Great first lines

His mother gave him a new pair of socks, a puffin to eat on the voyage and a kiss on the cheek.

This is the first line of Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean, and it's a fair sample of the book: vivid, beautifully written, but an arduous read. Being someone's packed lunch is far from the worst thing that happens to a seabird in it, or to a boy either.

It's based on a true story of St Kilda - no, not the evacuation, something that happened in the eighteenth century, when a party of men and boys visiting one of the sea stacks to gather birds and eggs, were marooned there. I won't say why, or for how long, since that's part of the story - although I knew the outlines of what happened, and I was still gripped and appalled. The book has been my bedtime reading, but I had to finish it this afternoon: I slept badly last night, and whether or not it is to blame, I couldn't face returning to it tonight.

This may, or may not, be regarded as a recommendation.