National Teen Book Club is a programme that brings together 14 to 19-year-olds from hundreds of schools and colleges across the UK to a shared, virtual book club.

Mrs Morgan supervised the online session on Wednesday, with weekly sessions to follow; here is her report:

 

Last night was very successful.

Students began reading the book - My Name is Leon by Kit De Waal.

There was an option to join breakout rooms where schools were discussing questions based on the opening of the novel or we could begin either our writing or illustration competition entries. We decided to go for the latter as we'd only just received the books (many schools were the same - apparently there was a problem with the publishers).

There are two options for the competition entries: write a piece of creative writing inspired by the novel and entitled "No one has to tell [insert name] that this is a special moment". It can be more than 250 words. The top four submissions will get feedback from both Kit De Waal (the author) and Jo Unwin. Or, students can create a piece of artwork based on their favourite character or scene. They can use any art tools they like.

The top four submissions will be given a masterclass by Kate Grove, Art Director at Anderson Press (part of Penguin Publishing).

We then had a session with Helen Garnon-Williams who is a publishing director. She spoke all about her experiences as both an author and a publisher. Then, we were given the opportunity to ask questions. It was very insightful and the students were extremely interested in how to get work published.

We are looking forward to next week.

 

You can find out more about this programme by visiting the SPEAKERS for schools website or clicking the image below: