Julia and the Shark

Description

A captivating, powerful and luminous story from a bestselling, award-winning author about a mother, a daughter, and the great Greenland shark. With mesmerising black and yellow illustrations and presented as a deluxe hardback with tracing paper inserts, this is a perfect gift for 9+ fans of David Almond and Frances Hardinge. 'Tom de Freston's stunning illustrations perfectly complement the poetry of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's story' Cressida Cowell 'A truly beautiful book, with text and illustrations in perfect harmony. 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 'A rich, immersive and wondrous journey, through deep darkness to hope and light' Sophie Anderson, author of The House with Chicken Legs The shark was beneath my bed, growing large as the room, large as the lighthouse, rising from unfathomable depths until it ripped the whole island from its roots. The bed was a boat, the shark a tide, and it pulled me so far out to sea I was only a speck, a spot, a mote, a dying star in an unending sky... Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer - her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother's obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope... A beautiful, lyrical, uplifting story about a mother, a daughter, and love - with timely themes of the importance of science and the environment.

Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston met in 2009, when Kiran was a student and Tom was artist-in-residence at Cambridge University. They have been a couple and collaborators ever since, but Julia and the Shark was their first novel. It was Indie Book of the Month, Scottish Booktrust Book of the Month, and won the Waterstones Children's Gift of the Year 2021. Kiran is the award-winning, bestselling author of stories including The Girl of Ink & Stars and The Deathless Girls, and Tom worked as an acclaimed artist for many years, making his illustrative debut with Julia and the Shark, and his writing debut with Wreck (Granta, 2022). They live in Oxford with their cats Luna and Marly, in a house between a river and a forest.

Captivating * The Telegraph * A tale of courage, understanding and compassion * The Observer * A triumph * The Daily Mail * Illustrated with dreamlike fluency * The Observer * Beautifully written, sensitive exploration of mental illness, fear and families * The Daily Mail * A truly beautiful book, with text and illustrations in perfect harmony. 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 * A beautifully written, moving exploration of family, friendship and mental health, with exquisite illustrations by de Freston * Irish Independent *