Julia and the Shark

Kerry's Review

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a much awarded children’s author, her books continue to garner awards and I am sure her latest offering, Julia and the Shark will be no different.

‘This is the story of the summer I almost lost my mum, and found a shark older than trees.”

Ten year old Julia has accompanied her mother and father to a remote Scottish island of the Shetlands. Her father is to automate the island’s lighthouse and her mother, a marine biologist is going to research the elusive Greenland Shark. For Julia this is the summer she discovers that parents can be fragile and that love and friendship trump all else. Just like the Greenland shark the really big issues of mental health, environment, bullying and racism swim through this wondrous novel, Hargrave’s sensitive prose always honest and appropriate for middle grade readers.

Superbly illustrated this finely crafted and uplifting novel will appeal to all thoughtful readers from 10 to 90.

Other Reviews

A book to treasure! * Jacqueline Wilson *

Julia and the Shark is deep, beautiful and true. The art shines and the writing soars. A classic from cover to cover. * Eoin Colfer *

There are no wasted words in this book. Like a seashell, or a flying bird, it is uncluttered and vital. The illustrations, by Tom de Freston, are mesmerising. I loved it. * Hilary McKay *

Tom de Freston’s stunning illustrations perfectly complement the poetry of Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s story * Cressida Cowell *

A rich, immersive and wondrous journey, through deep darkness to hope and light * Sophie Anderson, author of The House with Chicken Legs *

What a gorgeous book – calm, funny, heartfelt, wise, full of the quiet and force of the sea * Ross Montgomery, author of The Midnight Guardians *

I fell in love with the tale itself, the setting (I do love a lighthouse!), the characters and the little details – it’s a beautiful, forceful storm of a book * Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse *

INCREDIBLE. Poignant and lyrical and beautiful, it’s my favourite of Kiran’s books so far and that is saying something. Tom’s stunning artwork just brings it to a whole other level * Cat Doyle *

Truly extraordinary. Julia and the Shark is contemporary MG at its best but with a hint of the fantastic. It is the kind of book that you will want to have on your shelves and treasure * Katherine Webber Tsang *