Noble Conflict - Teen Book Group's creative response!

This year has been a Malorie Blackman year for We Sat Down. Little M was Booktrust's young reporter for the day when Blackman was announced as the new Children's Laureate and Little M's English class studied the screenplay of Noughts & Crosses.

Little M had already read, enjoyed and reviewed Noble Conflict, so our teen book group jumped at the opportunity to get reading group copies from the Reading Agency. They all read the novel and then devoted a long Friday evening to creating a video inspired by the novel.

Artwork by Catherine appears in the video but we thought you might like to see the 'stills' of them:

Art by Catherine

 

 

Art by Catherine

 

 

 

And here is the We Sat Down teen book group's video for Noble Conflict:

 

 

This video appears on the Reading Agency's Reading Groups For Everyone website along with some other inspirational ways teens respond to books.

The Fault in Our Stars - Teen Book Club

October’s teen book club read was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. The group met at the local library and had a Hazel and Gus style picnic: Dutch themed sandwiches – Gouda cheese, chocolate spread – and fizzy drinks in fancy bottles served in picnic champagne flutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of their thoughts about the book:

Imi

I absolutely loved this book, it's beautiful, emotional and one of my favourite books! It is so well written and by an amazing author. I constantly wanted to read more and I swear I had withdrawal symptoms when I wasn't reading it! Both times I read it I was sobbing even when I knew what was going to happen! All in all, I think it's an incredible book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone! 

Bridget

I thought that it was a good book but it was very predictable as I guessed the ending from the end of the first (or second) chapter, but I didn't really expect it to happen exactly in the way it did and as dramatically. I really liked Isaac, I thought that he was funny and I feel like I connected to him very easily. I thought that at points the words felt quite forced, like he didn't know what to put, also I think he tried too hard to put in quotes that would make people remember the book and think about it. I think that the book was over-hyped, my expectations were very high from what people had told me but it didn't live up to those expectations at all, this could be because they were so high that I didn't give it a chance.

Catherine

I thought The Fault in Our Stars was basically just a cancer novel, not that I have anything against cancer novels. However writing about someone overcoming this particular illness I think tends to restrain the level of originality others can have. As a whole the novel was okay to good, but not exceptional. It is one of the most hyped up books I've ever read and it really didn't live up to my expectations. The characters, while different, weren't very believable. For example Augustus didn't flow. Everything he said felt very scripted, like an over prepared speech. I feel Augustus was sort of made as a character to be famously quoted and therefore he wasn't natural. The characters didn't really connect for me. I think over a longer or teen novel I tend to expect to build a little empathy link with the characters. You come to know their little habits and their flaws and that makes them seem real. The characters and the whole book were really too perfect for me but I can see why some people liked them. The plot was also easy to predict. All in all I thought the book was a nice short novel perhaps for a day on the beach however I was disappointed and sad that it wasn't the emotional page-turning heart-wrencher it was set up to be.

Alice

I loved The Fault in Our Stars and I cried at it.

Mac

I really liked The Fault in Our Stars. It was sad but happy and a few tears were shed. Parts were a little predictable but that didn’t stop me from reading it. People have said it is very over-rated but I don’t think that at all. John Green did a splendid job. I can’t wait to read others of his.

 

Thanks to The Reading Agency for sending us reading group copies.

 

November's book club read was Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman. Thoughts on that coming soon.

 

 

 

 

Bookclubbing and A World Between Us

We had our first proper sit-down-together-in-real-life-and-discuss-a book meeting!

When we first started this blog, Little M hoped it would be about sharing and discussion and a bit ‘bookclubby’. That’s much more difficult than we thought it would be – but we’re getting there. We seem to do more of that offline with real life events. We've tried a small book group with Angel Dust by Sarah Mussi, we shadowed the CILIP Carnegie 2013, and we discussed Wonder by RJ Palacio.

Recently, The Reading Agency supplied us with reading group copies of A World Between Us by Lydia Syson and we have become a little more organised (only a little !). The books came with some author and novel background notes as well as discussion prompts, and feedback forms.  It worked so well that we’re carrying on with book groups (though expect the 'form' each one takes to be somewhat different)!

Our next planned reading group discussion is Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher, again supported by The Reading Agency (Reading Groups for Everyone). If you’re interested in joining in with us online, more information on that will follow.

 

Here’s what we sat down together and thought about A World Between Us:

 

Four of us got together – it was quite difficult to find a time that suited everyone, especially with after-school activities and exams/school tests. Other than me (M), the rest of the group were 13 and 14 year olds. They all really enjoyed the novel. Please note, some of you may consider what follows to contain small spoilers – but there’s nothing major that would spoil your own first reading.

The group enjoyed the history/war/romance mix and were pleased that it wasn't a soppy romance. Even though terrible things happened in the novel, most of them saw it as a hopeful novel. They felt there were lots of surprises in the novel and they enjoyed that. The Dolores question (what she did and what happened to her) raised a lot of discussion. Felix was the favourite character. George was their least favourite character and they couldn't quite see his point in the novel other than being a plot device (getting Felix to Paris). On the otherhand, George was my favourite character! They all liked the writing style.

One of the readers hadn't quite finished the book yet (time constraints) and it was quite interesting to talk about what she thought might happen, what she wanted to happen and what would leave her in despair. The general feeling was that everyone would have been distraught if the novel had ended differently.

Towards the end, we used the discussion points that were sent to us. They weren't the sorts of topics that we would voluntarily have picked up in the novel to talk about. However, the questions led to some interesting discussions that weren't directly about the novel. There was some very deep discussion about making spontaneous decisions with long-term consequences like Felix does; considering whether killing in war is murder and what books people would/might not take to a war zone/battlefield. On the question of whether politics can be romantic, I thought that it could, but only one other agreed with me. The notion of romanticising ideological commitment wasn't felt by the others (equal split then!). We chatted for over an hour, the cake was finished, and that was that.

This was the first time a group of us had sat down to discuss a single novel that we’d all read. They enjoyed it and want to do more. So we will.

 

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A World Between Us was recently Highly Commended for the Branford Boase Award 2013. You can read M's review here, Little M's thoughts here, an interview with Lydia Syson here, and see the different design processes that went into the cover here.

If you’re interested in online book discussions here are some other ones to consider:

Nosy Crow and The Guardian run a superb reading group for adults to discuss children’s books. They run a real life meeting in London which simultaneously links up with participants on Twitter (use the hashtag #NCGKids) and The Guardian online. Their next reading group book is: A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton, 8 August 2013.

 

We Sat Down's summer book club read:

 

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher.

 

 

 

 

Teen Book Group Discussion - Angel Dust

Teen Book Group discussion – Angel Dust by Sarah Mussi

When we started this blog, one of Little M’s dreams for it was that it would be some sort of book group. So, when Hot Key Books offered reading group book copies of Sarah Mussi’s Angel Dust, we were delighted. Little M organised the rest.

The book group included three 12 year old girls and there was no adult involvement. They all read the book and two of them got together during the summer holidays to discuss it. The discussion and feedback is their own. This is not our usual kind of review but is the feedback from the book group discussion.

Those of you who’ve ever been in a book group will probably smile – the conversation threads about the book often aren’t what you were expecting! And the discussion that continued after this post was typed up went on for ages about books and all sorts of other things......

So, what’s Angel Dust about?

What the publisher’s say:

Would you move heaven and earth for the one you love? When an angel is sent to earth to escort the soul of a young man to the afterlife she chooses to save him instead. But at what cost? An urban love story that recalls Romeo and Juliet by an author with a distinct teen voice.

What our We Sat Down teen book group said:

This book is about an angel called Serafina who is a death angel and she collects the souls from people who have just died. She has to ask these people whether they repent. If they do not, they go to hell. If they do, they go to heaven. She takes them to the gates of heaven or hell and then they’re on their own. Serafina acts like a human but has the powers of an angel.

There is a lot of romance, quite a bit of paranormal and a little bit of adventure. There’s quite a bit of death. The whole story is based around someone dying.

Some thoughts:

We liked the fact that the angels had to get to the dying person before the devil did.

Little M: “This book did make me think what if angels of death were real? And what would it be like when you are dead?”

Alice: “It made me think about angels. Are they real or are they not?”

Little M: “I found the story too jumpy. Like one minute Serafina was there and the next she was somewhere else. Altogether it was a good book, but not really up my street.”

Alice: “I thought that it did jump a little bit but not enough to throw me off the storyline and for me to not know what was happening. Summing up, it was a good book and I loved it.”

The Hot Key Ring guide to Angel Dust

Publication details:

Hot Key Books, August 2012, London, paperback

This copy: Uncorrected proof received from the publishers for reading group use

Group review - Emil and the Detectives

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

Emil and the Detectives was read as part of our world of stories summer. The book started off with Little M. Then it was put on a boat and train with Daddy Cool (he opted not for Berlin – anyone who reads Emil will understand!), and then Grandad Africa jumped on a few planes to pick it up too.

Emil’s popularity among these three may have to do with the story but it might also have something to do with the numbers of pages. At 153 pages, it’s a slim and inviting read that can be read quickly by some and easily carried to all sorts of places by those who choose to take a little longer.

But writing a group review is difficult! Writing a group review across three generations in a noisy family is near impossible – my goodness!  This ‘review’ is probably more an experiment in reading group discussion than in a book review. Outcome: extended discussion…….on all sorts of things!!! Talk about fiction expanding your minds….

Now to Emil….sort of.

Emil and the Detectives was first published in 1959 in German. It is about a boy named Emil and a group of boys who help him get back his seven pounds which has been stolen on the train to Berlin. Emil was travelling alone for the first time. Note, Emil is a boy who likes to help and please his single mother but he does get into mischief with his friends.

Grandad Africa felt that there was more involvement by adults in the story too and that Emil and the Detectives is also about behaviour and how children and adults should respond in certain circumstances. Grandad Africa wondered whether Emil is suitable in 2012 because of the behaviour of children in the novel. But Little M completely disagreed and questioned if you follow that logic then what about other fiction Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series then? This is fiction!

A very passionate discussion about the role of fiction, the behaviour of children then and now, the possible confusions resulting from a translation, characteristation, and the type of language that is used in the novel (whether it reflects that of street children or public school educated children) ensued. 

Some other thoughts about Emil and the Detectives:

Daddy Cool and Little M had a little debate about gender roles in the novel. Daddy Cool thought the roles were gender segregated. This didn’t stand out as something noteworthy for Little M.

All three readers were confused by the reference to sterling currency when the novel was/is set in Berlin. Does anyone know why this is???

Daddy Cool liked the ending and the old school language. Again, the language in the novel didn’t affect Little M’s reading of it. She also didn’t know what old school language meant anyway!

Daddy Cool thought Emil and the Detectives was a good, easy read and the second half is better than the first. Little M agreed. Daddy Cool said, “It was fun a book and it made me feel happy.”

Little M really liked the book because she “loved the adventure and the kids tracking someone down.” She really liked the extras at the end of the book and she did the quiz. The adults didn’t do the quiz.

Grandad Africa thought that it is a great read for young boys because of the escapades of the group of children but added a cautionary note about taking the law into your own hands. Little M is emphatic that girls like escapades and would like this one too!! Another debate ensued…..

PS. Nanny Bee is rushing to read Emil and the Detectives to find out what all the fuss is about!

PPS. M has only read the first few chapters so far but especially likes the way that the author, Erich Kastner, speaks directly to the readers to explain things in the novel that they might not know. Like why seven pounds is so important to Emil and his mother. Or what you might expect in a third class train carriage. There are illustrations with detailed captions too – these are great; a bit like you’re being given clues that nobody else in the novel knows about.

Publication details:

Vintage, August 2012, London, paperback

This copy: received from the publishers for review.

To win a copy of Emil and the Detectives or any of the other titles in the new Vintage Children's Classics series, enter here.