NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

SYNOPSIS

An incisive, thought-provoking novel about revenge, abuse of power and, ultimately, redemption through friendship.

Eight years after witnessing the murder of his parents, Trey is sent to Camp Kernow. The camp is a correctional institution for young offenders that’s run by religious obsessives and convicted criminals, and controlled by the pervasive infl uence of the Preacher. In a bleak and brutal atmosphere the troubled teenagers are set to work farming, slaughtering and butchering cattle. But, unlike his fellow inmates, Trey isn’t looking for salvation. He’s there to exact revenge on the person who killed his parents. In fact, he deliberately committed arson in order to be interned at this very camp. Then, unexpectedly, sworn loner Trey fi nds himself drawn towards the perceptive, straight-talking Kay and ‘crazy’ Lamby, and he feels, for the fi rst time, what it might mean to have friends.

When Trey fi nally confronts the man he believes killed his parents, he learns something shocking about his father. Meanwhile, Lamby has discovered that the illegal immigrants working in a nearby building are involved in a drugs operation that’s connected with Camp Kernow, and a sense of distrust and disorder begins to swell. When full-blown paranoia and panic set in, the leaders fl ee and the camp descends into chaos, mirroring the social unrest affl icting the world outside. While camp bully Wilder rules his gang from the farmhouse, Trey, Kay, Lamby and a pair of mute twin brothers form an alliance on which their very survival depends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natasha Carthew is a country writer from Cornwall where she lives with her girlfriend of nineteen years. She has had three books of poetry published. Her fi rst novel, Winter Damage, was nominated for the 2014 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for several national awards, including the prestigious Branford Boase Award 2014.

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Ask students what they think The Light That Gets Lost is about, based on their response to the title and cover. What kind of book do they think this is going to be?

POST-READING DISCUSSION

1) Why is The Light That Gets Lost a suitable title for this book? Think of three alternative titles.

2) Trey stood small-boy fi erce in the room of hot air. (p.16) What image and impression does the phrase ‘small-boy fi erce’ evoke? Come up with fi ve adjectives, similes or metaphors to describe your fi rst impression of Trey.

3a) This was the place where things were about to rewind to the point of wrong and settle back right. (p.6) This is what Trey believes about Camp Kernow near the beginning of the novel. What does this mean at this early stage in Trey’s story? Does this turn out to be true? If so, how do things ‘settle back right’?

3b) Trey was forever waiting to get back to the start line, the start of his life as it was meant to be. (p.11) Do you think Trey fulfi ls this desire by the end of the novel? Is it ever possible to make a completely fresh start?

4) He wasn’t like these other boys. His life had been set upon by circumstances beyond his control. He wasn’t bad for the kick of things; he’d grown bad like bacteria on foul meat. (p.17) Do you agree with Trey that the other boys in the camp are ‘bad for the kick of things’? Does Trey’s opinion of his Camp Kernow peers change during the course of the novel?

5) He … knew that you should avoid the needy like the plague; their weakness could rub off and on to you. (p.18) Discuss the ethics of this opinion. Do you agree with Trey?

6) Consider how Trey refers to ‘the demon inside’ (p.10) throughout the novel. For example:

He would set the demon free. (p.12)

The demon shouted something that made it hard to hear. (p.22)

… it was the demon talking. The demon who poked at him with talons and threatened to bust from the inside out. (p.52)

Trey felt the demon twitch with pride. (p.113)

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

What does the demon represent? Why do you think Trey talks about it as an entity that’s separate from himself? What is the signifi cance of the demon leaving Trey when it does?

7) There was one thing worse than being with people and that was being with people you didn’t know. (p.33) What does this view reveal about Trey’s character? Can you empathise with this view? Think about a time when you’ve had to meet a group of strangers.

8) … there was something about Kay that was set right and he knew from this one day of meeting that he could trust her. (p.36)

…there was something about this girl that was different. She was everything other girls weren’t, tough-stitched and confi dent, and she acted like she didn’t have the time for much. (p.37)

What is your fi rst impression of Kay? Why do you think Trey feels drawn to her?

Do you agree with his view that girls aren’t usually ‘tough-stitched and confi dent’? Do you think Trey and Kay are ‘unlikely friends’ (p.250)? Why do you think they become friends?

9) How did you feel when Trey didn’t stick up for Lamby (p.44)? Do you agree with Trey’s assessment of himself as a ‘chicken’ (p.45)? Why don’t people stand up to bullies?

10) Wilder had a mouth like winter … (p.29) How effective is this simile? What kind of person does it suggest Wilder is? Does this image marry with your impression of Wilder? Consider Trey’s refl ection on Wilder: The boy didn’t want to escape, he had everything he needed right there. It was power and status, but perhaps camp gave something else to the kid who was as good as orphan. It provided him with a kind of family no matter how disaffected. (p.165) Does this make you feel sympathetic towards Wilder?

11) ‘And you int had no problems settlin and whatever?’

‘No sir.’ Trey felt uneasy. He liked it better when adults were strict. (p.46)

Why does this make Trey feel uneasy? Why do you think Trey prefers adults to be strict?

12) To what extent is this a political novel? Consider the description of society ‘outside’ the camp on p.59. Does this description have any parallels with life in contemporary Britain?

13) Why do you think Trey and Lamby strike up a friendship?

14) ‘That’s the problem with you newbies, so damn gullible.’ (p.72) Is Trey gullible?

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

15) There was a reason Trey didn’t trust anyone; people were just plain untrustworthy. (p.75) Why do you think Trey holds this view? Do you think he comes to truly trust Lamby and Kay?

16) Which moments in the novel did you fi nd most tense or shocking? Why? How does the author create this atmosphere?

17) How does the author bring the characters to life? Consider the use of dialogue and dialect.

18) For Mum and Dad and Billy he was ready to leap into the unknown and all he knew of that unknown was it had one single solitary name and the name was revenge. (p.5)

‘Revenge and all that, it’s a big fat waste of time. Nothin ever comes of it; nothing ever comes from goin after a ghost.’ (p.258)

Was Trey right to seek revenge in such a relentless fashion? Can you understand why he pursued revenge in this way? How else might he have coped with the loss of his parents? In what sense is revenge like ‘goin after a ghost’?

19) To him hurt was more powerful than love (p.239). Discuss why Trey might think that hurt is more powerful than love, and also give your own opinion of this view.

20) Trey didn’t know what to believe from anything the Preacher said, but if he was lying he could have made a better story of it. (p.155) Were you surprised by the Preacher’s revelations? Did you believe him?

21) Trey sat with the red of stupid burning in his cheeks and his neck almost in fl ames. (p.22)

He wished he could set fi re to his thinking. (p.23)

Discuss the literal and symbolic role of fi re in the novel.

22) ‘We got ourselves a lone wolf here, boys.’ (p.52)

There was nothing wrong with liking solitude when you were a loner; it was a used-to thing and a right thing and better for all concerned. (p.52)

Do you agree with Trey’s view that him being a loner is ‘better for all concerned’? Why is he a ‘lone wolf’? Is he still one by the end of the novel?

How and why does Trey change over the course of the novel? What does the novel reveal about the human need for companionship?

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

23) ‘You think we’re born bad? Some of us anyway?’ (Trey, p.187)

‘We all done things. Each damn kid in this hole done things, bad things. Don’t make you bad all the way through.’ (Kay, p.220).

Do you think some people are just ‘born bad’? Or does the morality of a person’s actions have more to do with circumstance? Could everyone make a ‘better go’ of life if they were ‘given the chance’ (p.243)?

24) For a moment he wished for Kay’s strength, she was sorted in all the ways that he was not. (p.233) Do you agree that Kay is stronger and more ‘sorted’ than Trey? How did you feel when she revealed why she’d been sent to the camp (p.219)? Does this revelation explain anything about her personality?

25) Do you think they were ‘brave or stupid’ (p.232) to stand up to Wilder? What would you have done?

26) Which character did you feel most warmth towards?

27) … a good day was coming, a good life starting over. (p.261)

What did you think of the ending of the novel? Did you feel as hopeful as Trey about his future? How did the fi nal paragraph make you feel?

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

BEYOND THE BOOK

1) Write a report

Kay unwound the newspaper sheet and she laid it between them and smoothed it fl at. ‘“Mob Rule. Children as young as nine go on the rampage,”’ they read in unison. (p.168)

Write the newspaper report referred to on pages 168–169. Report on the ‘Lootin, arson, fi ghtin, riotin in general’ that’s reported to be taking place outside the camp. Think about the style of your report, as well as the content. You might like to read genuine newspaper reports about rioting and social unrest to help you.

2) Summarise the story

Write a cover strapline that conveys the essence of the novel to attract readers. You might like to adapt a sentence from the book, or pose an arresting statement or question about the novel’s themes, or the challenges Trey faces.

3) Detailed diary entry

Write Wilder’s diary entry from the point at which he takes over the farmhouse. Try to get inside his head and understand what makes him tick. Ask yourself why he bullies people, and how it makes him feel. Do you think he ever feels any remorse for his behaviour? Think about how he speaks.

4) What happens next?

Write an additional chapter to the novel set one year later. Think about:

Content: what might have happened to Lamby in the meantime? For example, do you think Trey, Kay and Lamby are still friends, and still together? Did Trey fi nd his brother?

Style: consider the tone of the book, sentence structure, and the kind of language and imagery the author uses.

NATASHA CARTHEW

@NatashaCarthew #TLTGLVisit bloomsbury.com/childrens for more reading guides

FURTHER READING

How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff

Chaos Walking trilogy, Patrick Ness

Bog Child, Siobhan Dowd

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Holes, Louis Sachar

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

, Louis Sachar

BY THE SAME AUTHOR