North Ayrshire Library and Information Service

The North Ayrshire Library and Information Service website, validated to CSS.2.1, XHTML1.0 and AA.

Reading Space

Ardrossan Junior Book Group

This group has been meeting now for over four years in Ardrossan Library. The current members are aged between 10-16 years so it has been decided to create a new Teen Group for the older members who will then be able to access the Young Adult Collection. We will continue to meet one Thursday each month between 4-5pm. Please contact Anne Noble on 01294 212716 if you would like to join and to find out when our next meeting is.

Reports on our meetings

10 June 2010 Visit by author John Ward

The group's last meeting before the summer holidays was a very special one with a visit from author John Ward. Members had read John's book "The Comet's Child" in January and had looked forward to the visit.

Readers will vary in how much they can visualise from reading a story, but there is no doubt that everyone benefits from hearing an author read out loud from their own book, and John proved this when he read an extract from one of the most tense scenes in "The Comet's Child". Then he talked about the process of writing and the way in which he learned the craft as he went through the process of writing his first novel. This was followed by various questions and a debate on talking books, with the point being made that the style of the narrator can effect whether or not the listener continues with the story.

The youngsters agreed that with the wide variety of ages within the group (10 - 16) it would be a good idea to split into two groups so from August we will have a Junior Group and a Teen Group. The latter will now be able to choose from the Young Adult Collection. The meeting time will remain at 4pm with half an hour for each group on the book discussion and the other half choosing books and accessing Book Sp@ce and Teen Sp@ce. So August will be the perfect opportunity to join one of the groups at Ardrossan Library if you are interested!

If you would like to join the group, please contact Anne Noble at the Education Resource Service, Tel: 01294 219206.

29 April 2010 "Hollywood Bliss: My Life So Far" by Chloe Rayban

The group members agreed that this was very much a "Girls' book" so it received very mixed reviews!

At the next meeting we hope that author John Ward will visit the library to talk to the youngsters about his books, particularly "Comet's Child" which they read a few months ago. It is always a great pleasure to listen to an author describe the process of writing a novel, what motivates them and ways in which aspiring writers can starting creating their own story.

As some of the members are now of age to read the Young Adult books, we intend to divide into two separate groups from the August meeting. So there will be a Children's group and a Young Adult's group. The meeting time will remain at 4pm. So August will be the perfect opportunity to join one of the groups at Ardrossan Library if you are interested.

If you would like to join the group, please contact Anne Noble at the Education Resource Service, Tel: 01294 219206.

18 March 2010 - "The Boy in the Burning House" by Tim Wynne-Jones

With four group members busy preparing for their exams at school, only three members were able to attend this month’s meeting. The power of art was demonstrated when Robyn said she had not read "The Boy in the Burning House" because the cover scared her! Of course that prompted much laughter about the saying "You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover".

Hollywood BLiss - My Life So Far by Chloe Rayban The next meeting is on Thursday 29th April. The novel will be "Hollywood Bliss My Life So Far" by Chloe Rayban (synopsis from Amazon): "Fame and fortune climax in a sumptuous wedding extravaganza for superstar Kandhi, the tenth richest woman in the world, but her daughter, Hollywood Bliss, almost 14, dreams of an ordinary life, far from Mom's entourage and lavish luxury. Holly wants to be a vet. And she can't wait for her first kiss. Instead, she will be landed with handsome, supercilious Shug as stepbrother."

18 February 2010 - "Millions" by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Frank Cottrell's first novel stimulated a great deal of debate about a variety of topics - families, the value of money, charity and trust.

The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones The next meeting is on Thu 18th. March. The novel will be "The Boy in the Burning House" by Tim Wynne-Jones (synopsis from Amazon):

"Jim is just regaining some semblance of a normal life following his father's sudden disappearance, when he is attacked by a crazy girl. Ruth Rose has a wild story to tell about her stepfather, the saintly Father Fisher, and needs someone to believe her - and help her prove it. Gradually Jim is convinced by Ruth Rose and they find themselves tracking a murderer and caught up in a dangerous web of secrets from a dark and unsettling past."

21 January 2010 - "The Comet's Child" by John Ward

Unfortunately the visit by author John Ward had to be postponed to a later date.

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce The next meeting is on 18th. February. The novel will be "Millions" by Frank Cottrell Boyce (synopsis from Kidsread.com):

"This book is flat-out amazing --- I've never read anything remotely like it. It manages to be simultaneously funny, horrifying, fantastical, realistic, sad, touching, and shocking. The plot twists are unpredictable, and the characters are believably quirky. A truly excellent read."

31st October 2009 - "Montmorency" by Eleanor Updale

This was not a popular choice with the group, so we quickly moved on to the main event of the afternoon, which was storytelling.

As this was the time of North Ayrshire's annual Storytelling Festival, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", we had decided to become storytellers for a day. Daniel impressed us all by being able to tell a tale without reading any notes. Some of the girls did not want to read all of a story to the group, so they took turns to read sections. Finally, young Jade had made a great effort and took the time to write her own story, which featured a youngster being chased by a monster.

The next meeting is on Thu 3rd. December. The novel will be "Un Lun Dun" by China Mieville (Synopsis from Amazon):

"Deeba and Zanna discover a wheel in a basement, Zenna turns it and realizes that something weird is happening - London is being switched off! Zanna and Deeba are two best friends and they find themselves in the world of UnLondon, a place where London's discarded things somehow end up. UnLondon is under siege by the sinister Smog (a poisonous cloud) and is waiting for its saviour to arrive as prophesised by their magic book that can speak. Guided by this book the girls have to try and put an end to the poisonous cloud. A crew of UnLondon locals, the likes of which you will have never dreamed, joins them in their quest! UnLondon is more than a little unusual but an absolute wonder to read about."

If you would like to join the group, please contact Anne Noble at the Education Resource Service, Tel: 01294 219206.

1st October 2009 - "Gilda Joyce and the Ladies of the Lake" by Jennifer Allison

The youngsters were pleased to welcome a new member, Emma, to the group. Despite the fact that the book had been selected by the group members it had not been enjoyed by them! However, it did inspire us to agree that since our next meeting is to be just a couple of days before Halloween, we will all have two tasks for then. Firstly, to bring details of a spooky novel which we would like to recommend to the others. Secondly, to become storytellers and each tell a scary story.

The youngsters heard that there may be a visit to the Ardrossan Children’s Book group from an author in the New Year.

The next meeting is on Thu 29th. October. The novel will be "Montmorency" by Eleanor Updale (synopsis from Amazon):

"Fleeing across a roof on a dark night in Victorian London, a thief crashes through a glass skylight to almost certain death. But an ambitious young doctor revives and reconstructs his shattered body, proudly showing off his handiwork at the Scientific Society where the city's intelligentsia meet. It's there that the robber picks up the key to a new existence, and on his release from prison begins to lead a double life. He becomes both the respectable, wealthy Montmorency and his degenerate servant, Scarper - while the police are baffled by a wave of mysterious and seemingly unstoppable thefts...But Montmorency must be on his guard at every moment. The smallest mistake could reveal his secret and destroy both his lives."

If you would like to join the group, please contact Anne Noble at the Education Resource Service, Tel: 01294 219206.

August 2009

Royal Mail Award and the Edinburgh Book Festival

During the summer holidays we had the opportunity to read some of the novels from the Royal Mail Awards shortlist. The RMA is the biggest UK children's book prize when young people can vote for their favourite book from the year's shortlist.

Later in the month we had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Edinburgh Book Festival along with members of the Irvine Teenage Book Group. Several members of the group had read "Girl, Missing" and other novels by author Sophie McKenzie. In fact, some of the girls voted it their favourite book. So they were eagerly anticipating hearing her talk about her work. She was very entertaining and literally had all of us 'on the edge of our seats' as she helped us to understand the meaning of the term 'thriller'.

The afternoon session with 'The Spook's' series author Joseph Delaney was a fascinating insight into the world of 'The County' where Boggarts and witches dwell.

The youngsters also had the opportunity to ask questions of both authors. Each talk was followed by a book signing session where they had the opportunity to speak to the authors.It was a very interesting day which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

If you would like to join the group, please contact Anne Noble at the Education Resource Service, Tel: 01294 219206.

Return to Book Sp@ce