Marcus Sedgwick Visit

It’s not often that our students manage to delight, entertain and frighten me half to death all in the same day.  The 25^th of May was one of those days.

It all started last year, on the way to the Carnegie Awards.  

Didn't they all look innocent?  I began to hear whispers as we waited at the station, rumours on the Tube, hints at the possibility of a planned kidnap attempt.  Shortlisted author Marcus Sedgwick was in danger.  They’d all really loved Revolver and had had decided, in a marvellously Stephen King-esque way, that the best way to show their admiration would be to kidnap him and seal him in the library office with nothing but food, water, wine and a computer with no internet connection.  Research requests would have to be passed under the door to an eager group of volunteers. Luckily, that day passed without incident.  Marcus was warned and managed to step over the trip wires.  I though their plans had been forgotten.

I was wrong. 

The day started with delight.  Preparations for the visit had been going on for several days and from 8am that morning, there was a steady stream of baked goods being delivered to the library.  Among others, tiny sentence cakes made by Ellie, a gorgeous White Crow cake by Louise, wonderful personalised cupcakes by Elle and a huge cake topped with more glitter* than a nineties club night were delivered safely to my desk.**. The time, care and enthusiasm that had gone in to all these cakes was truly remarkable and I admit I teared up a little bit***.

It all started to change at break time, when the conversation turned suddenly ugly.  Their plans from last year had not been forgotten.  In fact, they were now being added to.  A larger Carnegie group also means that there is a larger field of crazy for all these ideas to be drawn from.  The kidnap plan was back in place, with the added bonus that the poor unsuspecting writer would innocently bring himself right here, to their clutches.  Tempted through the door by cake, he would then be fed almost to the point of death and forced to work off cake calories by writing new stories for us****.  It didn’t stop there.  The added crazy and the influence of White Crow also led to ideas of religious interrogation, chaining to chairs and possible beheading.  The crazy led to more crazy, the pitch of conversation increased as Ellie got more and more shrill, and by the end of break I was scared.  Very scared. 

I tried to warn him.  Concerns were posted on Twitter, and Marcus had the very good sense to be concerned.  

But then he arrived and was delighted by the mass of baked goods awaiting him.  

At 1pm an excited mass of Shadowers poured into the library with their packed lunches.  Slightly star-struck, everyone settled down to demolish the feast in approximately five minutes, rendered their plans unfeasible as they scoffed their way through the most shocking quantities of cake to ever be consumed in such a small time frame.  Sated by sugar and loaded up with questions, everyone settled down for the interrogation.  

Evil machinations of the Shadowers aside, Marcus was a wonderful guest and took the time to speak to everyone, answering every question incredibly honestly and in detail.  He talked about the process of writing, the way that ideas come together from the strangest places, writing as a business (I think we were all horrified at how little money from the sale of a paperback goes to the author) and the publishing process.  He told us about his evolution as a writer, from the early stories that were rejected, to finding an agent and securing a publishing deal.

There was a lot of interest about the early years and about what he’d been like a teenage reader, what he’d read then (Gormenghast) and tips for those who would like to take their writing further (Plan!  Finish everything!) and how being a writer has influenced his role as a reviewer too. 

After answering every question we had time for, the entire group lined up to have books and postcards (thanks Marcus!) signed and the last remaining questions were mopped up while the rest of us finished off the cake table.  

We’d all like to say a massive thank you to Marcus for visiting us and being so very generous with his time! 

 Anytime you need cake, you know where to come…

*  THERE IS STILL GLITTER EVERYWHERE...

**   They really were safe! I ate very few of them before everyone else got there.  Very few.

***  It must be remembered that I was ill and high on cake taking lots of over the counter medication.  
****  I was later assured that this plan would have failed as Marcus, being some sort of super human, is incapable of gaining weight. 

White Crow

By  Marcus Sedgwick

If you see one white crow, then not all crows are black

Rebecca, a girl, who has been forced to move from the business of London to a small quite town, called winterfold which is falling to pieces, literally. She is upset that she had to leave her friends, her boyfriend, and her life and most importantly she knows she is slowly losing her dad. Rebecca lets the days fly by, bored and tired from the small sunburnt town, until one day she meets a quirky girl named Ferelith…

Ferelith has lived in the rectory, Winterfold all her life and knows it back to front; where the tourists go, where the cliffs crumble, and where the dead people lay.

Ferelith is an unusual character but yet we learn all about her strange ways and surprising intelligence, there is still lots of mystery behind her which soon leaks throughout the book. With an eye for detail and a great adventure Ferelith will grab you by the collar and take you with her on an amazing journey.

Rebecca however couldn’t be more different, used to the social life of London she hates the small town. She is a friendly girly character but is very wary of people and doesn’t seem as keen as ferelith. So when Ferelith comes along Rebecca is overwhelmed by her bravery, knowledge and expertise and although at first she doesn’t realise at first, the two lonely girls are the perfect match for eachother.

Ferelith entertains Rebecca through her days in winterfold, and as Rebecca’s life gets slowly worse she bonds with ferelith and depends on her to cope with it all. After ferelith tells Rebecca a tale about a Dr who murdered people to find whether they were going to the angels or devils, the story becomes a scary one as they try to uncover the truth behind this rumour.

I like how the story is told through the different view point’s ferelith, 3^rd person and the novel's third narrator, tells his tale through short diary entries of important happenings and is a strong believer in Christianity. He works with the church in 1798, along with Dr Barrieux who lives in the later decaying Winterfold Hall. We gather that Dr Barrieux studies what people see in there final moments of life and wants to see whether its; angels or devils.

At first I thought it may be a boring book, but after about 90 pages into the book I was interested by the clever plot and the strange occurrences and I was really attached!

The book had a great dramatic ending; although very sad I loved it! The book left me with so many unanswered questions and where with some books I would have been frustrated the author hadn’t explained, this just made it all the more mysterious and better!

It was amazing the way the story twisted and turned at places left you feeling tense and not knowing what was going to happen, I thought I knew the ending but then the plot changed and my prediction was wrong.

Definitely MY FAVOURITE BOOK out of all of them, the plot with have gripped from start to finish, and maybe leave feeling a little scared! Amazing!!

10/10 Review by Chloe 

White Crow

This book is about a girl called Rebecca and she moves to Winterfold, she feels alone her boyfriend has left her now she has moved. Rebecca feels isolated in Winterfold and she wants to move back but its not only that she's been worrying about, her father. Rebecca barley ever sees her father at home the only time she sees him is at meal times and even then they do not speak to each other. Yet there is one girl that Rebecca sees often, Ferelith. Rebecca first meets Ferelith on a cliff and shes looking out to sea. Even though Rebecca doesn't think of Ferelith as a friend. Ferelith thinks of Rebecca as a friend.

I found this story amazing full of suspense and curiosity it drags you in and you always want to find out what happens in the end. But I felt as if the ending was maybe a little rushed but even though I found it very good. As I found this book one of the best I have read I would like to read 'Revolver' which is another book by Marcus Sedgwick

Overall I found this book stunningly good and I would certainly recommend it to anyone of my Friends

Harry Day

White Crow

Marcus Segdwick

White Crow

By Marcus Sedgwick

When city girl Rebecca leaves the bustling streets of London and swaps them with the deserted streets of winterfold her life literally turns upside down. Plagued by the media after a bad decision her father made, he has to leave London taking Rebecca with him. They buy a little house in winterfold. But when Rebecca meets Ferelith, things become completely different and they find themselves retracing the footsteps of a 18^th century doctor and a priest which show them the true horrors of life, death and the afterlife. Winterfold used to be a bustling city full of people but over the years the sea has devoured it and its dark history. All that’s left is a tiny triangle of streets. However who would have thought that a group of people living so close together would stare at each other as though they didn’t know each other; as though the people they were staring at were some form of demon from mars, their penetrating eyes seeing straight through you. But like the priest and the doctor they find themselves obsessed by the same question “Does god exist?” “If so is there an afterlife?” This question obsessed them all so much they risked their lives and the lives of others to find the answer.

I absolutely loved the book. It grips you from the first few words and the way Sedgwick developed the plot was absolutely amazing. There were so many things going on at the same time no part was boring. I love the way that Sedgwick has developed the characters and how he describes them so well that you can picture them in your head.

Another brilliant thing about the book is the way it repeatedly changes the perspective of the book: Ferelith’s part is done in first person, Rebecca’s is done in third and the priest’s is done in the form of a diary entry. Due to this it keeps you enthralled within the story line.

Although the style is quite gothic I still really enjoyed it and I thought it gave a completely new angle to your usual gothic based novel. I thought that maybe it could have explained the story a little better at some parts I had to read twice to understand. All in all its one of the best books I have ever read and I would recommend it to all other readers not just the ones doing Carnegie.

Review by Yasmin Year 7

Rating: **** 8/10

White Crow

Rebecca has just moved to a new town, where she meets Ferelith, a strange girl who immediatly befriends her.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Its so gripping, and exciting, you can't stop reading. It can be a little spooky at times, but I thought that it wasn't overdone, and really added to the story line.

I love the way the narration was written, switching between a second person view of Rebecca, a first person account of Ferelith, and a diary from the 17th(I think?) century. My favorite point of view was Ferelith, as you didn't get to hear from her as often as the other two points of view, and she was by far the most interesting and intriguing character. She always had something interesting, and sometimes cryptic to say. I was always excited when I heard from her, as I knew it would be a moving on point in the story.

The storyline was very interesting. It never got boring or dull, it was just gripping all the way throughout. The characters were well developed, there was good description, and brilliant emotion as well. I think it would have been interesting to hear from Rebecca's first person, just once at the end. It would have given us an insight as to what she was really feeling.

The ending was good, though I felt like I didn't completely understand the link between Rebecca's story and the 17th century story.

This book is my second favorite. I think the carnegie judges will like it, and I have a feeling that if Monsters of Men doesn't win, then this will.

By Elle

White Crow Trailer

This is a book trailer I made for Marcus Sedgwick's completely awesome 'White Crow'
Holly, Year 12