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''Kit's Wilderness'' is a children's novel by David Almond, published by Hodder Children's Books in 1999. It is set in a fictional Northumberland town based on the former coal-mining towns the author knew as a child growing up in Tyne and Wear.〔 It was silver runner up for the Smarties Prize in ages category 9–11 years, highly commended for the Carnegie Medal, and shortlisted for the Guardian Prize. In the U.S. it was published by Delacorte Press in 2000〔 and won the Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognising the year's best book for young adults.〔American Library Association: Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books (). Retrieved 8 July 2009.〕 ==Synopsis== Thirteen-year-old Kit and his family have moved back to Stoneygate to be with his grandfather, who is succumbing to Alzheimer's Disease, after Kit's Grandmother dies. His grandfather, an ex-miner, tells him about the town's coal-mining days and the hardships and disasters that were a part of his youth. Kit meets Allie Keenan, full of energy and life, but also shadowy John Askew and the dangerous 'game' he plays – a game called Death. Through playing the game, Kit comes to see the lost children of the mines and begins to connect his grandfather’s fading memories to his, his friends’ and Stoneygate’s history.〔Adapted from the synopsis of the book at (hodderliterature.co.uk )〕 The Watsons are known as one of the "Old families"〔Almond, p.10〕 because they have ancestors who worked in the mines before they were closed, such as Kit’s grandfather. Askew surrounds himself with characters that are from families who worked in the mines including Kit. Now that he is a part of Askew’s group, Kit is invited to play the game Death, in which they reenact the death of children in the mines. Once chosen for Death, Kit undergoes a change; snapping at Allie on multiple occasions. Noting this change, his teacher Miss Bush follows him and uncovers the game. Askew is expelled from school for being the leader, and to escape his father, who is an alcoholic, runs away and lives in an abandoned mine shafts. Angry at Kit for ending the game and getting him expelled, Askew sends Bobby Carr, another character from the "Old families"〔 group, to bring Kit to the cave where they confront each other in the book’s climax. After some initial arguments reveal Askew’s madness, Kit tells Askew a story he "wrote for you()."〔Almond, p.188〕 The story mirrors Askew’s life from the perspective of an early man named Lak, and while telling it they see ghosts from the story. When the tale concludes, the ghost takes a "part of me()"〔Almond, p.203〕 and he is no longer mad. Allie finds the two of them in the mine after getting their location from Bobby, and they go back to town. Askew is accepted back into school to take art classes, his father stops drinking, and at the end of the novel, Kit’s grandfather dies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kit's Wilderness」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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