After the Snow

Fifteen-year-old Willo has been left alone in the freezing and snow covered hills that have been his home for years. Willo doesn’t know where his father and the rest of his family have gone, but donning the skull of a dog, whose spirit guides him, he resolves to try and find them. Willo’s journey takes him into the dangerous world of the city, where people live in fear and poverty. Soon Willo discovers some unnerving information about his father and as his fight for survival grows increasingly urgent, the boy must draw on reserves of strength he never knew he had.

Tapping into the current trend for dystopian fiction, this bleak novel is set in a futuristic ice-age and contains haunting scenes and some strong language; it is a memorable story with an ultimately hopeful resolution.