Pop Up and Sit Down with a Book! (or, How Pop Up gets Young People Reading.)

by Edge Author
Dave Cousins

Why pick up a book? I mean, there are so many other things you could be doing: watching TV, hanging out with your mates, playing a game, tweeting, texting, sharing pictures on Instagram, surfing YouTube … Why switch off all that multicoloured, moving, bleeping, tweeting interactive fun and sit down quietly with a book? 

Tricky one that. It’s a question parents, teachers, librarians, book-sellers, writers and publishers have been wrestling with for years. 

One of the tenets of writing is “SHOW, don’t TELL” and that could also apply in this case. When I visit schools, I try to avoid telling young people that they SHOULD be reading. Sure, I’ll explain how important books have been to me, share my enthusiasm for some of my favourites, but then I read something—SHOW them what I mean—in the hope they’ll be inspired to give books another go themselves. 

The programme of literature festivals and events offered by London's Pop Up organisation takes this idea even further. Pop Up Director Dylan Calder explains: “The children read a book, meet the author of the book, then experience a workshop around that book to create creative responses.”

Earlier in the year, I took part in a number of Pop Up Booklinks events. When I arrived at the schools, the entire class had already read 15 Days Without a Head and produced work based on the story, including hot-seating, where students would take it in turns to interview each other as one of the characters. The teachers said the pupils’ enthusiasm for the project was evident in the way they had approached the tasks and the quality of work produced. The video below shows a small sample of film posters students produced having been tasked with casting and promoting a movie of the book.

 
The fact that pupils know they are going to be meeting the author creates an extra dimension to their reading experience and associated work. The opportunity to both question the author, and share their own responses, brings them closer to the book and makes reading a much more inclusive process. Working with the author on the students’ own creative project further breaks down barriers between reader and creator, and provides an important channel for self-expression. 

My overriding impression from the classrooms I visited was one of great enthusiasm. Dylan Calder sums it up perfectly: “Children should come away from Pop Up wanting to read more because they had such a great experience.” Maybe that answers our question.

If you’d like a Pop Up Education programme in your learning community email: education@pop-up.org.uk

Below are links to a couple of short films showcasing recent Pop Up events in June 2013, run in partnership with London museums and galleries.

Pop Up Secondary Film

Pop Up Primary Film

Waiting for Gonzo by Dave Cousins is out now in paperback, audiobook and kindle, published by Oxford University Press. A soundtrack of original music inspired by the book is also available. To find out more, please visit davecousins.net. 

A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever

Waiting for Gonzo hits the shelves on March 7, but Edge author Dave Cousins wonders if his edgy credentials will be called into question …

I’m worried I could be in danger of being kicked out of (or over) the Edge! My new book jacket is yellow; it has bright red writing and a picture of a girl with a giant comedy moustache and glasses drawn on her face. You could be forgiven for thinking I’ve lost my edge.

But do you have to be dark, to be edgy?

In many ways, I felt more on the edge writing Waiting for Gonzo than I ever did during 15 Days Without a Head – a story with a much more obviously edgy subject.

From the outset, I wanted Gonzo to be funny, but the story was filled with characters battling their way through some very serious problems. Could I write with honesty and truth about these things and still make readers laugh?

I’ve always been drawn to stories that make me laugh and cry at the turn of a page. For me, humour in the face of adversity feels that little bit funnier, and the pain that comes after laughter, always takes your breath away. But as David St. Hubbins says in the film, This is Spinal Tap – “It’s a fine line between stupid and uh … clever.” A joke at the wrong time can kill the tension or just come across as irritating; equally, while attempting to reveal heart and drama in a comic moment, it’s easy to stumble and land face first in stupid!

Then there was Oz – my thirteen year old narrator – one of those characters who transformed himself and the story as I typed. He had a tendency to be loud and cocky, but was always fun to be with – misguided and thoughtless rather than malicious – I loved him, but would anybody else? From the reviews I’ve had so far, I’m glad to say that readers appear to feel the same way about Oz as I did. Laura (aka Sister Spooky) summed it up perfectly when she wrote: “Oz is very believable and if I’m honest, a bit of an arse at times, but that just made me warm to him more.”

I’m hoping that Waiting for Gonzo ended up on the right side of that fine line, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. As for my edge credentials? Writing often feels like a leap of faith, but I can honestly say I’ve never teetered for quite so long on the brink – surely that must count for something?

Waiting for Gonzo by Dave Cousins is published in paperback by Oxford University Press on 7 March 2013.

For further information, including details of the original soundtrack to accompany the book, visit www.davecousins.net. You can also find Dave on Twitter and Facebook.

Edge Authors visit Blackheath Bluecoat School

On Thursday three-eighths of the Edge were at Blackheath Bluecoat School. Sara, Katie and Dave had a great afternoon with Year Ten students talking about how and why they write, what's involved in getting a book published, as well as sharing a few secrets about what they did before they were authors. 

Here are a few pictures from the event … 

Edge Authors Katie Dale, Sara Grant and Dave Cousins

Dave introduces The Silver Skull of Silence … 

There were lots of great questions from the Year Ten audience and staff …

… some of which had our panel momentarily lost for words!

Lynn and Caroline next to the gallery of librarian portraits
produced by the students

A huge thanks to all the staff and students at the school for making our Edge authors so welcome, especially Caroline and Lynn in the library.

(Additional thanks to Caroline for taking the photos)

Young Adult Books Interrogation with Guest Book Blogger Paula Hardman from PaulaSHx

This week our guest at the Edge is Paula Hardman who has been blogging about books at PaulaSHx since the start of January 2011. On the blog Paula describes herself as a blogger, book reviewer, social media addict, beta reader, aspiring writer and Harley Davidson lover – amongst other things!

Originally from Brazil, Paula came to the UK aged seventeen, intending to study English and Photography for three years and then return home to finish a degree in Journalism. Needless to say, it didn't quite go according to plan. She blames her husband for the fact she is still here. "I had no plans of having a beautiful little girl in this trip either, but I like it better this way. Life's curves made my life complete!"

Over the coming months we will be inviting a number of book bloggers to guest here at the Edge. Huge thanks to Paula for volunteering to be the first to undergo the Edge interrogation. So, without further ado, lets shine that light and let the questions begin … 

Paula, WHY do you read and write about Young Adult books? 

I love YA Books! Your teens might be a little traumatic, but they are also the years when you start finding out about adult life - falling in love, discovering who you are and what you can do - without the responsibilities of actually being an adult. When I read YA it evokes all those feelings and memories in me and I enjoy reminiscing about my younger years when things were more dramatic, but simpler.

What are the most ORIGINAL YA books that you have read?

Oh! This is a hard one as most of the books I have read recently are following trends while giving it their own twist. I would have to say: The Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare – she walks the fine line in between all fairy tales and different religions while creating her own very different world; Mercy series by Rebecca Lim – a very interesting take on angels and a double story as in every book Mercy must discover who she is as well as help the life she’s inhabiting for the moment; and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr – a very political take on fairy courts and love.

What is a TURN OFF in YA fiction?

A very slow pace or events that are so unrealistic you are left scratching your head and asking: “seriously?”

What makes for a GREAT YA book?

Convincing tension, romance, characters and action. I like when an author tells me there are cats raining from the sky, but he/she does it so convincingly, that I actually believe it’s plausible. I also like finding out the backstory while the action in the present plot is still going on - when the pace slows too much to fill you in I usually lose interest.

Which YA characters would you most like to take OUT TO DINNER and why?

I am a girl, so I will have to say Seth Morgan from Wicked Lovely – the alternative but extremely clever and wise sort – and Cole St.Clair from Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls – the bad boy with brains.

Who is your ideal YA HERO / HEROINE and why?

I like strong female leads, girls who can hold their own and kick butt, so I adore Isabel Culpeper from Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls and Isabelle Lightwood from The Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare. They are not the main characters on any of these books, but I sympathise with them as we have the same attitude and way of thinking. I’m a little sceptical, sarcastic and straight to the point like they are.

What is your dream YA ROMANTIC PAIRING and why?

Cole St.Clair and Isabel Culpeper (Wolves of Mercy Falls) – they are both fighting their demons and finding their feet. And while they are both really messed up, their dramatic and complicated relationship actually helps them work through their issues. It’s realistic, you know? Real relationships are not perfect and this one isn’t either.

What makes you uncomfortable or question THE BOUNDARIES of YA?

When things become too graphic. And it’s not just YA, this could also apply to adult books. I think the magic of a book lays on letting the reader imagine half of the scene themselves, so they ride the book with you. When you are a teen, you are discovering all sorts of things about yourself - that includes principals, sexuality, beliefs and boundaries- and it would be unrealistic of a book talking about teens not to tackle that to some extent. That is not to say that it can’t be done with taste and touch. Swearing, for example - if added at the right scene, it enhances the mood or the character’s reaction. If dropped in constantly to replace another word, it’s just rude. A heavy making-out session in between characters is another one – we all know the chase is a lot more interesting than actually winning the game. It’s the tension of flirting that gives you the butterflies, not characters that can’t leave each other’s faces alone.

What would you LIKE to see happening in YA fiction over the next five years?

I would love to see YA treated with a little more respect. It’s a genre like many others. It annoys me when you tell people you read YA and they say: “Oh, I read proper fiction.” You have to read what rocks your boat, and YA rocks mine.

What do you think will ACTUALLY BE the next big thing in YA?

It sounds like there is a whole undead thing going on at the moment. Historical Fiction also seems to be getting stronger, but I really like the ones about real life issues (Edge Authors), if done properly, they can be really interesting, helpful and raise awareness for the issues.

Give us your TOP FIVE YA/Teen books.

In no particular order: Mercy series by Rebecca Lim, The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr, 15 Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins, and Sabado a Noite by Babi Dewet (this is a Brazilian author and the book is so far only written in Portuguese).

(And no, we didn't bribe Paula to include one of our Edge authors in her list!)

If you read one book this year, read THIS … 

This is not actually a new book, but The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It works on two levels: If you read it to a child, it’s about the adventures of an alien prince. If you read in between the lines, it’s a serious critique on society and its priorities. My favourite quotes are:

“Grown-ups like numbers… If you tell grown-ups, ‘I saw a beautiful red brick house, with geraniums at the windows and doves on the roof…,’ they won’t be able to imagine such a house. You have to tell them, ‘I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs.’ Then they exclaim, ‘What a pretty house!’”

“In those days, I didn’t understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realised the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contradictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.”

Thanks very much to Paula for being our guest and providing some great answers to our questions. Be sure to take a trip over to PaulaSHx for some great reviews and much more besides.

You can also follow Paula on Twitter @PaulaSHx

If you would be interested in submitting to interrogation, or have something you'd like to say about teen and young adult books, send an email to edgewritersATyahooDOTcoDOTuk. Thanks.

Banned Books: On no account should you read this …

Edge author Dave Cousins on the curious incident of the dog in the locker.
 
A couple of weeks ago I read an article about a student in an American high school, running a library of banned books from her locker. What started as a small act of rebellion against censorship, turned into something much more significant and interesting, when she discovered that her classmates wanted to borrow and read the books because they had been told they shouldn’t.

“Before I started (the library), almost no kid at school but myself took an active interest in reading! Now not only are all the kids reading the banned books, but go out of their way to read anything they can get their hands on. So I’m doing a good thing, right? ”   


A few days later I read in the press about the cancellation of  an appearance by award winning children’s author, Meg Rosoff, at an independent school in Bath. Having somewhat belatedly realised that the novel she would be talking about, There Is No Dog, explored the idea of God as a nineteen year old boy, the school felt that inviting Rosoff to speak would not be an appropriate reflection of their Christian ethos.  

The discussions that followed this news, both publicly and amongst friends and fellow writers were passionate and wide ranging in opinions. As far as I was concerned this reaction served as a perfect illustration as to why young people should be encouraged to read and discuss books such as There Is No Dog, precisely because they are thought provoking and stimulate debate.  

In an interview on Radio 4’s Open Book programme some weeks before her event was pulled, Meg Rosoff said that her intention when writing the book had been to simply pose questions that would make readers realise that somebody else was thinking about these issues. And that she believed it was part of the writers job “to look at the dark questions of life.”  

I don’t wish to enter into a specific debate about There Is No Dog, or the school’s decision to cancel Meg Rosoff's visit. I would like to suggest however, that books tackling some of these “dark questions” provide an excellent opportunity for schools to engage students in informed debate. Hiding away from an issue or a difficult question won’t make it go away. Ignorance, fear and prejudice will merely continue as a result. Whereas a generation of young people who read widely, and are encouraged to explore different viewpoints and ideas, will surely be better equipped to shape our world in future.  

A final thought. The library in the locker clearly showed that young people like to read what they’ve been told not to. The question is – how can we stimulate similar interest in books that haven’t been banned? Your thoughts on this would be most welcome.

Dave Cousins' debut novel for teenagers, 15 Days Without a Head comes out in January, published by Oxford University Press. On no account should you read it … 


Please note that all opinions in this post are those of the author alone.

Where do your ideas come from?

Edge author Dave Cousins considers why he is drawn to write edgy fiction. 

Where do your ideas come from? is probably the most common question asked of writers, and one that many will struggle to answer. Not me. I know exactly where my stories originate: a metal box on my desk called the Word Tin. It contains all the words I need, stamped into small strips of metal, like dog-tags. To build a story, I simply delve into the box, pull out a handful of words and put them in the right order – easy. 

The Word Tin: Where the words come from

I’m joking, of course – though the tin is real, and I have once or twice tried the technique. (It produced some interesting if not exactly publishable results.) But where do ideas for stories come from? How do we choose which stories to tell? Does choice even come into it? I certainly don’t sit down and think. ‘Right! Now I’m going to write some edgy fiction.’ Why don’t I tell stories about boy wizards or teenage spies – vampires even? I’m a big fan of Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series and will happily spend an evening reading about Neutrino-toting fairies, but when I sit down to write, that’s not what appears on the page.

The late great (and edgy) Robert Cormier

For me, Robert Cormier summed it up perfectly when he said, ‘to work for me, an idea must be attached to an emotion, something that upsets, dazzles or angers me and sends me to the typewriter’. The spark that sent me to my notebook to scribble the start of the story that became 15 Days without a Head, came from something I witnessed in a pub one afternoon. A very drunk woman arguing with a stranger at the next table – much to the embarrassment of her sons. It made me wonder what life was like for those two boys, what would happen when they got home. 

It takes time to write and revise a novel, and I find that if the characters and their story don’t mean anything to me, they won’t sustain my interest through the months of writing. If you care, it also brings with it a sense of responsibility, a desire to do justice to the characters and their story, which can be a great motivation – especially in those dark hours encountered with every novel, where the story won’t come and you find yourself reaching for the Word Tin! 

Last week, Bryony talked about edgy fiction dealing with unsettling, uncomfortable ideas. Look at all the Edge story synopses and you’ll find a wide range of tales that have one thing in common: they all deal with realities that are hard to face, things we would rather not think about: knife crime, child abduction, prejudice and torture, abandonment, deception and coercion. 

But these are the subjects that excite and unsettle me, that gnaw away at my subconscious, disturb my daydreams and keep me awake at night – the things that drive me to the typewriter. 

15 Days without a Head by Dave Cousins, is out in January 2012, published by Oxford University Press.