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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 audio book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.
(P) Hodder Children’s Books 2011
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 audio book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.
(P) Hodder Children’s Books 2011
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Reviews
A sensational meditation on creativity and the power of words. A must for any budding writer.
A poignant, heart-warming novel fuelled by Almond's generosity of spirit and his endorsement of childhood's individuality and quirkiness.
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 skillful, affecting and impassioned book.
A celebration of the richness of the everyday world and to read it is to feel uplifted.
Almond promotes and celebrates freedom for children and their thinking in this lyrical book about growing up.
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
One of the stand-out novels of the year.
Another gem from this award-winning author.
A truly remarkable book. A extraordinary masterpiece.
A rare and beautiful novel.
A pitch-perfect prequel to Skellig. A gloriously rich, multi-layered novel.