ISLINGTON CARNEGIE SHADOWING - WONDER WINS!

On Thursday June 19^th, the Bookaholics – including new members Saruka Jeyaseelan, Julahka Jahan and Zahra Arefa 8E went to Platform in Hornsey Road to take part in the 2013 Islington Carnegie Shadowing award ceremony. The girls have been reading the eight books on the shortlist, and put on a presentation called ‘Take Me Out of the Library,’ based on the TV programme ‘Take Me Out.’ Six girls represented six of the books and presented their case to be selected on a date by the Librarian (Shuma, 10E). Paddy (Amy Coffey) facilitated the presentation.

The event was compered by author of Tall Story, Candy Gourlay.

Other Islington schools put on presentations, powerpoints, videos and it was a very enjoyable afternoon  and lovely to see so many students inspired by books. Wonder by RJ Palacio was the overwhelming favourite of the students, but Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner was the national winner. 

Congratulations to all those who took part!

PopUp - Gillian Cross at the Jewish Museum

Yesterday I accompanied 7L to the Jewish Museum as part of the Pop Up Festival, to meet the author Gillian Cross. The class have been reading her book, 'After Tomorrow,' in which Matt and some of his family are forced to flee to a refugee camp in France, when food becomes scarce in England and the family are under the threat of violence.

Gillian and Judith from the museum looked at various themes during the morning, such as 'leaving', in which she talked about her own experience of leaving a town where she had lived for many years and the feelings that had evoked. Next the girls looked at a picture of Jewish children leaving to go on the Kindertransport, and thought about how they would feel if they had to leave home and how Matt in the novel was very resourceful in order to survive. The girls had clearly read and enjoyed the book and some very lively discussion was had.

Afterwards they had a look around the museum, searching for particular artefacts which they had thought about that morning.

Gillian signed some books and is going to come to EGA as part of the 'Becoming a Writer' series next year. She set the girls a writing task which they can bring along to the session if they wish.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning, extremely interesting and I was thrilled to see how a good book can inspire and educate. Even Ms Turpie bought a copy to read!

Lia's Guide - the musical!

The Bookaholics - Amy, Khadra, Munna, Nasra, Shuma, Zahra, Aissato and Mahmuda first met Keren David in 2010, when she visited EGA to talk about her new, first novel for teenagers, 'When I was Joe.' The book was a huge hit in our school, and at the time the girls pestered Keren for news of a sequel. Meanwhile, Keren was working on 'Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery,' and she asked if she could come in and show the group the proposed cover for 'Lia,' and get some feedback.

The girls thought the cover was a little 'adult,' but enjoyed the excerpt that Keren read from the book and went on to read and enjoy it when it came out - along with Almost True and Another Life, of course.

Yesterday I took the group along to see a musical version of 'Lia's Guide to winning the Lottery,' at the Bridewell Theatre, London. We had no idea what to expect, but what a treat it turned out to be.

The musical was performed by students from the MTA, all of whom were excellent. It was one of the best musicals I've ever seen.

Lia the musical is colourful, uplifting and loads of fun, as well as packing in quite a few 'issues' such as the role of the press, wealth, relationships and family dynamics. In the musical the lottery numbers are played as 'characters' who fulfill the role of backing singers throughout the play. I loved these girls. Dressed immaculately as different characters, they sang, dance and acted their Jimmy Choos off.

The students loved the fact that the play was about teenagers, romance, and had loads of stuff that they could relate to such as hashtags and Facebook pages.  I was told afterwards it was the most fun school trip they've ever had,  and Shuma awarded it one thousand out of ten!

The acting was of a very high standard as were the set design and props - I particularly liked the giant fans made of £50 notes and the cupcakes matching the coloured blocks which moved around to form the set and the girls' dresses. The songwords held my attention the whole time as part of the dialogue and the music was uplifting.

I highly recommend anyone who gets the chance to see the show to buy your ticket NOW- details below:
http://lotterywinner.eventbrite.co.uk/