We’ve now had the first ‘booktalk’ meeting of the year and we were discussing All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri. To avoid spoilers, the notes from our meeting are attached here.
At the start of our meetings we often think about ourselves as readers.
Our starting question this time was ‘What are your preferences when it come to novels set in a particular time and place?’ Some of us want an accurate and well-researched portrayal so we can learn something about a point in history or a particular culture. Some like to research the context while reading. Some are happy to stay with what they learn from the book itself. Some love a book which blends real historical events with fantasy or magic such as Babel or Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel. We had both fantasy-enjoyers and fantasy-haters!
It’s good to remember the huge range of reading styles, tastes and opinions about reading and to bear that in mind when we think about children and young people. For example, do we give our students the impression that only books with challenging vocabulary ‘count’ as reading, when we ourselves really enjoy an excellent YA book and can get a lot from it?
If you would like to read along with us, our next book is a classic: Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin. We’ll be discussing it on 28th January.
Some YA books with links to All That It Ever Meant, suggested by teachers in the group:
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Also deals with a child coming to terms with the death of his mother.
- The Railway Children by E Nesbit. A classic read – siblings coping with the mysterious disappearance of their father.
- The Roles We Play by Samba Khan. A graphic novel which also explores family relationships, dual identities, culture clashes
- Bone Talk by Candy Gourlay. Also has the theme of exploring the kind of person you want to become.
- The Girl and the Goddess, by Nikita Gill. Illustrated poems, healing from trauma, colonialism.
- Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi. A supernatural element, gender/trans identities.
- Needle, by Patrice Lawrence. What does it mean to apologise? Struggling with grief of different kinds.
- Children of Blood and Bone, by Toni Adeyemi. African inspired fantasy. Losing a parent.
