I had such an incredible time!

Right up until the first gig kicked off at KEVICC in Totnes, I was a nervous wreck (I’d never done anything like this before) . . . but as soon as I started meeting students I began to calm down (a bit!). Every school was so welcoming . . . and the audiences were BRILLIANT. The enthusiasm and engagement was AMAZING.

The students – from years 7, 8 and 9 – imagined all kinds of ways to survive the killer rain, and asked tons of tricky and intelligent questions. They also fell about laughing (and cringing) when I read the Caspar-in-the-hot-tub kissing scene. It was a lot of fun!

So, thank you very much indeed to the bookshops who supported the tour, and to the students, librarians and teachers at:

So, huge thanks to: King Edward VI Community College, Totnes, Devon (supported by the Totnes Bookshop); The Castle School, Thornbury, Bristol. (supported by The Chepstow Bookshop); Kingsdown School, Swindon, Wiltshire (supported by Browns Books for Students); Fitzharrys School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (supported by Mostly Books); Heartlands High School,  Wood Green, London and Fortismere School, Haringey, London (supported by the Big Green Bookshop); St. Edmund’s Girls’ School, Salisbury, Wiltshire (supported by Waterstones); Central Lancaster High School, Lancashire and Our Lady’s Catholic College, Morecambe, Lancashire (supported by SilverDell Books). (For links to schools and bookshops, see here.)

The Swindon audience didn’t just come from Kingsdown School, there were also students from Nova Hreod, Dorcan Academy, The Commonweal School, The Ridgeway School and Highworth Warneford School . . . and we made it into the Swindon Advertiser! (Click link to read the article.)

Also, thanks to Macmillan staff Bea Cross, Rachel Petty, Helen Bray and Leanne Bennett for support and school snaps, and to Ruby Sylvester-Jeyes for KEVICC pic and chalkboard art.