wildness

Review: Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell

| Tasha

cartwheeling in thunderstorms

Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell

Having loved Rundell’s Rooftoppers, I looked forward to reading this book.  I wasn’t expecting such a different read from her first novel.  Will has grown up on her father’s farm in Zimbabwe.  She plays with the boys on the farm, spending her days on horseback, hanging out with her best friend, and exploring the land.  Her days are pure bliss, filled with golden sunshine, fresh air, and freedom.  But that is not to last.  When her father dies and their farm is sold, Will is reluctantly sent to England to boarding school by her grandfather in a plot devised by her new grandmother.  But Will does not fit in with the girls in the school who torment Will because she is different, refuses to comb her hair, and can’t do the schoolwork.  There is only one choice for Will and that is to run away and try to survive on her own in the wilds of London. 

This book moved me over and over again.  First the beauty and the freedom of Will’s life in Zimbabwe is so beautiful and written with a tension.  It’s almost as if it is a bubble that must inevitably break, and it does.  The father’s death scene is one of the most poignant deaths I have experienced in books for children.  Will’s emotions are so strong on the page, that you literally ache for her and for the further changes to come that readers will see much earlier than Will does.  Going from such beauty to such loss is wrenching and masterful.

Rundell grew up in Zimbabwe and London, so Will’s time in England is equally well drawn.  From the bullying students to the kind teacher to the people she meets on the street, Will encounters all sorts of people.  As her situation grows more dire and one thinks she can’t go on, Will draws from the years of golden sun and freedom and continues on.  Through it all, that golden light continues to shine, hope glows even in the darkest of times. 

Will is a strong, wild heroine, a girl that you want to ride bareback with across Africa and one that all readers will fall madly head over heels for.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: Wild Boy by Mary Losure

| Tasha

wild boy

Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron by Mary Losure, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

Losure’s latest is another compelling true story this time focusing on the boy found in the woods in southern France in 1789.  The boy was not a tiny child, but rather a young boy who had obviously been surviving on his own for some time, his body covered in scars.  Quickly, the boy was taken for study and observation, his life curtailed and limited because he always attempted to run away.  There was very little attempt to actually reach him until he was sent to the Institute for Deaf-Mutes where he was put into the care of Dr. Itard.  Itard decided to make the boy, who he named Victor, happy before trying to teach him to speak.  So Victor joined the family of the housekeeper and quickly became attached to them.  But civilizing a wild boy is not simple, as this book shows with historical details, engaging humor, and a narrative that shows an immense empathy for this wild child.

Losure, author of The Fairy Ring, has once again taken a complicated situation and made it understandable for young readers.  Young readers will immediately relate more closely with the intriguing Victor.  Through his eyes and Losure’s exquisite writing, readers understand his ties to nature (Page 72):

But when rain pattered on the roof and everyone else went inside, the wild boy often crept out into the garden, to the tiny, formal reflecting pond that sat among the flower beds.  He would circle the pond several times, then sit by its edge and rock himself back and forth as the rain dimpled the surface of the pond.  He’d gaze into the water, toss in a handful of dead leaves, and watch them drift.

The digital galley I read did not have the completed art available, so I cannot comment on the illustrations.  Throughout the book, Losure makes the Wild Boy come to life as a very unique and resilient boy.  The story is told during his time, through the eyes of those who knew him best, using reports written at the time.  Only in her Author’s Note does Losure speculate on whether Victor was autistic.  There she also notes the importance of Victor on educational attitudes like Montessori.

An engaging, wrenching read that brings history to life in the form on one amazing person.  Appropriate for ages 9-12. 

Reviewed from digital galley received from Netgalley and Candlewick Press.