Blurb:

Somewhere, between the sea and the sky, there are other places.

In a near future where a series of environmental disasters has left much of the country underwater, Pearl lives on a floating oyster farm with her father and younger sister, Clover. Following her mum’s death several years earlier, Pearl refuses to set foot on land, believing her illness was caused by the poisons in the ground. Meanwhile, Clover dreams of school, friends and a normal life.

Then Nat comes to spend the summer at the sea farm while his scientist mum conducts some experiments. Leaving behind the mainland, with its strict rules and regulations, he brings with him a secret. But when the sisters promise to keep his secret safe, little do they realize that they may be risking everything…

Welcome To My Spot On The Blog Tour!

Today is the last day of the blog tour for the brilliant Between Sea and Sky by Nicola Penfold and I am happily bringing up the rear (much as I do in any form of running event, although this is at least by prior arrangement and not through lack of skill!)

The other stops can be found on the twitter handles on the image at the top, if you want to go and look at them, too!

I wanted to do something a little different for my post, and so I am going to hand you over to Tori, my daughter who turns 12 this month and reads books like they are going out of fashion. I decided she would be the superior voice for this review and I’m just here for backup and spell check!

She vanished off excitedly book in hand when I suggested the idea, and proceeded to wander round the house with her nose in it until she was done. It also went to school with her because she didn’t want to stop reading it, so that was her lunchtime entertainment!

If that isn’t testament to it being a great read, then I don’t know what is!

Anyway, enough from me…

Between Sea & Sky – What Is It About?

This book is a vision into the future, freak storms, ruined civilisations, and three teenage rebels finding their way.

Young boy Nat and his friends are playing in the solar fields when two scientist from the capital come and disrupt their playing. They scatter quickly so that they aren’t seen (because the solar fields are supposed to be a no-go zone), and Nat finds himself stranded in the ‘haunted’ Billy Criers Mill.

When the two people have left, and Nat dares to move he discovers… pollinators??

Scooping one up, he takes it home to help it grow, but then his mother says he has to go with her to the harbour where she needs to study. When he arrives he meets Clover and Pearl, a pair of sisters… except you’re not supposed to have more than one child per family, so another secret is added to his life.

Clover and Pearl live with their father on an Oyster farm on longboats in the harbour, catching food to supply the prison ships that moor there. Their mother had passed away, leaving them a floating greenhouse which rhwy had largely abandoned since her death – it was just too painful to go in there without here.

But when Nat arrives and tells them about his caterpillars, they realise the greenhouse is the perfect place to raise some secret butterflies.

Except nothing ever goes quite to plan, does it…?

What I Thought

I thought Between Sea and Sky was extremely enjoyable to read, it was exciting and it was hard to put down in between lessons at school!

It is an awesome book that really got me thinking, and I especially loved when Nat and his friends thought Pearl was a ghost.

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants an exciting and emotional story.

My Rating:

10/10* – I can’t think of anything I didn’t like! It has really made me want to read the author’s other book, too.

Okay, back to me for the grown-up bit…

Thank you, Tori!

All I have left to add is a big thank you to Little Tiger Books and Nicola Penfold for inviting us to take part in the tour and for sending us a copy of the book.

We both loved it, and the cover by Kate Forrester is utterly gorgeous, too. I love how all the little details mean something to you after you have finished the book and learned their significance!

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