Tag Archives: Whitbread Children’s Book Award

Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean – 20 Books of Summer

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Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean was first published in 2004 and it won the Whitbread Children’s book award that year, also the Carnegie Medal in 2018 for an illustrated edition. This is one of my 20 Books of Summer.

The setting is the St Kilda archipelago in the far north of Scotland, the date is summer 1727. As usual in the summer a boat full of young boys along with three men has sailed to a sea stac so that they can harvest sea birds to help them survive the next winter. They use every part of the birds to help them survive the grim weather to come. It’s a harsh existence, but it’s part of growing up for any young male St Kildan.

During the harvest time they live in a cave and have to bed down on the rough floor which causes them to have sores, if they get infected it’ll be the end of them, oil from the dead sea birds is rubbed into any cuts and grazes to try to avoid infection.

After their harvest season should be over no boat comes to pick them up as arranged. At first they assume that the weather has had something to do with the lack of a boat, but as summer turns to autumn and winter weather arrives they can’t imagine why they have been abandoned. They only have rain water to drink now and their clothes are in rags after having to climb the cliffs daily.

One of the men decides to start to gather any bits of wood which wash up around the sea stac, he hopes to be able to build some sort of raft in the hope that he’ll be able to sail to nearby Boreray to get help.

This book is based on a true story, the author has woven a tale around it, imagining the tensions that would have emerged under the circumstances. It’s a really good read.

 

A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively

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A Stitch in Time cover

A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively was published in 1976. It won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award which isn’t at all surprising as it’s a lovely read. It was apparently aimed at readers between 11 and 14 but of course is for readers of all ages.

It begins with Maria and her parents driving to Lyme Regis for their summer holidays. Maria is an only child, her parents are rather old fashioned and staid introverts and it’s a lonely life for her. In fact she’s so lonely that she has conversations with inanimate objects with Maria supplying both sides of the conversation.

Her life changes completely when she becomes involved with a large and noisy family who are staying in the hotel next door. It’s a different world, but her parents are quite appalled by them, they can’t stand the mayhem, and Maria’s father can hardly recognise his daughter who is running around and having FUN.

Maria and Martin, the eldest boy in the family bond over their interest in fossils and spend time searching for them on the beach. When Mrs Shand the owner of Maria’s rental house discovers their interest she’s happy to show them her collection of fossils, but Maria is entranced by an old embroidered sampler on the wall, especially when she realises that the embroidered house in it depicts the house she’s holidaying in. Mrs Shand’s sister Harriet had embroidered the sampler and Maria feels that something bad must have happened to Harriet, she can almost feel her presence, and is it Harriet that she can hear playing on the non-existent swing?

I really enjoyed this one and it brought back memories of what it was like growing up in the 1960s/70s when loads of kids would pile into the back of a car to go on trips to the beach or wherever. No safety belts, just heaps of entangled limbs, laughs, shrieks and fun. We survived!