by Kiran Millwood Hargreaves
Published by Orion Children’s Books
Leila is a Syrian refugee living in Croydon with two female relatives. They love her and she loves them and they’re pretty settled although she has many frightening memories of war-torn Syria before their arrival in London.
Leila hasn’t seen her high-flying mother for six years. Now she is travelling to northern Norway to stay with her mother, who is a meteorologist/biologist working in the arctic. At one level it’s a family story because Leila and her mum both have issues and misunderstandings, as do the other mother and daughter they’re with, while Leila is desperately missing her aunt and cousin in London. In some ways she is disappointed in her mother, although that is eventually resolved when she understands that of course her mother hadn’t deserted her. Who has been living on a shoestring for six years to send almost all her salary to her family in London?
This is also an engrossing tale about their tracking a single arctic fox – characterised by alternating sections in the book – who is seriously affected by climate change. The fox passages are quite lyrical. It’s a warm and uplifting narrative, neatly woven, which also packs excitement because, of course, it’s very dangerous to be out on melting ice and inevitably there’s a touch-and-go moment. There are also a few hints of a relationship between Leila’s Mum and her friend/colleague Britt which I would have liked to see developed.
Tom de Freston’s grey illustrations are rich and evocative, especially on the dark pages. I wish, though that the print was black not grey because the paleness makes it a struggle to read.
Review by Susan Elkin