Noah Barleywater Runs Away

John Boyne (author)

David Fickling Books, Random House, UK: 2010

ISBN: 9780385618953

Genres: adventure, allegory

Issues: choices, family, grief

Before dawn Noah Barleywater, age 8, creeps out of his house, determined to do something remarkable with his life. There are other reasons for leaving but he's not going to admit to them if he doesn't have to.

The first two villages he passes through are rather unwelcoming and the third, when he manages to find it, is downright strange. Despite the oddly disappearing path, the talking dachshund and the constantly hungry donkey, Noah is drawn to a higgledy-piggledy wooden house with an enormous tree growing beside it: a toy shop. Inside he finds a collection of beautifully crafted toys and puppets, all wooden, and an old man who offers him food, conversation, and a sprinkling of magic.

That conversation is as curious as the rest of the shop. It seems the toymaker has had some very unusual life experiences and as they exchange stories, Noah learns as much about himself as he does about his host. Made to be shared, Noah Barleywater Runs Away is a novel that challenges all readers to think a little more about how they live their lives.

Boyne has a remarkable capacity to explore complex concepts, events and relationships through deceptively simple narratives and characters. Noah Barleywater Runs Away, like all good allegories, explores universal themes and reaches into the lives of readers, encouraging them to re-examine their choices as Noah does his. Boyne uses words as carefully as a poet, each sentence pruned to eloquence, only the essential remaining, focusing the reader's attention, demanding their interaction with the story, whilst his ideas insinuate themselves into the imagination. Adult readers will enjoy this as much, if not more, than children.

Highly recommended.