Kit's Wilderness

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: When I first picked up "Kit's Wilderness", I didn't really think that I would love it the way I did. I opened it up and within the 1st of the it's short chapters, I knew that I wouldn't be able to put it down! It is writted in such a way. I would describe this style as very... "prosey". It really kept me hooked. Kit is a newcomer to the town that his ancestors have lived in forever. He plays a game called "Death" and it changes his life. He must face his past with another boy and together, they will discover the secrets of the town's distant past... And well beyond that. This story is truly wonderful! You have to add it to your collections!

Rating:
Summary: Deep darkness, brighter light
Review: This book is so compelling. The dark is so dark. John Askew and his deathgame, his scary family life, and the history of death in the mines will attract many young readers and adult readers alike. The light is so warm. Kit's relationship with his grandfather, his friendship with Allie, the joy Kit finds in his writing, and his compassion and need to help John leave one with such a good feeling. David Almond is a very gifted writer! Read this book! I say Newbery!

Rating:
Summary: A Voyage into the Dark Night
Review: David Almond delivers a sophisticated and eerie ghost story that mixes myth and urban legends into a creepy and utterly engaging novel. What an interesting follow up to his gentle first book, Skellig. Kit's Wilderness shows the development of this great talent and a deep respect for readers of all ages. Kit's intuition and insight into the relationships around him are true and sensory. Can't wait to see what he does next!

Rating:
Summary: Very Boring
Review: Don't waste your money. This book is not worth it.

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Rating:
Summary: Christopher Watson, aged thirteen
Review: One of the best books I ever read was "Kit's Wilderness". Nothing anyone could have told me about this book would have prepared me for the drama within its pages. From the beginning, I was amazed by the characters and the way they introduce themselves. Kit just moved in and this is a story within itself. John Askew's personality is different inside and out. Allie has a background in Kit's family which adds an element of surprise to the book, and connects many loose ends together. This book takes place in an old mining town and it is a collection of tales from the mining times woven together into one plot line. Most of the families living in Stoneygate have ancestors that died in the terrible mine disaster years earlier. The tragedy and horror was passed down from generation to generation. Kit's grandpa had worked in the mine when he was younger. He told Kit, "It was very deep, Kit. Very dark. And every one of us was scared of it. As a lad I'd wake up trembling, knowing that as a Watson born in Stoneygate I'd soon be following my ancestors into the pit." All of the old mining families' children participate in a game. A game with death as its initiation process. Before Kit's death Askew whispers to him ever so softly, "This is not a game. You will truly die. All you see and all you know will disappear. It is the end. You will be no more." This plot really grips your soul. It gives the book life, and makes the reader become part of this possibly deadly game.

Rating:
Summary: Curriculum at its Best
Review: I'm reading this book as part of English at my school, and I find it's absolutely brill! Allie's a real inspiration to me, as I'm planning to be an actress myself. And though Askew seems too dark for me, he's proven of great interest. We're even using Kit's style of writing from his story of Lak for future stories in the curriculum. We haven't read Part 3 yet, but when we do, I bet it's just as white-knuckling and full of suspense as the other two parts!

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK SUX!
Review: I did not like this craphead book at all. I was not excited to pick it up and could not find myself getting hooked in its non-existant story line. The characters were unrealistic and undeveloped. Is"Kit" a good guy or a bad guy? You just can't root for him throughout the story because he is just an unfinished sketch on a chewed up piece of paper.

Rating:
Summary: Blood on the coal
Review: I remember reading David Almond's first children's book, "Skellig" and being vaguely impressed. The book had some interesting ideas and the author was obviously adept at tying in different running themes throughout the book's narrative. This seemed to be his strong point and, I suspect, the reason his books are so often chosen to be read by kids in school. But nothing in "Skellig" really blew me away. I mean, it was nice but a little overdone. The character of Skellig himself was fascinating, but I didn't particularly care much for the other people in the story. All in all, it had the distinct feel of a first work. Then I heard a great deal of good things about Almond's second book, "Kit's Wilderness". Under the mistaken impression that the book was a Holocaust novel (a quick glance of the cover is enough to explain where I got that particular idea) I picked it up and quickly devoured it. To my delight, the book is incredibly strong. Almond has retained his love of grand all encompassing themes, and fit them within the confines of a small perfect novel. "Kit's Wilderness" is a remarkably strong creation.

The death of Kit's grandmother brings the boy and his family to the coal-mining town of Stoneygate to live. For generations Kit's family has lived and worked in the dark dangerous coal filled caverns beneath the ground. With his grandfather's failing health on his mind, Kit finds himself drawn to fellow student and dark ally John Askew. John and Kit share ancient ancestors in the mines and both are drawn to the darkest parts of their own souls. With John as a guide, Kit and a few chosen others (including the light and bright Allie Keenan) play a primal game called Death that allows them to experience one of humanity's oldest mysteries. When the game is found out, John turns on the world and Kit must use all his resources to draw his friend and his grandfather out of the dark and back into the light of life.

Playing with images of mines, death, nothingness, cavemen, ancient primordial creatures, and the nature of human evil, the book skillfully ties together a number of fascinating themes. Almond is at his best with this book. Having grown up in his own northeastern English mining village, he knows from which he speaks. You never really fear that Kit will become as enraptured with the notion of death as Askew is, but neither does he fully embrace the life around him as Allie does. It's only when he begins to write his own stories (including an all-encompassing tale of a prehistoric boy named Lak) that he gains some perspective on himself and his dark-obsessed friend. Kit's ability to see the ghosts of the past, ghosts so far reaching that he actually meets and interacts with his caveman's mother, is both metaphor and the true soul of the tale. With so many different threads of plot and action circling about this book, I wouldn't have blamed Almond at all if he'd dropped the ball in some way. Instead, he deftly maintains each storyline perfectly, tying them all together at the end. It's enough to take your breath away.

In many ways, "Kit's Wilderness" reminded me greatly of Alan Garner's 1976 classic, "The Stone Book", which also tied the beginnings of life to the nature of life on earth and the working man's lot. If you've enjoyed "Kit's Wilderness" then Garner's classic text is an obvious companion piece. I was greatly relieved to find "Kit's" such an enjoyable read as well. Almond's evocative reminices of snow and frozen winter reminded me of the best parts of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". In the end, the book is about living life and how we as humans can't help but be drawn to its absence sometimes. This book is about our fascination with the horrific and what it takes to grab onto living. Almond's come a long way since, "Skellig". "Kit's Wilderness" is a fine piece of work.


Rating:
Summary: Kits Wilderness book Review
Review: Kits Wilderness by David Almond is a very imaginative and interesting story book with many different genres like its a fantasy because of all the ghostsand dreams. But its also an adventure as the relationship between Kit and John Askew and also about the game of Death and Lak. I think this Book is for most over the age of about 11.

Kits Wilderness starts of with Kit as he moves into the town of Stonygate to live with his grandpa. He then meets John Askew who introduces him to the game of death. It then all becomes worse for kit as his grandpa becomes ill and has to go to hospital. Then the ghosts of the past come and haunt Kit. Then John Askew runs away and Kit finds him in an abandoned mine where they become blood brothers then they are found and brought back home for a happy ending (But Grandpa Dies!)

Kit is the central charactor in the novel as every thing seems to link to him in one way or another. His friend Askew is also one of the main charactors, he seems a very scary type of person but turns out good in the end. Kits Grandpa is ill in most of the book but he makes the past alive for Kit.

In order i think that frendship, family relationship, the past and death are the most important themes in the novel.

In this book i think that the most exciting part is the story about Lak as i found it very interesting. David Almonds style of writing is very original as he has some very short sentences and some very long ones too.

I would recommend this book to some but not all readers as parts of it become very confusing and mixed up.

Overall a just above average book.