Library Events

Library Events

Sefton Super Reads Visit - 29 June 2010

To begin with, a brief description was given of the six books which were shortlisted for the award. These were: Escape From Shadow Island, Baboon, The Graveyard Book, The Thornthwaite Inheritance, Angel Cake and Revolver. Once this had been done, the results of the votes for the best reads were given out. In reverse order, the positions were:

6th Baboon
5th The Graveyard Book
4th Angel Cake
3rd Revolver
2nd Escape From Shadow Island
1st The Thornthwaite Inheritance

The Thornthwaite Inheritance's author, Gareth P. Jones, regrettably could not make it to the visit, as his wife was about to give birth to his first child in London. However, he did send a speech which was read out.

After this, the awards for the best reviews for each book were given. Three of our school won an award: Tom Whitehead, Tom Magennis and Harry Taaffe. Unfortunately Harry could not come to the visit, so Mrs Rea collected the award for him.

Finally, Paul Adam, the author of Escape From Shadow Island, answered some questions about his books. He confirmed that he is planning to develop the story further into a trilogy which was very well received.

Alasdair Lees 9C

Visit by M G Harris - Friday 25th June 2010

All boys in Year 8 sat enthralled by the writer M G Harris as she talked about her writing and how she developed the ideas for her series of thrillers, the Joshua Files.

She had careers as a microbiologist and the manager of an IT company before becoming a full time writer. Although the ideas for the stories had been in her mind for a long time, the real impetus was when she broke her leg in a skiing accident and decided to use her enforced leisure at home to write a novel. Her daughter had complained that she couldn't find any books she wanted to read, so M G aimed to create a contemporary thriller that would appeal to both boys and girls, using the background of her interest in Mayan archaeology that had been inspired by her frequent visits to Mexico to visit family. The stories incorporate alleged sightings of UFOs in Mexico- her presentation included fascinating footage of the Campeche incident in 2004, when Mexican pilots recorded some UFOs. Her books also contain references to codes and code breaking, and the Mexican Long Count Calendar, which has lead to speculation that they believed the world would end in 2012.

After her talk and presentation the audience were able to ask questions about her writing and the inspiration for her books. She never uses pen and paper, but always writes on a computer or other digital device. She saves all corrections and versions of her writing for future use. The neon PVC jackets for the three Joshua Files, designed by her publisher, Scholastic, were very successful in bringing attention to the books. They were produced in a limited edition and are now sold out. The American edition is due out soon, with a completely different cover. The character of Josh is based on her nephew. M G loves to research her books by travelling to the locations she wants to use, to get the real feel of a place. She photographs places, people and cars so she can use her memories when she returns home.

The Joshua Files, as well as being an exciting thriller, also contains many ideas and references to Mayan history, code breaking, UFOs, music and cars, making them essential reading for your summer holiday!

Celia Rees Talk - 19th April 2010

On Monday 19th April, 15 boys walked to Crosby Civic Hall to see one of the most famous names in children's writing, Celia Rees. They were able to buy copies of her books and then meet the author to have them signed.

Celia Rees studied history and politics, and then taught for 10 years. She then became a full time writer, and has published 20 novels for children. Witch Child is her most popular book.

Her inspiration for her latest novel The Fool's Girl was seeing a student production of her favourite Shakepearian play Twelfth Night, near the river in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in 2005. She said that she liked this play because it is short, funny and has no boring bits. Feste the fool reminded her of modern stand up comedians. She decided to base a novel on this story of mistaken identity, disguise and impossible love affairs. She chose Dubrovnik as the real place instead of the imaginary Illyria. Her main character she named Violetta, the daughter of Viola. She decided to use the south bank of the Thames and the Globe Theatre, the entertainment district of Shakespeare's London, as another location. The book, set in 1601, contains a wealth of historical detail and creates a vivid picture of seventeenth century London.

The Fool's Girl took her two years to write, as she started it in January 2008, although she had the idea three years earlier. Many of her novels are historical although she has also written in other genres such as thrillers and vampire stories. She asked the audience their opinion on her next novel, for which she had two different ideas- a contemporary thriller or a supernatural story set in late Victorian London. She has also considered writing a book online.

Mrs Rea

Tim Quinn
World Book Day 4th March 2010

Before his day started Tim displayed some of his own wonderful artwork and illustrations for various publications.

Tim did a series of cartoon workshops during lessons, for all Year 7 pupils, and classes from Year 9, 10 and the sixth form. Boys were amazed to learn that you could earn a living by colouring-in. Tim, who used to be the editor of Marvel Comics in New York, described how his first job on a Monday morning was to motivate the artists who worked in the basement of the company building. They had to work to tight deadlines, and were always searching for new ideas for characters and plots. Some artists were employed solely to colour the drawings - Tim said that this was a highly skilled job, and that the best colourists could transform mediocre artwork by using vibrant colours. He showed us some original Marvel pages- the boys were surprised to see that they were larger than normal comics. They were created in a large format and scaled down for printing to make details easier to create.
Tim asked the pupils in the workshops to create emotions on faces by using simple techniques. They then drew stick figures, and transformed them by creating movement and more natural poses. He then asked the boys to create a comic strip character based on themselves, standing on a skateboard that could travel through time and have adventures in history. He told them that everyone could draw and that practice is essential so that drawing eventually becomes as natural as walking.

His lunchtime talk on the history of comic strips finished all too soon when the bell went for afternoon lessons. His audience of pupils listened enthralled as he traced the development of their much-loved superheroes. From the origins of comics as cave paintings, Tim took us through the art of ancient Egypt, pamphlets and broadsheets, to the Victorian character Ally Sloper. He described the development of the American comics, and familiar character like Superman and Spiderman, and others like Wonder Man and Moon Girl that have faded into obscurity. Southport even got a mention as the birthplace of the Eagle and The Lion. Familiar characters in the Dandy and Beano had to constantly change and attract a new generation of readers. Comics have also been used not only for entertainment but also for propaganda and education.
Tim left his audience enthused about drawing, and with a new perspective on comics and illustration.

ER
5.3.10

Lee Child Visit - April 2009

On St George's Day Lee Child visited Merchant Taylors, which was also the day his new novel, Gone Tomorrow was published. Lee, who has been writing the series since 1995, started out writing with pen and paper at a time when computers in the home were scarce. His reference to email in one of the early novels seemed very exotic! However now he is a dedicated computer fan.

He created his hero Jack Reacher after he lost his job in television. Jack was an example of someone who had no job or ties, so was a symbol of the many redundancies of the time. He described how Jack was a universal figure- the mysterious, rootless man is found is westerns, medieval literature and many other cultures.

Lee advised his audience to read novels as a means of illuminating history and current affairs. Details fascinate him so much that in one of his novels the entire plot hinges on the fact that all American banknotes are the same size. He enjoys being an author although he misses the company of the colleagues he had at work. Lee now lives in New York, although he was born in Coventry. He worked for 18 years for Granada Television in Manchester as a producer. After his redundancy, his investment in £6 worth of paper and pencils has made him one of the best selling authors in English!

Lee Child at Merchant Taylors

GTX Bookworms Visit to the Hornby Library - January 2009

GTX Bookworms boys visited Liverpool Central Library in William Brown Street at the end of January. This street is a treasure trove of museums, galleries and libraries, and we could easily have spent the entire day there!

Birds of America

However we headed for the Hornby Library to see one of Liverpool's most prized possessions. Outside the library is an art nouveau copper plaque dedicating it to its patron, Hugh Frederick Hornby. Hornby donated £10,000 to construct the building, which was opened in 1906.
Janet Graham from Liverpool Libraries showed us a fascinating variety of rare books and documents from the collection. We saw a letter signed by Elizabeth I, and a certificate presented to the City of Liverpool by one of the Apollo astronauts, incorporating an American flag that had circled the moon. The Oak Room contains 4,000 of the rarest books in the collection. We were shown the most famous of Liverpool's rare volumes- the four volume elephant folio set of Audubon's Birds of America. The last set of these to be auctioned was sold for $8,000,000. Audubon came to Liverpool and received sponsorship from the Rathbone family, which enabled him to produce this incredible book of life size engravings of birds. The colours are still fresh and vibrant, even after surviving water damage when a bomb fell on the library in the May blitz of 1941.

Visit by Peadar Ó Guilín - 20th November 2008

On a recent visit to MTBS library the Dublin author Peadar Ó Guilín talked about the violent and visceral world in his recent science fiction novel The Inferior. It is set in a world where all the plants are poisonous and where all creatures have to hunt each other to survive. Humans and other intelligent species have a constant battle to stay alive.

Peadar Ó Guilín grew up as a fanatical reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy and cites the first book to ‘light a spark in' him as ‘The Hobbit'. One of his school reports claimed that he had ‘a talent for communication, which he abuse[d].' It is therefore unremarkable that he developed a talent for writing ‘curious stories'!

When one pupil asked him what it was like to write, he described the pressure of deadlines by comparing a novel to having to write an essay, then having to do the same every day for 3 solid months. He has dabbled in stand up comedy, but now enjoys the creativity of writing.

His book is to be translated into several languages and has received many favourable reviews. We wish him luck with the sequel!

Melvin Burgess visit - Monday 23rd October 2008

Melvin Burgess, the award winning children’s writer, spoke to a lunchtime audience in the library about his writing. His favourite of all his books is Cry of the Wolf. His more recent books, Bloodtide and Bloodsong, are based on the mythology of the Icelandic sagas, even though they are set in a futuristic London dominated by gang warfare. He also described the difficulties of creating a novel from the film script of Billy Elliot. During an English lesson he spoke to 100 older pupils about his novel Junk, which won the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Children’s Fiction Award in 1997. He explained that the characters were all based on real people he knew from his time living in Bristol. Pupils were able to ask Melvin many questions about his writing.