Author Visits: Fortismere School

I'd like to say a very big thank you to brilliant librarian Gillian Ward and to everyone at Fortismere School for the fantastic welcome they gave me when I returned to visit them again last week!

I was Patron Of Reading at Fortismere for two years, from 2015-2017 – you can read all my blogs about everything we did here!  So it was a total pleasure to come back and meet the new Year 7s, and to talk to them about writing and books.  And then in the evening, I had the honour of meeting this year's Reading Champions.

Reading Champions involves young readers recommending their favourite books to each other in presentations.  This year, the finalists were championing a wonderful range of books: Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman, Railhead by Philip Reeve, Wonder by RJ Palacio, The Enemy by Charlie Higson, Itch by Simon Mayo, Swallows And Amazons by Arthur Ransome, The Last Wild by Piers Torday, Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak – and, amazingly, Phoenix by me!

I was knocked out by these presentations, and by their passion for books and reading.  And I was especially delighted when Zaki's fantastic presentation on Phoenix was voted the winner!  So congratulations to Zaki – and thanks to everyone who made this such a memorable evening!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Years 7 & 8

For the past two years, I've been honoured to be Fortismere School's Patron Of Reading.  This is a fantastic scheme where an author develops a special relationship with a school, and visits many times to help spread the love of reading.  I was invited to do this by Fortismere's fabulous librarian Gill Ward, and you can read about all the work we've been doing here.

This month saw my final day at Fortismere.  First of all, I had lunch with a creative writing group of Year 7s and Year 8s, where we looked at the stories they'd been working on.  I was really impressed with the standard of writing – I think there are definitely some future authors here!

Then I did a creative writing workshop with a Year 8 class, in which I asked them to write stories they would want to read themselves, and worked with them through the processes of having an idea, writing a first draft, and then editing it.  They produced some fantastic work in just one hour – stories that showed real imagination and craft.

I then spent some very enjoyable time with Fortismere's Carnegie Shadowing Group.  They are part of the amazing Shadowing Scheme run by the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards.  They read all the books on the Carnegie Medal shortlist, and write reviews of them online.

We had a really fascinating, open, honest discussion about the books on this year's shortlist.  It was amazing to see there was at least one person who loved every book – and at least one person who didn't!  Things that work for one reader don't necessarily work for another.  But this year, it's fair to say that the majority of Fortismere Shadowers agreed with the judges that Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys was the outstanding book.

Finally, my last event as Fortismere Patron Of Reading was the Reading Champions evening.  The idea of Reading Champions began at the very beginning of my time at Fortismere, when I suggested that it would be great to see young readers recommending their favourite books to each other.  So all through the year, Fortismere Year 7s have been making presentations championing their favourite books, and this evening saw the very best of them competing in the final!

They made terrific cases for books including Wonder by RJ Palacio, One by Sarah Crossan, White Fang by Jack London, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve, Five Children On The Western Front by Kate Saunders, Geek Girl by Holly Smale, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, and The Enemy by Charlie Higson.

It was amazing to see how passionate they were about their favourite books, and how imaginative they were in making their presentations.  For a writer, there could be nothing more inspiring to witness – so I'd like to end my final blog with a big THANK YOU to all the young readers and writers I've been working with for the past two years, to all their parents and teachers, and to their fantastic librarian for inviting me to do this work: it's been brilliant!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Year 7

On World Book Day this year, I had the pleasure of visiting Fortismere School again as their Patron Of Reading.  I was invited by the brilliant school librarian Gill Ward to talk to Year 7 about their Inter-College Reading Champions Competition, which the school is running again after it proved hugely successful last year.

I started by asking Year 7 to tell me some of the things they loved about books.  I was delighted to hear many different reasons to love reading: everyone had a different reason, and a different favourite book!  I think that's fantastic, because I believe everyone is potentially a reader.  Anyone who thinks they're not just hasn't found the right book yet – the one that's going to become their favourite.

So we then talked about the various ways that people find their favourite books.  The most powerful is personal recommendation.  If someone you know tells you they love a book, it makes you want to read it too.  And that's the idea behind the Reading Champions Competition.  Everyone in Year 7 will be championing their favourite book, and trying to get other people to read it.

But what are the elements that make up a great book?  What are the things you want to hear about if you're hearing about a story?  The first one is surely characters.  You can't have a story without characters.  They are so important, books are often named after them.

Characters don't have to be human, of course.  They can be cats, like Varjak Paw, or aliens, like Bixa Quicksilver in Phoenix, or anything at all.  But the first thing anyone is going to want to hear about a story is: WHO IS THE STORY ABOUT?

The next thing a story needs is a setting.  The story needs to happen in a particular time and place.  This is true of all stories – not just books, but also films, TV, comics and so on.

The very first words we see in Star Wars tell us about the setting: the time and place where the story happens.  So anyone who is championing a book is going to have to say something about: WHERE & WHEN DOES THE STORY HAPPEN?

The next thing we need is action.  Characters have to do something in this time and place.  The action can be anything: from very ordinary, everyday actions, to the most amazing magical things you can imagine.  Harry Potter has both of these, and everything in between!

So now we have a third element: WHAT DO THE CHARACTERS DO?  Between characters, setting and action, you've got the bones of a story, and when you're championing a book, those are probably the main things you'll focus on.

But there's one more thing you'll need to mention.  This one is a bit more elusive.  It's the meaning of the story, and it's to do with why the characters do what they do, and why the story matters to the reader.  This touches on the story's deeper themes and metaphors.  These things might not be obvious on the surface, and you may have to step back a bit to find them – but all stories have them.  Even the simplest stories are underpinned by this question: WHY DOES IT MATTER?

And now you have what journalists call The 5 Ws: : Who, Where, When, What, and Why.  These are the elements that all stories have.  You can look out for them when you read, and you should mention them when championing a story.  But of course there are many different ways in which you can express these things, and if anyone from Fortismere would like some ideas for how to go about championing a book and making a presentation, here's a blog from last year with lots of suggestions!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Years 9 & 10

It was an absolute pleasure to return to Fortismere School last month, when I'm currently Patron Of Reading.  You can read about my previous visits to Years 7 & 8 in these blogs; but this time I decided with the brilliant school librarian Gill Ward to do some creative writing workshops with students from Years 9 & 10.

First of all, I asked the students to think about the sort of story they would like to read themselves.  I asked them to think of a character, a setting and an action for their story; and then asked them to write a write a first draft very quickly.

Then we talked about how a writer can get distance on their story, and come back to read it again as if they hadn't written it themselves.  This helps when editing it into a second draft, and this process eventually leads to a piece of writing that is as good as it can possibly be – always my aim when I'm writing a story!

They worked really brilliantly at these different stages of the process, and I was blown away by the stories they read out at the end!  I think these students have huge potential as writers, and so I'm delighted to share some of their work here.

If anyone from Fortismere would like any advice on writing, here's a link to all my blog posts about it.  Or you can just leave me a comment below, and I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Year 8

I believe all writers are readers, and all readers can be writers – something I've written about elsewhere recently.  So as Patron Of Reading at Fortismere School, I decided with brilliant librarian Gillian Ward to focus on reading with Year 7, and writing with Year 8.  And it was a pleasure last week to spend time working with two Year 8 classes on creative writing.

I talked them through the three main stages of the writing process: getting an idea, writing a first draft, and then editing it to make it as good as it can be.  I asked them to think of ideas for stories they would want to read themselves, and then to write drafts and edit them.  We only had an hour, but in that time, they produced some amazing work, and I'm delighted to share some of it here:

Lois

The sun shone through the windows, the light bouncing off the plastic coated covers and labels. The book sat on the shelf, the top shelf, above the others. The book had been there all day. All week. Before the sun arrived on the shelf, there had been darkness; a cramped, dusty darkness that had shadowed its pages and words and story. A story that had been told to the first person to open the book. And the second. And the third.

Jai

He woke up in a frivolous mood and clambered up to the deck of the ship. He saw the moon’s pockmarked surface through the plexiglass windows and sighed to himself. Back on Jupiter he knew his family would be moving to the secret base in the ocean in preparation for the war. He stood, gazing out at the atmosphere studded with giant balls of blazing gas and wondered if he would make it back to his home planet alive. Silently behind him, Will shuffled out of the sleeping quarters and made himself tea: rooibos, a rare plant scavenged from the remains of earth.

Issei

Sam loves books. He spends all his breaks in the school library. This separates him from the others. Even though the librarians praise him, his friends don’t. Well, he can’t really call them friends now. He started to prefer books to his mates and one by one they left him. Now, the only friends he has are books. He’s even become friends with Harry Potter!

It was a pleasure working with these students – some of their ideas just blew me away.  I hope they continue to work on their writing, because if they do, before too long, I think they'll be publishing books of their own!  Here's a link to some writing tips I've done on this blog that might be helpful with that – and if anyone from Year 8 has any questions or would like to leave me a comment, this is the place to do it!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Year 7

I was delighted to return to Fortismere School last week for the start of my second year as their Patron Of Reading.  Patron Of Reading is a brilliant scheme in which authors don't just visit a school once, but return several times to help spread the love of reading.  I was invited to do this last year by Fortimsere's fantastic librarian Gill Ward, and you can read about all the things we did last year in these blog posts.

We started my second year's activities with the new Year 7, who I had the pleasure of meeting last week.  They gave me a wonderful welcome, and I was excited to see that they're already brilliant readers.  When I asked what their favourite books were, it was great to hear so many different favourites, from classics like The Lord Of The Rings to books like this year's Carnegie Medal winner, Sarah Crossan's One.

I talked to them about the books that were my favourites when I was at school, like Watership Down by Richard Adams.  (If anyone would like to know more about that book, I wrote a whole blog post about it here.)  I also talked to them about my favourite films, like the original Star Wars (and I've just written a blog about seeing that film back when I was 10!)

We went on to talk about how you go from being a reader to being a writer, and how stories like Watership Down influenced Varjak Paw, and how Star Wars influenced Phoenix.  I really do believe that every writer is a reader, and every reader can be a writer.  A writer is really just a reader who's taken the next step, and decided to write the story they want to read themselves!

We didn't have quite enough time to answer all the questions that everyone had, so if anyone at Fortimsere has another question, or would like to say anything about the visit or my books, just leave me a comment below.  And I look forward to returning to Fortismere next week to talk to Year 8 about creative writing, and then returning next term to talk more about our favourite books with Year 7!

Author Visits: Bishop's Stortford College

I'd like to say a big thank you to the brilliant librarian Rosie Pike for inviting me to visit Bishop's Stortford College last month – and to everyone I met there for the wonderful welcome they gave me!

I really enjoyed talking to the school book club about Varjak Paw, which they're currently reading.  I heard some amazing questions and observations about the book, and was really impressed with how thoughtfully they'd read it, as well as the work some of them had made around it!

It was then a pleasure to talk to Years 7, 6 and 5 about reading and writing, and to sign their books at the end.  We didn't quite have enough time to answer all the questions that everyone had, so if anyone from Bishop's Stortford would like to ask anything else, or to say anything about the visit or the books, just leave me a comment below!

Many thanks to College photographer Ian Taylor for the pictures – you can see more in this fantastic blog about my visit on the school website!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Years 7 & 8

I've been honoured and excited this year to take on a new role as Fortismere School's Patron Of Reading.  This is a scheme in which authors develop a special relationship with a school, and visit many times to help spread the love of reading.  I was invited to do this by Fortismere's fantastic librarian, Gill Ward, and our first year's activities came to a wonderful conclusion this month.

First of all, I spent an afternoon with Fortismere's Year 8 Carnegie Shadowers.  The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals run an amazing Shadowing scheme, in which young people all over the country are invited to read and review the shortlisted books every year.  As I was involved in judging the Amnesty CILIP Honour this year, which is connected to the Carnegie, I'd read the shortlisted books myself, so I thought it would be interesting to discuss them with Fortismere's Shadowers.

We had a very open and lively discussion about all eight books, in which one great truth became clear: everyone reads differently.  Everyone's experience of a book is unique.  Books are collaborations between writers and readers, and each reader brings as much to it as the writer does.  There was no single book that everyone loved, and there was no single book that everyone disliked.  Each book had supporters and detractors.  But there was a book for everyone in there, and as a writer, I found that incredibly inspiring.

A similar theme emerged in the evening, when I had the pleasure of attending the final of Fortismere's Inter-College Reading Competition.  This is an idea that Gill Ward and I developed this year, in which Year 7s were asked to make presentations championing their favourite books.  It was a fantastic occasion, attended by many parents and staff, as well as the brilliant young readers themselves!

They made presentations on an impressive range of books: RJ Palacio's Wonder, George Orwell's 1984, JK Rowling's Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, James Dashner's The Maze Runner, Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Philippa Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden, and Sarah J Maas's Throne Of Glass.

It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm being expressed so eloquently.  These champions were genuinely passionate about their books, and again, for a writer, there is nothing more inspiring to witness.  I'm really looking forward to working with these Year 7s next year in Year 8 on their creative writing – and to welcoming a whole new intake of Year 7s into Fortismere School!

Phoenix Wins Haringey Children's Book Of The Year!

Amazing news: Phoenix has won the Haringey Children's Book Of The Year Award!

This is a fantastic book prize organised by brilliant school librarians and voted for by young readers in schools all over Haringey, North London.  I was honoured when Phoenix was included on an incredibly strong shortlist with books by great writers like Shirley Hughes, Philip Womack, Polly Ho-Yen and Katherine Rundell.

Some stunning Phoenix-inspired artwork then appeared in the window of local bookshop, Pickled Pepper Books, created by some of the students who had read it for the prize!

The day itself was amazing.  It was hosted by Heartlands High School, whose fantastic librarian Helen Swinyard organised the awards.  First I did a creative writing workshop with Year 7s from Highgate Wood School, sponsored by local arts organisation Collage Arts.  The Year 7s produced some seriously brilliant work, like this short story; you can read more in this wonderful blog on their school website.

After the creative writing workshops, Philip Womack, Polly Ho-Yen and myself did a Q&A session with students from all the schools involved, and were joined on stage by local MP Catherine West.  I was particularly delighted to see some students there from Fortismere School, where I am Patron Of Reading, accompanied by their brilliant librarian Gillian Ward.

Then it was announced that Phoenix had won, and I was presented with the award by last year's winner, Gill Lewis!

You can see the moment itself in this video clip, posted by North Haringey School!  It was amazing to see all the enthusiasm for books out there.  It really meant a lot for me, especially because Phoenix was largely written in Haringey Libraries.  So a huge thank you to everyone involved – it took me seven years to write Phoenix, but moments like this make all the hard work worthwhile!

Photos from Jordan Kouame Hart of Collage Arts

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Year 7

On World Book Day, I had the great pleasure of visiting Fortismere School again, to talk to Year 7 as their Patron Of Reading.  Year 7 are taking part in an Inter-College Reading Competition, organised by their brilliant librarian Gill Ward, in which they are reading and championing some great books.  So I thought I'd talk to them about the many ways in which we can share our experiences of books.

The classic way is by writing a book review.  I showed them this review I wrote for The Guardian about Philip Reeve's book Railhead, which I very much enjoyed and would recommend to anyone who liked Phoenix!  I think the best book reviews do this; as the film critic Pauline Kael once wrote, the job of the critic is "to transmit knowledge of and enthusiasm for art to others."

But what if words aren't your strongest suit?  What if you're more comfortable with pictures?  In that case, a blog might be a better form for you to talk about books.  I showed them an example of a blog that a brilliant book blogger called Tygertale had made about the same book; one that uses lots of pictures, as well as links, videos and even music to share his experience of Railhead.

Perhaps you'd rather be more spontaneous, and just talk about a book.  In which case, you might consider filming yourself talking about it straight to camera.  Many people now make video reviews of books and post them online; there's a whole BookTubing community out there on YouTube!  Here's one I showed them by booksandquills, of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children.

Some people don't like to be on camera themselves, but still enjoy making videos. Such people might consider making a book trailer – a short film that gives a flavour of the book.  This is a form that has taken off in the last few years, and there are some fantastic book trailers out there for inspiration.  I showed them Dave McKean's brilliant Phoenix book trailer last term, so this time, I showed them a trailer for Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co:

The great thing about book trailers is that you can take any approach to them at all.  Here's a very different trailer that I showed them, for Lu Hersey's Deep Water:

In the end, all of these are just different ways of sharing our experiences of books.  And there is nothing nicer than sharing books with your friends!  So I'm really looking forward to coming back to Fortismere in June to see Year 7 championing their books.  In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or if there is anything I can help with, just leave me a comment below!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School Year 8

I was back in Fortismere School again recently as their Patron Of Reading.  This is a fantastic scheme where an author visits a school regularly over a period of time, working to spread a love of reading and books.  I agreed with the brilliant school librarian Gill Ward to work on reading with Year 7, and writing with Year 8.

I did a creative writing workshop with Year 8 last term, in which they came up with ideas for a story.  This term, I asked them to bring in some writing they were already working on, and to look at ways of improving it.  We talked about elements of stories including characters and places, and what you can do to get to know them better.

We also talked about research, and I showed them some images that I'd found useful while writing Phoenix, including this one of an Astrolabe:

There was lots of great writing going on, and I'm looking forward to working with Year 8 again next term!  In the meantime, here's a link to some writing tips I've done on this blog, which I hope will be helpful.  And I'm looking forward to returning to Fortismere on World Book Day (March 3rd), when I'll be talking to Year 7 again about reading!

Patron Of Reading: Fortismere School, Year 8

I was excited to do my second event as Fortismere School's new Patron Of Reading last week!  Patron Of Reading is a brilliant scheme where an author visits a school regularly over a period of time, working to spread a love of reading and books. Last month, I was invited by the fantastic school librarian Gillian Ward to talk to Year 7, which you can read all about here.  This month, I talked to Year 8.

While I talked to Year 7 about reading, the focus for Year 8 was writing.  I asked the Year 8s to think of an idea for a story that they really wanted to read themselves.  Then we went through the process of writing a first draft, getting distance on it, and reading it through critically to get ideas for how to improve it on the next draft.

They worked really hard at all the stages of the process, and there was lots of excellent writing going on.  Some of the Year 8s read out their second drafts at the end of the session, and I was hugely impressed with the range and quality of stories that they'd produced in only an hour!

I'll be coming back to Fortismere in January to do another session with the same Year 8 classes.  This time, I've asked them to bring a piece of writing that they've already been working on – perhaps the stories they began last week, or perhaps something different.  We'll be looking at some common problems with writing, and how to go about fixing them.  In the meantime, here's a link to some writing tips that I've done on this blog – I hope they're useful!  And if anyone from Year 8 has any questions or would like to leave me a comment, this is the place to do it!