The Wolf Wilder

"Feo is much closer to the Lyra ilk than to a girl like September. The opening line says it all, “Once upon a time there was a dark and stormy girl.” From the moment it begins, you know what you are getting. Not to say that Rundell hasn’t created a complex and likable character but she felt a completely compelling character as soon as I started to read this book. That’s such an achievement. Feo is very Lyraesque – she feels very contemporary, like a girl of now constrained by the time of then. She has something to say. Feo is extraordinary, possibly the most extraordinary of any of the girls on my list, particularly with her ability to survive in such a brutal landscape. “Feo is an unashamedly idealised heroic girl ” Katherine Rundell has talked about the image that inspired her to write this book, the image of a young girl riding a wolf into Red Square. And that image runs right the way through the book. Feo has this immensely heroic heart. She is never less than a girl who rides a wolf. Some of the other characters I’ve chosen, while fierce in their own specific ways, grow throughout their adventures and their books, they make mistakes, they learn. Whereas with Feo, she is such an incredible heroine from the beginning, and it’s great to have these aspirational heroines who are so mightily impressive, in amongst all those people you can more easily relate to. That’s what I love about Feo. Rundell’s heroines are all very different. But Feo is an unashamedly idealised heroic girl. Books like Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls are popularising that there are many different ways for women and girls to be strong, and be as strong as they need to be. I enjoy books that celebrate idealised strength as well and Feo really embodies this. It’s the perfect book to give to people who don’t read children’s books . Like Joan Aiken there is this warmth and she is never talking down to the reader. I admire the standard she has set for writers of my generation."