Scottish Book of the Week: Away With Words

After two weeks in a row of historical novels, my next pick for Scottish Book of the Week takes us to present times, with a little bit of fantasy thrown in. Away With Words by Sophie Cameron is unlike any other book I’ve read before, it was a unique little gem that I just couldn’t put down. I wonder what you will make of it.

Book Details

Title: Away With Words

Author: Sophie Cameron

Genre: Contemporary, with a little bit of fantasy

Recommended reading age: It’s marketed as 10+ but I would say it’s maybe even a 12+ 

Scottish Setting

Fortrose, in the Scottish Highlands. Fortrose lies on the Black Isla peninsula, on the north side of the Moray Firth. In the book, they talk about taking a walk to “the Point, a long thin strip of land with a lighthouse at the top” to see if they can spot dolphins. This is referring to Chanonry Lighthouse on Chanonry Point, a popular location for dolphin spotting.

Plot Summary

Gala and her dad have moved from her hometown in Cataluña to Fortrose in Scotland, to live with her dad’s boyfriend who is also the PE teacher at her new school. Gala did not have any say in the move and is desperately homesick, not helped by the fact that she doesn’t speak much English. Feeling lost and lonely, she is determined not to like Fortrose and to convince her dad to move back to Cataluña. When she befriends Natalie, a girl with selective mutism, they find a way to communicate.

I need to pause here, and introduce you to the fantastical and very original part of this book. In Gala’s world, words are visible. They hang in the air as they are spoken, and then drop to the ground. They are different colours and sizes, reflecting different emotions:

It was because of the words. Hundreds and thousands or words falling out of mouths and flying through the air, bouncing off walls and fluttering to the floor. Angry red words and happy yellow ones. Timid whispers in pastel tones and excited shouts in bold, thick fonts. There were tired words that blurred with a yawn around the edges, and sleek cursive words that could only have come from rumours and secrets. There were so many that they already came up past my ankles – a glittering steam of speech curving past the reception desk and along the corridor as kids splashed through it without a second thought. (Chapter 1)

Natalie and Gala start collecting other people’s discarded words, using them to create anonymous supportive poems for their school mates. But just as Gala is starting to adapt to her new life in Scotland and thinking of it as home, a copycat highjacks their idea and starts sending nasty messages in the same way. The girls get the blame, no one believes them that they are innocent, and everything seems ruined. Can Natalie and Gala turn things around? And will Gala finally get to see some dolphins? 

Conclusion

This is a beautifully written book. Having moved countries myself as a child, with memories of feeling excluded due to initial language difficulties, the story really struck a chord. I loved the idea of the visible words. And what I loved even more is that it wasn’t introduced or explained in any way, it’s just part of the story and taken as a given. It’s also a great catalyst for Gala and Natalie – both of whom have trouble speaking for different reasons – finding some common ground, through the words they collect. On some of the pages, the words literally float across the page or gather in a heap at the bottom, giving the reader an insight in to what Gala and Natalie see. The other clever way the text on the pages is presented, is when Gala is listening to people speak – since her English isn’t that good, she doesn’t understand everything, and that is shown by squiggly lines in the text replacing the words she doesn’t u understand. The reader needs to infer from the context what is being said, just like Gala.

The book is marketed as reading age 10+ though I would say it’s maybe even a 12+ not because there is any mature content, but because of its high school setting and it just felt like it was written for teenagers. But that is of course very subjective, and every child is different. I have to confess, so far only I have read this book and not my boys. I don’t see my 10 yr old being that interested, he is very much in to his adventure stories at the moment, but I think it would be suitable for my 14 yr old. I feel it would particularly appeal to young readers who are interested in creative writing themselves, both for the storyline and the creative ways it is presented. I certainly enjoyed it very much as a grown-up too. 

Away With Words is available from Bookshop.UK (Affiliate Link) or you can order it from your favourite indie bookshop.

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