Most Popular Books by Aidan Chambers

Struggling through his dyslexia to try to fulfill his girlfriend Fiorella''s request for a letter revealing his secret self, eighteen-year-old Karl asks Fiorella''s favorite author for help, and he agrees only if Karl will submit to a series of interviews, which prove helpful to both men.

"There is a correlation between the richness of the reading environment in which readers live and the richness of their talk about what they''ve read." "In any group of children we find that if they begin by sharing their most obvious observations they soon accumulate a body of understanding that reveals the heart of a text and its meaning(s) for them all." Talking about a book helps a child find the heart of a story, make sense of a string of facts, and understand complicated ideas. Aidan Chambers proposes an approach for discussing books so children learn to talk well about what they''ve read. Indeed, not only talk well, but listen well. And not just about books, but about other things. For the "Tell me" approach ultimately helps children learn to clarify ideas for themselves and to communicate with others. It is, in short, a basic step in applying knowledge and articulating meaning. Tell Me offers practical information about book talking in the classroom, explaining some of the processes and outlining the ground rules developed by teachers and others who work with children and books. From their experience he has formulated a Framework, "a repertoire of questions that assist readers in speaking out their reading." Tell Me is companion to The Reading Environment.

In Breaktime, Ditto challenges Morgan to prove that literature is crap and triggers off a chain of events to alter his outlook of life forever. Ditto faces a series of charges from Morgan against literature: that all fiction is Done. Finished. Dead; a sham and a pretence. He undertakes faithfully to record a life in the week of Ditto - with all the chaos of reality thrown in - and his literary creation reveals more about himself than he originally bargained for. In Dance on My Grave, life in his seaside town is uneventful for Hal Robinson, nothing unusual, exciting or odd ever happens to him - until now that is. Until the summer of his 16th birthday when he reaches a crossroads of choices in life. He foolishly takes a friend''s boat for a day''s sailing, gets into difficulty and is rescued by Barry Gorman. Their ensuing relationship results in a tumultous summer for Hal as he experiences the intense emotions of his first teenage love. A major new movie - ''Summer of 85'' - based on Dance on My Grave, by groundbreaking French director Francois Ozon, was released in October 2020 to much acclaim. ''Deftly captures the thrill of first love'' - NME ''A sweet gay romance that gradually morphs into something more suspenseful and macabre'' - Daily Telegraph ''A film that will take you back to your first summer love'' - The Gay UK

Seventeen-year-old Jacob Todd is about to discover himself. Jacob''s plan is to go to Amsterdam to honor his grandfather who died during World War II. He expects to go, set flowers on his grandfather''s tombstone, and explore the city. But nothing goes as planned. Jacob isn''t prepared for love&150or to face questions about his sexuality. Most of all, he isn''t prepared to hear what Geertrui, the woman who nursed his grandfather during the war, has to say about their relationship. Geertrui was always known as Jacob''s grandfather''s kind and generous nurse. But it seems that in the midst of terrible danger, Geertrui and Jacob''s grandfather''s time together blossomed into something more than a girl caring for a wounded soldier. And like Jacob, Geertrui was not prepared. Geertrui and Jacob live worlds apart, but their voices blend together to tell one story&150a story that transcends time and place and war. By turns moving, vulnerable, and thrilling, this extraordinary novel takes the reader on a memorable voyage of discovery.

Subtitled The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn this is the story of Cordelia from the time she is 15 until she is 20. She is pregnant and plans to give this account to her daughter on her 16th birthday so that they can share their youth together. She chooses the old and famous Japanese book, ''The Pillow Book'' by Sei Shonagon, as a model in order to include all kinds of things she has already written as well as the episodes and thoughts she has now as she compiles her book. She tells of her mother (who died when Cordelia was 5) of her father and her aunt Doris (who marry when she is 16), of her love for William Blacklin, the boy with whom she chooses to have her first sex - and with whom she falls deeply in love. She writes about Julie Martin her teacher who helps her spiritually, describes her love affair with an older married man and her terrifying sexual experience with an unbalanced young man who is obsessed with her. The book includes thoughts on being a women, on poetry, music, reading and writing, on being pregnant and finally of her marriage to William. This Is All is an anthology, written in six ''books'' of Cordelia''s adolescent life, by turns funny, poignant, sad, exciting, fascinating ironic and truthful about topics that parents often do not tell their children. It is a richly entertaining and challenging read.

Lucy is tormented by class bullies who demand that she bring them gifts.

"Reading is a provocative act; it makes things happen." "It is a fact of our psychological make-up that we cannot read anything without experiencing some kind of response." "If we are forced to read as a duty, expecting no delight,we are likely to find it a boring business." "We cannot easily read for ourselves what we haven''t heard said." "Some people say they don''t like reading stories, butI''ve never come across anyone who doesn''t like hearing one." With such forthright statements Aidan Chambers ensures that The Reading Environment will make things happen about the ways reading is presented in schools. For Chambers, reading is a life-enhancing occupation, not a pastime. Drawing memorably on his own experience as a teacher and a reader, he offers a multitude of stimulating ideas for opening the rewards of thoughtful reading to all children. Concerned with the practical aspects of creating an environment that supports children as they become readers, he provides suggestions on school book fairs and displays, reading areas, author visits, and book selection. But having enabled children to become readers is only part of the issue, and he also addresses ways of keeping track of children''s reading and helping them develop responses to what they read. Concise and elegantly written, The Reading Environment will be a valuable book for preservice and inservice teachers, and its distinctive blend of reflective and active comment make it an enlightening reminder to parents, media specialists, and librarians. Tell Me: Children, Reading, and Talk is the companion volume toThe Reading Environment.

Everyone seems to know best when it comes to Jan''s future - but he''s still working out for himself who he really is. Jan feels so hemmed in by the pressures of family and friends, he decides to leave home and live alone in the house on the toll bridge. While there, he meets Tess and Adam and their close bond of friendship develops into something which has devastating effects on them all.

A body is found hanging. Tom, a young detective, sets out to investigate. Nik is researching for a film about a contemporary life of Jesus when he meets Julie, and they embark on a love affair which will involve a spiritual experience that will change them both for good. Tom and Nik''s investigations bring them together in an unexpected climax.

William resents going on a ''boring'' holiday to Wales, but while there he is let into a big secret by Gwyn, a local boy. Gwyn has found a seal pup and has it hidden in a cave. He makes William promise never to tell anyone about it, and plans to breed it on a farm. William is determined to let it go free, and ''borrows'' a leaky dinghy to take it out to sea. The story ends with an exciting rescue.

United under the banner of flash fiction, this is a collection of stories, or little ''cells'', complete in themselves but connected by the overarching themes of betrayal and revenge. All featuring teenagers and often with an unexpected twist, these frighteningly realistic stories will take you to the very edge and beyond.

Eerie tales of real life hauntings.

A newspaper delivery boy tries to join a motor-cycle gang but their violence finally repels him. Two of the men and two of the women are adults but the rest of the parts range from age eleven to late teens / early twenties.

Praktische, didactische handleiding om kinderen uit de middenbouw van het basisonderwijs kritisch te leren lezen en te laten vertellen.

Es un libro para los amantes de la literatura, una obra que hace referencia a la importancia del acto literario en los nios, quienes se expresan y explican su mundo a travs de la narrativa de relatos. Su autor, Aidan Chambers, recibi en 2002 el Premio Hans Christian Andersen y es uno de los crticos ingleses que ms ha analizado la literatura para nios y jvenes. En 267 pginas se recopilan sus conferencias, artculos y ensayos en torno al tema de los nios y la literatura.

Het moment waarop een meisje voor het eerst durft op te komen voor zichzelf. Het boek dat iemands leven compleet verandert. Het schijnbaar onschuldige zoenspel dat dramatische gevolgen krijgt. In zestien verhalen over liefde, verraad en wraak beschrijft Aidan Chambers gebeurtenissen die je leven voorgoed veranderen. Verrassende verhalen die nog lang blijven nazinderen.

Henry vuole un vero amico, e forse qualcosa di più. Barry sembra tutto quello che ha sempre voluto. Kari è solo un’avventura. Ma una di troppo. Strano hobby, la Morte, per un ragazzo di sedici anni. Strana convinzione, quella che l’amicizia sia una scatola di fagioli magici. Poi ci sono le sue ginocchia troppo basse che odia, la scuola da tenere o lasciare, un padre poco democratico, una madre troppo fragile. All’improvviso arriva Barry, una barca a vela gialla al posto del classico cavallo bianco e una voglia trascinante di gustarsi la vita in ogni istante.

Examines ghost hunts, the work of the Society for Psychical Research, and accounts of spectral apparitions and haunted houses in Britain.

A book written to enable librarians and teachers to help children become avid and enthusiastic readers of literature.