2008-09-16 As good as The Alchemist. Beautiful prose. A moving fable full of elemental beings. Lovely.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RPRZ9HVURNL39 Whilst this book won a Children's Book Council of Australia Award for teen readers both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it with our collective age of 88! It is only just being released overseas, so on this rare occasion those of us who live in Australia got to it first (unlike the cycling in the Olympics!)

Sonya Hartnett, who was a recent winner of the Astrid Lindgrin prize (worth a fortune), is not afraid to tackle big themes and this book is no exception, both literally and allegorically. Themes of love, loss, redemption, rite of passage, a heroine's journey,no-man as an island, death and being true to yourself are all tackled. The whole is supported by a cast full of elemental beings straight out of the collective consciousness. The language is gorgeous.

This is a book that deserves a wider audience than the teen demographic, although young adults will doubt get a lot out of it. Criticisms? None to speak of really. It was a pleasant read with no notable irritants.