Floodland

Marcus Sedgwick

What if a few years from now, climate change has forced much of our land to be drastically flooded?
What if some of our most famous cities have been cut off from their surrounding towns and villages and have become islands?
What if you get left behind when your family tries to escape the danger and you are left on your own to defend for yourself?

This is exactly what happens to Zoe, who finds herself all alone in a devastated new world where water reigns supreme. Zoe has managed to find a boat which is her lifeline, allowing her to explore the water and the newly formed islands in her desperate search for her missing parents. However, wherever she travels, her life is in mortal danger from some of the savage people, who have survived the floods and who see every new person as their enemy…

This is a short novel (only 122 pages) which gets you stuck into the action straightaway and really packs a punch. It makes you think what life might be like if climate change took control of our world and a huge mass of water flooded our lands, altering our cities, towns and villages beyond recognition. Floodland also makes you think how you might cope if, in the chaos of this changing perilous world, you lost your parents and friends and then suddenly had to grow up to fend for yourself like an adult.

Winner of the Branford Boase Award, Floodland is a powerful, thought-provoking and page-turning novel which is highly recommended.

Published by Orion Children’s Books, 2010 (128 pages)

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