One of England's most beloved writers for children--and winner of the Carnegie Medal, the Regina Medal, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award--retells one of the best-loved fairy tales of all time.

The year is 2150. Ninety percent of the world's population has been wiped out. Civilization has evolved to accommodate various cultures. In Newfoundland, a 'livyer' culture dominates. The population is a quarter of what it was and spread out over a greater area in small 'tiltons' - communities of people who live in the bush but travel out to the coast to trade. Viddy, the protagonist, has to learn to function in this new society, which takes pride in its mixed Inuit/Newfoundland heritage.