North Lanarkshire author, Kirkland Ciccone, recently visited Clyde Valley High School. Kirkland addressed a receptive audience of S3 pupils from Mrs Cimmino’s class and spoke  about his debut novel, ‘Conjuring the Infinite’.

An enthusiastic exponent of books and reading, Kirkland delivered a highly amusing talk while emphasising the educational and recreational benefits to be gained from reading. All those present thoroughly enjoyed Kirkland Ciccones’s visit to the school.

‘Conjuring the Infinite’  has been placed on the North Lanarkshire Catalyst Book Award longlist.

Following his visit, Mrs Cimmino’s S3 class were set a challenge by Kirkland in the form of a competition to define ‘infinity’. The pupils’ responses were incredibly profound with four being sleected as the best. Ewan McBride was eventually selected as the overall winner and received a signed copy of Kirkland’s novel as a prize. Read Ewan’s entry below:

Infinity

Infinity is never ending. You can do everything with it or nothing. It is everything and everywhere. Everything is infinite and so is nothing. You can’t go above infinity; it is what we live on, it has no true meaning, it is impossible to define.

Top and Above: Pupils Beth Morely and Katy Ramage enjoy a sneaky preview at Kirkland’s novel, while all of 3.1 were delighted by his visit and will be supporting him in the Catalyst awards.

Ewan with his winner’s prize

A group of Clyde Valley High School’s keenest 3rd year readers joined in North Lanarkshire Council’s annual celebration of teen fiction, the Catalyst Book Award.

Fourteen pupils attended the award ceremony at Our Lady’s High School in Motherwell where they got to meet the authors of the four nominated books. This year’s short list comprised “Where I Belong” by Gillian Cross, “When I Was Joe” by Keren David, “Grass” by Cathy McPhail and “Time Riders” by Alex Scarrow.
Laura Kilpatrick (3H1) and Ellen Lees (3S1) did a magnificent job of introducing Keren David and her novel “When I Was Joe”, about a teenager who reinvents himself after he is placed in the witness protection programme. Laura and Ellen confidently and professionally delivered a biography of the author and wowed the audience with a dramatic and pulsating section of the novel the girls had chosen themselves.

The rest of the pupils, as well as other keen readers in third year, had been reading and reviewing the shortlisted books for weeks leading up to the event and, along with the other schools involved, voting for their favourite of the novels. Despite being the favourite amongst Clyde Valley pupils, “When I Was Joe” was runner up to Alex Scarrow’s “Time Riders”. However, there was no disappointment as everyone had read some fantastic books and got the chance to meet and talk to the authors.

Check out the photos from the event below!

If you want to get involved in next year’s award, deciding who wins and blogging about your favourite books, speak to Miss McGough in the library about the 2012 Catalyst long list and get reading!

Mr Douglas