Zofia is brimming with plenty of unbridled rage - furious that her father took the initiative to bring not only one or two new family members to the family, but a third! In The Light in Everything, the author of the award-winning October, October has crafted another superb middle-grade novel. Night Mayor Franklefink has vanished from the Transylvanian Express - and it's up to you to solve the case!

It doesn't help that I loved reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes when I was younger so I already had a story of 1000 paper cranes in my heart and this one couldn't conquer it. I feel as if I’ve been so immersed in the lives of Tom and Zofia that I barely recognise my own reality.This gives the reader an insight into both characters and their histories which have shaped their lives now. October has a happy life living with her dad in the forest - but when Dad gets injured in an accident, she's forced to go and live with her estranged mum in the city, where nothing is natural and everything feels new and frightening. It takes awhile - there is struggle and pain on that journey - but the resolution is truly genuine and heart-felt.

My heart aches when I was reading parts where she felt alone and decided to lock herself in the room. I think that really helped me form realistic responses and thought processes, because I’ve absorbed so many.The only way to change this is to give children’s books more prominence – more reviews, more publicity, more prizes. Tom is frightened, quiet and timid, finding comfort in folding paper into beautiful birds and filling his room with lights to keep out the dark. The Light in Everything is a deeply moving and absorbing story which skilfully moves from the viewpoint of one child to the other, allowing the reader to explore their complex emotions, actions and reactions.

This is where Zofia spends most of her free time with her friends from school and her best friend Dommie who lives next door.He does provide a practical focus to try and bring the children together later, which become a crucial component in the story's climax and resolution, so he is somewhat redeemed. This is Katya Balen’s third book, and, like her previous works, tackles emotionally charged issues with sensitivity, told in beautiful and poetic prose.