
What I Was
(2007)A novel by
Meg Rosoff
AwardsCosta Children's Book Award (nominee)
Carnegie Medal (nominee)
In 1962, a 16-year-old boy is dropped off by his father at a boarding school on the windswept coast of East Anglia. It is a model of its kind - the rooms are freezing, the food is disgusting, the older boys are sadistic, and the masters are the ineffectual, damaged castoffs of a dying Empire.
But the boy is used to the drill and well practiced at detached dreaming, imagining himself someone else, somewhere else. Until one day, falling behind one of the regular runs along the coast, he meets Finn.
Finn seems like a character from a novel, or a dream. Dressed in clothes that look the way they did a century before, Finn lives alone with his cat in a tiny fisherman's hut. The two become friends, the boy risking scandalous rumour and expulsion from school.
But the idyll cannot last, disaster invades from all sides, and the boy discovers that nothing has been what he believed.
What I Was will cement Meg Rosoff's reputation as a writer of extraordinary skill and sensitivity, who recreates with uncanny exactness the passions of youth.
But the boy is used to the drill and well practiced at detached dreaming, imagining himself someone else, somewhere else. Until one day, falling behind one of the regular runs along the coast, he meets Finn.
Finn seems like a character from a novel, or a dream. Dressed in clothes that look the way they did a century before, Finn lives alone with his cat in a tiny fisherman's hut. The two become friends, the boy risking scandalous rumour and expulsion from school.
But the idyll cannot last, disaster invades from all sides, and the boy discovers that nothing has been what he believed.
What I Was will cement Meg Rosoff's reputation as a writer of extraordinary skill and sensitivity, who recreates with uncanny exactness the passions of youth.
Similar Books by other authors...
Used availability for Meg Rosoff's What I Was
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
July 2008 : Hardback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4104-0787-X / 978-1-4104-0787-0 (USA edition) Publisher: Thorndike Press Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 2008 : Hardback
| Title: What I Was: A Novel Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-670-01844-9 / 978-0-670-01844-4 (USA, AU, or UK edition) Publisher: Viking Adult Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 2008 : Hardback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-385-66397-8 / 978-0-385-66397-7 (USA edition) Publisher: Doubleday Canada Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
August 2007 : Hardback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-14-138343-7 / 978-0-14-138343-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Puffin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
February 2009 : Paperback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-385-66398-6 / 978-0-385-66398-4 (USA edition) Publisher: Doubleday Canada Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
December 2008 : Paperback
| Title: What I Was: A Novel Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-452-29023-6 / 978-0-452-29023-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Plume Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
August 2008 : Paperback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-14-103831-4 / 978-0-14-103831-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
May 2008 : Paperback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-14-132246-2 / 978-0-14-132246-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Puffin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
August 2007 : Paperback
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 0-14-138392-5 / 978-0-14-138392-7 (UK edition) Publisher: Puffin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Audio Editions
February 2008 : Audio Cassette
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4332-0852-0 / 978-1-4332-0852-2 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Audio CD
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4332-0853-9 / 978-1-4332-0853-9 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
January 2008 : Audio Cassette
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4332-0849-0 / 978-1-4332-0849-2 Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc. Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 2008 : Audio CD
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4332-0850-4 / 978-1-4332-0850-8 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
2008 : Audio CD
| Title: What I Was - on Playaway Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-60640-271-4 / 9781606402719 (USA edition) Publisher: Playaway Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
Other Editions
November 2008 : Unknown
| Title: What I Was [With Headphones] (Playaway Adult Fiction) Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-60640-773-2 / 9781606407738 (USA edition) Publisher: Playaway Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
February 2008 : CD-ROM
| Title: What I Was Author(s): Meg Rosoff ISBN: 1-4332-0851-2 / 978-1-4332-0851-5 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 2008 : Kindle edition
| Title: What I Was Author(s): MEG ROSOFF Publisher: Viking Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
© 2009 FantasticFiction
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk
