In one of those coincidences that happen from time to time, a couple of days after I was offered a copy of this YA title to read and review, it came up in a thread I’d been tagged into on Bluesky of reads that are aimed at children and teenagers but that adults would also enjoy. Knowing very little about it, other than what I had read in the email I’d been sent, I was even more intrigued about the story and was delighted when it arrived a few days later. Aware that its subject matter might make it not the easiest of reads, I added it to the pile until I felt ready to pick it up but once I did, I rattled through it. A compelling story about the effects an unstable home life can have on young people, how easy it is to judge others, what love means and the generosity of strangers, this is a beautiful read that feels like a true story and one that will stay with me for some considerable time. When 12-year-old Jack’s family welcome Joseph to their family farm, Jack has no idea what to expect from the older boy, who he has been told tried to kill a teacher and has a baby daughter he has never seen, but when one of the family’s cows makes it clear she approves of the new arrival, Jack is sure he’ll fit in. As Jack and his parents try to give him the space he clearly needs, Joseph slowly but surely starts to become one of the family and reveals to Jack the events that led to his becoming a father and the attack that resulted in his being placed in the care system. Sympathetic to all that has brought him to this point, Jack and his family promise to do all that they can to help Joseph see his daughter, but when things don’t move fast enough for him, Joseph decides to take matters into his own hands and sets out through the arctic conditions the winter brings to find her, with Jake in pursuit. With the weather against the two boys, will fate intervene to reunite father and child, or does it have other plans for them both…? Jack and Joseph could not be more different in their circumstances. Jack has been blessed with loving parents, who value education and have high aspirations for him while Joseph has suffered violence at the hands of his selfish and abusive father. When the older boy arrives on the farm, he is immediately treated with the love and respect that everyone should receive but that are alien to him. When he enrols in Jack’s school, however, his reputation precedes him and with the exception of a few of the staff, he is treated as a lost cause by some of those he meets – a situation many readers will recognise. As we read on though, we can see the injustice of this. Joseph is not a bad person in need of punishment but a broken child who needs love and stability – things that Jack’s family not only have in abundance but want to share with him. Of course, as in the real world, things are never as simple as that and we are powerless to do anything to help but can only continue to turn each page as it presents itself to us and hope that things work out.