Letters from the Upside

A hopeful story of finding your way back to yourself ... and to a place where you can spread your wings. From YOTO Carnegie Medal winner Katya Balen.
Con has been angry ever since Dad left. He doesn't want to be. He wants to play FIFA with his best friend Kyron; to make his mum proud; to let people's words about his dad roll off him like water. Instead, rage builds inside him until he explodes. Now even Kyron is scared of him. And when Con gets suspended from school he knows he's let everyone down. The good person he longs to be feels unreachable.
And then his neighbour, Mr Williams, lets him in on a secret.
Up on the roof of Con's building, Mr Williams keeps homing pigeons. Their feathers are the colour of pearls and storm clouds. Every day they fly out, carrying messages to people in other towns before finding their way home. Mr Williams wants Con's help looking after them. Con can't believe it. How could someone like him be trusted with these delicate creatures? But slowly, Con begins to believe that he can.
Then Mr Williams goes away for a few days. Con is left in charge, and he begins to wonder whether the pigeons might be able to bring home more than just messages. Perhaps they could find his dad.

Katya Balen is an award-winning author of books for children. Katya's debut novel, The Space We're In, was published in 2019 and was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award. Her second, October, October, won the Yoto Carnegie Medal. Her third novel, The Light in Everything, was published in 2022. When she's not writing books, Katya likes to scroll through dog-rescue websites, bake and attempt to keep all her house plants alive. She lives in London with her partner and their dog Mouse.
@katyabalen