Guest post written by The Ocean and the Bones author Genevieve Carver
Genevieve Carver is a writer, performer and arts educator. She is the author of three works of poetry: A Beautiful Way to be Crazy (Verve Poetry Press 2020), Landsick (Broken Sleep Books 2023) and Birds / Humans / Machines / Dolphins (Guillemot Press 2024). Her poetry has appeared in journals including Mslexia, The White Review, The North, Magma and Poetry News. She won The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2022, judged by Max Porter, and was shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize in 2024. Genevieve’s debut novel for children is published by Oneworld in 2026.
About The Ocean and the Bones: Friendship is tough in the Stone Age, especially when your best friend is part-Water Spirit… In a pre-historic world where the spirits are fickle and the people are cautious, Little Meg is a Sunhealer’s apprentice. She must learn to read the signs of nature and commune with the spirits to guide her people and keep them safe. But when she keeps back the fingerbones of her deceased parents from a ritual, Meg knows that the resulting storm and the destruction it causes is entirely her fault. As the rain clears, Meg discovers a strange girl washed up on the shore. Returning the girl to her island home is the only way to right her mistake and save her village. What follows is an adventure across land and sea where friendships are tentatively made and generation-old legends are set right… Released on June 4th 2026.
Bone Music by David Almond
From the multi-award-winning author of Skellig, Bone Music tells the story of Sylvia, who has had to move to rural Northumberland from the city of Newcastle. When haunting music calls to her at night, she meets Gabriel, who plays a flute carved from a hollow bone. Together, they explore the wild new landscape she finds herself in and he helps her to carve her own flute from the bone of a dead buzzard. Through her bond with Gabriel, Sylvia learns about ancient customs and beliefs like the power of the hollow-bone flute to cross the boundary between the living and the dead. This lyrical tale from a master storyteller highlights the power of connecting with nature to heal a sore heart.
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Bog Child follows 18-year-old Fergus as he navigates A-levels, the increasing threat of violence and his imprisoned brother’s hunger strike. When he and his uncle Tally find the perfectly preserved body of a girl in a local bog, Fergus fears she’s been murdered in the recent fighting. But when archaeologists tell him the body is from the Iron Age around 2000 years ago, Fergus is haunted by dreams from long ago and his story is entwined with that of the ancient girl.
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
The first in the bestselling Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, set in the pre-agricultural Stone Age of northern Europe. Torak is a member of Wolf Clan, who live in the forest following the prey they hunt and gathering wild plants. When Torak’s father is killed by a demon-possessed bear, Torak must travel to the Mountain of the World Spirit to find and fight its dark magic, with his adopted wolf cub by his side. Action-packed and with high stakes, Wolf Brother is a thrilling tale ideal for older children and is guaranteed to raise goosebumps.
The Wild Way Home by Sophie Kirtley
In this time-slip adventure, modern-day Charlie finds an injured boy face down in a river. But when Charlie rushes to the hospital for help, the local streets have been replaced by forest, somehow returning to the Ireland of almost 10,000 years ago. In helping Stone Age boy Arby save his little sister Mothgirl, Charlie returns home more capable of coping with the stresses of everyday life, having learned survival techniques like fire-making and way-finding. A heartwarming tale perfect for keen younger readers.
The Ocean and the Bones by Genevieve Carver
My own debut novel is an adventure story taking place around 6000 years ago, during the Neolithic period in Britain. One night, Little Meg’s coastal village is struck by a huge storm, and in the morning Meg finds a girl about her own age washed up on the shore. The girls discover that they come from very different worlds, speak different languages, and have different habits and customs. Yet they form a friendship that will set them off on a journey to a mythical island, where they must come face to face with the powers of the Water Spirits. The story is inspired by the flooding of the Doggerland land mass that once connected Britain to mainland Europe, and highlights themes of friendship, loss, prejudice and connection.
