It’s hard to put the emotional impact of this book into words. Beautifully written by Katya Balen, October, October is the story of eleven-year-old October who lives in the woods with her father. We meet her after a storm has come through the area and October finds an orphaned baby owl. The sights, sounds, and hard work required for living wild is masterfully described.

October’s life changes when her father is injured and she has to live with her mother in London. She has to navigate a culture she has never known and live with a woman she loathes for choosing life in the city over life with her daughter. It’s complicated. As October winds her way through her emotions and new situation. She and a friend from school find the joy of mud larking in the Thames. Can October bring these two very different worlds together?

My short review does not do the story justice. It’s a wonderful middle grade book – but more than that October, October is a wonderful book period.

Reading age 9 – adult.

Find it here…

https://www.amazon.com/October-Katya-Balen/dp/1526601907