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Kit's Wilderness

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 1,325 ratings · 227 reviews

The Printz Award–winning classic
gets a new look.

"It was very deep, Kit. Very dark. And every one of us was scared of it. As a lad I'd wake up trembling, knowing that as a Watson born in Stoneygate I'd soon be following my ancestors into the pit," so Kit's grandfather tells him.

The Watson family moves to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town, to care for Kit's recently widowe...more

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published November 10th 2009 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (first published November 18th 1999)

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Feb 24, 2008 Lisa (lisaisbusynerding) added it · review of another edition

in a sentence: A story based journey with Kit Watson through the semi-dream/semi-reality experience in his family's hometown during his Grandfather's final times.

The story begins simply enough, with the coming home again to support a Grandfather during the loss of his Grandmother. We journey with Kit as he starts a new school, meets new people, and uncovers a plethora of family history within this small town that goes back hundreds of years. There is a genuine goodness in Kit, and a strong desir...more

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Feb 13, 2010 Ricky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is amazing; the story is creative very dark and dappled with light throughout and moved towards a wonderful creative ending. The story is original and wonderfully crafted together, showing the brilliance of David Almond writing skills. After reading Skellig I thought how could David Almond ever match this book, but he proved me wrong; he not only matched it he may have just surpassed it. As the story progresses Kit (the main character in the book) starts to write a story that links int...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Jack rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was quite horrific, but at the same time interesting. It was basically about a boy named Kit who moves back to an old mining town where a few other children play a game called "Death". He joins them only to realize that the stories they tell can made into the truth. The setting takes place mainly in a cave that all of Kits friends play the game in. Each and everyone of them are afraid to go in this cave expecting something paranormal. What I really enjoy about this book is the fact tha...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Annie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like Richard Cormier's books, this "Young Adult" novel is not just for those under 20.

Nothing is black and white, everything is poetic, mysterious and slightly cloudy in this original, enticing novel by David Almond.

The opening chapters look morbid - Kit is new to the community where his ailing granddad grew up, a mining town in England. He's reluctantly drawn into a group led by the dark and sinister John Askew, the son of the town alcoholic. These kids play a game called "Death" - Askew holds...more

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May 10, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kit moved to Stoneygate with his family so they could help take care of his aging grandfather, a retired miner. Kit immediately finds friendship with a group of children, led by a boy named John Askew, who go into an abandoned mine to play the game of Death. They each have ancestors who also found death in the mines, but not as a game. As Kit’s grandfather’s health fails and John’s home life worsens, Death seems to become more real. Kit finds that his dreams and stories come to life and he is su...more

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May 09, 2012 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The best phrase I can think of to describe this story is somewhat paradoxical: "darkly sublime." It's so rich throughout, I don't think my words can come close to doing it justice here. My sister recommended that I read it after quoting a writing expert who said this book is a "master class" on how to create tone. I wholeheartedly agree.

In his appended author's note, David Almond writes "I think that stories are living things--among the most important things in the world." He certainly practices...more The best phrase I can think of to describe this story is somewhat paradoxical: "darkly sublime." It's so rich throughout, I don't think my words can come close to doing it justice here. My sister recommended that I read it after quoting a writing expert who said this book is a "master class" on how to create tone. I wholeheartedly agree.

In his appended author's note, David Almond writes "I think that stories are living things--among the most important things in the world." He certainly practices this philosophy throughout the book. The narrative is a living thing, taking place over a few months of a thirteen year-old boy's life. It weaves in and out of his subconscious, of his dreams, of his memories and present lived experiences. It breathes new life into literary descriptions of ghosts; it moves between his life and a narrative that he's creating himself, with some amount of slippage in between. It defies expectations consistently.

The book deals with very heady themes: life, death, light, dark, good, evil, dreams, lineage, ghosts, old age, youth, enemies, friendship. There is a dialectical tension at work throughout, pulling at each end relentlessly. The book is immensely heavy and dark. And yet there's an ebullience that skips lightly across it, courtesy of Kit's friend Allie. Thank goodness she's there, reminding the reader that there is light, there is beauty, there is hope.

In Aristotle's On Rhetoric, he calls a certain persuasive technique the "enthymeme"--a rhetorical device through which an orator can persuade an audience by allowing it to 'fill in the blanks.' The orator speaks sparingly, making logical arguments but still leaving portions out. Once the audience provides the missing parts to the arguments, they participate in the creation of the speech, feeling immensely satisfied as a result.

This is how Almond writes. The way he does it is nothing short of masterful. His tone is so exceedingly complex, and yet totally simple throughout. He writes sparingly so the reader can provide the visuals in his or her own mind, thus making the reading experience richer somehow. Almond is never didactic, he never overstates nor overexplains. Though the book is short, the reader feels like s/he lives in the wilderness with Kit. In some ways it feels like it lasts much longer than it does because it's so easy to adapt to the hypnotic dialogue and seductive tone.

The climax of the book is intense and completely enthralling. Somehow Almond is able to present a multitude of threads throughout the story and connects them all together, to the point where not one detail feels like it shouldn't have been there. It feels so timeless that its references to a Megadeth t-shirt and Walkmans (it was written in the late 90s) seem like anachronisms.

Thanks to my sister Stephanie for recommending this book to me. (less)

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May 08, 2012 Maria rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In English class we read books in the horror genre. I chose to read this book and I found it ok. I did not find it too scary because the story is different from all the other horror stories. It is about some kids that come from the old Stoneygate's old families, who go to a shed after school and play a game called death. The 'game' of death consists in chosing on of the kids of the ground and making them die and eventually they will come back to life in a couple of minutes or hours. Kit's grandf...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

This was a really interesting book. I've heard it compared to some of Robert Cormier's books but I'm not really sure they're that similar. They're both rather dark but I wouldn't say they're are that closely tied. I really liked that we are given the ending before the beginning. It gave me some comfort as my anxiety increased as Kit entered the mine with Bobby. I think that it adds a little bit of intrigue to know that they come back out into the light safe and sound, back to worried parents and...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Jeffrey Sosa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

This fictional novel is about Kit Watson, a thirteen-year-old boy, who moves to an old mining town called Stoneygate and begins living with his grandfather. The novel explores Kit’s relationships with his grandfather and the history of the old mining town around him. Over time this relationship grows through the fading memories of the grandfather and the new experiences that Kit gains within the same town. The novel explores the bleak world around them while staying fairly realistic to the setti...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Kirby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 420

I grew up in an old coal-mining town in Kentucky. I never played death, probably because the miners still work there. However, the connection to the past and the land really resonated with me. The Askews and the Watsons are like the Steeles and the Cobbs, where I'm from. When people see me, they see my grandfather. He died when my mom was only six, but I know him. Sometimes it's like how Kit found his name on the monument, I feel like my ancestors live through me. I hear stories, see pictures, a...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Sarah Brutsch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

With a title that sounds misleadingly like an American Girl story, I had pretty low expectations for the book and no idea what it was about. My mistake. This book was WONDERFUL! Kit Watson has a gift for seeing ghosts and for storytelling, and these gifts enable him to befriend a boy deeply jaded and hurt by experiences in life. I did wonder sometimes if the themes were specific for a YA audience, since it wasn't your typical misunderstood teen/sexuality/identity exploration I think we too often...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Tayler Christiansen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

This was a very interesting, almost paranormal, fiction. However, it took a variety of sharp turns in numerous places.

Kit is from an old mining family and has just moved back to the old mining town where a few other children play a game called "Death." As he becomes better friends with Allie and Askew, Kit learns the importance of stories and how they can become truth.

So, for the first 50 pages or so, I thought Kit was a girl! But then again, I grew up on American Girls and Kit was one of them.

A...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420-ya-literature

I was at first unsure about this novel, but was very pleased in the end that there was some sort of justification for exploring the darkness in this bleak YA novel. I thought Almond interesting weaved motifs of death,light, life, seasons, stories,friendship, love etc. throughout the narrative, and I found there to be very insightful passages through character dialogue and Kit's thoguhts. I also greatly appreciated how Almond addressed the dark that some people feel lost in but at the same time e...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Ofa Fotu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

THAT was a really good book. It was SOOOO creepy, but just for the fact that I was able to have that much of an emotional response speaks volumes for the effectiveness of the writing. It has alot of themes of death and motifs of re-birth. It would seem like a ghost story at first, but isn't so much a story about death as much as it is a story about life. It turns out to be a very uplifting read (read it in one day - -I split the read in two and the first night I was freaked out so much I couldn'...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story is a little odd, but I liked it. I really liked the writing. I kept getting distracted because I wanted to see what the author was doing to create his effects, but the story was compelling enough that I didn't want to analyze while I was reading it. A few hours after I finished this book, I started The Glamour of Grammar and realized that some of what created the tone was the simple sentence structures, often with subject/verb starts, and the setting set up with fragments, like this on...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Brenden rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond is “pretty good.” This was not very easy for me to say however. After reading Almonds self-written introductory page “About the Author” I was disgusted with his pomposity and self-indulgent sticky self-approbation. It went something like this: “I’ve published lots of fiction for adults, and I’ve won a lot of prizes. I’m a great writer, and I even write my novels in a dilapidated old mansion, I rock!” Despite my genuine and immediate dislike for the author, I read...more Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond is “pretty good.” This was not very easy for me to say however. After reading Almonds self-written introductory page “About the Author” I was disgusted with his pomposity and self-indulgent sticky self-approbation. It went something like this: “I’ve published lots of fiction for adults, and I’ve won a lot of prizes. I’m a great writer, and I even write my novels in a dilapidated old mansion, I rock!” Despite my genuine and immediate dislike for the author, I read the book anyways and was begrudgingly pleased with its overall quality. The book follows the guidelines for good Young Adult literature, so I will not spend time identifying them here. The plot is somewhat complicated. Almond weaves the main story in with many subplots, but it does not get confusing. The main character, Kit, moves back to his family's home town, where he meets the dark and mysterious Askew. The children are fascinated with their families history in the mining industry, and much of the story revolves around the darkness and mystery of the mines.

First of all, I want to say that, yes I did think this was a “pretty good” Young Adult novel, however, while Almond does utilize many advanced writing techniques, he still includes far too many clichés that one would expect in this genre. I am tired of these clichés! Especially the ones that are unrealistic to this day and age. Children do not get bullied anymore, not in the way that so many authors love to glamorize and lap from the shallow, drained pool of the bully-your-main-character-as-an-obstacle-in-the-plot writing cop-out complex. Also, having the teachers scold children and call them names never happens as well. If it does, it does not happen in America. SO there David Almond. What he did that was great was his use of symbols and themes. I could tell that he had thought a lot about what he wanted to say through his story instead of just tell a story. I like that he did this, it is harder to do in children’s novels and I felt that he did it well, In a way that children can relate to.(less)

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Apr 04, 2011 Sara Turner rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is about a boy who moves to a small, former mining town. As the new kid in town he faces the challenge of fitting in and making new friends. Eventually he gets involved with a group of friends that are interested in things that involve the supernatural. This causes some tension in the town because of the history that is there in relation to the mine. Kit's grandfather was a key part in the history of the town and the book goes through his journey to understanding it.

Personally, I reall...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Maddy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a coming-of-age novel, featuring a teenage boy named Kit in an aging Welsh mining town. Kit quickly falls in with a mysterious crowd at school and finds himself in the middle of a dark legend.
There were aspects of this novel that I both enjoyed and found daunting. When beginning this novel, I had no expectations or suspicions as to what the story might entail. With all the other books we’ve read, I have had a general idea as to what to expect and gain from the story. I was surprise...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Devon rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you like strange, eery and slightly confusing novels, Kit’s Wilderness is a must read. However, if that kind of book is not your cup of tea, then Kit’s Wilderness is one book that you can skip reading without any remorse. The plot of this book seemed to go absolutely nowhere. The story was a little intriguing with the idea of ghosts and the figures that Kit and Askew could see, but the relation of the ghostly figures to the actual plot never really seemed to connect. It did not seem like a lo...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: printz-award, ya, supernatural

I really love David Almond's writing style. Sometimes I question whether children or teens would really love it as much as I do, but it's a very different style for youth: creepy, atmospheric, and lyrical in a wholly different way than the plethora of dark teen fantasy available right now. Its devoid of almost all pop-culture references (I was actually a little jarred to read a Megadeth T-shirt described at one point) and seems much more timeless.

Similar to Skellig, a lot of this book, with its...more

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Jun 14, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

I didn't really know what to think about this book. It was very interesting, and I couldn't put it down at times. I wanted to know what would happen next.

In this story, Kit, a 13-year-old boy, moves to the old mining town of his ancestors. There, he meets John Askew, who invites him to play the game of death. Only children with ancestors who worked in the mine were invited to play this game. The crawl down into the mouth of the mine and one of them is chosen to "die." Supposedly, they children...more

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Jun 11, 2010 Justin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

I'm still not sure what I think about this book. The story is fictitious but is also a type of mystery. It focuses on the young protagonist, Kit Watson, and his acclamation to living in a new place. Kit moves to a mining town and does not have a lot of friends until he meets trouble maker John Askew and more pleasant character names Allie. The kids hang out in an abandoned mine where they play a game pretending to be dead and see the spirits of those who died in the mines. The only problem is th...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Talese rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: engl-420

Kit’s grandmother has died so his family decides to move to Stoneygate to be with their grandfather. Stoneygate is an old coal-mining town where men and children were forced to work in the mines. Many deaths occurred in the mines. Kit is approached by the mysterious John Askew who befriends him because both of their families have a history of working in the mines. John invites Kit to play a game called “Death”. Initially, Kit does not want to go but he is intrigued by John Askew and feels himsel...more

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Dec 23, 2009 Katherine McCall rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found Kit’s Wilderness to be too foreign for my taste which honestly surprised me since I’m normally a fan of anything out of the ordinary. I enjoy fantasy immensely as well as science fiction. I can say that I enjoyed the writing style and detail included in the descriptions of the characters as they developed throughout the story. Understanding Kit’s grandfather and what he’d experienced as a coal miner was essential I believe to understanding Kit himself.

I found the character of John Askew...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Carly Flamm rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kit's Wilderness left me with a dark, anxious, and insecure feeling as if I were wandering in a bleak and barren moonlit forest in December. Young Kit Watson moves back to his family's home-town to help care for his grandfather after his grandmother's death. Needing friends, he is drawn to accept an invitation to play the game of "death" by a collection of kids in the town. The game opens his mind to the realm of his dead ancestors who once mined in the town and filling his mind with visitations...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Tara Pearce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

Honestly, I don't even know if I liked this book or not. It was weird- really, really weird. But I did appreciate the writing, it was captivating and engaging but very gruesome at parts. There is a good chance that I am not a very good reader or something, but a lot of times when reading this I felt like I had no idea what was going on. There were so many stories being woven in that it was hard for me to keep track of what they all meant and how they related and who was supposed to represent wha...more

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Mar 24, 2011 Kaylee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story told in the book Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond is an eerie and haunted one. Beginning with a scene of children playing a strange game of Death, it then tells Kit’s adventure moving to the town of his ancestors. When he starts attending his new school, he meets a boy named John Askew whose ancestors were also from the town. He invites Kit to join a group of children in the Death ceremony, but when a teacher follows Kit and discovers what they are doing, it is forced to a stop. John i...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Jo Bennie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When 13 year old Christopher, known as Kit, Watson, comes to live in the ex mining town of Stoneygate he is coming to a land where his roots run deep. His paternal grandmother has died and he and his parents have relocated from Newcastle to take care of his elderly grandfather. As he comes to terms with life in a small village his grandfather shows him the local landmarks, where the mines lie under the ground leaving hollows and humps scarring the landscape. He tells him tales of the pits and hi...more When 13 year old Christopher, known as Kit, Watson, comes to live in the ex mining town of Stoneygate he is coming to a land where his roots run deep. His paternal grandmother has died and he and his parents have relocated from Newcastle to take care of his elderly grandfather. As he comes to terms with life in a small village his grandfather shows him the local landmarks, where the mines lie under the ground leaving hollows and humps scarring the landscape. He tells him tales of the pits and his time working there, of the ghost known as Silky, a benign spirit who haunted the mines, of the ponies and children sent to work and die and lost beneath the earth.

As Kit adjusts to life as the new boy at school and is befriended by the volatile charmingly wild Allie he watches the village children play in the Wilderness, an area of wasteland with a collapsed pit entrance at its heart. He is approached by John Askew, a morose dark haired boy who challenges him to undertake a frightening game. Known as Death Askew only invites the children of the oldest families of the village to play, it is a game that establishes a deep bond between two boys of the same age but with such different upbringings. As Kit's grandfather takes Kit to see the monument in the church graveyard to children lost in Stoneygate's 1821 mining diaster he reads off his own name, that of Askew and relects on the ghosts that he is beginning to see around him.

But now with the waning of the year Kit's grandfather begins to slip away from the family, little by little disappearing into a blankness from which he is slower and slower to return. As Stoneygate dips towards midwinter Kit's relationships with Askew and Allie come to a head beneath the earth.

A wonderfully moving book, Almond at his best telling a deceptively simple compelling story. By telling it from Kit's point of view, a boy who is a natural storyteller with a vivid imagination, we are given an unreliable narrator, that is, we can't be sure if what he says is true, but it becomes clear that the concept of 'truth' does not matter. Almond has woven a masterful narrative about the power of stories, of ghosts and the power of the past and a the ability of place and history to reach out and affect the present.

(less)

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Oct 25, 2011 Amy Bailey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm torn between really loving the imaginative story and easy, beautiful prose that's written by Almond, and greatly disliking some of the other aspects of this book. This is a really good story. It leaves the reader wondering whether it's truly a tale with some supernatural twists or simply a story about the strength of imagination that links two boys, creating a strong bond of friendship that can't be broken. Occasionally, I felt it was difficult to truly like the characters. The dialogue is a...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-420

Kit's Wilderness is a fictional book about Kit and his relationship with the boy John Askew and with Kit's grandfather when Kit moves to the mining town Stoneygate. I was surprised when I saw the ratings for this book because I really loved the book and easily gave it a 5. I thought the book explored a side of bleak literature while still maintaining a realistic stance on bleakness in life by including happiness and hope within the work. Although I admit that some of the scenes with the ghosts w...more

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About David Almond

David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction be...more

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Quotes from Kit's Wilderness

“There's light and joy, but there's also darkness all around and we can be lost in it.” — 9 people liked it

“Everybody's got the seam of goodness in them, Kit," said Grandpa. "Just a matter of whether it can be found and brought out into the light.” — 7 people liked it

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