October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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October prefers to live in the country rather than the city - what would be your choice? And how well would you cope with being self-sufficient like October and her dad in the woods? It is a quiet book, and deeply British in ways which reminded me of A Monster Calls but without the fantastical elements. We meet our narrator, October, on the cusp of her eleventh birthday, living in the wild in the woods with her father: off-the-grid, technology-free, environmentally aware. She is a delightful narrator! Spinning tales from the fragments she discovers in the woods, scaling trees, jumping into cold water, it is not a million miles away from the lifestyle I offer my daughter and she would love to live in the wild… I’m not entirely sure that she fully understands the limitations that that would impose – a life without internet, wifi or Netflix – and Balen does not romanticise away the privations and hardships of that life style. The opening chapter offers us up a dead owl! I adore the character development and characters in general, like how October gradually learns to love her mother and her father, as well as the fact that she learns you just have to let some things go. I also love the humour woven into the fabric of the story. You feel for the characters, and some parts make you smile while others make you feel a character’s sadness. I love the additions of real London facts and the wild side of the big city. I loved Yusuf as a character. I loved the mudlarking chapters. I loved the assembly, which was triumphant! October, October is a lovely but flawed middle grade novel whose heart shines through even its more scuffed, unpolished surfaces.

This book feels like a secret treasure found in the woods ... earthy and magic and beautiful. I want to buy a copy for everyone I know. - Sophie Kirtley Stylistically, it's full of run-on sentences and light on punctuation, a deliberate choice intended to emulate the stream-of-consciousness nature of a child's inner monologue, something it achieves at times and stumbles around at others. It might not work for everyone, but it worked for me, as did the autumnal imagery and the focus on atmosphere over plot.

Format

This is a sensitive account of adjusting to change and the grief that comes with it - CBI Mind Yourself 2020 Reading Guide Katya Balen's October, October is a very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status - Times Children's Book of the Week This author writes so beautifully that at times you felt like you were there with October every step of the way. The breakdown of the words and the different font sizes at parts to emphasise the loudness was absolutely effective, almost poetic. Eleven year old October – named for the month she was born in – lives in the forest with her dad. She refuses to see her mum who lives far away in London and, in October’s eyes, abandoned her and her dad. Yet October is happy with the way things are – she doesn’t go to school, preferring to live as wild as she can in the woods, learning about nature and doing things the old-fashioned way with Dad.

The character development and familiar relationships has really been thought out well. I felt so much empathy for all of the characters and wanted them all to unite. Being wild and free is different for every person and every thing and it can be folded into the woods or whirling through the city streets. I know not everything has a perfect ending and I know that some things have a perfect place and that some things don’t and that all this can change anyway.” The story developed in a very nice way, and the ending was quite satisfying. Without giving anything away, I will just say that many characters realised many things by the end of the book. The learning journey they all went thought was very prominent and it left me with a melancholy, but also happy feeling. The ending felt very bittersweet. I love owls - who doesn't?! The book begins with October finding a dead owl, and this is actually based on something that happened in real life. My father-in-law lives totally off-grid in his own woods, just like October and her dad. One day he found an owl that had sadly been blown out of a tree during a storm, and a story started in my mind.Even without that perspective though, not only is it a moving story that touches upon themes of separation, isolation, change and family that anyone can appreciate and enjoy, but it’s also a great opportunity to read outside of our own experiences, to better understand and empathise with others who see or experience things differently to ourselves. And yes, that by the end of October, October, while October might now have a more positive attitude towards both her mother and also city living in general, that she is not made by Katya Balen as having to apologise for her outbursts, for her anger, that from the beginning to the end of October, October there is a clear textual thread of demonstrating that October's mother has very much deserved her daughter's frustration, annoyance and fury, I am indeed and definitely so so so textually appreciative and even majorly grateful for this (as well as constantly smiling). For since it is clearly shown in October, October that it was the mother who abandoned her daughter, her family (and left), it is really textually wonderful that Katya Balen does not ever attempt to textually show October's mother as someone who automatically deserves respect simply because of her being October's mother (that October must learn to appreciate and tolerate both city living and her mother as a person, and that October's original negativity is not only something natural but also something for which October should never have to apologise and ask forgiveness, and in fact, that October, October would be a lot less relatable and really majorly thematically ridiculous and problematic for me, had Katya Balen shown to her readers a text where October immediately accepts being cast out of a quasi Eden-like existence of freedom and delightful solitude and with her automatically loving and respecting her erstwhile absent and seemingly all uncaring, unconcerned mother).

A very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status' - The Times Children's Book of the Week I've also just been introduced to the first two stunning children's books by Katya Balen, both published by Bloomsbury: The Space We're In and October, October. If you have a middle-grader, or know one, or are one ... treat yourself -- Daniel Hahn - Books of the Year, The Spectator The problem with reading any of these prize longlists is that every time I read a book – each and every book – I am convinced that it will and should win!

About Katya Balen

Being wild and free is different for every person and every thing and it can be folded into the woods or whirling through the city streets” The writing style of this book was very welcoming, and I think the wild character of October is someone who children would love. This book explores mature themes in an implicit way that is integrated beautifully and appropriately into the story. This book would serve well as a guided reading book for KS2, and would lead to many possible experiential learning activities, such as mudlarking, creating cross-curricular links to PSHE and science, as well as English. With her father needing medical care, she cannot remain in her woodland home. She is transported to London, where her mother lives, and expected to settle into a new life there. October is a 'wild child' - what drew you to give her such a close link with nature, and to name her October? Some big questions were posed and left unanswered (Why, for example, would October's mum get in trouble for not sending her daughter to school, when October lived in the woods with her father for years without a scrap of formal education and there were no repercussions? Obviously, the actual reason is to give October a reason to go to school now, make friends, and generally move the story along, but you can't remind us of these real-world consequences and only apply them to one parent) and I do think the central conflict wrapped up a little too neatly and without quite enough conversation or work on October's part to parse her feelings, rendering the happily-ever-after ending somewhat unearned.