Way Home

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The people are the most interesting aspect of this book but there’s not enough about them. I wanted to know more about Kirsty. But not enough to finish this. A third of the way through I decided not to continue because frankly I have lots more books to read sent I’m not struggling on with this After the stories popped up in my newsfeed enough times I finally decided to dive in and in learn about who this guy was. I was quite inspired right away and he made me rethink much of my life.

Way Home - story about children’s imagination (read On the Way Home - story about children’s imagination (read

So, hearing that Boyle is now using a bit more modern technology and going into cities to do talks and book signings, I can imagine the frustration with standard sleep hours, the obtrusiveness of bizarrely emotive pop music in public places; the strange lacunae one has with news after a long time away from it. (I'm glad my years off from news were doldrum ones; now is a bad time not to be informed. I caught up on politics long ago, but occasionally I still become aware of other gaps from those years: a few weeks ago I saw a report about a crime from 2014 that read like it was a huge story at the time, but I'd never heard of it before; and until I read this a few days ago, I'd assumed "U ok hun?" was just a meme-based way to be bitchy.) The author hates big business and Silicon Valley billionaires (Exhibit A: “Now I suspect that supporting a corporate football team is a sort of toxic substitute for our basic need to belong to a tribe who are all bound by the same common purpose. But when one player you roared on one season signs for a rival club the next, for 90 million Euros, the joke starts to wear thin.”) I found the title through a list of puctre books for older children and I kind of spoiled the ending... But some people here did the same! u.u Summary: A narrative of a year without modern technology, and what it is like to live more directly and in rhythm with the immediate world of the author's smallholding and community.The theme of poverty is explored through this, so teachers would need to be aware of children's own situations when reading this. This book could provide a good receptive context for PHSE lessons surrounding this theme. Way home follows a young boy called Shane and a stray cat that Shane has decided to home. During their journey home, Shane and the cat experience many dangerous encounters such as a gang of lads and a dog. Throughout this book, Shane is always telling the cat that they are close to home so the reader is left guessing as to where Shane lives. This provides children with the opportunity to imagine where Shane lives and what it looks like. When we find out where Shane lives, it is on the streets covered with newspapers and Shane's drawings of cats. Although Shane has very little, he wants to give everything he can to make sure that the cat has everything that he needs. Revise with students the conventions of letter writing (correct layout, format, language use, etc.) for causes. Good examples come from various charities appealing for donations. These examples are highly persuasive. Have students write a letter to petition the RSPCA advocating for animal rights and why we should be protecting animals that might be homeless. Before beginning revise persuasive devices such as modality, logos and ethos. From the title, you may have guessed that the author wrote this entire book in longhand using pencil and paper! Mark Boyle left the business world, built a cabin in rural Ireland, and disconnected from technology. I half expected to be preached at, but instead this is an honest account of his ongoing struggle with how far he can realize his goal. For example, he had an internal debate about putting a patch on his rubber tire on his bicycle, knowing that rubber comes from a great distance, and wondered whether he would be more true to himself if he abandoned his bicycle and walked instead. (He did patch the tire). In this honest and lyrical account of a remarkable life without modern technology, Mark Boyle, author of The Moneyless Man, explores the hard won joys of building a home with his bare hands, learning to make fire, collecting water from the stream, foraging and fishing.

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A fascinating and interesting book. I liked the style of writing and I think this book is full of food for thought. Also, I don’t know what the use is of cutting down trees (beech and birch) just to warm up your place (no word on how he controls wood from disease, termite) and reading paper-books, instead of ebooks because the tree loss is huge in both cases and makes his work against nature as opposed to pro-nature. Or whether he plants new trees each spring (he planted new trees in 2013 before moving in the farmhouse). For a picture book though I would say it is rather frightening. It's a story of a boy who lives in an inner city, finds a young cat, and decides to take it home. They must travel through a gauntlet of dark and very scary incidents and places to get home. And home....

Boyle has gone the way of so many existential dreamers - looking for something true and real outside of our industrialized society. He admires Wendell Berry (who wouldn't), Edward Abbey, Schumacher, and your usual coterie of natural romantics and off-the-gridders. This book takes us into Boyle's world: a world he made impressively small and immediate with his decision to "log off" for good. He lives in a self-built cabin entirely without technology. No electricity, and certainly no smartphones or computers. He attempts to recreate a more immediate community, getting to know his small-town farmer neighbors (most of whom use tractors I should mention), drinking at the local pub, and creating an adjacent hostel that you have to find by word-of-mouth and is entirely free. You know that industrial capitalism is nearing the completion of its ultimate vision when people have to pay their neighbors to go for a walk with them... No running water, no car, no electricity or any of the things it powers: the internet, phone, washing machine, radio or light bulb. Just a wooden cabin, on a smallholding, by the edge of a stand of spruce. Way Home tells the story of a boy, named Shane, and a stray cat. Shane discovers the cat out on the streets, who is initially resistant to Shane holding home. Shane manages to calm the cat and begin the journey to taking it home. This narrative shows the frightening and dark encounters the two companions face on the way home, showing the development of their friendship and trust. Eventually, the reader is taken to Shane's home. The place that he calls home is on the streets, where Shane houses newspapers and drawings.

Way Home - Reading Australia

This book is told through blank verse and would be very useful in when looking at poetry in KS2. It contains a lot of repetitive language as well as the use of great metaphors for amazing imagery. Really loved the illustrations of this book as they really helped to tell the story and set the scene. I also assumed he must be something of a hermit, but Boyle doesn't reject people, only civilization. He enjoys socializing with the neighbours, walks to his village pub once a week, and has lots of company at his humble cabin. Mostly, though, his days are spent growing and foraging his own food, fetching his own water, and cutting his own firewood. The implied reader must have a simple understanding of different social classes as well as homelessness. This ties in with the themes of the book which we identify as:

Publisher's synopsis

The above quotation is so true. And simple. The older we get the more it resonates. Our past comes up to catch us and we see the error of our ways. Mark Boyle has produced a fine and interesting textbook as well as a memoir of life worth living. I am sure there will be more. Have students complete a ‘missing persons’ poster on the main character, Shane. As detectives on this case, students should aim to be as detailed as possible considering all the details and clues presented via his appearance, his speech and characteristics. Posters could then be displayed around the class and a ‘Chief Detective’ could come visit the classroom to see which posters would be most helpful for this case.