Ele Fountain came to visit Years 7 & 8 as part of our World Book Day celebration this week.
Ele’s first novel, ‘Boy 87’, was nominated for numerous awards when it was published last year, and went on to win several of them. The book was on our younger readers’ shortlist for the North Herts Schools Book Award. Students loved the book and were delighted she could visit us.
Ele spoke about the story behind ‘Boy 87’, and how living for a while in Ethiopia had given her the idea for the story. She talked about how people can become refugees, what happens to them when they do, and how important it is to report responsibly on refugee numbers and destinations. Her thought-provoking talk got the students thinking about the facts behind the headlines, and our students gave some mature and thoughtful answers to her questions. She involved two pupils by getting them to imagine suddenly having to leave the safety of your home and having to decide at a moment’s notice which four things you can fit into a small bag and take with you – our students very sensibly chose items which would keep them safe, warm and fed on their journey.
She also briefly told us about her second novel, ‘Lost’, which is about to be published (and will be in the Senior School Library shortly). The library also has spare signed copies of ‘Boy 87’ at £7 each for anyone who didn’t manage to get one after Ele’s talk.
Linda Aird
Librarian
