Sunday, September 21, 2008

Kit's Wilderness / David Almond


Kit's Wilderness is the story of a group of children in the small town of Stoneygate. Kit's story has him involved with his friend John Askew in a mysterious game called death. Kit begins seeing mystical visions of past generations and doing rituals that draw the condemnation of his community. Kit sees visions of children who once worked and died in the pit mines of Stoneygate in the recent past and he dreams and writes a story of Lak, a boy from his distant past.

Kit's Wilderness was the 2001 YALSA Michael L. Printz Award winner. Kit's Wilderness is a mystical magical story that may prove to be controversial with some readers. Rituals, visions, abuse and run-a-ways, are main themes in this book, which may prove to be too intense for some readers. The various stories told in this book work together to weave a powerful story linking past and present, but may prove to be difficult for some readers to follow.

Almond, D. (2001). Kit's Wilderness. Toronto: Random House of Canada.