Mundo and the Weather-Child

An intricate, carefully woven skein of words captures a constantly changing mood of hope and despair in this moving story about a year in a deaf boy's life. This is no book for the hesitant or fickle reader, rather it is a demanding enslaver, which rewards only those who are fully committed. The idea of a weather child, the hero's key to survival, is a recognisable one --- many youngsters have real or imaginary friends --- but I wonder how much a young reader can absorb the emotions of a guilt-ridden seven-year-old and survive to peruse the story to its ultimate conclusion. The reader of this story is never sure where the boundaries of reality lie. In the penumbra of what might just be true, grows the mind's imagination; it is here that anything and everything can, and often does, come to pass. A book of considerable depth which requires an experienced reader to tackle it alone. Teachers should be sure not to miss it.