| Erin and her friends live in a home for children, running away is part of their lives, but this time their journey will be very different and lead them to Heaven Eyes. |
| Whitegates is a children's home full of sadness, even Maureen who runs it seems lost and alone in the world. Erin fights the system unwilling to pretend she needs help. Her running away friend is January Carr, they often run away but this time January has built a raft and with little Mouse Gullane they sail off down the river. Stranded in the dark they are rescued on the Black Middens by Heaven Eyes and her Grampa. A strange little girl with webbed hands and a complete innocence of the world, looked after a mad old man. What is the strange story behind this odd couple and what will the three runaways do stranded out on the derelict island across the river. |
| Easily read by those with confidence and the ability to look deeper than the words on the page. Boys should find this a good read as well as girls. |
| David Almond has produced another amazing story. I read this from cover to cover in one sitting, it is beautiful, touching, thrilling and gripping. Almost mystical in its style of writing, a tale of sadness and lost children searching for answers as to who they are and how they came to be abandoned. Everyone is looking for a small piece of paradise in this tale and in some strange way I think they all find it. If you liked Skellig you'll enjoy this too.
Shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award 2000. |
| Other books by David Almond include Kit's Wilderness, Secret Heart, Skellig, The Fire Eaters. |
| This review by Mrs Mad. |
| It's easy. Running away from Whitegates. Erin and her friend January do it all the time. But this time they're going down river. This time they might never come back. This time they're looking for a tiny corner of Paradise. How could they imagine that what they'd find there would be Heaven Eyes? |
| "We come into the world out of the dark. We haven¹t a clue where we come from. We've no idea where we are going. But while we¹re here in the world, if we¹re brave enough, we¹ll flap our wings and fly" |
Louise, Thornden School Hampshire
I wasn't that sure whether I liked this book or not. In some ways I thought it was excellent and I always wanted to know what would happen next. But in other ways it was really confusing me, and I had no idea what was going on. It is a very mysterious boo | Susan Harrison, Amazon.co.uk
David Almond's first book for children--Skellig--won the 1998 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Carnegie Medal, and was shortlisted for the Guardian Award. His second novel, Kit's Wilderness was published to widespread critical acclaim and it |
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 Tell Mrs Mad what you think about this book! |
