by Katya Balen,
paperback, £7.99, for 8-12 years
(reviewed by Octavia)

I was sitting just starting to read October, October and a customer in the bookshop saw and said, he’d just read it and it was pretty perfect. He was right. This book is really lovely. Here we meet October who lives wild in the woods with her beloved father. They thrive amongst nature, living in tune with the wildlife and trees. Until the accident that is. October must then survive living in the city and going to school. Making friends isn’t easy after life in the woods. However, the Thames River and the treasure it holds, the history of Mudlarks and finally a friend, brighten October’s bleak new beginnings. There’s also an owl within this story. An owl that is also a survivor. The writing and descriptions of her feelings but also of both her woodland and London surroundings are stunningly well written. For children from the age of eight, up to grownups, this is a book to get lost in.