Tuesday 5 August 2014

July 2014: FAKE MUSTACHE by Tom Angleberger






For our last meeting of the year, we wanted a funny read, and Tom Angleberger didn't disappoint. We had a party to celebrate the end of a brilliant year of reading, an excellent opportunity to wear some fake mustaches of our own . . .


 and of course to draw some to our own design, complete with reviews . . .






‘It’s about a boy trying to stop a boy becoming president. I enjoyed it because it was about mustaches!’

‘It’s about a fake mustache and an evil mastermind. It was fun’

‘It was fun. I’d recommend it to a friend if they like looney stuff!’

‘I enjoyed it because it was funny’



We were even able to send video reviews to our author, and had some great messages from him via Twitter.

And it was a brilliant end to the week - and to our year - to get this message from Abrams & Chronicle, Tom's publisher:


 We swapped books to read over the summer - looking forward to what everyone thought, and to seeing you in September to talk about A LETTER FOR THE KING.




June 2014: CHARMED LIFE by Diana Wynne Jones





Before Harry Potter, there was Charmed Life. Some loved this, some didn't manage to finish and found it a little dated and slow. I still stand by it as a wonderful classic and one of my childhood favourites!



Scarlett:

‘I loved it’



Victor:

‘I enjoyed it. Because I just liked it. It’s about magic, wizardry etc. I would recommend it to a friend’



Rachel:

‘I enjoyed it because it was exciting’



Theo:

‘I liked it because of the ending’



Dylan:

‘A witch called Gwendolen is adopted by Chrestomanci and tries to annoy him. Then she goes to a different dimension. I enjoyed it because it’s about magic’




April 2014: MOMO by Michael Ende

A magical book about storytelling and the importance of taking time to do the fun and little things in life. Some struggled to get through - it maybe doesn't have the narrative drive of more contemporary fiction. Some of us were lucky enough to see the mesmerising theatre production  by Filament at Greenwich Theatre.

‘It’s about a girl called Momo and there are also men in grey and they steal time and Momo tries to get time back. I enjoyed it because it’s different from all the other books I’ve read’

‘It’s about a little girl who lives in a ruined amphitheatre and is really good at listening. I sort of enjoyed it but I had to read it really slowly.’

‘I enjoyed it because it was mysterious’


If I had hour lilies that gave me extra time to use however I liked, I would . . .

Go on the biggest water slide there is

Invite all the friends you know and play xbox for as long as you can

Do something different every day

Go to Paris with my two best friends and go shopping and stay in a Chateau with an indoor Jacuzzi and an outdoor pool

Find a neverending path and see where it leads

Ride through the Sahara desert, climb Everest, then go to Australia with my best friend and go swimming in a Jacuzzi

Work hard but don’t forget to play

Go to the Amazon with all of my friends and see all of the animals and hire a care to drive around

Go to Egypt and see all the pyramids and try to find more mummies

Go to Africa and stay in a tree with a giraffe and lions down below and an eternity pool

March 2014: CLOUD BUSTING by Malorie Blackman




It's a novel in verse, but don't let that put you off: short and very readable, with great discussion topics it's about being different, being brave, and being a true friend.


‘I enjoyed it. It told you about how things can easily change. I would recommend this book to a friend if they like short books. And they like poetry’

‘It was about a boy who was a bully and he wrote a poem about a boy he bullied. I enjoyed it because it was written in the way of a poem. It was very good’

‘I enjoyed it because I like that it’s made up of poems’

‘I enjoyed it because it was funny’

'It had a good meaning. I’d recommend it to a friend, because it helps friendship’

‘I enjoyed it because it is very dramatic. It was about a kid called Sam who was forced to play with Davey. Davey has a very good imagination.’

‘I liked it because of the drama’

 We wrote a poem together, one line each, inspired by reading Cloud Busting. Here it is:

50 per cent of life is all right
30 per cent is rubbish
Twenty percent is really great

Isn't life ...

An ice cream with a cherry on top
A cake with a scoop of ice cream
A big tub of Ben and Jerry's with big chocolate chunks
A rubber band ready to be
Pulled back and flung
A bar of chocolate covered in fudge
A never ending dream
Fast paced just like Paris
Life has nothing to do with spinach
Life is like junk food
Like kids resting under the sky cloud busting
I don't know what life is
A bread stick
Whizzing down the hillside feet off pedals
Climbing to the tallest branch of your favourite tree
and looking down at the tiny world below
A jigsaw ready to be solved
A button ready to be sewn
A mystery wherever you go
A goal ready to be scored
A water park with all the scariest rides
A fish ready to be caught
A baby in a silk dress

February 2014: THE TERRIBLE THING THAT HAPPENED TO BARNABY BROCKET


January 2014: SMALL CHANGE FOR STUART








‘It’s about a boy called Stuart who moves to his old family town. He tries to find out his great-uncle’s secret. I enjoyed it because it was intriguing and scary-but-not-scary . . . It’s very easy to get into’

‘We enjoyed it because it had humour. My favourite part was when he got chased by the triplets!’

‘I enjoyed the book because I like adventure books’

November 2013: EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES

We also went on a trip to see the National Theatre production.

October 2013: WONDER

The clear favourite when we voted for our book of the year.

September 2013: a new school year, and a new year for Book Club

Our introductory meeting for the beginning of a new year, and we first agreed our ground rules:

Read - try to finish each book
Listen to Each Other
Keep an Open Mind
No shouting or Messing Around

Then we had a lovely chat about the books we like the most and what we like to read.

We talked about how we choose books - by reading the blurb, or being recommended from school, or reading the first sentence. We confessed that quite often we read late into the night. And in general we prefer the books to the movies - because as Rachel says 'they miss the exciting bits', and Sophia points out 'they're the originals' and Dylan agrees, recommends reading the book first, because it will have more description.

We like a wide range of different things, but there's a definite preference for fantasy, ('because they can write anything they want'), mysteries and adventures. Sofie particularly likes 'sad mysteries' and Dylan likes to be scared. Sophia says her dad says she's read more books than he has!

You can see our recommended reads on our pinterest board

Katherine Rundell, author of ROOFTOPPERS, visited us in July 2013



Katherine was captivating, and we loved the book - no surprise that it has gone on to win some very well-deserved awards. Here's just a little extract from our chat:


Mercedes:      Did you ever think of joining a circus?
KR:                  Yes! I never thought I’d be a writer, so for a time I had the more realistic ambition of joining a circus. I went to clown school. I always wanted to learn trapeze, but there is no trapeze in Zimbabwe.

Alice:               How do you write?
KR:                  I try to write a thousand words a day. I also teach about Shakespeare during the day, so I get up at 4am to write before I go to work.

Scarlett:          It’s amazing to hear about your childhood in Africa. You really liked it there. Do you like it better here or there?
KR:                  I like them both the same. My mother is still in Zimbabwe, so Africa is home. The world is more wild there. People in England are much better dressed. In Zimbabwe they only wear shorts and sandals, which is wonderful. I’d love to go back.

Rafferty:         I can’t decide whether to be a vet or a writer.
KR:                  Read James Herriot and you’ll see that maybe you can be both!

Maia:               If you could live on a rooftop in Paris for a week, what would you take?
KR:                  How many things am I allowed? Matches, definitely. And my brother. He’s a jazz musician, and very calm. He’s such a cool human being.
Kes the monkey (he could have a tiny backpack and help me carry things). A rain hat and an umbrella, because I used to live in Paris so I know that although when you think of Paris you think of sunlight and stars, actually it rains a lot there, just as much as in London.
Oh, and sausages and a saucepan. Comfort food. Treacle tart. What other comfort food? Yes – sticky toffee pudding, and spaghetti Bolognese and malteser cake.

Alice:               Why did you choose a cello?
KR:                  When I was your age I’d never heard a cello. Then, when I was ten, I was taken to hear Bach played by the best cello player in Zimbabwe. He was a most beautiful human being, a black Zimbabwean man. And I vowed then I’d marry a cello player. Only maybe that won’t happen now because my boyfriend doesn’t play the cello!
            It was also a practical decision, because Sophie is found in a cello case, so it had to be big enough to hold her: either a cello or a double bass, and a double bass is less soulful; and a harp is too difficult to carry around …

Mercedes:      How did you choose the names for your characters? They’re so unusual
KR:                  Vivienne is named after my aunt. Matteo I named because I had a distinct picture in my mind of a boy who could fend for himself. It sounded like a tough name.
                        Anastasia and Saffire – my two cousins wanted to be in the book, so that was easy.
                        Sophie I thought was a good name for a stubborn, practical person.
                        Charles is sort of like one of the Fellows I work with at Oxford, who is one of my favourite people in all the world. When I first wrote it, I used his name, but I had to change it so people couldn’t tell who it was!
And I chose his surname because Maxim means a saying, a famous phrase. And I wanted it to be like maximum, because he’s an extravagant human being.

Scarlett:          My favourite bit was when Sophie was learning to walk on the roof.
                        When I’m reading a book, it’s like watching a little film in your head, and I didn’t want it to end.

Mercedes:      My favourite bit was when she got the package and ate all the food. And my most favourite bit was when she heard her mother’s music. That was …

KR:                  I love writing about food! And reading about it. I always remember the food in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: when they make toffee out of snow, and DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD and jam sandwiches.
My agent always says that books need to answer the two most important questions: What’s for dinner? And Are we there yet?