comments

Comments by Readers, Teachers & School Librarians

‘I’ve recently read The Freedom Tree and enjoyed it tremendously…I do admire your ability to deal with the gruesome in a way that acknowledges hard reality, identifies evil & endorses hope & courage; I don’t know anyone who does it so well for the young.’
School Librarian, Hillside School, Boreham Wood.

‘Talking in Whispers is a book which made a great impact on me when I first read it and I welcomed the chance to read it again and hear your comments and ideas.’
Divisional Schools Librarian, Hertfordshire County Council.

‘As you’ll see from the enclosed, my Year 9 students have been reading your novel Talking in Whispers …The book has had a powerful effect on them and we’ve done a great deal of talking and writing about it. They’ve even tried to use your narrative style in creative pieces of their own.’
Diana Bruce, Head of English, Kidbrooke School, London.

‘The reality of your book shocked most people in my class, and I think it changed many people’s opinions towards these sorts of circumstances. It made me more aware of the world’s problems.’

‘Throughout the whole story, you have kept us interested which is difficult as we all have different tastes. Some of us have even been tempted to read on when we take these books home to do other pieces of homework.’

‘I am writing to let you know that your book Talking in Whispers is one of the best books I’ve ever read…as soon as I read the first sentence, I was gripped…I think I will try to read more novels, and hopefully, they will be somewhat similar to yours.’
Students at Kidbrooke.

‘…I thought I would write to you to tell you of a few of my thoughts on your book Make Your Move…I was pleasantly surprised to have found I completed the book as my record of reading short stories is low, and now I have found I can go into the library and found I can pick up any book of short stories…I found the book extremely enjoyable to read. If I had to name a favourite I think it would be ‘Sir Les of the Windmills’, although I found ‘Smiley’ hilarious.’
Young reader, aged 13, Fleet, Hampshire.

My own favourite was Freedom Tree and since then I’ve enjoyed Ticket to Prague particularly: it also led me on to read the Czech writer now based in Canada, Josef Skvorecky.’
English teacher, Medina High School, Isle of Wight.

Contact James Watson at watsonworks@watsonworks.co.uk