Author Ali Sparkes visits students ahead of Cornish Award nomination

Carjacked is the story of 12-year-old child genius Jack, who is accidentally abducted when a bank robber steals his family’s car, leading to a series of events in which Jack ends up using his intelligence to help the robber.

Ali spent the afternoon reading extracts of the novel to Truro School’s reading group of 2^nd Years, answering questions and involving students in fun interactive trivia to find out who in the room also had the potential to be a child genius!

KYBA is an accolade unique to Cornwall, co-ordinated by Cornish Librarians and English Teachers. The long-list, short-list and overall winner are decided upon solely by students from Cornish schools.

The shortlist this year is:

The Lost and Found by Cat Clarke

One by Sarah Crossan

The Next Together by Lauren James

Demon Road by Derek Landy

Carjacked by Ali Sparkes

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Each school taking part runs a reading and discussion group from September to March; working their way through the books, discussing them as they go and then finally voting for a favourite. The votes from each school are then collated and a final winner is announced in a ceremony at the Eden Project.

Truro School’s reading group will be championing Carjacked at the awards tomorrow, delivering a presentation on the novel to the other schools and shortlisted authors. Ali’s visit was a fantastic opportunity for the students to discuss their ideas with Ali in person and get some inspiration on how to perform in front of an audience.