This year’s winner of the CILIP Carnegie Medal was ‘Lark’ by Anthony McGowan, the final novella in McGowan’s series about two teenage brothers, Nicky and Kenny.
Awaiting a visit from their estranged mum, the boys take a trip with their dog to the moors on a snowy day for a lark... but soon the picturesque flurry becomes less of a joke and more of a fearsome blizzard. As the cold sets in and the weather gets worse panic simmers; yet the tension is dispersed with very believable moments of humour shared between the brothers, all to the backdrop of evocative natural imagery creating a vivid sense of place.
Despite being part of series, the depth of Lark achieved in relatively few pages makes it easily a stand alone book, largely thanks to some excellent characterisation. Nicky, our narrator, handles responsibility for both telling the story and for his brother Kenny. His distinct voice comes through with Northern inflections and phrases, bringing him to life beyond the page.
As the disastrous day proceeds we find out more and more about these two boys, about their history and their family; we also discover the deep loving bond of brotherhood that they share, a relationship which isn’t often depicted in fiction. As readers we are so familiar with scenarios involving sisters and sisterhood – who doesn’t love the antics of the March girls or the Bennet sisters? – but rarely do we see brotherly love as portrayed in Lark.
An authentic and powerful read suitable for ages 14+, made even more so by the novel’s final scenes as we go into their future which is both disarming yet affirming. It’s safe to say that Nicky and Kenny will stay with me for a long time.
(It is worth noting that Lark has been published with dyslexic readers in mind: it is a short book with a specially chosen font and off-white pages for ease of reading.)
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