Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2014
256 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can't prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this lovely and lyrical novel from the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called "a glorious adventure."
Wilhelmina Silver's world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult. Lions and hyenas are nothing compared to packs of vicious schoolgirls. Where can a girl run to in London? And will she have the courage to survive?
From the author of the "witty, inventively poetic" Rooftoppers comes an utterly beautiful story that's sure to be treasured.
"Although Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms has lovely language and a wonderful sense of place, there isn't much in the way of story. I am sure that some readers will love it but I've had to keep forcing myself back to it." - BookBrowse
"Starred Review. With debut novel Rooftoppers (2013), Rundell showed her capacity to write an entertaining story featuring a courageous female protagonist; this second novel surpasses by virtue of its striking, soaring prose. Ages 8-13." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. "A gripping, magical, and heartwarming tale of resilience, friendship, and hope." - Publishers Weekly
"Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms is the work of a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination." - Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series
This information about Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Blair Mowat
Katherine Rundell is the author of Rooftoppers, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms (a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner), The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, and The Good Thieves. She grew up in Zimbabwe, Brussels, and London, and is currently a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. She begins each day with a cartwheel and believes that reading is almost exactly the same as cartwheeling: it turns the world upside down and leaves you breathless. In her spare time, she enjoys walking on tightropes and trespassing on the rooftops of Oxford colleges.
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