The Light in Everything: Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2023

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This MG novel really pulls on the heartstrings. Tom, quiet and withdrawn and Zofia, extrovert and loud - all the things Tom can't deal with. Both from broken families for different reasons, Tom and Zofia are thrust together when his mother and her father fall in love. When Tom and his mum move in with Zofia and her father, their dislike of each other spirals out of control. This is a simple wonderful read aimed at children from the ages 9+ but can still be read and enjoyed by older kids. It's genres are definitely friendship and family.... Read Full Review Tom couldn’t be more different. Having escaped from domestic violence, Tom and his mum live in a little flat in the city. 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 story alternates between Tom and Zofia's thoughts with short chapters that burst with their own individual energy for the sudden shift in their otherwise steady lives. The writing is taut with emotion for how distinctively different their personalities are. 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! Someone who has the potential to replace her as the one dearest to his heart. Not to mention her complete disregard and disdain of the meek and quiet-tempered Tom, who thrives only in the absolute calm, when there is light all around him. Both think the mess can be solved by sending their hopes and wishes into the deep and unpredictable sea.

In The Light in Everything, the author of the award-winning October, October has crafted another superb middle-grade novel. It uses a dual narrative structure to explore relationships between step-siblings a complex blended family. Zophia is spirited and angry; she lost her mother in infancy and treasures her relationship with her father. Tom is timid and vulnerable, with deep-rooted trauma stemming from an abusive father. Their parents have fallen in love – and Zophia and Tom hate each other. Katya Balen is an award-winning author of books for children. Katya's debut novel, The Space We’re In, was published in 2019 and was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award. Her second, October, October, won the Yoto Carnegie Medal. Her third novel, The Light in Everything, was published in 2022. Kate Pankhurst on We Are All Astronauts “Astronauts are falling rather than floating because of zero gravity” A story of learning to trust, trying to let go and diving into the unknown with hope in your heart, with a stunning cover illustrated by CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner Sydney Smith. And what she wants is for scaredy-cat Tom to get out of her life. Tom hates loud, unpredictable Zofia just as much, but he's moving into Zofia's house. Because his mum and Zofia's dad are in love … and they're having a baby.

If you haven’t heard of the 34-year-old charity worker Katya Balen, you have some catching-up to do. Her first novel, The Space We’re In, was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award; her second novel, October, October, which told the story of a country child forced to adapt to city life, won last year’s Carnegie Medal. We’re very excited to be publishing book 1 in your first middle-grade series for younger readers, The Thames and Tide Club: The Secret City in May. Please can you let our readers know what to expect from the series? My favourite part of the story is when they all come together as a community to make paper cranes. It is a Japanese belief that you can make a wish on a thousand paper cranes. They make a wish that the baby will survive. No two children could be more different than Zofia and Tom. Noisy Zofia lives happily with her dad as her Mum died when she was born. She buzzes with a wild energy that makes her irresistible but also something of a handful. Quiet, anxious Tom lives with his mum. He is full of fears largely caused by his scarily violent father who is now in prison. He longs to be more outgoing but doesn’t know how to manage it. This article needs a plot summary. Please add one in your own words. ( September 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Boyd, Carolyn (Summer 2022). "The Light in Everything". The School Librarian. 70 (2): 46. ProQuest 2681537096 Tom and Zofia are as different as they are mistrustful of one another. Tom is introverted and thoughtful, while Zofia is loud and vivacious. They are brought together when their parents move in with one another. Both of them must learn to get on whilst also dealing with the real risk that they might lose their newly born sister. A memorable story of blended families. KATYA: Oh, interesting question! Yes, actually, I do. October is kind of the mid-point between the two of them – she’s wild and thoughtful. I think she’d love to tumble head-first into the waves with Zofia, and I think she’d want to learn the secret, careful folds of origami with Tom.Zofia is moody and mean. Tom is scared of Marek but so wants to make his mum happy. The two families continue to meet, but then Fiona becomes pregnant and she and Tom move to share the cottage on the beach. Tom is scared about going to another new school and imagines that it will be just the same as always. But it isn't and he's confused by these children who just accept him even though Zofia won't. The story is told from the perspectives of Tom and Zofia. Both have experienced pain and loss but deal with it in very different ways. Tom is quiet and withdrawn. He is polite but he is too scared to express himself in case he is rejected or, worse, physically punished. Zofia is full of anger she can't control or understand, and raging with jealousy. We see their journeys towards acceptance and happiness and their passage through a period of change in their lives that all children undergo at some point, albeit mostly in a less extreme way. Their relationships with their respective parents are believable and well drawn. The seaside community around them is cosy and sweet in a way that I would sometimes find too saccharine but, here, feels just right. The children in Class Ceto are kids at their best. Accepting and complex.