News & Events

Torn Pages in school

  • Date Published: 20th July 2017

It was lovely to receive a Twitter message this morning from a newly qualified teacher who is reading Torn Pages and thoroughly enjoying it. The English Department at his school in Bristol have chosen Torn Pages as the first text they will teach to Year 7s in September, and he had a question about the setting. There are a lot of important issues in the story, and in a world where I believe it’s vital for our children to develop a strong sense of empathy and compassion, I’m hopeful that this may be one of the outcomes of this Year 7s reading of the book.

(Interestingly, one of the main characters in the book – Grandma Motsie – has no empathy or compassion, and she was very much based upon family members I read about when doing my research. She has her own pain, but few – if any – redeeming features. I can think of a few descriptive words I’d like to apply to her, but can’t possibly list them here!)



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