Kit's Wilderness by David Almond

Kit's Wilderness is set in a former coal-mining town called Stoneygate, where a 13 year-old boy named Christopher Watson, Kit, is now residing. He soons realizes that he is connected to the village's past more than just his own name carved in a list of people who died in the coal mine.

He meets a boy his age named John Askew, an artist who insist that he and Kit are meet to be together, as John draws Kit's stories perfectly. Askew introduces a game called Death to Kit, a game in which the kids of the town pretend they are part of the coal mine and die like one of the lost children that died years ago in the mine. But it's just a game, right?

David Almond gives a haunting visionary look of death and the past that follows it. He has such a prolific description of the town and settings involved that he makes you feel as if you been sucked in by the book. The in-depth characterization make Kit Waston, John Askew, and many other characters come to life. You can practically close your eyes and with Almond's description be able to see the mine, and the snowfall. You can feel the cool breeze and the snow crunch underneath your feet, or the smell the black soot of the coal mine and hear the ghost children laughing as they run through the mine.

I highly recommended this book to everyone. For the ones that not only want to enter into a new world, but be consumed by it.

I thought that this book, Kit's Wilderness, was great! Although not too big on plot, this book made me feel like the people and places were so real that I cou;ld jump into a car and go see them! Looking at the world from Kit's point of view, you will encounter many interesting things, most of which have the lesson, ever true, that there is some good in everyone. This will definitely go down as a good book for me! (Next to Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass.)