Peter Dickinson has recently been known for fat fantasies — The Ropemaker and The Kin were both big, magical epics. The Gift Boat is a slim volume grounded in realism. It tells the moving story of the relationship between Gavin and his grandfather, who takes him fishing and teaches him to make model boats. One day his grandfather has a stroke and is taken to hospital. Gavin dedicates himself to his recovery, visiting daily to talk, read aloud and practise physiotherapy on his unresponsive limbs. Gavin persuades himself that the Selkies, the seal-people his grandfather told him about, may be able to help, and makes propitiatory gestures to them. This is a compelling tale of grief and hope, full of convincing and kindly contemporary characters: the working mother, the garrulous grandmother and the overworked hospital nurses and doctors. It weaves a strand of magic into its carefully observed ordinariness, but allows for a logical explanation of all events. It is a skilled and remarkable story with an optimistic conclusion, about a youngster facing grown-up challenges and learning to live with limitations.

(Macmillan £9.99)

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