I have a new resolution to do more reviewing and author interviews here on my blog, and this wonderful middle-grade novel made it easy for me to start, because I’m bubbling over to share how good it is.
The Weather Weaver is the fantastic debut novel by Tamsin Mori, published by Uclan Publishing. The story follows eleven-year-old Stella as she moves back to Shetland to stay with her Grandpa while her parents are busy working. But Grandpa has changed since the death of Stella’s beloved Gran, and the six weeks of summer suddenly seem very long indeed. Following a painful row, Stella storms out and has a strange encounter with an old woman called Tamar. From Tamar, Stella learns that she is a weather weaver, someone who can do weather-magic, and Tamar starts teaching Stella how to control and use her gifts.
Stella begins by summoning a little cloud called Nimbus who has ideas of his own about how they will work together. When the island is threatened by the terrifying Haken, a sea witch, Stella must work with both Tamar and Grandpa to save all of their lives, by realising – and controlling - the full extent of her own power.
There are so many things I loved about this story: the crisp writing, pacy and clear, which conjures the island setting brilliantly in all its weather and colour. The characters are loveable and vivid, but no one is too perfect. Rather, people can be flawed, grumpy, or eccentric, and best of all, they’re allowed to make mistakes, change and grow.
Complex emotions are discussed, named and explored, sometimes linked to aspects of the weather. So when Stella is controlling the wind, she has to tap into the feeling of joy she gets racing down the hill in a high wind. Stella and Grandpa are both grieving Gran, and it brings conflict and misunderstanding, but all these threads are untangled and brought into the light with apologies and reconciliation.
Stella’s relationship with Nimbus is very endearing, with the cloud acting like a wilful pup at the start. Slowly they come to trust each other and communicate more clearly, with lots of humour along the way. There’s tons of humour in all the human interactions, and some lovely dialogue throughout. The story builds to an exciting climax which will have young readers racing to the end. A fantastic debut and very highly recommended!
I’m thrilled that Tamsin has answered some questions for me here. Please read on for an author interview:
I love the way that none of the characters is perfect, but rather flawed, loveable, individual and allowed to change. Is that something you deliberately set out to achieve from the start, or did your characters just arrive in your imagination that way?
I've always loved writing flawed characters - to me, they feel more real - none of us are perfect. Also, I feel that reading stories with relatable flawed characters is a good way to notice our own imperfections; as a first step in mending them, or even to recognise them as strengths.
Stella, the main character, is quite outspoken and quick-tempered, which could definitely be seen as a flaw. At the same time, I admire her willingness to trust her heart's truth and speak up, even when the grown-ups around her are telling her something different.
Lots of different emotions are described in the course of the story, sometimes with a colour or a weather-type as a kind of metaphor for that feeling. Was that part of your vision for the story, or did it arise from Stella's adventure? When you speak to children about the story, is that something you want to discuss actively?
I've always felt an emotional connection with the weather - both how it makes me feel, and as a way of describing how I feel. The colours evolved later, once I had started writing Stella's adventure. My initially murky ideas suddenly came clear when I wrote about Tamar's jar of rainbows. After that, they seemed to fit hand in hand. As with weather, there's a very universal connection between colour and emotion. There are so many examples in the way we describe our emotions; seeing red, feeling blue, tickled pink...
I'd love to discuss this with children - I'm planning some fun creative writing, poetry, and art activities around this theme! Using colour and weather as metaphors is a really gentle and intuitive way to approach expressing the full spectrum of emotions. I was delighted to see that The Rabbit Hole Brigg used The Weather Weaver with their reading group to explore how the children felt about starting back at school - they all drew their emotions in terms of weather.
For me, the island felt very real and alive and specific, as if it is somewhere you know and love. How important is landscape to you?
I wanted to anchor the story in the landscape, because the Shetland landscape is what inspired the story! My mother's side of the family are all Shetlanders and we visited often when I was growing up, so it feels both deeply familiar and magical at the same time. I went back to stay for a while when I was editing the story, to make sure that every detail was vivid and true. The island in The Weather Weaver is actually a blend of several different Shetland locations - Mousa, Bressay, and Muckle Roe - all of which are every bit as wonderful in real life.
Nimbus is a huge part of the book's appeal, and seems to function a bit like a lively sheepdog pup or similar. I love the way that Stella and Nimbus have to work on trust and communication. Where did that idea come from?
The very first time I pictured them together, I saw Nimbus floating right over Stella's head and deliberately raining on her. I could tell exactly how cross that would make her, but it also made me laugh. From that point on, I worked on gradually building trust and friendship between them - tricky, when Nimbus was determined to act out all the time! The key was realising that Nimbus wasn't just being mischievous, he was actually reacting to Stella - they both had some work to do.
What are you working on next? There are a few story threads left tantalisingly open for a return to Stella's world. If the next book is a sequel, had you always planned it that way, and if not, what gave you the idea for the next story?
I'm currently editing book two in the Weather Weaver series and loving it - I'm so glad I get to take Stella and Nimbus on a new adventure.
If I'm honest, planning might be a strong word - the truth is that I started the story much further on, before realising that I hadn't given readers any idea how Stella came to have a cloud in the first place! I proceeded to write myself backwards out of the original story, to the tune of two books... ho hum. So, not exactly planned, and probably not the recommended approach, but I do know what happens next.
Thank you, Tamsin! I can’t wait to read book two. Best of luck with the edits meanwhile. To find out more, you can follow Tamsin on Twitter here.