I have had depression and anxiety for several years following a trauma when I was 19, and it’s an important part of my past and occasionally my present. When Julia’s mother is taken ill and has to be hospitalised, Julia knows that the only thing that will make her better is if she, Julia, locates the shark and photographs it for her. Alongside the exploration of the wild, we get two complicated mother-daughter relationships as the extremities of the trip increase the tensions over what is valued more. This is another fabulous story from the mind of Kiran Millwood Hargrave and stunning illustrations by Tom de Freston.

Her first book for adults, The Mercies, debuted as The Times number 1 bestseller, and at number 5 in the Sunday Times Bestseller Charts. Julia’s sense of exclusion, bewilderment and frightened concern is very sensitively handled by the author, who has herself suffered mental health issues. Leila’s relationship with her mum was such a complex one - one built on not talking, not communicating, until they needed to.From the wife and husband team behind Waterstones Children's Gift of the Year Julia and the Shark comes a luminous tribute to the power of determination and friendship as a young fox and a girl seeking her mother join forces on an unforgettable Arctic adventure. Based on the true story of an Arctic fox who walked from Norway to Canada in seventy-six days, a distance of two thousand miles, this is a compelling, emotional and beautifully illustrated tale.

Very happy about my signed copy from my local Waterstones with the little paw prints along the edges. Leila’s emotional story of lost love and jealousy is set against the perilous but essential migration of the fox. The environmental changes in the Arctic mean that Miso is walking for more miles every day than usual. Like Julia’s, Leila’s story begins with a scientist mother chasing the endangered animal she studies, and a daughter chasing after the connection with her mother she feels she’s losing. Kiran cleverly takes the journey of a fox, Miso in this story and tells it parallel to the healing journey of a mother and daughter as they track the fox.Julia is befriended by another lonely child, Kin, who is bullied by a group of racist boys in the village.

I really liked the story parallel between Leila’s migration/flight from Syria to the UK and Miso the fox’s migration/flight from northern Norway to Canada.Now it’s summer in the Arctic Circle and the bright, endless sun threatens to shine a light on the awkwardness between Leila and her mum. With Leila and the Blue Fox and the earlier Julia and the Shark, she and Freston have created something quite unique for middle grade readers. The story is told in Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s beautiful words and the stunning illustrations of Tom de Freston.