When I read the synopsis of this book I feared it would be too similar to Wild Way Home but as I'd thoroughly enjoyed Wild Way Home I thought I'd probably rather like this too. As I started reading it soon became clear that although the outline of the story was vaguely similar -time hopping to stoneage, this was equally as unique, incredible and enjoyable as Wild Way Home. Such an ingenious way of bringing the stoneage to life, full of possibility and adventure. The characters are appealing and you really start to care for them and want everything to turn out right. Sophie Kirtly is quickly becoming a great favourite of mine with her unique take on things and the lovely flowing, lyrical language.
The books are just right for grabbing at the middle grade readers and joking them in, nicely setting them up for a lifetime of reading for pleasure

It was such a joy to be back in the worlds of The Wild Way Home. It felt like a hug in a book.
Accomplished writing, spectacular world building and characters who are beautifully linked by the universal truths of childhood. This is a fight song for anyone who feels a bit different and seeks the courage to step away from the norm. We loved it!

Like a great many book bloggers, I suspect, I have got in the habit of regularly checking what has been added to the shelves of Net Galley in order to ensure that I am not missing out on anything. Some days I will log on and find nothing that grabs me and on others, I will be so excited about what I have found that I will feel the need to share the news on Twitter.

So it was with this new title which I tweeted about late on Friday afternoon last week. Without so much as reading the details, or lingering over the cover art, I requested it immediately – the name of Sophie Kirtley being enough to tempt me, having loved her debut title The Wild Way Home last year. After spending the weekend considering what to read next in the hopes of finishing that before being approved for this, and hence being able to pick this up straight away, I was thrilled to be approved on Monday morning and plunged in that evening, still blissfully unaware of what the book is about.

Reading the first page, I was immediately struck by the opening word: the name Mothgirl, which will be familiar to fans of that first book as the baby sister of Harby (Hart Boy), the Stone Age friend of the protagonist Charlie, and felt an overwhelming sense of excitement at the prospect of finding out what happened after that book finished. This is not a straightforward sequel, however, as it picks up several years later; Mothgirl is no longer a baby, but a girl of 12 summers and it is not Charlie she encounters but Charlie’s younger brother Dara.

Mothgirl is watching for the return of her own brother when we meet her, as she does every day, but he has been gone for two moons and there is still no sign of him. As she gazes into the distance from her vantage point up a tree, she looks upon the image of Lathrin Mountain on the shores of the Big Water and remembers her father’s stories of the restless spirits which roam there. Together with her faithful wolf, ByMySide, she makes her way back to the camp she shares with her ageing father, niece and nephew and is puzzled by the presence of someone from a nearby clan – one led by an individual named Vulture – hunting in her family’s territory.

Dara, meanwhile, is spending time away with his parents without older sibling Charlie, ahead of the operation he needs on his heart to treat the condition with which he was born. Out on his own on the dunes overlooking Lathrin Island, he hears what he thinks is a wolf’s howl and spooked starts to run back to where he is staying – something he knows that he should not be doing – only to be found by his father who has to help him back after he has collapsed on the sand.

Mothgirl has her own, very different, problems when Vulture comes to visit and offers her father a selection of valuable gifts in exchange for Mothgirl, who he not only sees as a bride for his son, but who he also promises to correct as she does not behave in the way that a girl should. Terrified at the prospect, Mothgirl decides to run away to seek out older brother Hart on Lathrin Mountain, believing that his return will resolve all of her worries.

Dara also decides that he will take off when his operation is postponed following his collapse, and he sneaks out in the middle of the night determined to sail to Lathrin Island. When he discovers Mothgirl hiding in a boatshed, he startles her and believing him to be her enemy she flees from him and ends up in terrible danger, leaving Dara no option but to rescue her. Forming an unlikely alliance, together they face the perils of the journey across the water to Lathrin Island where each of them will discover strengths that they didn’t know they had in their quest to not only find Hart, but also themselves.

Fans of the original story will be equally as delighted by this one. There are echoes of the first book woven through it, but this is a fresh and brand new story which deserves to be enjoyed on its own merits and which works perfectly well as a standalone read. Although Hart and Charlie’s names crop up throughout the story, both Mothgirl and Dara are oblivious to the connection they share and this means that they are able to judge one another without any preconceptions, on their own terms.

I loved Mothgirl – she is bright and bold, and is not prepared to let her gender stand in the way of what she wants, or what she is capable of achieving. As an adult reader, my blood ran cold at the thought of her being bargained for as a child bride and while younger readers will not be aware of the full implications of this, there will be many of them who will question how and why this might be considered in any way acceptable. Certainly, if this was to be used as a class reader, as The Wild Way Home has been in many schools, it would be a very strong starting point for some valuable PSHE work on equality and the rights of children, particularly girls.

With its short chapters this would make a perfect shared read in school or one for those children who are ready for slightly longer independent reads, but who are still lacking the stamina needed for those titles where the chapters take longer to wade through. Certainly, a great many of my Year 5s would enjoy reading this, as would those more confident children in Year 4.

Having loved both this and the author’s first title, I am now keen to see what comes next. With the inclusion of Mothgirl’s niece and nephew there is the possibility of a third, linked adventure and I for one would be interested to see how that would pan out. This is, of course, speculation on my part because Sophie Kirtley may have entirely new directions in which to take us. They are something to very much look forward to.

As always, huge thanks must go to Bloomsbury Publishing and Net Galley for my advance read ahead of publication on July 8th. A breath-taking 5 out of 5 stars.