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A review by katykelly
October, October by Katya Balen
5.0
Worthy award shortlister, beautiful narration and story.
October has always lived in the woods. She barely remembers when her mother lived with her and her dad, it's the two of them. And the natural world. She's happy.
Her world is rocked after she finds a baby owl in need of care, when an accident means she can no longer live her idyllic life. When a grey world of towers and roads and smoke opens its arms and she has no choice but to shuffle in. When the woman who calls herself October's mother returns. When she must force herself to attend a school.
This really was beautifully told in October's voice. She's 11, so at the cusp of adolescence but still very much also a child, with a child's clear-eyed view of the world, and black-and-white views.
It manages to combine several arcs - October's close love and connection with her father, and their wonderfully wild world. A wary relationship with the mother who left. A parental love for a young own. A tentative friendship within a school. A slow branching out to feel around a new world.
It meshed wonderfully, I could have read this for days, though actually I sped through in one. I think many readers will fall in love with October's life and relationship with her father. As an adult, I empathised with her mother as well, though of course we see her 'abandonment' through October's lens.
October's owl becomes a metaphor for her own caged nature and the need for intervention and change, growth and rebirth.
Balen gives us several memorable characters - it's not all about October. Her mother remains coolly patient and loving, remarkably so. A new friend at school is particularly interesting and their story takes a fascinating turn as well. And October will be well-liked, though she talks about a world most children won't have direct experience of, it's one a lot of them will dream of knowing.
Very very good. For ages 9-13.
October has always lived in the woods. She barely remembers when her mother lived with her and her dad, it's the two of them. And the natural world. She's happy.
Her world is rocked after she finds a baby owl in need of care, when an accident means she can no longer live her idyllic life. When a grey world of towers and roads and smoke opens its arms and she has no choice but to shuffle in. When the woman who calls herself October's mother returns. When she must force herself to attend a school.
This really was beautifully told in October's voice. She's 11, so at the cusp of adolescence but still very much also a child, with a child's clear-eyed view of the world, and black-and-white views.
It manages to combine several arcs - October's close love and connection with her father, and their wonderfully wild world. A wary relationship with the mother who left. A parental love for a young own. A tentative friendship within a school. A slow branching out to feel around a new world.
It meshed wonderfully, I could have read this for days, though actually I sped through in one. I think many readers will fall in love with October's life and relationship with her father. As an adult, I empathised with her mother as well, though of course we see her 'abandonment' through October's lens.
October's owl becomes a metaphor for her own caged nature and the need for intervention and change, growth and rebirth.
Balen gives us several memorable characters - it's not all about October. Her mother remains coolly patient and loving, remarkably so. A new friend at school is particularly interesting and their story takes a fascinating turn as well. And October will be well-liked, though she talks about a world most children won't have direct experience of, it's one a lot of them will dream of knowing.
Very very good. For ages 9-13.