My Name is Mina by David Almond

My Name is Mina

"My name is Mina and I love the night. Anything seems possible at night when the rest of the world has gone to sleep. It’s dark and silent in the house, but if I listen close, I hear the beat beat beat of my heart. I hear the creak and crack of the house. I hear my mum breathing gently in her sleep in the room next door."

So starts this book. I vaguely remembered Mina from Skellig – she was this strange girl who quoted William Blake and was home schooled. The basic reason to getting this book was because it was pretty. Yeah, it's a kind of prequel to Skellig. But it's so pretty!

My version

And once I got it I realized it wasn't just the cover. My Name is Mina is something of a diary book, not the regular Dear Diary type, but one where Mina rambles about stuff she likes, and writes her bizarre thoughts. In her words, a diary of exciting things, and exciting things of course cannot be written in boring typeface – so the book is pretty cool inside too.

There is not really a plot as such, it's just Mina telling about herself, how she hated school and how she loves her tree and her cat and making up words. But Mina is lovely and I had great fun reading more about her and getting to know her. She is a strange kid, and I couldn't help but relate to her. She had weird ideas and thoughts, and she was usually up to no good (especially when she was in school – think Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes). There were parts for laughs and smiles, and parts for really laughing at loud.

Yet another pretty cover

But underneath it all, we still had a little girl still trying to come to terms with the death of her father. There were parts that really warmed my heart, some that really made me wish for something good to happen to her, something exciting and magical (well, I guess it did, in Skellig).

I really enjoyed this book, a mixture of fun and aww moments. It's for younger audiences, but I think anyone can love it. I sure did. (Plus, pretty cover!)


Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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