This is a beautiful crafted adventure which spans the divides of time. It is about being brave and the fact you have to face your fears. Charlie is the main character who lives near a wood. When his brother is born with a heart defect he runs into the woods to escape his fears. The main character is transported back to the Stone Age where we meet Harby. Harby has troubles of his own. A beautiful story with lots of action.

"When Charlie's longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie's world is turned upside down. Upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. But when Charlie sets off back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It's become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. For Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there . ? What follows is a wild, big-hearted adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost - their courage, their hope, their family and their way home."
This was an exciting read and perfect for 8+, I'd say, The link to the Stone Age is perfect for educators who study that vast era in school, and the story never becomes too complex.
I really enjoyed the friendships that Charlie had in his current world and how his experiences in the past helped him to open up about his feelings. The descriptions of the stone age were detailed and vivid and the issues Charlie was facing never became cliched or saccharined.
A great story for primary age children who enjoy exciting stories with a historical twist.

An amazing middle grade fantasy book. I loved every character in this book. It is filled with magic.
I was captivated by it and couldn’t stop turning the pages

I really loved this story, it was heartwarming but also heart wrenching. The characters were wonderful and I loved their personalities. Would definitely recommend!

This book is really a 3.5 for me. I loved the beginning: fast-paced and very emotional, it caught me up in Charlie's drama. I loved have a male protagonist who was imaginative, sensitive and still teared up and longed for cuddles at age 12.

However, I had a couple of sticking points for the main drama of the book. Firstly, the depiction of Stone Age people of only 6000 years ago was ridiculous. I couldn't get my head around the language - were they somehow meant to be speaking a 'primitive' form on English? Or was this magic translation? If so, why wouldn't they understand each other fluently? The 'me Tarzan, you Jane' type dialogue was an unhappy middle ground between either magically being able to understand them (think Clan of the Cave Bear) or having to learn around a language barrier (think Stig of the Dump). Not only was it historically inaccurate, it was seriously annoying to read.

Secondly, I felt like the plot veered between over simplistic (really hitting you over the head with the 'family's important' and 'don't run away from your problems' messages, and these lessons were learnt repeatedly. Yet on the other hand, there seemed to be too many dangers packed into what seemed to be a one mile radius of forest (wolves, wildcats, lightning, sinkholes, etc.), some of which seemed forced or didn't go anywhere (e.g. the alpha wolf).

Yet for this age group, I think many will look over these flaws and still enjoy the adventure. It will definitely catch the imagination and I can imagine many kids loving it, so it still deserves several stars from me.

Oh what a gorgeous book! I read this as an ARC from NetGalley, and I'm so happy I picked it up!
Charlie's mum has just given birth, and he's got what he always wanted- a little brother! Unfortunately Dara is ill, he needs an operation on his heart. Upon hearing this Charlie runs away, into Mandel Forest where he spends all his free time. Here he meets Harby, a boy who Charlie realises is from the Stone Age. Together they are both trying to get home, Harby needs to 'make safe' for Mothga, his baby sister who is lost in the forest.
This story is absolutely beautiful. It gave me strong Stig of the Dump vibes, but with a twist of human suffering. When we think of sick babies, we think of the parents, but siblings tend to get overlooked- they don't quite understand what's happening, but know that they're not being told everything. Charlie feels guilt, shame, confusion over this- he felt disgusted when he first saw his brother, with tubes coming out of him, then guilty because he should have loved him.
The friendship between Charlie and Harby is lovely- the boys both look after each other and see past their differences- a metaphor for modern life if ever I saw one! I loved how Harby taught Charlie how to 'make safe' for your family, and 'give thanks' when something dies.
Definitely a classic in the making.

Wonderfully written middle grade book that my 8 year old enjoyed as much as I did. Lots of action and adventure to keep you interested. Great read.

When Charlie flees to his beloved forest in search of solace and to escape the reality of his baby brother’s illness, he finds himself transported back in time to the Stone Age and the mysterious disappearance of another boy’s sibling. An incredible bond develops between the two boys as they both face up to the realities of their own lives. As a reader you’re transported into this world through beautiful, lyrical description. I found myself totally immersed in the emotions of the characters and the challenges they face. An incredible story of family, friendships and growing up, I can’t wait to recommend this book to the pupils at school.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the digital ARC.

Such a wonderful story, full of mystery and intrigue - Also, the lead character has no assigned gender, which was a deliberate decision by the author, and would be a great recommend to all kids - who doesn't love a forest-based adventure?! Charlie's new sibling has a problem with his heart, and running away from all this means, they end up encountering a new side to the forest - a return to the stone age! I read this really quickly, I wanted to know what happened next, and I really liked the way Charlie developed through the book, learning and growing as the story unfolds.

I find time-slip adventures really appealing, so when I heard that 'The Wild Way Home,' would take us back to the Stone Age I was really intrigued. As a school librarian the pool of fiction titles that can be used to support this topic is quite limited, so I was excited at the prospect of a new addition to this collection. Charlie has been excited about the prospect of having a sibling after a very long wait but is devastated when his baby brother is born with a serious heart condition. Confused and upset by all of the conflicting feelings, Charlie flees to a place of comfort, the ancient forest. But when Charlie finds a boy injured in the river, everything changes in an instant. Realising there has been a dramatic shift in the world, Charlie must find a way to help this boy in order to get home. Sophie's beautiful descriptive writing is wonderfully engaging allowing the reader to have a strong sense of this new and mysterious world where everything is different whilst looking almost the same. This sense of confusion and discomfort mirrors the feelings Charlie is experiencing. I particularly enjoyed the friendship between Charlie and Harby as they come to terms with this strange event that they are both caught up in. A really interesting read that would make for a perfect spark for inspiring children to write about this fascinating historical time.

Slow-starting but once the story got going it kept up the pace and excitement all the way to the end. Loved watching the trust and friendship grow between Charlie and Hartboy though and Charlie dealing with the complicated feelings about the birth of his brother and the problems he was having was well done and felt very realistic.

The Wild Way Home is a fantastic Stone Age time-slip adventure. The opening scene is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. It begins in the middle of action and very cleverly leads the reader into thinking they’re witnessing something very different to what is actually taking place. This passage could be used to great effect in class.

The Wild Way Home is the story of 12-year-old Charlie Merriam who finds himself whisked back in time to the Stone Age. The setting remains the same, Mandel Forest – the wood near where he lives – only now the trees are thicker and the wildlife is very different. Charlie hasn’t been there long when he stumbles upon Harby, a Stone Age boy. He’s injured and Charlie helps him by bandaging his wound. After some uncertainty and mistrust, the two boys become friends.

I liked how there are parallels between the two boys, even though they are from times thousands of years apart. Both boys have baby siblings in need of protection; Charlie’s new baby brother has been born with a heart problem and Harby’s sister is missing. And both Charlie and Harby are running from something that frightens them.

What particularly struck me about Sophie Kirtley’s writing were her wonderful descriptions, especially of the natural world:

“A cloud of ragged crows rise like witches’ handkerchiefs from a tall tree.”

She is able to convey the beauty and the force of the wild. I liked how she portrayed a landscape that was familiar to Charlie, but also very different to what he knew.

With her descriptions of cave paintings, primitive tools and early language, Sophie has captured the Stone Age era very well.

The Wild Way Home is an exciting story, full of peril. There are lynx, wolves and eagles not to mention a shadowy figure lurking just out of sight. Charlie faces danger at every turn and must quickly learn how to survive in this new world. It’s a story of brotherly love and friendship and discovering how to cope with “things [that] are just too big… too big to know what to do with.”

A fast paced and excellent adventure through the stone age! I really enjoyed this tale of family and bravery. Charlie, the main character, was extremely likeable and I felt their plight so intensely. Their clear and obvious love for their little brother and panic with not knowing what to do, tugged at the heart strings and compelled me to read on. I liked how this was compared with Harby’s life in the Stone Age and linked to his search for Mothga. I really felt like I experienced the story along with the characters.

When Charlie Merriam's baby brother is born with a heart defect, he can't cope and runs away into the forest. There he somehow finds himself transported back in time to the Stone Age where another young boy, Harby, is searching for his sister. This is a both a brilliant adventure story and a thoughtful look at courage and how to deal with the scary things in life that you can't always control.

This is a beautiful story of how 2 young boys helped each other manage there emotions and grief. Charlie & Harby are from two different times but the journey they go on can be felt by everyone. This is a fabulous tale which I think will help children to perhaps understand some of the feelings they might come into contact with. There is also plenty of adventure to keep them entertained. As an adult I'm not scared to say this did have me in tears at the end. I found myself quite fond of the 2 main characters. 4.5 stars but ill round up to 5. Big thumbs up.

Charlie has always wanted a brother. He has longed for it for a long time, and now he finally has one. Just born, Charlie skips off to meet his new brother at the hospital, only to be told that his brother must have an operation immediately as he has a problem with his heart. Devastated, Charlie runs off into the forest where he sees a boy face down in the river and injured. When Charlie manages to pull him out and start to communicate with him, he realises that there is something very unusual about this boy. In fact – everything around him is very different. He has slipped back in time to the stone age, and now the challenges that face both Charlie and his new friend are very real. Will Charlie and the stone age boy manage to find the family they are looking for? This is a lovely emotional story which is also a very gripping adventure. A very welcome addition to our library as it deals with Stone Age and Time Slip - both tings that are rare but in-demand in children's schools. But it doesn't just fill a gap. It has brilliant class read potential, with bags of appeal to just read for pleasure. You will be rooting for Charlie and his friend all the way through as well as desperate to know how his little brother fares at the end.

'The Wild Way Home' is a roller-coaster of an adventure. Brilliantly written - emotional and inspiring. I loved the time-slip and the chance to explore our stone-age past. Kirtley's descriptions were sensory and vivid. One minute my heart was racing with fear and suspense - the next, my cheeks were wet with tears. A beautiful look at what matters in life, through a simpler, but no less challenging way of life. One of the biggest acts of bravery is love.

This is a super quick read filled with an emotional story that hits you right in the heart!

The story starts with Charlie and his friends playing games in the forest behind their house, they come here everyday and Charlies knows every part of it like the back of his hand. But he soon leaves as not only is it Charlie's birthday tomorrow, his baby brother expected any day now .

To Charlie's surprise when he wakes up the next day, he finds out his baby brother was born last night and when he goes with his dad to see his mum and new brother Dara, he quickly realises something is not right. Dara was born with something wrong with his heart, and this news completely overwhelms Charlie and he escapes from the hospital back to the forest. When his friends find him and tell him about his brother operation and his dad looking for him, his emotions overtake him again and he runs further into the woods.

When he makes it to the river, he finds a boy his age, injured and alone, but after shouting for help he soon realises that though he recognises all the nature around him,, he can no longer see any houses or modern structures of any kind. He somehow ended up in the Stone Age!

After helping the boy, Harby, he realises that though there are thousands of years apart, they have the same goal: "keep safe". The boys learn to trust each other and in turn grow and realise what really matters in the end.

I loved this story, the adventure was non-stop for most of it, dotted with perfectly placed slowed and quiet moments between the two boys. Though I can't say much for how well Harby was represented as a stone age boy since I don't know any (queue laughter), he still felt thoroughly real in the world Sophie built through his simple speech and more so in his actions. Charlie was a great kid to follow, full of heart but not sure how to express his worries, he is so brave in the end and I think a lot of kids will be able to relate to his growth in this story.

I can't find any mention of who illustrated the book cover after a quick google , but I do want to give a little praise to whoever it is because its gorgeous (I will edit this if I do find a name).

This was Sophie Kirtley's debut novel, so if she started out this great already I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Bloomsbury Childrens Books and Netgalley for an early eArc of the book!

This was a brilliant story, full of adventure and some stunning descriptions that allowed the world the story was set in come to life.

The sense of adventure is brilliant for all readers young and old. Perfect for young readers and parents who read to their children.

Great choice for kids book of the month at Waterstones this month, really enjoyed this one! Lovely touch for Sophie to leave the protagonist's gender unspecified. I found myself naturally presuming that Charlie was a boy, but it's exciting to think that young readers, particularly young girls, might assume Charlie is a girl, and see themselves in the story. Fun adventure story!