Charlie leeft aan de rand van een oeroud bos: Mandel Forest. Het is zijn favoriete speelterrein. De nacht voor zijn 12e verjaardag maakt zijn papa hem wakker. Dat waar hij zo lang naar heeft uitgekeken is gebeurd: hij is grote broer. Als hij zijn broertje Dara voor het eerst ziet, voelt Charlie dat er iets mis is. Hij hoort het gesprek tussen zijn ouders en de dokters: Dara heeft een hartafwijking en wordt met spoed geopereerd. Charlie panikeert, hij rent weg en verschuilt zich in Mandel Forest. Daar ziet hij een jongetje, gekleed in een dierenhuid, levenloos liggen in een rivier. Als Charlie hem wil helpen, blijkt het bos plots niet meer te zijn wat het zonet was. Wat volgt is een wild avontuur, een zoektocht van twee jongens naar wat ze zijn verloren: hun familie en hun thuis. And Charlie is a long, long way from home. Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there…? Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)?It was exciting because there were many surprises. I'm in the stone age, aren't I?" Wie fantaseerde als kind nooit over hoe het zou zijn om te leven in een andere tijd? Wel, laat dit boek je meenemen op de wilde avonturen van twee jongens in de steentijd.

When Charlie’s longed-for baby brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie is so distressed that he runs away from the hospital and seeks refuge in the tranquillity of the nearby forest.

This is appropriate to Charlie’s sense of disorientation, when, after squeezing the deer tooth tightly in his hand he finds himself in altered surroundings. Although the familiar landmarks are recognisable, the forest seems wilder and the colours and sounds have taken on a greater intensity. Then he spots the body, face down in the stream…

From reading the book I learnt a lot about the Stone Age. I found out that they spoke a different language to what we speak now. I learnt that they wore clothes made from animal skin but not like the clothes we wear now. Story is about Charlie, a 12 year old girl who is longing for a brother but when her brother is born on her birthday with a serious heart condition, Charlie's world is turned upside down. and she feels like her parents are not her parents anymore they are changed. She was upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town . Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. It's become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. She calls her friends Lamont and Beaky for help but no one is there for help.What follows is a wild, big-hearted adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost – their courage, their hope, their family and their way home. The thing that most stands out is that a twelve year old had to go on a special adventure to cure heart disease. Normally it is adults who do this. Great question! Charlie and Harby both care deeply for the important people in their lives – they each sacrifice a lot for their families…and for each other. They both are curious and they both are courageous too. Another similarity is that they both appreciate a good giggle… and a good meal!!

I absolutely loved doing research for the book. So much mystery surrounds the Stone Age and even though technologies like carbon-dating artefacts to a particular era can offer us some level of certainty, there are still enormous gaping uncertainties too. I feel like these uncertainties and gaps are really story-ful territory – so a lot of my research was finding out about interesting real artefacts… and imagining the stories that might be lurking behind them! Did you enjoy the book? Explain your answer if it is yes or no.Yes. It was very exciting and interesting. Kirtley tells a bold tale. For the majority of the book, the story focuses on only two characters- Charlie and Harby- and yet the narrative remains engaging through fast-paced twists and electrifying descriptions of the forest itself (the language used in the storm scene is incredible.) Although certain aspects of the story did come to feel slightly repetitive (there was a lot of running and tripping and falling) these moments were broken up by chapters filled with high tension. The climatic knife scene with the mysterious shadow man and the baby was particularly eye-watering but was in keeping with the dynamic plot. My final choice isn’t really a book written for young people; it’s a book written by a young person… and it’s a book for everybody. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty