Liam

'Liam by Benjamin Zephaniah was very enjoyable and funny for teenagers: high interest level and clearly written, accessible and engaging, with topics that young people can relate to. Would appeal to weak readers at KS4 as well as KS3 which is a major strength.' Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy on Liam by Benjamin Zephaniah 'Boys were very excited and I haven't seen boys of this ability as engaged in their reading. Students had no idea what a gladiator was and were impressed when they found out. All wanted to be gladiators by the end of it! Much better than the competition.' Kristy Sheeran, Queensbury School, Bradford on Gladiator by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons 'At the end of the session, three boys asked if they could take Lone Wolf home. This has never happened before.' Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy, London on Lone Wolf by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons 'Students loved Lone Wolf. The pace was good and they enjoyed the illustrations. The amount of text per page was good and lent itself to listening to children reading aloud in a group. My dyslexic children found the pages easier to read because of the line spacing. Some great opportunities for extension work.' Sarah Beach, Langham Primary School, Rutland on Lone Wolf by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons 'This is the only book I have ever wanted to read.' 'I like reading stories about people like me.' Two students at Southfields Academy on Point Danger by Catherine MacPhail 'I trialled this story with my Year 8 dyslexic group and a Year 9 bottom set. It was an excellent text with which to develop inference skills: students had lots of ideas about the twist as we picked up clues. Good chapter lengths and cliff-hangers at end of sections. Humour appealed. One reluctant reader asked to take it home to finish. Another said "can I get a read?"- unheard of! One of the best.' Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy on The Passenger by Dan Tunstall

Alan Gibbons trained as a teacher and through working with young people discovered his literary voice. He started writing fiction for his pupils and published his first novel in 1993. Alan has also appeared on the BBC education programme Writer's Block, the Blue Peter Book Awards, radio 4's Front Row, and is a regular contributor to TES, Junior Education, Carousel, Books for Keeps and other journals.