Where the World Ends

Geraldine McCaughrean, Usborne, £6.99

Based on a true event in 1727, a group of three men and nine young boys embark on a journey into the unknown. Living on the isolated Isle of Hilda, these boys and men are chosen to face the dangers of the Warrior Stac, a small and jagged rock protruding from the sea and surrounded by seabirds ready to be harvested for eggs, meat and feathers.

Being sent out to sea for three weeks to face the perils of the high rocks, harsh wind and the freezing cold, the young boys are tackling the hardest task of their lives thus far.

More panic and fear arises when the boat to take them back home does not arrive. Have they been forgotten or has something awful happened back home?

We follow Quill and learn of his experiences of living in the village of St Kilda and being an experienced hunter on the Stac. Even though he has been confined to the small island, Quill has some knowledge of the wider world from Murdina, a girl who visited the island from the mainland to meet her relatives.

Award-winning children’s author Geraldine McCaughrean returns with this magical tale of survival. McCaughrean somehow manages to rewrite this tragic story in a poetic way and brings the imagery to life with added bird illustrations and a glossary for some of the harder Scottish dialect words at the back of the book.

Although this is a children’s book, I found it a truly captivating story and was engrossed until the very end.

By Rachel Scorgie