A delightful, undemanding read.

“A Map of the Sky” written by Claire Wong is a delightful, undemanding, uplifting read set in North Yorkshire that is both atmospheric and a pleasure to read in equal parts.
Living by the sea in the grim ‘up North’ myself, I could relate to the atmospheric descriptions the author was portraying of the rugged coast and dramatic weather. Listening to the seagulls outside my house on a drizzly ‘dowly’ day, set the scene perfectly for me to read this story and although the conditions were a bit repetitive I would like to assure readers that we do get some beautiful warm weather too and it’s not all bleak and gloomy!
Christopher Shackleton Fisher (affectionately known as Kit) is eleven years old and is relocating with his sister Juliet and his mother Catherine to Utterscar in North Yorkshire after a sudden decision to leave their current home. When Kit’s father doesn’t join them, he can’t understand why and takes it upon himself to set quests to entice his dad to join them quicker.
Kit is such a lovely lad, knowledgable, keen to learn, polite and respectful and always on the lookout to help people. Juliet, who at first impression seems stand offish with obvious teenage angst, has a deep affection for her brother that’s not always shown but is a typical teenager with social anxieties and peer pressure to do well academically. All the characters were well portrayed and I particularly liked Maddie and her story of her pilgrimage to Whitby Abbey. The intrigue into why the Fisher’s left the south so suddenly and why Kit’s father hasn’t joined them, kept me turning the pages.
As parents we often forget children are a lot more tuned in and intelligent than we give them credit for and often if not told the truth from the start, will surmise everything wrong, which Kit did on many occasion, causing deep embarrassment and upset. I liked how the author included the themes of hope and guilt, using ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ as an example and also covered the issue of unseen depression and anxiety in young adults.
As light, easy reading goes, this is an excellent example and I very much like Claire Wong’s writing style and would definetly be interested in reading more by her in the future.