Aikman holds an accurate pulse on world politics. An expert in Soviet affairs, he has painted a frightening landscape of a possible future -- a world in which the fragility of American power is tested. This is a marvelous novel, a thinking mans story that is far more chilling than the works of his less-informed contemporaries. This book should be read, both for fun and enlightenment! PAY ATTENTION HOLLYWOOD -- WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THE MOVIE!!!

I originally purchased the book in 1995 and was overwhelmed by the believable possibilities. Naturally, the story has lingered with me waiting patiently for some conclusion, and by now I'm not sure there ever will be one. But that doesn't change the impact that this half-completed image of our possible future has.

Now that I've read it for the second time, and see many of the proposed dates have passed us by, I'm still struck by the vision that Mr. Aikman has shown. Now the question is not whether our government could be overthrown by socialists, but whether there will be any resistance at all to American socialism.

The first time I read it, I was struck by the pessimism about America's short term future. Now it seems that I'm take by his optimism concerning the long term. Will America learn the lessons of freedom and morality (not a contradiction), or will it continue it's course of choosing security over liberty? While this doesn't seem directly related to the book, it shows the impact that it's ideas can still render. That's my test of a book - will it still be able to challenge my thoughts the next time I read it? This book has that ability.

I have no doubt that ten years from now I will enjoy looking again into this world of Nationalist Russia (not such a ridiculous thought now as it was then), China turning towards freedom (which is what some hope to accomplish by establishing a more friendly relationship), and America at war with herself. And when I do, I will once again consider the long-term courses that the world powers are taking.

Now to my complaints. In my hardback copy there are many cases of missing quotation marks (frustrating), a few changes of spelling (as another reviewer pointed out), and the terrible absence of a conclusion. It's as if he simply ran out of paper. The book is wrapped up in about three pages while leaving the majority of questions unanswered. In fact, after first reading it, I set about to find the obvious sequel. But there was not one then, and there is not one now. For those who've advocated a movie adaptation - someone had better write and ending before the thought is even presented to a studio.

It's no wonder Aikman has written cover stories for TIME. His knowledge of geography and political history as well as the "political future" made this book come alive. Well done, Mr. Aikman!!

Michael's family moved across town into an old house with a cluttered garden. Then his baby sister becomes sick and is carried off to hospital. His parents are busy with the baby and renovating the house, so Michael is left on his own to find some friends in the neighbourhood. He meets Mina, a home-schooled girl, who shows him some owls she found in an old attic. After this, Michael feels that he has to show her something aswell, so he leads her into the ancient garage in his garden. There, Michael introduces Mina to Skellig. The garage pledges to slowly collapse, so Michael and Mina have to carry Skellig into a shattered house a few streets away. Here, he regains his strength by eating '27 and 53' from the Chinese takeaway and the food Mina's owls bring him. Mina and Michael soon discover that Skellig has wings and is a strange kind of creature. He spends a lot of time with the owls in the attic, eats and leaves owl pellets behind like they do. Michael has a feeling that Skellig's appearance has something to do with his sister's illness, and so pleads him to think of her. When Michael and Mina visit him a while later, Skellig is gone. Michael takes this as a sign that his little sister died. But miraculously she survives a difficult operation. "... And in the end we simply called her Joy."

The book Skellig has all the things a great book should have:
-Interesting Storyline
-Brilliant characters
-images that are given vividly.
I thought this book was excellent- I'd never heard of it before and thought it might be boring. I would definately reccommend it to a friend because it is full of adventure and excitement.
The story line is of a heavenly bird helping 2 children in desperate needs is both extraordinary and fascinating this is why it's a great book that won an award.
The characters of Mina and Michael are 2 children who were pretty normal to start with. Then they met Skellig.
They learn such a lot from him and their boring lives suddenly change rapidly. Just finding Skellig gave them a shock the way their feelings, emotions and actions are described i can actually see the scene- picture the movements.
It gives suspence, surprise and sudden changes of atmosphere and story line- David Almond really knows how to capture a readers attention!

Skellig is an extrodinary piece of literature. It is equally good for both adults and children. Skellig is beutifully written. It is extremely lyrical, almost like a very long poem. The plot is thin, but still, the detial makes this book impossible not to finish. Michael has just moved to a new house, with no friends, and on top of that, his family is in a really hard situation. Michaels new baby sister is sick, and they don't know whether she'll live. And Michaels new house is dilapidated and the "garage," as the real estate agent calls it, is so broken down that it's unsafe to go inside. Michaels house seems empty. He is very lonely.Michael however, goes in. He finds something, a creature like an angel, but not quite. Great book, maybe one of the best I've read. Definitely a must-have. Five stars!

Kit's Wilderness written by David Almond takes place in a fictional middle-class town called Stoneygate. Stoneygate used to be a coal-mining town. The main character- thirteen year-old Kit Watson moved to Stoneygate, along with his mother father and grandfather, after his grandma died. He discovered he has somewhat of a legacy to live up to due to the fact that his ancestors have lived there for a while and the name Watson is well known. Kit meets another boy- John Askew, and John claims the two of them are linked because their ancestors were linked as well. John is a troublemaker and his family is the worst in town. Kit also meets a girl named Allie Keegan and becomes good friends with her. After a series of events makes Kit and John seem more connected, John gets kicked out of school. Out of anger, he runs away. Everyone in town thinks John is bad news and Kit shouldn't be hanging out with him but Kit thinks there is good in John. When Kit goes looking for John in an abandoned coal mine, will John show his bad side to Kit out of anger or will Kit be able to save John?
I am not a huge fan of Kit's Wilderness. However, I did not dislike the book an extreme amount, either. Overall, I thought the plot was slow moving and the climax was not very exciting. At the beginning of the book, the author does not give the reader anything substantial to base John and Kit's link. The reader is just supposed to take the author?s word for it. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the relationship between Kit and Allie. I enjoyed Allie's character in general. Another highlight is that the short chapters and three divisions allow the story to go by quickly.
I would relate this book to October Sky because they are both set in the same kind of town. Overall, Kit's Wilderness was mediocre but had high points.

I think that Kit's Wilderness is a clever, well written novel, for children and adults of any age above 10. Almond links together the different plots very well. The book somehow connects good with evil and dark with light. The book takes thrilling turns and unexpected twists.It has you on the edge of your seat and you don't want to put it down - you want to find out what happens next. The book takes you through an excitng adventure that includes all aspects of Kit's life at Stoneygate. The main characters in the book are: Goodie-two-shoes Kit, strange John Askew, bossy Allie Keenan, and Kit's Grandpa who used to work in the mine. I think that the characters are very well thought out and they are described very well. My favourite part is where Kit goes into the mine with Askew. I like it because Almond builds up lots of tension.

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.

The first part of this book tells about three orphaned children, Erin Law, January Carr, and Mouse Gullane. They all three end up on a river raft that January has made and encounter many adventures along the river. Upon arriving at the black Black Middens, they meet Heaven Eyes and her "grampa". They stay the night and Erin and Heaven Eyes become close friends, just like sisters. Even after being threatened by Grampa, Erin refused to leave. Eventually all four children become close. Mouse becomes Grampa's little helper and they both dig in the Black Middens in search of some mysterious "saint," which is found at the end of the book. Around the same time, January Carr found newspaper clippings telling the story of Heaven Eyes' past. The next day while the "ghosts" are about to work in the deserted area that Grampa and Heaven Eyes have been living in, a mysterious occurrence appears from Grampa's body. At the end of this book, Heaven Eyes goes to live with the other orphans at Whitegates and their futures look brighter.
This is a good book; however, we feel that more explanations were needed for the character Heaven Eyes and the ending of the book could have been more intersting and detailed.

Heaven Eyes was a good book. David Almond did a fantastic job on writing this novel about orphan children who are mad at the world and think that nothing is right. It all starts when Erin Law, January, and Mouse take off from the orphanage on a raft that January made. Maureen, the social worker at Whitegates always told them that they were damaged children without hope of surviving in the world. They were going to float on the raft all the way down the river, but something terrible happened! They got stuck in the "Black Middens" where they meet Heaven Eyes. Heaven Eyes is a curious girl who thinks that Erin is her sister and Mouse and January are her brothers. She takes them to her home, which is a warehouse where magazines and newspapers used to be made, but all the kids are frightened by the way she looks. Her fingers and toes have webs between them, and she's a pale white color...>Erin played the role of a gutsy, sensitive, curious girl. Mouse played the role of a shy but fearless and stunning character, and January, was strong and very hard working.
I liked this book a lot, I would give it 4 stars ****! Anyone who enjoys adventure books or just exciting books that you can't put down because you need to know what will happen next will really enjoy this one!

I think this is one of the best books I have read ever. It is a great story and I love the way they discover the girl Heaven Eyes. This book is great and it is hard for me to imagine someone not liking it.

David Almond is by far one of the best Authors I have ever read. His books are so good and not like anything I have read before. The Story is a mostly realistic enviroment but one element is added that is not real. (that being Heaven Eyes)

It is about 2 kids that run away from where they lived, a center for 'damaged' children. This time they take a raft and float down the river until they get stuck in the Black Middens, which is a muddy part of the river. A girl with webed hands pulls them out tells them they are her brothers and sister. When she shows them to her grandpa he says they are not her brothers and sister, That they are ghosts. (which he refers to real people as) Erin Law (the main character) comes to Love Heaven Eyes as her sister and when her Grandpa dies they take her back to the place they live. Heaven learns that she was not just a creature pulled out of the mud, that she had a mum and a dad and 2 brothers too.

This is one of the best books I have ever read and I would recomend it to almost any one.

This book is possibly the stupidest book I have ever read. The stories are boring with no plot or character development. Do not read this book.

You've read his stories about bird-men in the garage, ghosts of prehistoric humans, and strange girls with webbed fingers. Now read a unique, wistful book -- half autobiography, half fictional short stories -- that goes back to David Almond's childhood in a small English mining town.

Almond goes back to Stoneygates and looks at things through the eyes of a child -- the world is a magical, mystical place, where sadness and joy lurk around every corner. He writes of a lonely old woman who keeps her dead baby in a jar, and what happens to the lost baby after her death. He writes of a tender first love with a girl at the church. He writes of a retarded woman who claims to have been visited by the Virgin Mary, of the deaths of his parents and sister, a homeless man whose voice was stolen by a fanatical headmistress, of a crisis of faith, of a tormenting bully, of a trip into a fairground "Time Machine," a kindly but strict priest who claims that to count more than a hundred stars is blasphemy, and of angels who show him what he most longs to see.

It's impossible to tell how much of this is true, and how much is imagined. But the elements woven into the story are disarmingly real. Death, life, God, faith, suffering and love are presented in a uniquely surreal manner. His descriptions are starkly evocative; he may describe an angel merely as looking like a woman, but more perfect, and the reader will understand perfectly well what he is saying. Even though it's clear he often does not agree with some of the people in this (the strict priest, for example) Almond never treats them with scorn or mockery unless they are genuinely cruel.

It's a beautiful glimpse of what went into the creation of such modern classics as "Skellig," "Kit's Wilderness" and "Heaven Eyes." A treasure.

Maybe you can remember what it was like to be a child, to come from a large family and to experience long summer days where you explore your neighbourhood, and yourself. Maybe you're still lucky enough to be in your childhood.

Either way, you are guaranteed to recognise from Almond's amazing narrative style, that he certainly is capable to capturing his own childhood experiences in a dazzling and highly spiritual way.

This collection of short stories is yet another high point in Almond's career. Coming from the man who Janni Howker calls "The Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Children's Fiction" this collection of stories will not only entertain you, they may also inspire you to explore your own past.

Once you've read these stories, read Almond's other books. Seriously, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Misfit Joe Maloney is taunted and teased by his peers. Even his mother comments on his oddness. Destined to remain apart by strange visions no one else can see, Joe is drawn to a ragged circus that suddenly appears at the edge of town. The circus folk are as much at odds with the town folk as Joe is. Intrigued by their strangeness and mystery, Joe sinks into a world where fantasy and illusion meld with and replace reality. Joe is faced with confronting and accepting his differences, and the torture that goes with it, or joining forces with those bent on making a man of him. The juxtaposition of cruelty and compassion in this tale speak to that very nature in each of us.

It would be difficult not to recommend a book by David Almond. His lyrical writing creates fresh perspectives, thought-provoking storylines, and intriguing characterizations. While Secret Heart doesn't capture the heart of the reader with the same intensity of Skellig or Kit's Wilderness, the imagery and beauty of the language is compelling enough to recommend this book.

I read Secret heart. I thought it was a good book. It was a good book because it was an interesting book. This book was not my favorite book. I read other books that were more detailed. I would think that 4th though 5th graders should read this because it would be a little too hard for 3rd and under. I recommend this book to other people. It would be a good books for people that like tigers.

David Almond's fifth book is a haunting look at an unusual young boy, written beautifully and with fantastic, memorable characters. It occasionally becomes a little confusing and repetitive, but the characterizations are stunning, and overall it's a great read.

Joe Maloney is a dreamer, a shy stutterer whose mother works shifts at a bar and whose father "spun the waltzer at a fair." His teachers want him to study, but he can't. His former friend, Stanny Mole, has fallen in with a ruthless creep called Joff, and wants to show Joe how to kill -- but Joe doesn't want to. And he sees visions of a tiger prowling around, but there are no tigers where he lives.

He makes his way to the circus, which is due to shut down in a few days. There he meets an enormous wrestler, an old woman who sees into people's souls -- and Corinna, an acrobat with whom he shares a mysterious bond. These strange people will help him learn how to find his way around the people who taunt and try to mold him, and about the tiger inside him.

This may be Almond's most confusing book. It starts off in a rather colorless way, except for the interludes where Joe sees the tiger. Almond's stark prose becomes much more flowery halfway through, when Joe meets up with the circus people; it lends itself to a few genuinely nauseating interludes where we see the sort of killing that Joff urges boys to do, claiming that it will make men out of them. But there's no hamhanded moralizing in this book, thankfully. The last third is very surreal, very strange and otherworldly, but those who don't demand a concrete answer for everything in a book will be fine with that. The biggest problem is that at times it gets a little repetitive, with people shouting the same insults after Joe and Corinna, and Joe wondering for the umpteenth time whether Joff is his father.

Joe is likeable from the start, a kid who doesn't really fit anywhere and who feels pressure from all sides to be something he isn't. His patient mother is an almost saintly figure; the circus performers range from the surreal to the everyday, but all are friendly and kind, especially the blind old lady Nanty. Corinna is somewhat like Joe, except more outgoing and less sensitive to the taunts of others. And if there's a villain, it's Joff, a murdering tough who tries to mold boys to be like him, including Joe's friend Stanny (who pretty clearly doesn't believe a word coming out of his own mouth).

This is not a book for everyone -- the boundaries are very hazy and the storyline stretches into fantasy. But it's beautifully written and strangely plotted, and definitely worth the read.