Book Review: Where the World Ends, by Geraldine McCaughrean

Where the World Ends, by Geraldine McCaughrean has just been awarded the 2018 Carnegie Medal. My eleven-year-old daughter and I have both read and enjoyed it, although my daughter found it very scary, and I can see why. I am not sure of McCaughrean's target audience with this book and it has been categorised as teenage fiction in our local library. Having read it, I think this is probably a wise move as some of the content is quite graphic when describing injuries sustained- it could be described as gruesome in places - and the categorisation as teenage fiction means younger readers cannot check the book out on their own card, so parents are alerted that content may be unsuitable for some younger readers.
That said, this is a fabulous book, capable of totally transporting the reader to another time and place. For readers of my daughter's age and young teenagers this is a time and place so completely alien to their own experiences that this in itself is remarkable and makes for a magical reading experience. The setting is the archipelago of St Kilda, the most remote habitable islands in Britain, in the 1720s. A group of 9 boys of varying ages and 3 men are sent from the island of Hirta to Warrior Stac (basically a large lump of rock 4 miles out to sea) in order to hunt sea birds for their feathers, oil and meat. This expedition takes place every year and most of the boys have done the trip before. They are usually collected 3-4 weeks later. This particular year, the boat does not return to collect them and summer becomes autumn, which in turn becomes winter, and the weather worsens and the food begins to run out as they are marooned indefinitely on the Stac.
By turns terrifying, heartwarming, heartbreaking and even  humorous, we learn of the ways the boys cope and learn to survive in their extraordinary situation and we also learn a little of what everyday life would have been like on this remote archipelago 300 years ago. Fascinating, and a real page turner - a compelling adventure story and a study of group dynamics under stress.
This is fiction based on events that actually happened, and I think this is what made it even more frightening for my daughter, but it also makes for very poignant reflection on the hardships of life 300 years ago.
This is a deserved winner of a prize that aims to celebrate "outstanding books written in English for children and young people" as it has the power to offer total escapism whilst encouraging empathy with a people and way of life previously unimagined, as well as providing enjoyment, learning and the chance to reflect on your own behaviour in group situations. Powerful stuff, beautifully written.