Ultimate Blog Tour: Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson (Review)

Hi Bookish friends!!!

Welcome to my spot on another exciting Ultimate Blog Tour with Dave @The_WriteReads/@WriteReadsTours and the gang!

For today’s post, I’m excited to share my thoughts on Norah’s Ark by Victoria Williamson!!!

Also a big thank you to Dave and Tiny Tree Books for sending me a physical copy the book for this tour!!

So, without further ado let’s dive right in!!

About The Book:

Genre: Middle Grade

Length: 304 Pages

Publishing: 29th August 2023

Amazon (UK) || Goodreads

Synopsis/Blurb:

Two very different lives. One shared hope for a brighter future. No time to waste. The flood is coming…

Eleven-year-old Norah Day lives in temporary accommodation, relies on foodbanks for dinner, and doesn’t have a mum. But she’s happy enough, as she has a dad, a pet mouse, a pet spider, and a whole zoo of rescued local wildlife to care for. Eleven-year-old Adam Sinclair lives with his parents in a nice house with a big garden, a private tutor, and everything he could ever want. But his life isn’t perfect – far from it. He’s recovering from leukaemia and is questioning his dream of becoming a champion swimmer. When a nest of baby birds brings them together, Norah and Adam discover they’re not so different after all. Can Norah help Adam find his confidence again? Can Adam help Norah solve the mystery of her missing mother? And can their teamwork save their zoo of rescued animals from the rising flood? Offering powerful lessons in empathy, Norah’s Ark is a hopeful and uplifting middle-grade tale for our times about friendship and finding a sense of home in the face of adversity.

My Thoughts:

Norah’s Ark follow two characters Norah and Adam. Both live totally different lives. One is rich and has everything, while the other lives in poverty and is homeless. However, they both love animals and have similar dreams.

This is a well written middle grade that delves into difficult topics that I feel most authors avoid. It covers heartfelt issues such as poverty, homelessness and childhood illnesses. Through the writing you can really tell Victoria has researched her the topics thoroughly and put them into a story that is suitable for both the younger audience as well as older ones. As well as these tough topics Victoria expertly intertwines the importance of family and friendship. The story is told through two alternating perspectives from Norah and Adam and I enjoyed watching the story unfold as you get to hear from both side of the story.

I absolutely adored the characters!! They are beautifully drawn and so realistic, I felt sorry for both Norah and Adam, but found their parents to be a little frustrating. I just wanted to bang their heads together because of the choices they were making. I can see they were making them to protect the children but at the same time wish they had actually listened to the children too. I really loved watching the friendship between Norah and Adam grow as the story progressed.

There are so many things to learn from reading this book but the thing that really stuck out is the hidden message that you should never judge anyone just based on their looks as there is always something else going on in their lives.

This was a great read and can’t wait to pick up more of Victoria’s books!!

About the Author:

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

Twitter || Goodreads (Authors Page)

And before I go, if you’re interested in joining in with some amazing blog tours and being part of the gang just head over to Twitter and get in touch with the awesome Dave @The_WriteReads or visit the website The Write Reads. Trust me you won’t be disappointed!!!

You can also find me on: Twitter || Instagram ||Goodreads