Wild

Ele Fountain's Wild is a story for 11 year olds about a boy who's decided he doesn't feel anything any more.

What happens

Jack's dad died three months ago. Since then Jack has felt heavy, then blank, then suddenly furious, sometimes all in one evening. His mum works late and leaves notes on the fridge. When she tries to talk, he eats his dinner too fast to answer.

So when Shiv and his crew at school start paying him attention, Jack goes along with it. He throws a brick through a window. He skives off lessons and ducks under the fence. Then he's told to steal spray paint from the art shop, and his best mate Dan watches him do it.

It's all in Jack's own voice, in short, sharp chapters (a couple are only a few paragraphs long). You're right there with him when a Saturday kickabout feels like wading through mud. And when a little voice somewhere far away says stop, and he can barely hear it.

The moments with his mum are the ones that stay with you. Her pancakes come out black in the middle and there's no maple syrup, so she tries honey. She keeps trying anyway. After one very bad night there's a quiet scene at the kitchen table that's properly heartbreaking.

Then she has an idea. What if the two of them got away from home for the holidays? That trip takes them all the way to the rainforest, and a boy who's spent all term chasing trouble is about to find somewhere far wilder than a car park behind the shops.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The opening chapters are full of vandalism, shoplifting and truanting, and a dog pins Jack down after he smashes windows. Grief is on almost every page. For a child who's recently lost someone, that could be a lot, or it could be exactly the book they need.

If your reader likes stories that feel real and a bit raw (and can cope with a hero making some very bad choices), this one will stay with them.

What to read next

For another story about carrying on after losing someone, try Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson. Jade and Vicky have been best friends since nursery, and then Jade has to work out who she is without her.