Author Visit

On Thursday May 10th we were very lucky to have a visit from Adele Geras, author of many books for children of all ages. She came to JAGS to talk to our Year 8 girls about two of her books for teenagers, Troy and Ithaka. These deal with the legends and stories of Ancient Greece which the girls study in Classical Civilization.

Adele Geras gave two wonderful talks, describing her process of reseaching and writing, the elements of book production and how she came to be fascinated by the ancient world. We all look forward to her proposed new book about tragic Dido! In the questions sessions she gave much good advice about getting started on a writing career, and how her life had given her material for some of her books. Lots of the girls managed to bring a copy of one or more of Adele’s books with them – the library had them on sale for a week or more before her visit – and she very kindly held a book signing session across lunchtime so other year groups could also meet her and have their copies inscribed. A lively discussion on the Carnegie shortlist with our shadowing group of Year 8 readers followed; Adele’s wide knowledge of childrens’ literature was very illuminating. We all enjoyed meeting her very much and hope to see her again soon.