Where is your place of safety?

October, October

Written by: Katya Balen

Illustrated by: Angela Harding @ANGELACHARDING

Published by: Bloomsbury @BloomsburyBooks

Published on: September 2020

Price: £7.99

First line: We find the owl at the very edge of our woods the morning after the storm.

Genre: Contemporary, Wildlife, London

Age: 9+

Thanks to my local library for the review copy.

What’s it all about? October lives, and has always lived, in the woods with her dad, and with her mum, but only for a little while. Her mum moves when October is young to live in London. They are wild and generally self-sufficient, growing what they eat from the land, living from the wood they cut down and the occasional trips into the village or to the local farmer. When October turns 11, everything changes, the woman who is her mother comes more into her life as her dad falls from tree. It’s an unwelcome presence. It makes October less wild, just like her dad is now, and also like the baby owl they rescue. Soon October is forced to readjust to a new life in the city and to school and to light switches and all the things most people take for granted. But, they are unwanted, and October doesn’t adjust easily, in fact she howls about it, a lot. In the end, it’s Yusuf, a boy at school who unclips October’s wings and shows her how life can be enjoyed on all levels.

Why should I read it? The winner of the 2022 Carnegie Medal, this book and Katya’s writing in general is a thing of beauty. Each word seems to have more of a meaning and a greater depth to it and more of a thought gone into its use than anyone else’s writing. I think for some people, this almost rambling style, might be difficult to read; however, for others, it is amazing.  Having read both ‘The Thames and Tide Club’, and ‘Birdsong’, earlier this year, I have enjoyed her style before, and this is no exception. However, I was slightly disappointed to see mudlarking appearing again, but I’m pleased to say that it is dealt with in a minor way in this text. In fact, it has inspired me to have a go myself, or at least think about having a go! Just like in Birdsong, this story deals with difficult character emotions in really realistic but sensitive and empathic way. I really enjoyed how the author gets October to respond to her emotion by sometimes growling or screaming or not responding to questions. I felt the role of the mother was creatively written about, as her character has to take a lot of stick from October, and with time their relationship begins, but not without a lot of emotional hardship. When they visit her school towards the end of the story to see her speech I felt truly emotional at what each of the three main characters had achieved.  Yusuf is a great sidekick for October, the undazzled and appreciative of anyone’s ways approach he had to life is a lesson for us all. I really like how tĥe author puts only one word on some lines, like a free verse poem, to show even more emotion with the words. Some of the chapters are incredibly short, making it easy to access for some, but it is quite a long story. There is truly so much inference to unpick here. It is a teacher’s delight. Let those words soar in your classroom.