''Skellig'' is a

children's novel Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

by the British author

David Almond David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children's literature, children and young adult fiction, young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children's writers, and ...

, published by Hodder in 1998. It was the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and it won the Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British author. In 2007, it placed third in the "Carnegie of Carnegies", after ''Northern Lights'' and ''

Tom's Midnight Garden ''Tom's Midnight Garden'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author Philippa Pearce. It was first published in 1958 by Oxford University Press with illustrations by Susan Einzig. The story is about a twelve-year-old, Tom, who, while stayi ...

''. In the U.S., it was a runner up for the

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's ...

, which recognises one work of young adult fiction annually. Since publication, it has also been adapted into a play, an opera, and a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. In December of 2011, a prequel, '' My Name is Mina'' was published.

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

's poems feature in the book, the play and the film. Delacorte Press published the first US edition in 1999.

Plot

10-year-old Michael and his family have recently moved into a new house. He and his parents are nervous, as his new baby sister (who they have not named yet) was born earlier than expected and may not live because of a heart condition, and because they have to start over in a new home. When Michael goes into the garage, he finds a strange emaciated man hidden amid all the boxes, debris and dead insects. Michael assumes that he is a homeless person, but decides to look after him and gives him food. The man is crotchety and arthritic, demanding aspirin and Chinese food, but Michael helps him anyway. Michael hears a story that human shoulder blades are a vestige of angel wings. Meanwhile, his new friends from school become more and more distant as Michael stops attending school and spends less time with them in order to figure out more about the strange man. He meets a girl named Mina from across the road who intrigues him; Mina is home-schooled and enjoys nature, birds, drawing and the poems of

. Often drawing or sculpting at home, she invites Michael to join in and the two become friends. She takes care of some baby birds who live in her garden and teaches Michael to hear their tiny sounds. Michael decides to introduce her to the strange man, who shows inhuman attributes and who the two begin to suspect is not human. Michael's friends, Leakey and Coot, become skeptical about Michael and try to find out what he is hiding from them. Michael and Mina try to keep it a secret from them, and have to move the creature, who is named "Skellig", to a safer space. Michael becomes intrigued with medical conditions like arthritis as his baby sister has been taken to the hospital for her heart condition, and frequently visits her as her condition worsens. The distant, winged Skellig, who remains grumpy and abrasive, finally confirms his name to be Skellig and begins to open up to Mina and Michael. Michael's baby sister comes dangerously close to death, necessitating heart surgery. His mother goes to the hospital to stay with the baby and, that night, "dreams" of seeing Skellig come in, pick the baby up, and hold her high in the air, saving her. He subsequently moves from the garage after saying goodbye to Michael and Mina, answering their questions about his nature by saying that he is 'something' combining aspects of human, owl and angel. The family decides to name Michael's baby sister since she will now live. After considering naming her after

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

, a deity whom Mina admires, they settle on Joy because of the joy that her living will bring the family.

Characters

* Michael (Main Character) * Mina (Michael's friend) * Leakey (Michael's friend) * Coot (Michael's friend) * Skellig (Main character) * Joy (Michael's baby sister) * Whisper (Mina's cat) *Mr. Stone (Real estate agent that sells Michael's family the house) *Dr. Death (a.k.a. Dr. Dan, the doctor that comes to Michael's house to check up on the baby) *Rasputin (Michael's science teacher) *Dr. MacNabola (A cocky but friendly Dr who Michael talks to in order to figure more about arthritis) *Mr. Batley (a Builder) *Gus (a Builder and Mr. Batley's son) *Nick (a Builder and Mr. Batley's son) *Mrs. Dando (A yard lady at Michael's school) *Miss Clarts (Michael's English teacher) *Mrs Moore (The school secretary of Michael's school) *"The Yeti" (The corridor keeper) *"Monkey Mitford" (Michael's math teacher) *Ernie Myers (Former owner of the house) *"Mum" (Michael's mother) *"Dad" (Michael's father) *Mrs. McKee (Mina's mother)

Themes

''Skellig'' is deliberately ambiguous about its title character. Almond has provided public answers to some frequent questions from his school visits. The names "Skellig" and "Michael" are derived from the

Skellig Islands The Skellig Islands (), historically "the Skellocks", are two small, steep, and rocky islands lying about west of Bolus Head off the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The larger of the two is Skellig Michael (also known as Great Skel ...

off the coast of

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland. Confirmed 27 November 2060. One of them is

Skellig Michael Skellig Michael ( ), also called Great Skellig ( ), is a twin-pinnacled crag west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The island is named after the archangel Michael, with "Skellig" derived from the Irish language word , meaning ...

Island; St Michael is also the name of an archangel. Almond has acknowledged the influence of " A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", a short story by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. Paul Latham compares the works in a research article, "Magical Realism and the Child Reader: The Case of David Almond's ''Skellig''". Despite many similarities, he notes that Almond's child protagonists are much more caring and accepting than the closed-minded and sometimes cruel adults in the García Márquez story. Also, Mina and Michael keep Skellig a secret from the rest of human society. Thus the negative social commentary in ''Skellig'', regarding medical institutions and other aspects of adult society, is not as harsh as in Márquez's story.

Prequel

Hodder published Almond's 300-page prequel to ''Skellig'' late in 2010, ''My Name is Mina'' (). It was one of four books on the 2011 Guardian Award shortlist Eccleshare, Julia (30 September 2011)
"Guardian children's fiction prize: the shortlist"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 11 July 2012. and one of eight on the 2012 Carnegie shortlist.2012 Awards: Carnegie shortlisted books
. CILIP. Retrieved 12 June 2014. Both ''The Guardian'' and the Carnegie panel recommend ''Mina'' for readers age nine and up. According to children's book editor

Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare MBE (born 1951) is a British journalist and writer on the subject of children's books. She was Children's Books editor for ''The Guardian'' newspaper for more than ten years, at least from 2000, until 2016. She is also an edito ...

, "Almond promotes and celebrates freedom for children and their thinking in this lyrical book about growing up." Delacorte published the US edition in 2011. According to the summary, "Creative, intelligent, nine-year-old Mina keeps a journal in her own disorderly way that reveals how her mind is growing into something extraordinary, especially after she begins homeschooling under the direction of her widowed mother."

Adaptations

2003 play

''Skellig'' was adapted into a play in 2003 directed by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is an English theatre director and lyricist. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has dir ...

who thought it was important to follow the book's example of not revealing Skellig's exact nature, designed by John Napier. The original play was conceived from the novel to the play at The Young Vic Theatre, London. Cast included in alphabetical order; Ashley Artus,

Noma Dumezweni Noma Dumezweni (born 28 July 1969) is a South African-British actress. In 2006, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Ruth Younger in '' A Raisin in the Sun'' at the Lyric Hammersmith ...

Akiya Henry Akiya Henry is a British actress. She is best known for her theatre work, winning a WhatsOnStage Award and earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. Early life and education Akiya Henry was born in London. At six months old, she was placed ...

David Threlfall David John Threlfall (born 12 October 1953) is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series '' Shameless''. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In Ap ...

, Kevin Wathen, Mo Zinal. The play was later performed by

Playbox Theatre Company Playbox Theatre Company is a theatre company for children and young people based in Warwick, England. Playbox provide training for children and young people aged 3–25 in various different areas, including theatre training, musical theatre, cir ...

in 2008. In March 2011 the play was performed at the

New Victory Theater The New Victory Theater is a theatre (building), theater at 209 42nd Street (Manhattan), West 42nd Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republ ...

, New York by The Birmingham Stage Company who previously toured the UK with their production, from 2008 in London and Birmingham. The BSC founder and manager Neal Foster played Skellig.

2008 opera

''Skellig'' has been adapted into a contemporary opera with music by American composer

Tod Machover Tod Machover (born November 24, 1953, in Mount Vernon, New York), is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a piano, pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist. He was named ...

and libretto by David Almond himself. The opera was staged at

The Sage Gateshead The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust, the venue's original name honours a patron ...

from 4 November to 19 December 2008, with accompaniment by the Northern Sinfonia. The Opera starred Omar Ebrahim as Skellig with

Sophie Daneman Sophie Daneman (born 1968) is a British soprano specializing in the baroque repertoire. Biography Sophie Daneman, a daughter of the actor Paul Daneman, studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She became known during the ...

and Paul Keohone as Michael's parents.

2009 film

'' Skellig'', produced by Feel Films, was part of Sky 1's plan to invest £10 million in producing three new high-definition dramas. Filming started on 2 September 2008 in

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

in Wales. The film stars

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

in the title role, Bill Milner as Michael Cooper, Skye Bennett as Mina, and

Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...

and

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' ...

as Michael's parents (Louise 'Lou' and Steve Cooper). The film was written by Irena Brignull and directed by

Annabel Jankel Annabel Jankel (born 1 June 1955), also known as AJ Jankel, is a British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a music video director and the co-creator of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom and as co-director of the fil ...

. The first showing of ''Skellig'' on

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

was on 12 April 2009.

References

External links

* —immediately, first US edition
''Skellig'' on Sky1, Easter 2009: cast interviews and behind the scenes exclusives

Elizabeth Bullen and Elizabeth Parsons, ''Children's Literature'' 35 (2007) 127–44

at Common Sense Media
Skellig pdf
{{S-end 1998 British novels 1998 fantasy novels 1998 children's books British fantasy novels British magic realism novels British children's novels Children's fantasy novels Novels set in Newcastle upon Tyne British novels adapted into films Fantasy novels adapted into films British novels adapted into plays British novels adapted into operas Carnegie Medal in Literature–winning works Hodder & Stoughton books