Pub. Bloomsbury (2020)
Age Range - 9-11 years
When Charlie's longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie's world is turned upside down. Upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. But when Charlie sets off back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It's become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. For Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there?
I was lucky enough to get an ARC from the publisher because of my vested interest in MG fiction. The Wild Way Home instantly appealed to me because of the time travel element that underpins it, but this is fairly secondary to the story itself. It's much more a story about growing up, family, and finding the courage within ourselves to face the cards life deals us. It's well-paced, frequently exciting, and it has a lot of heart. It's difficult to say too much without giving away spoilers, but I'd cheerfully recommend it to readers young and old alike, with no hesitation.