Almost six months of hard (but pleasurable) work came to an end on June 19th when nineteen Chantry and Newminster students and their parents gathered at the Centre for Life to meet the authors whose work they had come to regard almost as ‘old friends.’
A small group of us has been reading and discussing possible contenders for North East Book Award 2017 since Christmas and gradually whittling down a long list to five strong candidates. In March, younger students – many still in Y5 – came on board, eager to read and review the shortlist and vote for their favourites.
This year, we were privileged to be asked to present two of the five authors and – by far the youngest participants – our Year 5s rose to the challenge. Ellen (Y7), Talullah, Lilly and Rachel (Y5) introduced debut author Lucy Strange, who was so overwhelmed she was moved to tears.
Not to be outdone, Simone (Y6,) Izzy, Finlay and Chloe (Y5) overcame the inconvenience of being unable to see over the lectern by sharing a script and rotating rapidly around it, managing not to collide and receiving an enormous ovation from the audience for their completely unrehearsed choreography!
Debut author, Peter Buzl is a TV animator by day and he animated the front covers of his steampunk series for our entertainment.
He also decided that demonstrating deportment was better than explaining it – spot our Chantry volunteers!
You never know quite what to expect at a NEBA ceremony!
As usual, a lot of our comments are selected for the posters:Most of us thought that Lucy Strange, debut author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood, should have won NEBA 2017 and we were delighted to meet her.
As usual, a lot of our comments are selected for the posters:
Most of us thought that Lucy Strange, debut author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood, should have won NEBA 2017 and we were delighted to meet her.
