CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman 1) How many different types of bird can you name in this story? Why are there so many birds in the story? 2) Can you think of six adjectives (descriptive words) to describe the Scarecrow? And six to describe Jack? Can you think of any words that could be applied to both of them? 3) Jack and the Scarecrow make an unusual partnership. Would you say they were good friends? What do you learn about friendship from this tale? 4) Are you surprised that a scarecrow can speak? What’s the difference between the kind of language that the Scarecrow uses, and the language that Jack uses? 5) Jack has all kinds of ideas about the brigands before he meets them. Are they as bad as he thinks? 6) Despite the fact that he and the scarecrow are outnumbered, Jack manages to scare the brigands off. How does he do this? And who takes the credit? 7) The Scarecrow can’t bear to see the birds kept in cages. Why is this? Surely the birds should be his enemy? 8) To what extent does Jack look after the Scarecrow? What does the Scarecrow give Jack in return? 9) “The planetary fluminations are dark and obscure. The only way of disclarifying the astroplasm is to cast your horoscope.” [p 87] What is the astrologer talking about? Does it make sense? What do you think the author is saying about astrology here? 10) Jack often thinks about food and drink. Why is it mentioned so often in the story? Why isn’t it so important to the Scarecrow? 11) When the Scarecrow and the President fall out at the Congress of birds, how is their argument settled? What does this tell us about Jack? 12) In court, the lawyers try and argue that the Scarecrow is a totally different person to the scarecrow created by Carlo Pandolfo. Is this true? He’s changed physically, but has he changed in any other ways too? CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson 1) How does the author build atmosphere from the very first page? How do we know something significant is going to happen? 2) Is Ellie’s plan to keep the baby a secret a practical one? Is the professors’ reaction upon discovering the baby what you would have expected? 3) What do you learn about Austria on the brink of the 20th century from the story? How much research did the author conduct? How can you tell? 4) In chapter two, the author introduces the Lippizaner ponies. Why does she do this so early on? What does this suggest about the rest of the story? 5) By the beginning of the third chapter, Annika is almost 12. How do we learn about her growing up? Are the intervening years not important? 6) The author gives very detailed descriptions throughout the book, especially about food? Why does she do this? And why is food so central to the storyline? 7) “I made a new friend, and not many people make friends at ninety-four.” [p 58] How do Annika and the old lady become such good friends so quickly? Why is their friendship so special? 8) Why does Annika smile at the old lady’s funeral? Why does Loremarie react in the way she does? 9) When Annika is reunited with her mother, the chapter is called Happiness. But is Annika truly happy? And what about her mother? 10) Despite her mother’s behaviour Annika always forgives her and stands up for her. Is she too understanding? How would you react to Frau von Tannenberg? 11) Zed is prepared to give up Rocco to become the Emperor’s horse. What does this tell you about his love for the horse? Does it remind you of the sacrifices Annika makes? 12 ) Why does Annika jump from the boat when Herr Eghart shouts at her?[p360] Why is his message so important to Annika? CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce 1) How can you tell that Damian is missing his mum? 2) Why do you think Damian makes himself a hermitage? Would you like a hermitage of your own? 3) Sometimes Anthony and Damian tell strangers that their mother is dead. Why do they do that? 4) Why is money important to the story? Is there a difference between Damian and Anthony’s attitudes to money? 5) When Damian meets saints, are they real or imaginary encounters? What do they tell us about Damian? 6) Does Damian change after he’s found the money? In what way? 7) What would you do if you found £229,370 in cash? Would you spend it? What would you spend it on? 8) People often dream about winning the lottery and having lots of money to spend. But does Damian enjoy having millions? 9) “And that was the thing that kept happening with the money. People helped themselves and then no one could help them.” [p 209] How does the money affect people? Does it affect them all in the same way? 10) Why does Damian dream about his mother? What does she mean when she calls him her ‘miracle’? 11) Is it right that Dorothy and Damian’s dad keep some money back? 12) Damian decides to spend the money on building wells in Nigeria? How would you have spent the money? CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books Heartbeat by Sharon Creech 1) Max tells Annie he is training to escape. What is he training to escape from? 2) What do you learn about being pregnant from this book? Can you imagine how Annie’s mother feels? 3) Anne’s Grandpa stopped running when he was 15 years old. Why did he stop? Why did he start running again? 4) Have you ever run barefoot like Max? What would be the advantages? And the disadvantages? 5) This novel is written as a poem with its own unique rhythm. Why does this suit the story? Would it have been different if Sharon Creech had written it in prose style like most novels? 6) Max calls his feet ‘my tickets out of here’ [p18]. Why? Why does he hate his hometown so much? 7) What does Annie’s Grandpa mean when he says he should just get on with it and ‘kick the bucket’? Does he mean what he says? 8) When Annie leaps from the swing, she asks herself the question, why are we here? Why does she ask this at that moment? Is there an answer? 9) Annie‘s teacher Mr Welling asks them to make a list of the things they fear and the things they love. What would you put on your lists? 10) Annie says she loves running and goes drawing because it feels ‘like running in your mind.’ What does she mean? 11) Why is it important to Grandpa that he finds the recipe for fried chicken? If he made it so often, why can’t he remember it himself? 12) Does this story change your attitude towards running? Does it make you want to get up and run? CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko 1) “Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water.” From the very first sentence, what do we learn about Moose and his attitude? How would you feel in his position? 2) All the action in the book takes place between January and June 1935. Why is every chapter dated? Why is this relevant to our understanding of the story? 3) People’s ages are very important to the story. Why is Natalie permanently 10? Are you surprised that Moose reveals Natalie’s real age to Piper? [p191] Why does the word ‘we’ buzz round Moose’s head when Piper says “That’s what we figured.” [p191]? 4) How do your attitudes towards different characters change throughout the course of the story? How does your attitude change towards Moose and his family? How does your attitude change towards Piper? 5) How does Natalie’s behaviour affect the people closest to her? They all cope with her behaviour in different ways. How do they differ? 6) Piper is full of plans to make money. What kind of a business person do you think she’d make? What special skills does she have that might help her? 7) In the author’s note at the end of the book, Gennifer Choldenko writes, “The character Natalie Flanagan would probably be diagnosed with autism.” What does this book teach you about attitudes towards this condition in 1935 in the USA? How do you think attitudes have changed since then? 8) As the story progresses, Moose spends more time with Natalie. How does this affect their relationship? Why is this a positive move for both of the children? 9) ‘Eye want to go outside,” she says finally [p170] What do we learn about Natalie from this episode? We know a lot about Moose’s feelings as he narrates the story, but how much do we know about Natalie’s feelings? 10) What is your reaction when Moose’s father opens the letter and discovers that Natalie has been rejected by the Esther P. Marinoff School? What is the significance of the two words, ’Not ready’? [p 198] 11) Did you know who Al Capone was before you read this book? How much do you learn about him from the story? How much is that altered by the author’s notes at the end of the story? 12) Although the book is fictional, much of the story is based upon fact. Why did the author do this? How does it change your attitude towards the story? CILIP CARNEGIE SHORTLIST TALKING POINTS Use these questions as starting points to discuss the merits of the shortlisted books Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy 1) Jennifer Jones – JJ – wants to leave her past behind her. Why does it keep catching up with her? 2) In a controversial story like this, it’s tempting for the author to take sides, but we never find out what she thinks of Jennifer. Why not? Why is this important to the reader? 3) Why does the story begin seven years after Jennifer murdered Michelle? Why didn’t the author begin the story when Jennifer was a little girl? 4) Is Alice a very different person from Jennifer? Has Jennifer disappeared for good, or are they still the same person? Can the two be separated? 5) Some readers might claim that Jennifer is as much of a victim as Michelle. Do you think this is true? In what ways do you think Jennifer is a victim? 6) Should child murderers such as Jennifer be held responsible for their own actions? Once they’ve been punished, should they still be held to blame? 7) The book looks closely at the way the media deals with child killer stories. Is it hypocritical for them to condemn Jennifer and pay her mother for an interview? 8) What do you think of the reporter, Sara’s behaviour? Does she betray Alice? Does she have Alice’s best interests at heart? 9) To what extent is Sara ‘just doing her job’? Is that an excuse for the way she behaves? 10) Author Anne Cassidy is a big fan of adult crime writers such as Ruth Rendell. Can you tell this from the story? How does the author build the suspense? 11) Are you surprised by Frankie’s reaction when Alice tells him the truth? Why is he so angry with her? 12) “We can still be friends,” Rosie said. Alice didn’t look around. “Course we can,” she said, even though she knew it wasn’t true. [p 286] Why can’t Rosie and Alice remain friends? Why can’t Rosie have a proper friendship with Kate Rickman?
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