Found this book quite captivating after getting into it. Really gets to the nitty gritty of the lives of the characters, their relationnships and their angst in the change from childhood to adolescence. ( )

David Almond is one of the most distinctive writers of junior fiction in the UK and probably the world right now. His books are at once accessible and yet profound. They stir emotion, ask questions, introduce mysteries - and sometimes resolve them.

An over-riding theme is often conflict of one kind or another, and this is never more true than in this book. This book sees conflict between friends falling out, between people with different views, between governments and soldiers in Iraq and Liberia. All this in the back drop of beautiful Northumbria in a glorious summer.

But it is more than just conflict. Liam, the son of an artist mother and writer father, discovers an abandoned baby that he is led to by a Jackdaw. With the baby is a jar of money. this mystery sets in train other events which lead inexorably to the novel's conclusion.

David Almond will not be everyone's favourite author. He is an author to make you think "what was that book about"? And the answer is that it is about many things. But anyone who really enjoys reading should love what he does with language - so simply wrought and yet so profound - not one word out of place.

I enjoyed this book very much. ( )