The Light in Everything: Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2023

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Meg Rosoff on Friends Like These “A very spooky connection can form between writer and reader; communication on a very deep level” Born in a storm, Zofia is wild, unpredictable and tempestuous. She lives by the sea with her father. Tom is timid and withdrawn, constantly scared of the dark and the thought that his dad might return. The two children could not be more different yet each shares a close bond with their parent. And then their parents meet and before long, their families are blending and there's a baby on the way. Tom and his mother move into the cottage by the sea and neither child is happy about the situation. Transformative and magical. Katya Balen has crafted a children’s story for the ages. I loved this book - which talks of the trauma of abuse in the gentlest of ways. It’s dark and light. Sand, sun, and waves. Family and friendship. And kindness and love. This story is told from a dual-perspective, with Zofia and Tom alternating chapters. This gives the reader an insight into both characters and their histories which have shaped their lives now. I have mixed feelings about The Light in Everything. I think the dual narration was good and the fact they didn't overlap drove the story forward at a good pace. The emotions of Tom and Zofia felt real and not sugar coated.

And what she wants is for scaredy-cat Tom to get out of her life. Tom hates loud, unpredictable Zofia just as much, but he's moving into Zofia's house. Because his mum and Zofia's dad are in love … and they're having a baby. One day Tom's mum tell him she has someone she'd like him to meet. Zofia's father tell her he has someone he wants her to meet. This hasn't happened to either of them before. Clearly their parents are bringing the families together. KATYA: I have a good memory of my own childhood, and I’m a bit of a sponge when it comes to people. I have always, always loved reading, watching, learning, about other people’s lives. I think that really helped me form realistic responses and thought processes, because I’ve absorbed so many. She is brilliant at capturing the cadences of their language, toying with the reader’s sympathies by pitting Tom’s reticence against Zofia’s Jacobean appetite for drama: “He’s ruined my life and I was here first. These are my friends and this is my school and it’s my house and my dad and my dog and my life.” When complications arise in Fiona’s pregnancy, the children’s characters finally unravel – and this provoking, simply-told story reaches its uplifting close.Recommended as a class novel, this book will help you to develop empathy in your class and to understand what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes. It will also bring to the fore, a range of complex emotions allowing you to have honest discussions with your pupils. Original, compulsive, uplifting: this is another triumph for Balen' - Alex O'Connell, The Times Children's Book of the Week Zofia is moody and mean. Tom is scared of Marek but so wants to make his mum happy. The two families continue to meet, but then Fiona becomes pregnant and she and Tom move to share the cottage on the beach. Tom is scared about going to another new school and imagines that it will be just the same as always. But it isn't and he's confused by these children who just accept him even though Zofia won't. However, I feel that her character arc is slow and not as developed and subtle as Tom's. She seems less empathetic as a character and her brash physicality and loudness as she rages against the world seem predictable. But then again, we are all unlikeable when we suppress negative feelings, - anger, pain and jealousy. Her life with her dad has been invaded and it is clear that she needs more from him (she feels like a ghost, as if no one is looking at her), but he is too distracted and her behaviour is too aggressive for him to cope with. At times I found him insensitive to Zofia's needs and I wanted him to give her more: more patience, more understanding, more of himself. He does provide a practical focus to try and bring the children together later, which become a crucial component in the story's climax and resolution, so he is somewhat redeemed.

This story literally took me by storm. A brave heart-dive into the deep emotions of Tom and Zofia, it’s beautifully told with care and tenderness.’ Jasbinder Bilan Her latest book, The Light in Everything, is in many ways her most ambitious. This time, she tells the story of two 11-year-olds from fractured families, who narrate the novel in alternating chapters. First there is Zofia, who is prone to rages: “I was born in a storm… The weather was furious and so was I. The midwife said she’d never seen such an angry baby.” Following her mother’s death, she and her father Marek live by the sea in “the kind of cottage from that kind of book where you see a mum and a dad and a little girl and maybe a dog that can fetch slippers.” Through the novel we see Tom and Zofia make many wishes and many readers have enjoyed the role origami plays in the story. Can you explain what drew you to including them within the book?My favourite part of the story is when they all come together as a community to make paper cranes. It is a Japanese belief that you can make a wish on a thousand paper cranes. They make a wish that the baby will survive. The story is told from the perspectives of Tom and Zofia. Both have experienced pain and loss but deal with it in very different ways. Tom is quiet and withdrawn. He is polite but he is too scared to express himself in case he is rejected or, worse, physically punished. Zofia is full of anger she can't control or understand, and raging with jealousy. We see their journeys towards acceptance and happiness and their passage through a period of change in their lives that all children undergo at some point, albeit mostly in a less extreme way. Their relationships with their respective parents are believable and well drawn. The seaside community around them is cosy and sweet in a way that I would sometimes find too saccharine but, here, feels just right. The children in Class Ceto are kids at their best. Accepting and complex.

Both viewpoints were very well told, Zofia's side is full of anger and noise, movement and sound. Tom's shows his small voice and fears. You want them to see what they have in common and what good they could do for each other, but you also empathise with their situation, being thrust together into a new family they hadn't asked for. A bold, bright story of blended families, and how two remarkable children cope when their lives change dramatically. Katya Balen's writing fizzes with her trademark originality and voice. This is another stunningly good read from one of my favourite authors October has a happy life living with her dad in the forest - but when Dad gets injured in an accident, she's forced to go and live with her estranged mum in the city, where nothing is natural and everything feels new and frightening. Can October let her mum into her heart?

So I swallow down the words before they bubble up and I nod and I say OK. And I fold up that bit of paper that wants me to be happy and I let it crumble to ash.”