The Wildcat and the Gathering Storm by Lui Sit – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: adventure, friendship, adapting, understanding, loss.
Children’s book title: The Wildcat and the Gathering Storm.
Children’s author: Lui Sit.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books.
ISBN: 9781035040346.
Recommended for children aged: 9+.
First published: September 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: those readers who enjoyed the first book and want to find out what happens next. To instigate discussion about how changes can be right even when they are hard or unavoidable.
Trigger warning: Death of a parent.
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Our review:
Puffin Lau’s mum is away once again, this time at a research centre on a frozen peninsula called Bluster. Back at home, Puffin and best friend Lance are looking after her wildcat, a kuri called Noma, when a television report shows Allegra Lau being arrested! By various not totally legal means, the two children manage to stow away and arrive undetected in the frozen landscape where her mum is working, except she is no longer there – having recently left for home!
When she is abandoned in the frozen wilderness with Lance and Noma nowhere to be found, Puffin knows she has to find out what is going on and why both her best friend and her wildcat are being hunted by one of the employees tasked with keeping an eye on them. Trying to get back to the relative safety of the research centre, Puffin comes face to face with someone she has battled before. Can she trust them long enough to find out what happened to her best friend or is she, once again, going to have to work alone to save Lance and Noma?
Our verdict:
Although the author says in her notes at the end of the book that she hadn’t planned on writing a second novel, this is a very satisfying follow-up to Land of the Wildcat which, although tying everything together nicely, leaves the door open for a third visit to Puffin, her friends, and family. There are changes coming for both Puffin and Lance as they prepare for Year 7 at two different schools, as well as knowing Noma will need to return to Linger Island before too long. These are interwoven into the adventure on the Bluster Peninsula and the redemption of the main antagonist from the first storyline, and although that doesn’t have a happy ending, it does provide the possibility of another adventure for all the characters who have made such a positive impact so far.
The subject of loss is also addressed here, with the previously mentioned death, but also the return of Noma to Linger Island and the prospect of an exciting new job for Allegra which would change everything for Puffin and Lance as well. All of this is handled sympathetically and the impression is left that although these changes will affect Puffin and Lance the most, they will still continue to be the best of friends.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- For her second adventure, Puffin finds herself in a frozen wilderness. What would you find the biggest challenge in that environment?
- Lance was easily led into danger by his love of snacks and then became very wary of them! How long would you be able to last without your favourite foods if this happened to you?
- Puffin will be living in a very different environment to the one she is used to. Make a list of the biggest changes and note which ones you would find hardest to get used to.
Many thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for the review copy.
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