Where The World Turns Wild (Where the World Turns Wild, 1)

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I am in awe. This book was the most incredible journey, filled with deep feelings of love and hate, and what it means to truly be ‘wild’. It is a massive theme for an older middle grade or teen audience. It is also a question they must surely ask themselves in theory. Because if we don’t change the way we live soon – very soon – it will be too late to save the planet. Juniper knows the ReWild was extreme and that terrible things happened because of the virus. She also knows every living being was going to die if it didn’t happen.

Penfold's prose is beautifully written, with wonderful descriptions which show the stark contrasts between the City and the Wild. I think the book is great for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent, and The City's dystopian look at a potential future world is frightening. The initial familiar school setting instantly draws empathy from any reader who has ever felt isolated at school.When scientists discover that the siblings’ blood holds the secret to surviving in the outdoors, their lives are endangered. They are left with no choice but to run. They set out for Ennerdale, the half-remembered home of their infancy. Well the answers are just as fascinating. Most of the humans it seems readily accept this new way of life, and the story quite cleverly shows us how they are effectively indoctrinated and made to accept this as the new normal. Some of them just don't fit in though, they feel the need for the wild deep inside them. This is where Juniper and Bear, our main characters, come in. I felt that the depiction of the new society was really well done. Most of it we see from the child's perspective and obviously focuses on school life, but you can really see how control and influence happens in dystopian regimes at a very early age, which isn't something you actually see that often in this kind of fiction. That image of someone young growing up within such a regime is really quite a powerful one.

When life inside the city threatens Juniper and Bear’s own lives, they must take action, and venture into the Wild to find their parents and their home. This is an emotionally and vividly written story with a whole cast of touching, heart-felt characters such as the beautiful Ghost and brave Hester and Queenie and their gang. It is such a thought provoking and unique book - the big idea of a world that has destroyed itself is quite genuinely a sobering premise in 2020. Yet the story sets so much promise in the courage and determination of Juniper and Bear that a sense of positivity and uncrushable human spirit is always driving the action alongside the desperate scenes and struggles.I loved Ghost, who stays with Juniper and Bear throughout their journey and is a constant source of hope and comfort. She also symbolises the amazing relationship between humanity and the wild, how we need and rely on each other and the ways we can work together if we're paying attention. When scientists discover that the siblings provide the key to fighting the disease, the pair must flee for their lives. As they journey into the unknown, they soon learn that there's cruelty in nature as well as beauty. Will they ever find the home they’re searching for? Nicola Penfold was born in Merseyside and grew up in Doncaster. She studied English at Cambridge, before completing a Computing Science masters at Imperial College London. A doomsday dystopian novel is not what I should be read this year. Or so, I thought. But it’s actually fun to do so - to realize that reality mirrors a book? ‘Where The World Turns Wild’ was a soothing adventure with two lovable characters called June and Bear.

The authors message told through the children about what possibly could be the future if people don’t stop and think about the treatment of the planet was very thought provoking. I've got a very special guest post by author Nicola Penfold, that I'll be sharing here. It's an excellent piece about journeys in literature, and I definitely recommend reading it. To keep things straightforward, I'm sharing my own review of Nicola's book in this post. Author Luke Palmer introduces his new book, Play (Firefly Press) about four boys growing up together, the challenges, the friendships, and what hap...I'm sure this book has been incredibly popular with middle-grade readers and adults alike as it has some lovely and very important themes throughout. Fake news, scaremongering, climate change, science vs ethics, are all huge disussions in society, and somehow this book makes them so accessible to young people. Thanks so much for your lovely message and for everything that you do with Book Wagon. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do.

I ADORE Bear, you can’t read this book and not be absorbed by his awe and wonder for nature, his free spirit and his love for his sister. Everything about him is what you want every child to be like. Although, now I think about it, even adults could learn a lot from him. The bond between brother and sister is so strong throughout and the absence of parents makes it all the more special. Juniper is incredible to, the strength and determination she shows throughout the book is inspiring and her instinct to protect her brother is second to none. We witness her character change the most over the course of the book and I feel like watching her grow is a privilege that we readers have been given. Kate Forrester’s cover image was what initially drew me to this book but it’s only now that I’ve finished reading it that I can appreciate all of the details that they included. I’m seeing more of the story in its design the longer I look at it. Juniper and Bear’s relationship is at the heart of this story. Juniper feels responsible for her little brother and tries to care for him as best she can. Then one day they are forced to leave the city and return to the Wild. But not all wild is good or safe. Juniper and Bear have to face the Wild and take it head on. Juniper Greene lives in a walled city from which nature has been banished, following the outbreak of a deadly man-made disease many years earlier. While most people seem content to live in such a cage, she and her little brother Bear have always known about their resistance to the disease, and dream of escaping into the wild. To the one place humans have survived outside of cities. To where their mother is. Together the two children have to make the perilous journey out into the wild to search for their family and others like them.Animals, trees, flowers, our city forbids them all... Juniper Greene lives in a walled city from which nature has been banished, following the outbreak of a deadly man-made disease many years earlier. While most people seem content to live in such a cage, she and her little brother Bear have always known about their resistance to the disease, and dream of escaping into the wild. To the one place humans have survived outside of cities. To where their mother is. When scientists discover that the siblings provide the key to fighting the disease, the pair must flee for their lives. As they journey into the unknown, they soon learn that there's cruelty in nature as well as beauty. Will they ever find the home they're searching for? Juniper and Bear have been brought up in a walled city, with nature barred from the built up area after an outbreak of a man-made disease. Not even a blade of grass can grow within the stones of the city. But Juniper and Bear remember the Wild and dream of escaping.