Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize
The Financial Times calls it "one of the best titles of the year so far"*
WINNER of the Children's Wainwright Prize for Fiction 2025

A UTOPIAN FUTURE.
A FORBIDDEN WILDERNESS.
TWO KIDS TRYING TO SURVIVE.

Twenty-five years into the future, no humans are allowed in the Wildlands – a vast area in Britain where wolves, lynx and bison roam free. The only exception is a high-speed train line between London and Glasgow that crosses right through the heart of the project. Thirteen-year-old Astrid and her little sister, Indie, are onboard when their train slows to a brief, unexpected stop … and they find themselves accidentally left behind. Stranded in this place of astonishing natural wonders and terrible dangers, they have only a rucksack, a phone without signal – and each other. As every wrong turn takes them deeper into the Wildlands, do they have the ingenuity and determination to survive?

How far would YOU go to find your way home?

Perfect for fans of THE EXPLORER and THE LAST WILD, this riveting and emotional story takes place in an imagined future teeming with lost flora and fauna that we can only dream about encountering today.

Winner of the Shropshire Bookfest Book Award 2026
Shortlisted for the Peters Children's Book of the Year 2026
Shortlisted for the Redbridge Book Award 2026

*"Best Summer Books of 2025", 21 June 2025, Financial Times

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM LAIKA, THE STUDIO BEHIND CORALINE

Prue McKeel is keeping out of trouble. Or trying to. Then her baby brother is abducted by crows and hauled off to the woods beyond the city. It is up to Prue to bring him back. On her mission she is plunged into the world of Wildwood and there she meets more trouble - and magic - than she ever thought possible.

The earth is old and we are not, and that is all you must remember . . .

Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores creatures of all kinds, but her favourites are the most unlovable beasts in the land: strange beasts known as 'screechers'. The villagers of Perchance call them pests, even monsters, but Willodeen believes the animals serve a vital role in the complicated web of nature.

Lately, though, nature has seemed angry indeed. Perchance has been cursed with fires and mudslides, droughts and fevers, and even the annual migration of hummingbears, a source of local pride and income, has dwindled. For as long as anyone can remember, the tiny animals have overwintered in shimmering bubble nests perched atop blue willow trees, drawing tourists from far and wide. This year, however, not a single hummingbear has returned to Perchance, and no one knows why.

When a handmade birthday gift brings unexpected magic to Willodeen and her new friend, Connor, she's determined to speak up for the animals she loves, and perhaps even uncover the answer to the mystery of the missing hummingbears.

A timely and timeless tale about our fragile earth, and one girl's fierce determination to make a difference.