A visit to a large Fylde Coast campus by a leading children’s author generated a real buzz for pupils of Rossall, Larkholme, Shakespeare and Baines Endowed schools, who had gathered for a reading and book signing session.
Mark Walden, who shot to fame as author of the H.I.V.E. series of books, was on campus at Fleetwood independent school, Rossall, to read extracts from his latest novel, ‘Aftershock’, for an enthusiastic audience of almost 200 pupils. Walden’s ‘Higher Institute of Villainous Education’ where children are trained to become criminal masterminds, might be a far cry from the area’s real schools, but children seem to love his particular brand of young adult fiction, which has seen his series of novels race up the best-sellers list and win ‘Richard and Judy’s’ ‘Best Kids Books Ever’ competition.
‘Aftershock’ is the seventh book in the H.I.V.E. series penned by the former Sony ‘Playstation’ games developer, turned author, Walden, and its edgy characters and fast-moving plot went down well with the swarm of Fylde Coast pupils, who’ll no doubt be adding the book to their Christmas present list this year.
Mark Walden was delighted with the response from his trip to Rossall, and said: “It’s great when I meet children that know my characters and titles, and the school children at Rossall have been a fantastic audience. Seeing a book in the best-sellers list is one thing, but meeting children who are genuinely enthusiastic about one’s work is the most rewarding.
The Author’s visit to the Fleetwood campus follows those of other successful writers and the programme of readings and book signings is set to continue in 2012 as part of Rossall’s plan to expose its pupils to more examples of the best in modern literature.