Author(s): Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Middle

A captivating, powerful and luminous story from a bestselling, award-winning author about a mother, a daughter and the great Greenland shark. Wrapped up in mesmerising illustrations and presented as a deluxe hardback, this is a perfect gift for the holiday season, for 9+ fans of Philip Pullman, David Almond and Frances Hardinge. 'Tom de Freston's stunning illustrations perfectly complement the poetry of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's story' Cressida Cowell 'A rich, immersive and wondrous journey, through deep darkness to hope and light' Sophie Anderson, author of The House with Chicken Legs The shark was beneath my bed, growing large as the room, large as the lighthouse, rising from unfathomable depths until it ripped the whole island from its roots. The bed was a boat, the shark a tide, and it pulled me so far out to sea I was only a speck, a spot, a mote, a dying star in an unending sky... Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer - her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother's obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope... A beautiful, lyrical, uplifting story about a mother, a daughter, and love - with timely themes of the importance of science and the environment.

MATILDA BOOKSHOP REVIEW

Julia does not mind moving to the remote island of Unst. How can she be lonely when she has her Dad, her cat Noodle and her brilliant Mum, who has brought them all here to search for the evasive Greenland Shark. Her Mother is impulsive and throws herself into everything wholeheartedly, as she does now with her immense task. As time trickles by, her determination morphs into obsession. Julia watches her Mum's grasp on reality grow more brittle and begins to feel they are all of them in her family adrift, and fast losing sight of one another.

Kiran Millwood Hargrave writes tales of personal journeying like no other, while Tom de Freston's moody illustrations perfectly capture the sunken feeling of a family struggling with their loved one's spiralling mental illness. Together they have made something truly special here. Emilie