A funny, enchanting adventure about a scared boy, a magical fox, a monstrous shape-shifting beast and finding the courage to protect what you love. KATYA: Oh, interesting question! Yes, actually, I do. October is kind of the mid-point between the two of them – she’s wild and thoughtful. I think she’d love to tumble head-first into the waves with Zofia, and I think she’d want to learn the secret, careful folds of origami with Tom. It’s beautifully written and poetic but possibly a bit predictable and similar in style and structure to October October. A story of learning to trust, trying to let go and diving into the unknown with hope in your heart. About This Edition ISBN: A story of learning to trust, trying to let go and diving into the unknown with hope in your heart, with a stunning cover illustrated by CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner Sydney Smith.

Zofia loves her life in her small coastal town with her Dad. It has been just her and her father since she was a baby, after losing her mum. They do have a dog and cat too, named Pablo and Frida. Her dad often calls her feral, as Zofia is bold and loud, seeming to take up more room and space than normal eleven year olds. She’s fiery and brash, a storm personified. I loved this book. The deftness with which Katya creates such passionate, funny, broken, brave characters. What an achievement. Katya Balen can break your heart and make you snort with laughter in the same sentence

Published

I absolutely LOVE all Katya's writing and I adored reading this book. It's such a beautiful, subtle story which just transported me into the worlds of Zofia and Tom and like all the very finest stories it has left a little shard of those lives within it lodged deep in my heart.’ Sophie Kirtley

Tom and Zofia both wish the stupid baby had never happened. But then Tom's mum gets ill, and it begins to look horribly like their wish might come true ... Katya Balen's, 'The Light in Everything' is a story about Zofia and Tom, two very different children who have to live together in a blended family when their parents fall in love. With a new baby on the way there is even more to be confused about and as tensions grow, the pair must learn to trust and navigate the pain they have buried deep inside.

Books by Katya Balen

With a sibling on the way, both Tom and Zofia have to navigate the changes in their lives. Both have things to learn, courage to find and a new way of being together, in the making. Maybe sharing their sibling to be is a place to start? If you haven’t heard of the 34-year-old charity worker Katya Balen, you have some catching-up to do. Her first novel, The Space We’re In, was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award; her second novel, October, October, which told the story of a country child forced to adapt to city life, won last year’s Carnegie Medal. The Light in Everything centres on the intertwined narratives of Zofia and Tom, two very different children with very different voices. Both children share strong bonds with their parents. Tom lives with his mum and is timid, introspective, thoughtful, and, with good reason, scared of the dark. Zofia was born in a storm and lives with her dad in a cottage on the coast: like the wild winds and seas, she is tempestuous, unpredictable, and loud. When their parents fall in love, Tom and Zofia’s lives collide, with Tom and his mum moving into Zofia’s home.

Kayta Balen has a rare gift for understanding what it feels like to be a child and creating characters that reflect that that vividly.

LoveReading4Kids Says

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. A wish from all of us and for one of us. A wish that will wash away my wavewish and start something new and brilliant. Tom lives with his mum and hates the dark. He is quiet and shy and creates origami to help to keep himself calm.