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A review by loubraryoftheforest
October, October by Katya Balen
5.0
I was drawn to this book because of the cover, discovered as I was shelving in the Childrens library at work. It spoke of wild things, crisp air and winter walks, and when I read the back I had to take it home.
October lives with with her dad in a world of trees, open fires, air and space. The woman who have birth to her, as she calls her mother, is a distant memory, one recalled slightly but without true form. She writes, but October doesn’t read her words, she is content with her dad in the woods on their own, she feel safe there and they have their own rituals and rites to mark the passing of the year. But on her eleventh birthday an accident brings her whole world crashing down, and she finds herself in the middle of London, noisy, dirty, overwhelming and feeling incredibly alone.
How Will she find herself in such a vast and unsettling place, will she ever feel herself again?
October is an amazing child. She sees stories in everything, she beats to her own drum, and your heart aches for her as she negotiates the world outside the only life she knows and feels safe in. She has lost her strength and courage in a world she doesn’t understand.
At the beginning of the book they find a lost baby owl whose mother has died, and despite her dads warnings she rescues it and tries to keep to alive. When the accident happens the owl is taken away, and Octobers story fractures as she feels exposed and guilty. As the owl gains it’s strength without her so does October as she navigates life away from the only parent she has ever known.
A gem of a book, so poetic in its writing, I just love who October is, her quirks, her loyalty, her whole being. She is a girl who finds stories in everything, she loves books, when she encounters a library for the first time her joy is heartwarming, it is the first place she finds comfort in when her life feels so unsettling which made my heart glow, such is the power of books. Loved it, loved every bit of it
October lives with with her dad in a world of trees, open fires, air and space. The woman who have birth to her, as she calls her mother, is a distant memory, one recalled slightly but without true form. She writes, but October doesn’t read her words, she is content with her dad in the woods on their own, she feel safe there and they have their own rituals and rites to mark the passing of the year. But on her eleventh birthday an accident brings her whole world crashing down, and she finds herself in the middle of London, noisy, dirty, overwhelming and feeling incredibly alone.
How Will she find herself in such a vast and unsettling place, will she ever feel herself again?
October is an amazing child. She sees stories in everything, she beats to her own drum, and your heart aches for her as she negotiates the world outside the only life she knows and feels safe in. She has lost her strength and courage in a world she doesn’t understand.
At the beginning of the book they find a lost baby owl whose mother has died, and despite her dads warnings she rescues it and tries to keep to alive. When the accident happens the owl is taken away, and Octobers story fractures as she feels exposed and guilty. As the owl gains it’s strength without her so does October as she navigates life away from the only parent she has ever known.
A gem of a book, so poetic in its writing, I just love who October is, her quirks, her loyalty, her whole being. She is a girl who finds stories in everything, she loves books, when she encounters a library for the first time her joy is heartwarming, it is the first place she finds comfort in when her life feels so unsettling which made my heart glow, such is the power of books. Loved it, loved every bit of it