There’s an empty notebook lying on the table in the moonlight. It’s been there for an age. I keep on saying that I’ll write a journal. So I’ll start right here, right now. I open the book and write the very first words: My name is Mina and I love the night. Then what shall I write? I can’t just write that this happened then this happened then this happened to boring infinitum. I’ll let my journal grow just like the mind does, just like a tree or a beast does, just like life does. Why should a book tell a tale in a dull straight line?
And so Mina writes and writes in her notebook, and here is her journal, Mina’s life in Mina’s own words: her stories and dreams, experiences and thoughts, her scribblings and nonsense, poems and songs. Her vivid account of her vivid life.
In this stunning book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.
And so Mina writes and writes in her notebook, and here is her journal, Mina’s life in Mina’s own words: her stories and dreams, experiences and thoughts, her scribblings and nonsense, poems and songs. Her vivid account of her vivid life.
In this stunning book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.
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Reviews
Almond promotes and celebrates freedom for children and their thinking in this lyrical book about growing up.
Incredibly moving.
David Almond's novels all have a unique, mystical thread running through them. He weaves a story web, spiderlike, that holds the reader spellbound while he spins new though-threads on universal themes.
Unsettling but, as ever, beautifully written.
A poignant, heart-warming novel fuelled by Almond's generosity of spirit and his endorsement of childhood's individuality and quirkiness.
A sensational meditation on creativity and the power of words. A must for any budding writer.
A joyous celebration of what it means to be young and alive and enquiring.
Intensely moving, this is a profoundly uplifting expression of joy, imagination and consciousness. Absolutely brilliant
'... exceptional, delicate writing ... make a moving and thoughtful story told with exceptional elegance.'
"This is a novel of power and beauty."
A skillful, affecting and impassioned book.
A remarkable and thought-provoking prequel.
A glorification of imagination. David Almond has created a novel that will excite, astound and inspire adults and children alike.
'A celebration of the richness of the everyday world... to read it is to feel uplifted.'
Almond manages to make a work of art out of the simplest words.
There really is nobody quite like Almond writing in children's or adults' fiction today.
'Another brilliant novel from a master storyteller.'
A sensational meditation on creativity and the power of words.
Almond promotes and celebrates freedom for children and their thinking in this lyrical book about growing up.
BACKLIST REVIEWS: 'a book of startling quality and tremendous beauty'
A truly remarkable book. A extraordinary masterpiece.
One of the stand-out novels of the year.
A standalone exploration of a child's relationship with language, ideas and living things... the reader is with her all the way.
Another gem from this award-winning author.
The creative way Mina uses words to explore her dreams and ideas will inspire anyone who's ever kept a diary.
A wonderful book. It is joyous. Thank you, David Almond; I cannot remember when a book filled me with such claminosity.
Almond's chatty, informal and unique writing is different from anything you have read by him before.
A pitch-perfect prequel to Skellig. A gloriously rich, multi-layered novel.
'exquisite prose which sparkles off the page'
a master novelist
David Almond is a fine writer, one of the very finest we have. He is simply incapable of writing a bad sentence.
One of these days, someone is going to notice that David Almond has been kidnapped by children's publishing and demand him back for adults. But until then, we must rejoice in every new offering of his.
A celebration of the richness of the everyday world and to read it is to feel uplifted.
a writer of subtle, page-turning and daring exactness.
"superb coming-of-age novel from one of our master story-tellers."
A rare and beautiful novel.