There's an empty notebook lying on the table in the moonlight.

It's been there for an age. I keep on saying that I'll write a journal. So I'll start right here, right now. I open the book and write the very first words: My name is Mina and I love the night.

Then what shall I write? I can't just write that this happened then this happened then this happened to boring infinitum.

I'll let my journal grow just like the mind does, just like a tree or a beast does, just like life does.

Why should a book tell a tale in a dull straight line? And so Mina writes and writes in her notebook, and through her stories, thoughts, lessons and dreams, Mina's journal and mind grow into something extraordinary.

In this stunning book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig, in what is a thought-provoking and extraordinary prequel to his best-selling debut novel, Skellig - winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book Award.

David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.

My Name is Mina has been longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2011.