Skellig
core novel 1998 Skellig
Record
| First published | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.81 (31,097 ratings, collected 2026-10-26) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780340716007 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
When a move to a new house coincides with the illness of his premature baby sister, ten-year-old Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain: his parents are frantic, and Doctor Death has come to call. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the crumbling garage of the new house and finds something beneath the spiderwebs and dead flies, a strange creature, part owl and part angel, who needs his help to survive. With his new friend Mina, the girl next door, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health and carries him out into the light, while his baby sister languishes in hospital, and Michael's world changes forever.
Where it sits
- Universe: Skellig
- Series: Skellig core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: David Almond
Awards (verified)
- Carnegie Medal, 1998: won
- Whitbread Book of the Year (Children's Book), 1998: won
- Mythopoeic Award (Children's Literature), 2000: finalist
Notes
- From the series record (Skellig): Skellig and its prequel.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Skellig: position 1 of 2: next My Name Is Mina (2010)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Skellig (prequel My Name is Mina, Hodder 2010)
- Hillside Books: Skellig (Hodder Children's Books, 11 August 1998, ISBN 9780340716007)
- TeachingBooks: Skellig (publisher description and CCBC annotation)
- Our Mythical Childhood survey: Skellig (Hodder, 1998; 1998 Carnegie Medal)
- Waterstones: Skellig (about the author)
- Mythopoeic Society (final ballots)
← Skellig dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.