A remarkable book following a young girl through separation, disease and loss through remarkable courage and determination to make things right. It was shortlisted for the Costa Children’ s Book Award 2017
Ami lives with her sick mother on an island where the sea is as blue as the sky. It’s all she knows and loves, but the arrival of a cruel government official, Mr Zamora, changes her world for ever. Her island is to become a leprosy colony. Ami is banished to an orphanage across the water, where she meets a girl whose name means butterflies, and together they set out to find a way home to the island at the end of everything.
This is a book full of intriguing decisions , and cunning looks into the people who have made them, without little thought of the effect on others. It brings together the need for understanding and compassion. It shows how young people can so often break through rules that are plainly wrong.
I loved reading the book , recommended to me by the librarian at Shrewsbury International School, Hong Kong, and will now find further books by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
Published by Chicken House Books, The Island at the End of Everything is part of a great collection of books in a huge range of genres. Their list for Summer Reading 2020 looks fantastic, about to start on the next exciting read.
Sue Martin
