One of our Books of the Year 2016 | June 2016 Book of the Month From the Branford Boase award-winning author of Infinite Sky comes this smartly-plotted page-turner about intense friendship and discovering unexpected strengths.
Shy Rosie had “never had a true friend” until Titania - Ti - comes along. “Big-boned and fearless-looking”, Ti is everything Rosie isn’t. But they’re both outcasts and become kindred sprits, at their happiest when night wandering through their coastal town. Its one of these wanders that leads them to trouble when Ti is caught in a teacher’s garden (after having done a poo in it). With Ti kicked out of school, Rosie is befriended by cool Kiaru and Alisha. Feeling betrayed by Rosie, Ti and her twin sister Ophelia spiral out of control, leaving Rosie wracked by guilt that she wasn’t there when her best friend needed her most.
As well as exploring the extremes of friendship with remarkable emotional depth, this novel is brilliant on both the social politics of secondary school and family dynamics. I was utterly charmed by Rosie’s little brother, Joey, whose capacity to love and support his big sister, and his relationship with Ti are heart-meltingly sweet. This is a moving, uplifting, read-in-one sitting treat. ~ Joanne Owen
A letter from the author, C. J. Flood
Dear reader,
Did you ever nightwander? I began nightwandering with my first true best friend when I was a teen. We’d set an alarm for an hour or so before sunrise, climb out my bedroom window, and head for the fields or school – hearts racing, adrenalin up. We took turns wearing my dad’s sawdusty balaclava, and named ourselves after the burglars from the books we’d read as children. When a rare car passed, we
piled on top of each other in the hedgerows, afraid of getting caught and returned home.
One night, we climbed a fence into our Geography teacher’s garden (with no idea what to do once we landed.) Another, we trod, one after the other, in a metal dog bowl on a patio, attracting the attention of the policeman who slept inside. Once, I confess, we stole a pint of gold-top milk.
But nightwandering, at its heart, was innocent. A chance to be alone together, to roam and speak freely, away from the judgemental eyes of Everybody Else. Our small, ordinary town felt endless and remarkable under cover of darkness, and we marched in the middle of its busiest road, unbeholden to anyone. This is how it started for Rosie Bloom and Titania De Furia, the best-friend heroines of my new novel. At night, the illogical hierarchies of their seaside community cease to exist, and they are queens of Flushing.
This book has been a pleasure to write because it allowed me to return to the aimless spring nights of my youth, when a starry sky and my best friend was all I needed. I hope that reading it will transport you to the aimless nights of yours. And if you haven’t nightwandered lately, I implore you: head outside on the next clear night, convince a dear friend to join you, and step into the darkness for a stroll.
Happy reading!
C. J. Flood
#nightwanderers
To nightwander. To wander aimlessly at night.
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