Skellig: Winner of the Carnegie Medal

“They say that shoulder blades are where your wings were, when you were an angel..They say they’re where your wings will grow again one day.” “The kind of thing William Blake saw. He said we were surrounded by angels and spirits. We must just open our eyes a little wider, look a little harder.” When I read a book like this I wonder how I ever lived without it. And I wonder what books are out there that I might be missing. I am searching for wisdom, a bit of magic and a sense of something other worldly in literature that feeds the soul in a broken world. I finished it in a day. It is is utterly deserving of being a classic. Michael and his family have moved home. His baby sister arrived prematurely and is very ill. There are frequent visits from the doctor, hospital appointments and his parents are too distracted to work on the house or to support Michael. The garage is out of bounds, but in his explorations Michael finds an old man there. He is thin, eating insects and calling out numbers. He is Skellig. Michael meets Mina who is being home educated, quotes William Blake, draws incredible pictures and is fascinated by nature. There is so much beauty in this book, so much humanity. The baby occupies our mind from the beginning. Tiny, fragile, hovering between life and death. “ Sometimes I think she’s never quite left Heaven and never quite made it all the way here to Earth. And Michael is hovering too, unable to get on with his life, worrying about his sister. He feels her heartbeat entwined with his own. Skellig is hovering too. Who is he, what is he and what are the protrusions on his shoulder blades. This is a book that you don’t stop reading. It takes up room in your head and is unlikely to vacate. I am left pondering the wings, the owls..and I have picked up William Blake again. I think I need to read Skellig again…I think it has more to say to me. If you haven’t read this beautiful book, do.

Great book

I was in my late twenties when Skellig was originally released and so i never read it. When i saw this i bought it because i collect illustrated hardbacks. I sat and read this story today, no idea what to expect at all, but it was both beautiful and heartbreaking. The wonder and compassion of children to see everything with wonder, the innocence to help regardless of what someone looks like, and the breathtaking beauty of what kindness and love can do to a person, how it can change them. Only reason i gave a 4 and not a 5 is because the quality of the paper isnt great and you can see the next pages text through the pages which drives me nuts. Wonderful story though and i would recommend it.

This was my younger son's favourite book for a while. After a visit to the Skellig islands in Ireland this week, I read it again in a day. Such a joy. No condescending language for young readers. It moves along with beauty, intelligence and imagination. Probably for ten years+ up to 72 and beyond.

Such a beautiful book! A really clever, Sad and heart warming book all at the same time. I would highly recommend this to children and adults alike!

Genuinely excellent story. Full of moments that bring you to tears. Full of moments that make you laugh. Wonderful details.

Wonderful writing and such a moving and original story

Loved this story and the depiction of a child’s thoughts and feelings. The writing takes risks . Page turning events and depictions of imaginary events. Has lots of potential for how a child deals with life events.

I recently reviewed another book, The Reading Group Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Start Your Own Book Club , written by Rachel W. Jacobsohn. One way to read a book is to look for design, "an interweaving of theme, images, symbols" (131) which work together to create a superb symphony of words and ideas in story form. "Skellig" is most definitely like that. Every character, every line, every nuance are part of a totality, a symphony, if you will, of great depth, of transcendent mysticism. The word "skellig" is an Irish word which means rock and is the name of one of the most famous monasteries in the world: Skellig Michael off the coast of Kerry, Ireland. It was renowned in the medieval period because of its rugged, stormy living conditions and the endurance of its monks. The poetry, the mysticism of William Blake are part of the story. Looking for angels. Feeling shoulder blades for wings. Bird bones. Evolution. A very sick baby that may or may not live. The being who lives in a sustained state behind the tea chests and other junk in the garage, who may or may not be an angel. Or a bird. Michael and his parents and their very sick baby move into a house that needs much work. In exploring, Michael finds the being whose name is Skellig. He eats bugs and small animals and Chinese take-out. He is beautiful. Michael meets a girl, a year younger, who is home-schooled and reads Blake and draws birds. Her name is Mina (Wilhemina=William). She teaches Michael how to listen deeply to the sounds of baby birds in their nests. He teaches her how to blow owl sounds using his hands. Together they form a wondrous bond with Skellig. If I have conveyed just a hint of the wonder and magic of this incredible novel, then I have succeeded. What David Almond recreated in this *Honor novel is that openness of our child-like state to things beyond the mundane, the earth-bound, to magic and mysticism and otherworldliness where angels may leap to earth and its bindedness to tend to matters. *Note: "Skellig" was named an honor book by the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature in 2000, when Monster ) by Walter Dean Meyers won the medal.

Itical is very good and deserves 5stars. I only found about this book when we started reading it as a class book and its very good. Themes: Magical, Imaginatavite, very fast to read.

Libro scolastico per mio nipote. Ok

I bought it for my 8 year old daughter.After a slow start,she really loved it.Shenhas recommended it to all her friends and cousins.

I read this book as homework for my school. I loved it! I nearly cried in the end! I would recommend this to anyone from 12 to above!