‘Delivers in spades. It made me laugh, cry, gasp and turn the pages for one more chapter every time I had to stop.’ – Nizrana Farook
A conquest of assured storytelling from a unique new voice, The Wild Way Home is a skillfully constructed time-slip adventure featuring vividly realised characters and a richly imagined past world. Discovering themes of family, identity and friendship in a mature and engaging way, Kirtley’s debut transports the reader to another time and place.
When Charlie’s longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie’s world is flipped upside down. Upset and scared, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, hurt, but alive. When Charlie heads back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It’s become a place as bizarre and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. For Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there?
What follows is a wild, good-natured adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost, their bravery, their courage, their family and their home. Fans of Piers Torday and Stig of the Dump will love this wild, clever and wholehearted debut adventure.
“With echoes of Skellig, this story is so smoothly told I barely stopped. A really powerful debut and definitely a must in every school library.'” – Fleur Hitchcock
“A beautiful story of things ancient and eternal. Kirtley convincingly creates and navigates the difficult landscapes of both Stone Age Ireland and contemporary family life in this big-hearted, gripping debut.” – Kelly McCaughrain
Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for July
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