Lark - WINNER OF THE 2020 CARNEGIE MEDAL (The Truth of Things)

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As it begins to snow they struggle to find their way back, and face unfortunate obstacles on the way.

The book was longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize [13] and the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the Young Minds Book Award. McGowan's understanding of masculine youth its brashness and unexpected tendernesses is evident, and there is a quiet worldliness underpinning the whole. On the other hand, this is something which has often given rise to criticism in relation to the Carnegie Medal’s trend towards awarding more and more young adult fiction.Sure enough it does, and I wished that the close observation of childhood and what it means to be a family had been put to better use. It's the last in the series of four short books (Brock, Pike, and Rook come before it) about two brothers - Kenny (who has special needs) and Nicky.

This is the first book in McGowan’s series not to feature a person on the cover – which is striking given they’re all named after animals – and it breaks from the photorealist style entirely.I have not read the book yet but for anyone who is looking to encourage a reluctant reader you must try this book. Because, you see, the cruel gods are stronger than the kind gods, and they will always beat them in the end.

Instead, the book opens with Kenny’s words – ‘I don’t bloody like it’ – plunging us straight into the plot of the book, in which the risk is not to the animal but to the boys themselves. As the weather turns colder, they begin to realise that they do not know how to get back to civilisation.Love of siblings, of parents, of surrogate parents, of animal companions, and of course the first crush. But what should have been a laugh, a lark, turns deadly when the weather changes and they are caught in a blizzard. Lark was recommended for readers who lose concentration, struggle with longer sentences and chapters etc. The Guardian said of it: "This is one teen cancer book among many, but truly it’s not like any other you may have come across.

Original, smart and gripping, Henry Tumour breaks all kinds of rules, and does it with irresistible brio.I’ll be discussing the ending of Lark in this post, so if you haven’t read it then go away and read it before you read this post. But to be brutally honest, if you want and even more so if you require a happy and/or a promising conclusion for Lark, sorry, but this is not something being textually offered up by Anthony McGowan's text, and that Lark will leave you or should leave you in tears and massively emotionally upset (a realistic ending for Nicky and Kenny being caught unprepared on the Yorkshire moors during an unexpected blizzard, but admittedly, I would emotionally speaking most definitely prefer less pain and a not so ultimately devastating final outcome in Lark and as such for Anthony McGowan's four novella series of Kenny and Nicky). As Lark begins, things are okay at home, though Nicky and Sarah, the girl he met in Rook, are no longer an item. From the award winning and Carnegie nominated Anthony McGowan, this is already set to be another best seller. We're always happy to answer any questions or queries you might have, please get in touch using one of the methods below.