My Name is Mina cover art

My Name is Mina

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About this listen

 There's an empty notebook lying on the table in the moonlight. It's been there for an age. I keep on saying that I'll write a journal. So I'll start right here, right now. I open the book and write the very first words: My name is Mina and I love the night. Then what shall I write I can't just write that this happened then this happened then this happened to boring infinitum. I'll let my journal grow just like the mind does, just like a tree or a beast does, just like life does. Why should a book tell a tale in a dull straight line

And so Mina writes and writes in her notebook, and here is her journal, Mina's life in Mina's own words: her stories and dreams, experiences and thoughts, her scribblings and nonsense, poems and songs. Her vivid account of her vivid life.

In this stunning audio book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig.

Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal.

(P) Hodder Children's Books 2011©2010 David Almond Chapter Books & Readers Fiction Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy

Critic reviews

A wonderful book. It is joyous. Thank you, David Almond; I cannot remember when a book filled me with such claminosity. (Marcus Sedgewick)
A skillful, affecting and impassioned book.
A celebration of the richness of the everyday world and to read it is to feel uplifted.
A rare and beautiful novel.
A pitch-perfect prequel to Skellig. A gloriously rich, multi-layered novel.
A poignant, heart-warming novel fuelled by Almond's generosity of spirit and his endorsement of childhood's individuality and quirkiness.
Another gem from this award-winning author.
A sensational meditation on creativity and the power of words. A must for any budding writer.
Almond's chatty, informal and unique writing is different from anything you have read by him before.
Almond promotes and celebrates freedom for children and their thinking in this lyrical book about growing up.
A joyous celebration of what it means to be young and alive and enquiring.
A truly remarkable book. A extraordinary masterpiece.
One of the stand-out novels of the year.
Intensely moving, this is a profoundly uplifting expression of joy, imagination and consciousness. Absolutely brilliant
All stars
Most relevant

If you could sum up My Name Is Mina in three words, what would they be?

superb emotional heart warming

Who was your favorite character and why?

mina was my favorite character becouse she was like me. She loves the moon and the night. And she is a lovely girl.

What about Charlie Sanderson’s performance did you like?

His performance was great and he has the perfect voice for the part that he playes.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

an amazing heart warming story perfect for the howl family to enjoy. The best book iv ever read.

Any additional comments?

My name is mina is one of the best books i have ever read.

marvalise mina

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I loved every minute of this, this...I dont know what to say except work of art, but I dont want to say that because its cheesy and i should be able to describe it better and I would be able to do that if I had been different and had a patient amazing mother like Minas, but I didn't and thats not to say that I dont love my mother to the end of the world and beyond becuase i do, and always will so its ok that she didnt talk about the ancient gods, life after death, how parts of us fly up in the sky and enter other people and the underworld and many more amazing things that Minas mum does because Im not Mina and I most likely would have looked at her funny so Im just very happy to have been able to see a sliver of her life and heard it narrated by an amazing story teller with expression, character love and laughter which you dont get often in an audiobook so all i can say, after all that preamble is that i loved this book, and i think you will too, and i hope one day my daughter will read it and will love it as much as i do and then we can go on a walk to where our feet take us and she can maybe pickup a pencil and write to the bottom of the page without finishing a sentence.

Amazing! i wish i had read this when I was younger

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I cannot recommend highly enough the recording of this book. The narrator sounds like a child, reads it in the most amazing fashion in the correct accent (or near enough as doesn't matter) and makes fabulously interesting, funny and moving what might seem peculiar on the page. The narrator really gets it! I would listen again in an instant if I were travelling again today.

Stunning is the word

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A book with quirky character and moving charm. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. (age recommendation: 10-15 y olds)

love it

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A feisty, imaginative and eloquent character who kept me hooked. I’m so glad to have discovered this book.

Enchanting and poignant

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