Book-loving students were treated to a seminar with a bestselling author on Wednesday, in anticipation of yesterday’s James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Awards, held at the Freedom Centre.
The five nominated authors for the Hull Book Award - C. J. Flood, Andy Mulligan, Alex Gutteridge, Tom Becker and Phil Earle - were touring the city’s secondary schools promoting their books to the students who would be voting for them.
Alex Gutteridge, who wrote 'Young Adult’ book Last Chance Angel, popped by for the afternoon to Malet Lambert to talk about her life, her creative processes and to answer questions from students - who quizzed her on her own favourite books, where she gets her ideas from and her previous published works.
She completed the session with a creative activity, where students had to come up with a word or feeling from looking at a picture, then create a story from all their ideas combined.
Alex said, “They’ve been a joy to talk to today, and this has been a lovely school to visit. They came up with some great ideas during the activity so I hope they enjoyed it too.”
The following day, 13 students who help out with reading clubs and library duties were treated to a day out at the Hull Book Awards, along with student representatives from schools across Hull.
After hearing speeches from each author and enjoying a sit down lunch, all pupils were invited to vote for their favourite book to win the prize.
The award went to C.J. Flood for her book Infinite Sky, a powerful, touching tale about a young girl in the midsts of a family breakdown who befriends a local traveller boy, much to the anger of her father and brother.
LRC Manager, Mrs Hutchinson, who took the students to the awards said, “We all had a fantastic day. It was great to hear the backstories behind the books that had been nominated. Our students were thrilled to be a part of the voting process for such a high-profile award."