Geraldine McCaughrean

It is summer on the remote island of St. Kilda, and a group of men and boys are preparing for the annual hunting journey to Warrior Stac, a small, barren, rocky island in the outer Hebrides. A small boat ferries them to the outcropping and drops them off, and the small band immediately sets to work preparing a shelter for the next few weeks and commencing hunting of the seafowl who visit the island to nest this time of year. All goes swimmingly, their haul bountiful, until it becomes apparent that the return boat isn't coming for them.

I quite enjoyed this novel (I admit to being somewhat partial to survival/adventure tales), as well as McCaughrean's writing. For a while I thought we were heading down a road to full-blown Lord of the Flies, but thankfully, though it was at times disturbing, the breakdown of society didn't sink quite to that level, and the story had sufficient nuance and imagination to make it distinct. That it was based on true events was icing on the cake.… (more)