Essex Book Award - Jane Mitchell at Essex SLS HQ

     Jane Mitchell made the journey from her home in Ireland to Essex, in spite of fears that volcanic ash might prevent her travelling, to talk to the groups from schools all over Essex who had almost unanimously chosen her book Chalkline as their best book of the year. Six boys from KEGS were able to attend

     She gave an excellent talk on how she writes in general , as well as how Chalkline came into being. It was while she was travelling in Rajasthan that she first got her idea about a boy kidnapped to be trained as a soldier for the Kashmiri separatists. Her advice to all who are themselves interested in becoming authors was, firstly to read as much as possible, and then to start writing straightaway and not wait until they think they're ready to write their first book. 

     One of the questions put to her after her talk was, "What was your favourite book, when you were young", and, amongst other titles, she particularly recommended "The Boy with the Bronze Axe", by Kathleen Fidler. First published in 1968 this is still in print, an indication of its lasting value, and I have now acquired a copy for the Library.