Ready, steady, SQUEE!

The rights for Chaos Walking have been sold!  Lionsgate can make a film.

I'm not sure if this is exciting or scary, I have such a clear image of what these characters look like, how they act, how they move.  I know what they sound like, and I know you do too! So, can our expectations ever be met?  I've started a thread on this in the Forum, so head on over and let me know what you think.  Who would be your idea casting choices?  Who on earth could play the Mayor?!

The Most Awesome Speech in the History of Awesome Speeches

Patrick Ness accepts the Carnegie Award.

Note - you'll need headphones if you're listening to this in the library. Otherwise Miss A. will hear it and will have to retreat to the office for a quiet little cry.

Carnegie Day

It’s all coming to an end!

Yes, it’s Carnegie announcement day, which means that all of this joy is coming to an end.  But there’s been so much wonderful stuff happening this year!

Last Wednesday we were visited by the Shadowers at Sir John Lawes school across town.  It was fantastic to hear some new opinions on the books, and though some of the discussions were heated, we made some excellent new friends and are really looking forward to doing more with them in the future.  Hopefully they will join us in becoming Nerdfighters! Many thanks to Ms Warman for arranging their visit and piling them all into the minibus.

Then yesterday we had an amazing Shadowing meeting and took part in something very new to us – a Twitter interview with Patrick Ness!  We all settled down with tribute doughnuts, went through the inevitable ICT emergency (why block Twitter school?!  Why?!) but were all set and ready to go at 1.30.  Will and I typed in questions and queries, and Patrick answered them all, giving us an insight into his writing.  The tweets have been archived here, so if you’d like to have a look at our questions, please go ahead!  We’d like to say a huge thank you to Patrick for giving us his time. 

And now, the day is here.  Thursday 23^rd June.  Carnegie Day.

At 12.30, they will announce the winner of this year’s Carnegie medal, and we’ll know if our Shadowing vote matched that of the judges.  So I guess it’s time to announce our own winner.

The RPS Readers Carnegie Shadowing winner for 2011 is…

Monsters of Men, by Patrick Ness. 

This amazing book held us captivated right the way through as the war raged.  Our sympathies were pulled tight across all sides at one time or another and many returned from reading this book with shredding nails!  Those who read it as a stand alone enjoyed it and appreciated the story for what it was enough that some of these readers were among those who voted it their winner.  And those who read the whole trilogy were bowled over by the complexities and involvement that they felt with the characters, all of whom we came to love or admire in some way.  Yes, even the Mayor.  He may be the most wonderful villain ever created. 

Awesome. 

Monsters of Men

Todd and Viola. Two people trapped in a war between 3 leaders, all looking to dominate the other 2. The Mayor, who controls Prentisstown, Mistress Coyle, Head of the Answer, and The Sky, leader of the Spackle (or the land as they call themselves). And they are two people who have to create a world that is safe for an entire new convoy of Settlers on the New World, and they don't have long.

Now I look at it, I realise I have been verbally reviewing this book for ages. They have been as short as: "Read it now. It is awesome" or sometimes I have gone into a bit more detail. I have been so seriously obsessed to the extent that some people have started to worry in love with this book my Mum is reading it currently. I'm not joking.

I had already read it before last years Carnegie (where Patrick Ness had been short-listed for the Ask and the Answer. I was actually lucky enough to meet him!). Miss Adkins had put me onto them, starting with the knife of never letting go. By the time I had got to Monsters of Men I was so totally in love with the series I read it in one day (I was standing outside lessons, reading, in lessons, reading, at home, reading, I bed, reading, downstairs, recovering from its awesomeness and something else that I won't say because it would kind of be a spoiler). I have since lost count of how many times I have read it. Enough blabbering.

Why do I love it (other than it just being utterly epic)?

Well, I'll start with the characters. I love them (especially Todd and Viola) because, not only are they superbly rounded, the voices are so amazingly written that when they are speaking, you are then. I swear, whilst reading, I actually love Viola (and Todd as well!). Basically, he deviously crept in whilst I was engrossed and started playing with my emotions!

Todd. I'll begin with Todd. Viola is his world, and almost everything he does is to protect Viola, and to make the world a better place. Obviously, with such a personal cause he makes mistakes along the way, sometimes they are awful things, but he does all with the best intentions, and punishes himself more than anyone else ever could, maybe more than he should, and he always picks himself up again and continues to try his best.

Viola next. She is a wonderful character, who tries so hard to do the best, as does Todd, for the world. She is from a new convoy of settlers, as opposed to Todd, who was born on the New World from an earlier lot of people looking for a better life. She again, makes her mistakes, most are to protect Todd, but finds a way to make up for them and carry on.

Then there was The Mayor. I never loved him (obviously) but his character is so cleverly created. He's not meant to be loved (again, obviously) but he can fool you. Easily. He is manipulative and crazy, so power hungry he would do anything to stay in power. But he's clever enough not to need to be desperate. He's clever enough to stay there using manipulation and ruthless cunning. I could go on for hours about the other characters but I might just crash Google with my epic fan geek rant.!

So, I move on to the plot. I have heard people say it goes on to long, but for me, I wanted more *laughs evilly with more echoing in the background*. The twists and turns were so carefully crafted, catching you at the best times. The power struggles (for which Ivan is a good measure of) are constant, ever changing and merciless. And guess what? Todd and Viola are in the middle *wishes them luck and runs*.

So as this war unfolds Todd and Viola have to find a way. A way to not only survive, but save the world from any supreme rule (and there isn't just one way that could happen).

Now, I have used up enough of your time already. Time that should have been spent reading. Reading this. Go. Now. Read it or I might have to make you or you are missing out!

*gives Blogger a break*

(the) Will

YR 8

Fan Poetry - White Crow

Emily B. has been busy!  This is a brilliant piece of writing.

A White Crow

A large space in a room that's small,
A terrible, fantastic fall,
A soft rock
An unexpected shock.
All the impossible, all the insane,
Not all the obvious main,
But what if there was a river that didn't flow?
What if there was a white crow?

Fan Art

Take a look at the amazing imagery in these fan art pieces by Imogen in Year 7!

White Crow

I love this image!

Prisoner of the Inquisition

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. 

BIG DAY!

Today we're very excited to welcome Marcus Sedgwick to the library to attend our Carnegie meeting!  He'll be joining us for lunch and talking about his shortlisted novel, White Crow, and hopefully giving us an insight into his work as a writer.  This is such a wonderful opportunity for our readers to ask all of their burning questions.  In honour of his visit, Molly, Louise, Elle, Eleanor, Imogen, and Delphine have been baking and we have the most wonderful array of themed and delicious looking cakes!  Photos to follow, but suffice it to say that there is an ENTIRE TABLE COVERED IN CAKE.

Today also marks the unveiling of some great projects.

First up is William's animated trailer for White Crow:

Sorry, I have to put in the link as for some reason the video is refusing to embed.

There's also this stunning acted version, put together by several of the Year 8s.  Love it!  Watch to the end for outtakes... ;)

I've been so impressed with the amount of effort and skill that you've all put into these (and the cakes).  Thank you all so much!  Your prize is an author...  ;)

I'd also like to say a big giant thank you to Marcus for coming to visit us today, we're all really looking forward to it.

Fan Art

Over the last few days we've had some amazing fan art by our students!

First, Emily S drew this wonderful picture of Pell and Bean, from The Bride's Farewell.

And then Molly drew this stunning image of the stone bridge from White Crow, where Rebecca and Ferelith shelter during the storm, only to wake up and discover that the sea has eaten away at the cliff, leaving them nearly on the edge.

Amazing artwork you two, well done. 

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 

Fantastic reviews!

Hey everyone, just a quick one from me to say WELL DONE for all the fantastic reviews that have been going up over the last week.  You're all expressing your opinions really well and writing in a formal and professional way.  It's aces.

Just a reminder though to please make sure that you don't post surnames or form groups, as this is a public blog and we do need to be careful with the security aspects.

Thanks everyone, keep going :D

Monsters of Men

A warning to all who wish to read this book: It will consume you. This book will give you hope and then snatch it away, it will fill you with joy and pain and grief and love, and it will rip your heart apart a million times over. In other words, it is a masterpiece.

Todd and Viola have survived so much. But the Spackle are coming, a war is approaching, and "War makes monsters of men." Through this final part of the Chaos Walking trilogy, we see the young Todd and Viola adapt to impossible circumstances, and risk everything for each other, over and over again. Like always. But war is a terrible thing, and there is a price to be paid for it. The question is, how high?

Patrick Ness has crafted this novel magnificently. The beauty of the characters, full of the flaws which make us all so human, allows you to grasp them and never let go. When the characters speak to you, you are not reading an account of fictional events - you are living a very real life right alongside them. There is much in Todd and Viola which we as readers can relate to, but also there is so much that we can aspire to be. There is an amazingly realistic ideology to this novel which is admirable.

The structure of Monsters of Men, with its multiple narrators, should be confusing. There are many pages where there are two or three changes of perspective after less than a paragraph. By rights, it should be an impossible literary feat, and there should be no reader left without confusion. This is not the case; Ness has manipulated the voices of Todd, Viola, and another, and has used them to create the novel's biggest strength; there is not a moment of action missed, not a thought unheard, even when the plot calls for the main protagonists to be many painful miles apart. There are no awkward discussions between characters to serve the sole purpose of informing the reader. Everything that happens in the novel, everything that is said and done and thought, happens because it must, for the sake of Todd and Viola and the whole, stupid world.

Monsters of Men is a novel that will never leave you. It will burrow down into you and hide away, but it will always be there, a book to remember for all time.

Holly, Year 12

White Crow Trailer

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

BIG NEWS!

Fantastic meeting today with lots of exciting news and excited Shadowers!

First off - here's our official group photo.  We're missing several people who are either on study leave or had an athletics meeting (grr...) but this is the bulk of us.

We also announced two pieces of very exciting news. 

On 25th May we'll be welcoming Marcus Sedgwick to the library!  He's coming to join us for lunch and talk to us (or if the pattern holds, be talked at...) about his books and his work.  Marcus has some hard-core fans here, and this is a fantastic opportunity to discuss the issues raised in White Crow and hopefully get answers to all the questions that they've been dying to ask.  Hopefully we'll also get the chance to ask about life as a writer, get some tips on reviewing for our Guardian Young Readers and quiz him about his next book, the eagerly anticipated Midwinterblood.  

There'll be no early lunch passes for this one - you'll need to bring a packed lunch and a drink with you.  Rumour has it that he's fond of plain chocolate digestives.  Bring sandwiches and cake!  It's library picnic time. 

And on the 22nd June we'll be joining Patrick Ness for a Twitter chat!  I’m sure that Will everyone has many questions and things they’d like to discuss about the Chaos Walking trilogy and that Will will lead the discussion in a magnificent display of fan-boy geekiness everyone will have lots to say! 

How lucky are we?! 

Monsters of Men Book Trailer

Will (Year 8) made an animated book trailer for Monsters of Men.

Wow. Just. Wow.