Losing a loved one is hard. What are the additional challenges of losi - PDF document

Losing a loved one is hard. What are the additional challenges of losing a loved one in a terrorist attack? Why do you think Mum left the family? Do you sympathise with her at all?Jamie will not conde in his teacher that he is being bullied, believing that ‘Teachers make things worse’. Do you think this is true? Do adults ever really understand the conicts in a child’s life? As a parent, is it ever right to allow your child to deal with things him/herself, rather than interfering?Why does Jamie want to dress up as Spiderman? Which other characters are ‘dressing up’ or pretending to be something they’re not? Is this an inevitable part of being human?Dad is grieving. Do you sympathise with his suering or do you believe that he is wallowing in self-pity? When is the right time to ‘move on’ from the loss of a loved one or the breakdown of a relationship?What does Jamie learn from being involved in the talent show?The novel satirises programmes such as The X Factor. What are the dangers of these shows and their promise to change people’s lives?If you could see Jamie and his family in two years’ time, what do you think might have happened to them? Would they be very dierent to how they are at the end of the novel? Do you feel optimistic about their chance of recovery?Further readingIf you enjoyed this book, you might also like…Young adult suggestionsThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John BoyneHow I Live Now, Meg RosoBefore I Die, Jenny DownhamBroken Soup, Jenny ValentineThe Fault in Our Stars, John GreenSkellig, David AlmondExtremely Loud and Incredibly CloseJonathan Safran FoerThe Catcher in the RyeThe History of Love, Nicole KraussThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark HaddonThe Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, Brady UdallGet more from your reading experience with this helpful guidewww.readregional.com Brought to you by New Writing North working in partnership with library authorities in the north of England Annabel Pitcher was born in a small Pennine village where there were more sheep than people. She loved telling stories and went on to study English literature at Oxford University. Her rst job was on You’ve Been Framed, selecting clips of parrots singing the EastEnders theme tune, after which she retrained as an English teacher. When she was 26 she wrote My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece in notepads while travelling round the world. Published in over 15 countries, it was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal as well as the Red House, Waterstones and Galaxy awards, before going on to win the Hull Book of the Year, a Betty Trask award and the prestigious Branford Boase Award for most outstanding debut novel. Her second book, Ketchup Clouds, will be published in November2012. www.annabelpitcher.com@apitcherauthor Dear valued reader,I am thrilled to introduce you to my novel, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpieceand very excited for you to meet my ten-year-old narrator, Jamie Matthews.Jamie strolled into my imagination one sleepless night in a youth hostel in South America. Therewas, tossing and turning in bed, unable to drop o because I’d just watched a harrowing lm, United 93 (a real-time account of events on board one of the hijacked planes on September 11th, 2001). Images spiralled through my mind – terried passengers, burning buildings, frantic family members – and all of a sudden, a ginger-haired boy appeared amongst the chaos, a boy who had lost his sister in a terrorist attack. I sat up at once, turning on the light and annoying my husband who had been snoozing peacefully. I ignored his grumbles and grabbed a pen as Jamie started to whisper his story in my ear.My sister Rose lives on the mantelpiece. Well, some of her does. Three of her ngers, her right elbow and her kneecap are buried in a graveyard in London.The interesting thing about Jamie wasn’t that he was grieving for his sister; it was the fact he didn’t care about her at all. In the early hours of the morning, I plotted the whole novel, picturing a family obsessed by an urn and a little boy desperate to get rid of it. When I nally turned o the light to sleep, I knew I was on to something special. This wasn’t going to be a mawkish exploration of grief and loss; this was going to be a funny, quirky novel about survival in the most horric of circumstances. Jamie was my constant travelling companion as I made my way around the world, keeping me company in stuy airports and on long bus journeys, and even taking an impromptu dip in the Amazon when my notepad toppled into the water! I fell in love with his matter-of-fact tone, clever observations and plucky resilience. He is, I hope, a very believable character – more concerned about the school bully and getting picked for the football team than the fth anniversary of his sister’s death.I wanted to write a big novel about important themes – prejudice, terrorism, marital breakdown – but to do it with a lightness of touch that gave the story a chance to breathe. Telling it through Jamie’s eyes allowed me to do just that. Through the innocence of his friendship with Sunya, a vivacious Muslim girl, we see him question Dad’s racist view that all Muslims are evil and responsible for the death of Rose. Through his hope that Mum will return after her aair, we see the painful consequence of indelity. Despite these heavy themes, the heart of the novel remains positive, a celebration if you like of courage, hope and love in the face of disaster. That is what struck me all those months ago as I watched the lm about September 11th. In their nal moments, the passengers on board those ill-fated ights bravely called family members to say goodbye, make amends for past wrongdoing, and to urge them to have a good life despite the unimaginable tragedy that was about to take place. Love was not conquered by evil on that day. Courage was not defeated by an act of terror. It is this triumph of human spirit that I wanted to capture in Jamie. He is a true hero, no doubt about it, despite the fact that he’s short, freckly and obsessed with Spiderman. I can’t wait for you to meet him. Happy reading,Annabel Pitcherwww.readregional.com