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De Waal meets students in latest National Teen Book Club
State school students across the UK have been reading and discussing Kit De Waal’s award-winning novel My Name is Leon (Viking) as part of the National Teen Book Club, run by Speakers for Schools and Books Clubs in Schools.
It follows the successful book clubs launched last year, which saw more than 3,000 students take part in sessions featuring Alex Wheatle, Patrice Lawrence and Candice Carty-Williams. More clubs are planned for 2022.
The latest club on De Waal’s novel included the opportunity to enter a flash-fiction competition and a book illustration competition. Students were asked to develop a short written piece, beginning and inspired by the first line of My Name is Leon: “No one has to tell [insert name] that this is a special moment."
Winners of the flash fiction competition received feedback on their written piece from both De Waal and her literary agent Jo Unwin. Students were also asked to illustrate a character or scene from My Name is Leon and the winners will join Andersen Press art director Kate Grove for an online masterclass.
As well as being able to share their thoughts on the novel during live discussions each week, participants joined an exclusive Q&A with De Waal.
De Waal said: “I never considered writing as a career when I was young, the only writers I knew were dead. Even when I began to read widely in my 20s, it was still a case of: if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. No one from my background – poor, black and Irish – wrote books. It just wasn’t an option. Taking part in the National Teen Book Club is a great opportunity to meet young people from all over the UK and spark that fire in the next generation of writers, publishers and illustrators.”
Ali Palmer, director of Book Clubs in Schools, added: “The National Teen Book Club offers a unique chance for young people all over the country to come together to read a book and discuss their ideas. The weekly inspiring talks from authors and key influencers in publishing offer a real insight into careers and opportunities. The partnership with Speakers for Schools has enabled us to create an engaging, far-reaching programme that will inspire a reading for pleasure culture in the schools that participate.”
To find out more and sign up to the next National Teen Book Club visit the website here. The next club starts on 9th March at 3.30 p.m. and runs for four weeks, where young people will hear from author Rebecca Henry, Cassie Chadderton, chief executive of World Book Day, and the author of the featured book Wranglestone, Darren Charlton, published by Little Tiger.
