{{Short description|2017 novel by Geraldine McCaughrean}}
{{Infobox book | author = [[Geraldine McCaughrean]] | pub_date = May 1, 2017 | publisher = [[Usborne Publishing]] | isbn = 978-1-474-92114-5 | awards = [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]] (2018) | image = Where-the-World-Ends.jpg | country = United Kingdom }}
'''''Where the World Ends''''' is a 2017 [[Young adult literature|young adult]] novel by British writer [[Geraldine McCaughrean]] and illustrated by [[Jane Milloy]]. It won the 2018 [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]].<ref name="Yoto2018">{{Cite web |title=Geraldine McCaughrean scoops second CILIP Carnegie Medal 30 years after first win and champions triumph of 'literary' fiction |url=https://yotocarnegies.co.uk/geraldine-mccaughrean-scoops-second-cilip-carnegie-medal-30-years-after-first-win-and-champions-triumph-of-literary-fiction/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=[[The Yoto Carnegies]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=2018-06-18 |title=Carnegie medal winner slams children's book publishers for 'accessible' prose |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/18/carnegie-medal-winner-slams-publishers-easy-reading-geraldine-mccaughrean |url-status=live |access-date=2023-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319171105/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/18/carnegie-medal-winner-slams-publishers-easy-reading-geraldine-mccaughrean |archive-date=19 March 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Plot summary == ''Where the World Ends'' is a historical fiction story of survival and resilience. Set in 1727 on the remote [[St Kilda, Scotland|St Kilda]] archipelago in northern Scotland, the book follows a group of nine boys and three men who are abandoned on a [[sea stack]] while harvesting birds for an annual tradition. When the boat does not return after two weeks, the boys must confront fear, suffering, and death, and decide what makes life worth living.
== Reception == ''Where the World Ends'' was positively received by critics, including starred reviews from ''[[Booklist]]'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Reagan |first=Maggie |date=2020-03-15 |title=Where the World Ends |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Where-the-World-Ends-/pid=9733182 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref> ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'',<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2019-07-20 |title=Where the World Ends |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/geraldine-mccaughrean/where-the-world-ends/ |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref> and ''[[Shelf Awareness]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Coulter |first=Emilie |date=2020-01-03 |title=Where the World Ends |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=880 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=[[Shelf Awareness]]}}</ref>
Reviewing the book, ''Booklist''<nowiki/>'s Maggie Reagan wrote, "McCaughrean ... slips into the cracks of the human soul, dissecting with compassion the many paths that a person might take when confronted with such a challenge. The design of the book is as austere as its subject ... and, in an afterword, McCaughrean describes the tragic true story that inspired her own. Though this story is desperately sad at times, it glistens, too, propelled by the notion that where there is life, there is always, always hope."<ref name=":0" />
''Kirkus Reviews'' called the novel "a masterpiece," highlighting how "McCaughrean takes the bones of a real event, wraps it in immersive, imaginative detail and thoroughly real emotion, and creates an unforgettable tale of human survival.<ref name=":1" />
Writing for ''Shelf Awareness'', Emilie Coulter highlighted how ''Where the World Ends'' "stuns with its dark narrative and haunting visual imagery." She further commended McCaughrean's decision to include "illuminating back matter, like a glossary, and an illustrated list of the birds of 18th-century St. Kilda," which helps readers to "[explore] what happens when the everyday-ordinary turns disastrously extraordinary."<ref name=":3" />
== Awards == ''Where the World Ends'' is a [[Junior Library Guild]] book.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781250225498J&name=Where_the_World_Ends |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=[[Junior Library Guild]]}}</ref> ''Booklist'' included it on their 2020 "Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth" list.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Julia |date=2020-03-15 |title=Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth: 2020 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=9735525 |access-date=2020-06-07 |website=[[Booklist]]}}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" |+Awards for ''Where the World Ends'' !Year ! colspan="2" |Award !Result !Ref. |- ! rowspan="3" |2018 |[[Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards]] |Young Adult |{{Sho}} |<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-10 |title=BAMBRA 2018 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksellers.org.uk/industryinfo/industryinfo/latestnews/BAMBRA-2018-shortlists-announced |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=The Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom & Ireland Limited}}</ref> |- |[[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]] |— |{{Won}} |<ref name="Yoto2018" /><ref name=":2" /> |- |Independent Bookshop Week Book Award |Young Adult |{{Won}} |<ref>{{cite web |title=Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2019 |url=https://indiebookshopweek.org.uk/IBWBookAward |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421182847/https://indiebookshopweek.org.uk/IBWBookAward |archive-date=21 April 2019 |access-date=15 October 2019}}</ref> |- !2020 |[[Michael L. Printz Award]] |— |{{Sho|Honor}} |<ref>{{Cite web |last=Communications and Marketing Office |date=2020-01-27 |title="Dig" wins 2020 Printz Award |url=https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2020/01/dig-wins-2020-printz-award |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=[[American Library Association]] |language=en}}</ref> |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{S-start}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{succession box|title=[[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal recipient]]|before=''[[Salt to the Sea]]''|after=''[[The Poet X]]''|years=[[2018 in literature|2018]]}} {{S-end}}
[[Category:2017 children's books]] [[Category:British children's novels]] [[Category:British historical novels]] [[Category:Children's historical novels]] [[Category:Novels set in the 18th century]] [[Category:Novels set in Scotland]] [[Category:Children's books set in Scotland]] [[Category:Children's books set on islands]] [[Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature–winning works]]