October, October by Katya Balen illustrated by Angela Harding

Have you (adult readers) seen the movie Captain Fantastic?  This book echoes that plot with October and her dad in a remote forest "off the grid".  October does have a mother but she could not cope with life in the wilderness and so she leaves when October is quite small and heads back to live in the city.

Here is the blurb: 

"October and her dad live in the woods. They are WILD. They only need the trees and the lake and the stars and each other. Until the year October turns eleven. The year everything changes.That’s the year October rescues a baby owl. It’s the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October’s mother comes back. The year everything changes.

Written in Katya Balen’s heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul."

October is filled with anger that her mother left the family. She refuses to even open the regular letters sent by her mother. On the day of her eleventh birthday when her mother comes to visit (this has happened before) October is determined not to see her. October climbs a high tree. Her father tries to get her down and there is a terrible accident. October cannot be left on her own in the woods and her father will be in the hospital for many months so October is forced to move to the city to live with her estranged mother. Adjusting to this new relationship; the lights, noises and crowds of the city; and coping with going to school each day is almost too much for October. She does have a tiny owl baby as a companion but then little Stig is taken away to an animal rescue centre and it feels as though her world is crashing all around her. Over the year we watch October grow and change from an incredibly angry girl into a girl who can make new friends and into someone who can adjust to change. Thank goodness for that all important happy ending.

Take a look at the beautiful art by Angel Harding. I do love the cover of this book and the small lino cuts inside. In this video Katya Balen reads an extract from her book. Here is a UK Podcast where Katya talks about her book.