The Rescue of Ravenwood: Children'S Book of the Year, Sunday Times
As seen:
By Natasha Farrant
avg rating
7 reviews
‘A sublime eco adventure.’ The Times
From the Costa Award winning author of Voyage of the Sparrowhawk comes an epic adventure with a call to arms: we must fight to save the most treasured things on our planet.
On the top of the hill, overlooking the sea, that’s where you’ll find a magical place . . .
To Bea and Raffy, Ravenwood is home. In its own way, the house rescued them, even if it did have a fallen-down tree taking up most of the kitchen. So the idea that it could be sold. Demolished even. Well, that’s unthinkable. Then again, it’s not like the children get a choice. But the truth is, we can all make our own choices, especially if we care enough . . .
A beautiful, soulful, exciting story about holding onto what’s precious, and guarding the extraordinary nature that surrounds us.
‘A triumph.’ The Times
‘Enchanting.’ The Telegraph
‘A captivating feat of storytelling.’ The Sunday Times
‘A moving and compelling adventure.’ BookTrust
‘One of my very favourite authors.’ Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse
Reviews
Amazing
Loved this book
What a book! You are quickly into the Ravenwood world with all the complexities of families and relationships but with a strong message about what home is, what we need to value and what's worth fighting for. Really beautifully written.
This is an awsome book. Happy and sad all at once.My favourite person was Noa. Definitely worth reading.
A beautifully written middle grade novel about the places and people we call home, blended families, and the natural world. The descriptions of nature reminded me in parts of Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis, and the secretive travel abroad of Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll. I also liked that the characters had some complexity to them and weren’t in the end necessarily as they first seemed. There is some diversity in the cast of characters in the form of red-headed Bea, black Raffy, and brown Noa. It seemed a little pasted on at first, but the backstory of Raffy, his mother and their loving, artistic, not at all socially or educationally disadvantaged extended family is developed later on. As a non-white teacher working in a predominantly non-white community, I am always on the lookout for compelling children’s stories that put believable, diverse characters at the centre. I would recommend this book. With my teacher head on, there is also lots of great setting and character description that could be used in the classroom!
I loved the plot and the magical ravenwood itself . The love for ravenwood and what they sacrificed for it was so amazing
I felt this book connected my to nature and made me consider how important even the tiniest insect can be. I loved the environmental themes, the strong friendship and relationships that the characters forged, the lessons the we must face in order to move forward and the reality of fighting for the things that are important to us, even the small things and fighting for justice for those who can’t.. I loved this book. Each of the main characters had their own battles to overcome and at times made me laugh. I would definitely recommend this book to others who enjoy adventure and real life struggles combining, hope and light in all we try and do.
“We do what we can Bea, and when we’ve done that we try to do a little more.”
