Islington Carnegie Shadowing Ceremony

This morning the Carnegie shadowing group joined several other Islington schools at the Islington ceremony, organised by the Education Library Service, at Central Foundation School.

After a couple of last minute rehearsals, we headed off down to Old Street and managed to get ourselves lost, thanks to our guide, Munna! We joined the other schools in the LRC, where the girls ate lots of biscuits to counter their nerves.
The first part of the morning was a talk by Malaika Rose Stanley, author of several books, including 'Spike and Alienson' and 'Baby Ruby Bawled.' She treated us to a fun session, whereby she asked children from the audience to come up and ask her questions and awarded spot prizes. She also talked about her forthcoming book, aimed at teenagers, 'Skin Deep.'

Everyone then moved up the the Lecture Theatre. The girls were very impressed with the room and said it put our school to shame - but I pointed out that we will hopefully have our own new school late next year and they suggested that we could host the Carnegie ceremony one year to show off our new school.

Each school then did their presentation; there were some really good interpretations of books including a radio preaentation, some scenes from 'The amazing Pepper Roux' and culminating in a 'Bookshop Owner's Den' sketch from Central Foundation School.
EGA put on their sketch which was 5 short scenes based on 'Out of Shadows.' They performed really well and highlighted the issue of racism, which is at the heart of the book.

After the presentations the voting took place and we were pleased that 'Out of Shadows' won, as this had been our group's favourite book, followed by 'The Bride's Farewell' and 'Prisoner of the Inquisition.'

It was a very successful and enjoyable morning, especially when Malaika Rose Stanley asked if she could use the Reading Group to pilot 'Skin Deep,' ready for the launch in September. Naturally, we were happy to oblige!

The national winner was announced this afternoon, as 'Monsters of Men' by Patrick Ness. This was the third book in a trilogy, so was not a popular choice for our group, but overall the whole experience was enjoyable and worthwhile.