfect comfort read; a bit scary but deliciously warm and full of love too. And maybe I have a particular soft spot for it because those three owl babies remind me, just a little bit, of my own three (considerably less fluffy) hatchlings! The notion of siblings looking out for one another is something that resonates deeply with me and sibling love is one of the most important themes of my own book The Wild Way Home. Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)?It was exciting because there were many surprises.

The title, The Wild Way Home, is perfect- was it always the title or did it evolve and change over time? Story is about Charlie, a 12 year old girl who is longing for a brother but when her brother is born on her birthday with a serious heart condition, Charlie's world is turned upside down. and she feels like her parents are not her parents anymore they are changed. She was upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town . Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. It's become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. She calls her friends Lamont and Beaky for help but no one is there for help.What follows is a wild, big-hearted adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost – their courage, their hope, their family and their way home. A time-slip novel touching on current themes and motifs throughout, The Wild Way Home is riding this refreshing wave of books that explore the complexity and secrecy with which we attach to some emotions. The idea that you can be a man or a boy and cry; that being scared of facing something beyond your control can be overwhelming but that the best friends will always be there for you and that endings don't always have to be perfect; they can be real and feel real too are some of the concepts Kirtley explores with tenderness and truth. With Charlie as a gender-neutral protagonist all readers are invited to identify with their challenges and emotions. Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child...

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A perfect story to show how, when bad things happen, it’s OK to be scared but that most storms can be weathered with support from those who care about you. It is a heart-warming, magical book that has family, friendship and overcoming difficulties at its core. I couldn't put it down! NetGalley user Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... I really enjoyed reading how the two boys from different worlds make a strong friendship, connected by their loss of family, protecting each other through difficult encounters in their desperation to find their loved ones. An exciting debut that takes us on a timeslip adventure into the deep past, where survival is at the point of a spear and family is the only thing you have to hold onto A.F. Harrold

For me, I really do write for child readers – and I think what children read really does matter. I want my reader to have an adventure, but also have a giggle, and also have a think, and also feel an emotional connection with the story. That’s it!!! I'm in the stone age, aren't I?" Wie fantaseerde als kind nooit over hoe het zou zijn om te leven in een andere tijd? Wel, laat dit boek je meenemen op de wilde avonturen van twee jongens in de steentijd.

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I really like this story because it’s got a nice adventure to it but it’s also really heart-warming. I learned a lot how the Stone Age survived and the difficulties in life then. How they hunt, scare animals and live. I don’t really have a least favourite character because they all play a very important part on the story. We are thrilled to welcome children’s author Sophie Kirtley into The Reading Realm today to talk about her brand-new Stone-Age adventure story, The Wild Way Home… Find out more about Sophie here!

I absolutely loved doing research for the book. So much mystery surrounds the Stone Age and even though technologies like carbon-dating artefacts to a particular era can offer us some level of certainty, there are still enormous gaping uncertainties too. I feel like these uncertainties and gaps are really story-ful territory – so a lot of my research was finding out about interesting real artefacts… and imagining the stories that might be lurking behind them!You are never quite sure where Charlie’s adventures will take him next, finding someone else who needs help in another way, helps him to think differently. It is not long before Charlie realises that he must work hard to keep them both safe from whatever they face next. Things are not always as they seem…