Module 5 - Kit's Wilderness

Almond, D. (1999)Kit wilderness. New York, Random House.


Summary
Kit Watson's family moves to Stoneygate to live with his grandfather after his grandmother's passing.  Stoneygate is an old coal-mining town where the mines are not sealed up and pose an inopportune place for children of the town to play.  Upon meeting John Askew, Kit is lured into the game of "Death" with John and other kids from the town within an old mine.  In the meantime, Kit's grandfather tells him stories of the mines and those who died there and what he sees since working there.  As Kit plays Death with other town children, he "dies" and begins to see, as his grandfather, those that have dies in the mines.  Kit learns how to deal with seeing the dead and heal a broken boy to the extent of becoming friends.  A story of healing and friendship in the strangest situations.


My Impression
This is not a book I would have picked up and read on my own.  I had a difficult time following it, but kept on for the sake of knowing how it ends.  I felt the game of Death was too vague and didn't explain enough of what happened.  The friendships and relationships that are created within the book were touching up until the end.  Kit's relationship with his grandfather made me keep with the book to find out how it all tied together.  Kit seeing the ghosts and Askew being so angry and strange made me want to put it down.  However, those who enjoy book on the supernatural and the unknown would enjoy this book greatly.  


Review

Fader, E. (2000, March). [Review of the book Kit's Wilderness]. School Library Journal, 46(3), 1.

The haunting otherworldliness that distinguished Skellig (Delacorte, 1999) also permeates this book. After the death of his grandmother, 13-year-old Kit Watson moves with his family to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town, to take care of his elderly grandfather. He forms a tentative friendship with John Askew, who is ridiculed because of his father's public drunkenness and inability to care for his family. In the wilderness area near their town, John organizes an after-school game called "Death," in which Kit and other friends lie alone in an abandoned mine waiting for visions of children who died there long ago. After school officials discover the game and expel John, he disappears. Kit, a budding writer, crafts a story about a prehistoric boy who becomes separated from his family. The story parallels the emotional incidents in John Askew's life and incorporates elements of stories Kit's grandfather has told him about the mines. John's mother pleads with the boy to bring her son home at the same time as the mother in the story Kit is writing appears to him, pleading with him to return her missing children. John resurfaces and, with Kit's help, rejoins his family. Grandpa dies, but Kit is committed to keeping his memory and his stories alive. Almond artfully brings these complicated, interwoven plots to a satisfying conclusion as he explores the power of friendship and family, the importance of memory, and the role of magic in our lives. This is a highly satisfying literary experience, showing readers that some of life's events are beyond explanation.


Suggestion for Library Use
Being limited in my middle school and higher experience, I would use this book in a display for students about supernatural and the unexplainable.