My Own Lightning

Lauren Wolk's My Own Lightning is a gripping, thoughtful story for 11 year olds about a girl who is struck by lightning and wakes up able to feel what animals feel.

What happens

Annabelle is hurrying home over the hill when a summer storm catches her in the open. The air fizzes around her, as if she's been "dipped in wasps". Then nothing at all.

Someone brings her back. She remembers someone thumping her chest with a fist, and a rough hand on her cheek. But by the time her father finds her, whoever it was has gone. Who would save a girl's life and then disappear?

She comes home changed. Every smell, sound and colour is turned right up. And when a lazy farm mutt called Hunter flops down beside her in the orchard, she suddenly feels exactly what he feels. Calm. Solid. Sure.

Meanwhile, dogs keep going missing. Her brother Henry's dog Buster has vanished in the storm. A handsome stranger is driving round the hills looking for his bull terrier, with a big reward on offer. And Andy, the boy Annabelle likes least in the world, is sleeping in the family's old potato house with a broken nose.

This is a quiet, beautiful book. Annabelle notices everything, and she thinks very hard about what's right. Is it kind to help someone who has hurt you? Her dad thinks so. She really isn't sure. It's a lovely one for an older reader who likes to talk about that kind of thing afterwards.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The lightning stops Annabelle's heart, and those pages are vivid. There are strong hints that Andy is being hurt at home. Her grandma is very ill, there's a war going on far away, and Annabelle is still carrying the weight of a terrible year. For a sensitive reader that could be a lot. For one who likes a book that takes its time and asks big questions, it's a real treat.

What to read next

This one follows on from Wolf Hollow, where that hard year happened. If your reader hasn't met Annabelle yet, it's well worth starting there.