‘I don’t know whether it’s memories of idyllic childhood holidays or the hypnotic and untameable power of the sea, but Cornwall has always had a magical hold over me; a hold which Helen Dunmore captures so brilliantly in her latest children’s book, Ingo ... Though the first in a series, this book works perfectly as a standalone title, with a satisfying resolution but enough left hanging in the air to make the characters and situations live on in the reader’s mind. Ingo has a haunting, dangerous beauty all of its own.’
(Philip Ardagh in The Guardian)
‘The electric thrill of swimming with dolphins, of racing along currents and of leaving the world of reason and caution behind are described with glorious intensity ... the lyrical writing and Dunmore’s intense sympathy for all she describes make this a perfect book with which to wind up the summer holidays, or to recollect them.’
(Amanda Craig in The Times)
Helen Dunmore’s Ingo is an intoxicating adventure in which the world of humans, Air, collides with that of the Mer people. Wonderful, evocative storytelling ...
(Publishing News)
‘Dunmore’s porthole to an underwater world is one of the highlights of her book: clouds of silver fish flicker through Sapphy’s fingers; rafts of purple jellyfish float by, skirts billowing; and herds of sea horses ride the curve of a merman’s tail. This marine imagery gives the story a wonderful sprinkling of the nautical and the magical, but it also allows Dunmore to float gently over a young girl’s bereavement. Sapphy’s sadness sweeps over her like a dark cloud over the sea, and her grief is only eased by the passage of time, the same way that the sea grinds stones into sand. Dunmore also uses Ingo to raise environmental issues, such as the damage ‘Air People’ do to the oceans, concerns that can only strengthen the books’ appeal to nature-loving, sun-kissed young surfer chicks.’
(Telegraph)
