Spring Update

Book Trust Writer In Residence
I am blogging a little less often on this site until the end of August 2015, as I am busy writing my weekly blog post for Book Trust. It's a real honour to have been made their Writer In Residence and I am so enjoying writing each week's blog. I have been touched by the messages sent in response to the blog posts. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Here's the link to this week's blog:

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/writing/online-writer-in-residence/blog/848/

You can find all the past blogs on the Book Trust site too.

'Red Leaves'
I am delighted that 'Red Leaves' has been shortlisted for 'The Redbridge Book Award' In the Teenage category.

http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/leisure_and_libraries/libraries/libraries_more_information/schools_library_service/childrens_book_award/shortlist.aspx

Storytelling Quilt
My storytelling quilt has had several outings and seems to be in great demand by teachers (InSeT's for Pop Up Festival) and students alike as an inspiration to creative writing. Teachers and students in several schools are creating their own patchwork paper quilts containing young people's stories, objects and materials.

Patchwork storytelling quilt made by designer Grace Manning - www.graceemilymanning.co.uk 

What are the next  pieces in my patchwork of storytelling? 
I am currently writing  'Car Wash Wish' for Barrington Stoke
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/writing/online-writer-in-residence/blog/847/

And...I am so excited to be beginning a new commission for Macmillan Children's Books...
It definitely contains something at the heart of the artichoke!

Happy Spring time to you all,

Sita  X

UKYA egg hunt

Welcome to the UKYA Easter Egg Hunt! One very lucky person will win a huge grand prize of signed books by over thirty YA authors who write and live in the UK. 

The hunt will be activated at 12pm on Thursday 19th March  and closes at noon (UK time) on Sunday, 5th April, and is open internationally.

All you have to do is read this blog, count up how many UKYA branded Easter eggs you see in the blog and follow the link at the end to the next blog.

Keep going until you get back to the blog where you started, and add up how many eggs you’ve seen along the way.

Email your answer to: UKYA2015egghunt@gmail.com. A winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, and contacted by email.

So get finding those eggs! And some awesome UKYA authors and books along the way.

Good luck!

Who Am I? 

'Award-winning Sita Brahmachari has a great gift of understanding for the confusions and loneliness of adolescents and their need to be gently nurtured and cherished.' Julia Eccleshare (Guardian's Book Doctor)

I'm Sita Brahmachari and I write 'Rites of Passage' plays and novels that draw on some of the big concerns we face in the real world. I am obsessed with themes of family, inheritance, home, love, identity, community and what forms a sense of self. In my first novel 'Artichoke Hearts' ( Winner of The Waterstone's Children's Book Award 2011) the lovely Nana Josie gives her Granddaughter a charm in the shape of an artichoke. All my stories are about exploring the complex layers of the heart for my characters and their worlds. I am the current Booktrust Writer In Residence for which I write a blog every Monday. http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/writing/online-writer-in-residence

I was born in Derby, England in 1966. My father was a doctor from India, my mum a nurse from the Lake District and I grew up in a family with a love of exploring each other's cultures, histories and faiths... Now I live in London with my lovely three children, husband, dog and sparkly fish!

3 random things about me!

I saw ghosts as a child (I've put a few in my books)

I refused to read till I was nine years old ( preferred to live in my imagination) But then,,, My thirteenth birthday present was voted by my brother 'the geekiest teenage birthday present ever!' a reading chair that I still have and given the chance, I would live in!

An escaped snake from a neighbour's house (in London) appeared in my kitchen while I was writing one day last year (apparently very good luck for me - but freaked me out!)

My books are: 'Artichoke Hearts' 'Jasmine Skies' 'Kite Spirit' and 'Red Leaves' (Macmillan Children's Books)

http://www.panmacmillan.com/author/sitabrahmachari

'Brace Mouth, False Teeth' (Barrington Stoke)

http://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/Brace-Mouth-False-Teeth.html

'Arrival' - Based on Shaun Tan's graphic novel. Play script (Bloomsbury)

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-arrival-9781472535009/

My novels are published in a number of territories. 'Artichoke Hearts' has the title 'Mira In the Present Tense' In the US (Published by Albert Whitman)  as is my second novel 'Jasmine Skies.' All my books published by Macmillan Children's Books are audio-recorded.

http://www.albertwhitman.com/content.cfm/bookdetails/Mira-in-the-Present-Tense

In keeping with this treasure hunt theme I see writing itself as a kind of treasure hunt of the imagination... and that's how I feel when I read so many of the wonderful UKYA authors who write such diverse, radical, ground-breaking and un-put-down-able books. My favourite read recently is 'A Song For Ella Grey' by the inspirational and magical David Almond.

Further details and reviews of all my books, plays and awards are on this site.
There is also a full interview about my work here:

http://justimaginestorycentre.co.uk/blogs/interviews/17678184-sita-brahmachari-interviewed-by-noga-applebaum

I will be offering my most recent book 'Red Leaves' Published by Macmillan Children's Books (October 2014) as treasure!

Red Leaves is endorsed by Amnesty International and shortlisted for The Redbridge Book Award

'Sita Brahmachari has created a beautiful tale of modern multicultural life.' 

 Booktrust Review

 "We are proud to endorse Red Leaves because of its sensitive depiction of diversity and the human need for somewhere to call home. ''

(Nicky Parker, Publisher at Amnesty International UK)

Red Leaves is set in an ancient London wood (where I walk every day with my dog Billie. Here he is ... Billie the beautiful!)

A wood in which three young people from very different backgrounds run away into the city woods. Aisha is a refugee from Somalia, Iona a young homeless girl from Scotland and Zak is the child of a historian father and war journalist mother currently reporting from Syria. A stray dog and an ancient homeless woman  also circle the woods - all are seeking shelter. Incidentally... in keeping with this egg theme... the ancient and mystical Elder in 'Red Leaves' wears amber beads the size of hens eggs; inside there are insects, butterflies and particles of leaves that date back millions of years....

A treasure hunt- like model like the ones made by my sculptor character Garth in ' Kite Spirit' ( Macmillan Children's Books)

Thanks for visiting my site and collecting your Easter eggs! Your next adventure starts here with the wonderful Tanya Landman. Click on the link below to continue your UKYA treasure hunt! 

Good Luck! I hope you win! 

.

http://www.tanyalandman.com/

Human Rights in 2015

As we moved into 2015 it felt as if the world was becoming an increasingly fractured place. I wrote this piece about Human Rights for The Guardian Children's Online. I put a call out to authors, librarians, teachers, readers and publishers to suggest wonderful books championing human rights for all ages. I am delighted that this list can now be used to help children, young adults, parents and educators find stories to nurture empathy and an understanding of universal human rights.

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jan/12/books-breed-tolerance-children-read-errorist-attacks-paris?CMP=share_btn_tw

For reasons written in the Guardian article I am especially honoured that my latest book 'Red Leaves' is endorsed by Amnesty International UK as a book that can help foster understanding of human rights. 

I talk about the specific injustices that inspired me to write 'Red Leaves 'in the following blog for Amnesty International.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/stories-and-rights/sita-brahmachari-home-homelessness-identity-and-belief  

Most loved photo of 2014

Wishing you all a very happy festive season. Here is my favourite picture of the year. It was taken on a walk with my children on Hampstead Heath in October and seems to represent so much of what I love to write about in my books and it sparked an idea for another story...

11.11.11

I was privileged to spend Armistice Day with a group of young people from Fortismere school as part of my Patron of Reading partnership. We wanted to make the day one to remember. I took my dog Billie along and he became our remembrance day dog.   

Billie being with us reminded us of all the animals who have also died in warfare. He was so well looked after. There are suggestions that he may become the Fortismere Patron of Reading dog!

One hundred years on from WW1 it felt so important to mark that moment. But how do you bring an understanding of respect for a moment's silence to young people in our age? Perhaps for this hyper-technically-connected generation the concept of a minute's silence may be particularly alien. It also occurred to me that the concept of commemoration may seem rather faraway and abstract. The task of the day was to bring the story home to these young people.

At the beginning of 'Red Leaves' my character Zak reacts violently to the idea of a school visit to Flanders Fields. He has his reasons. His mother is a war journalist in Syria and he sees no point in thinking about an old war when there 'are wars raging all over the world every day.'

Zak's journey through 'Red Leaves' is to meet a soldier from WW1 who built the house in which he lives. Zak steps into his shoes, but the journey of the young people in my story is also to meet each other and to try to understand how war has impacted on contemporary lives.

A group of twenty students, teachers, librarians, myself and Billie headed for the woods to see the very air air shelter that gave me the idea for the young people in 'Red Leaves' to shelter inside. In this place Zak meets Aisha a Somali Refugee girl and her contemporary story of loss through war is also remembered and recognised.

There were many activitites as part of the day including quizzes, talks, readings discussion, teachers and students shared stories and artifacts dating back to WW1 and through all this there was a keen consciousness of how war is still impacting on the lives of so many people today. 

Just as is the case in most schools in world cites some of  the student's families will have come to this country seeking shelter and protection to escape the ugly face of war in their homelands.

There were two moments when we walked through the very wood in which 'Red Leaves' is set that I shall personally never forget. We discussed the fact that many wars are caused because people are forced to flee their homes when boundaries are crossed and territory taken. I asked why the youngest of children build dens and the answers came thick and fast ...'for protection' 'to feel safe' 'for shelter.' It was a wonderful moment for me when two young boys who could have been young Zak, sat in the shelter of a woodland den and read his story to the rest of us.

Omar and Casey reading the character of Zak in 'Red Leaves' with Billie listening too!

Of course a writer's trade is to weave words... and many were written and spoken during the day, but I shall never forget standing in an ancient wood listening to bird song with twenty young people for a minute's silence. 

The word 'respect' is often used by and about the young... often referring to 'lack of respect.' However, at that moment the young people, many of whose ancestors will have fought in WW1 and WW2, many of whom will have come from contemporary conflict and war... stood together in silence on the edge of a woodland conservation zone in their local wood...

The aim of the conservation zone in which my young characters hide in the fiction of 'Red Leaves' is to nurture the diversity of the trees, flora and fauna. It seemed so fitting to be standing with twenty young people in this wood holding together all their diverse and shared histories in a moment of communal remembrance of all the tragic loss caused by past and present wars and conflicts.

This sort of peace is to be cherished.  

Students created beautiful memorial leaves now on display at Fortismere Library

' My Grandpa went to fight in the war and I think he should be remembered because he fought for his country and never gave up...' Beth

  

With many thanks to all the wonderful staff at Fortismere who created such a beautiful remembrance day walk in the woods that I, for one, will never forget.

A great half term literary festival

This morning I ran through Queen's Wood where 'Red Leaves' is set. It was a glorious start to the day. The sun played through russet, mustard and golden leaves which wafted down through the thinning branches. Leaves scrunched underfoot and I fancied that if I looked up I would hear my ancient character Elder intoning her chants in praise of autumn.

'Time to light the fires. The year's turning and the wood's stirring.' 

I picked up a leaf, took it home, traced around it and made twenty paper leaves for the young writers who attended Storystock at the Bush Theatre today. There are wonderful literary events on all week and today I was privileged to see the great Michael Morpurgo there (though I was not brave enough to say hi!)

In creative writing workshop today twenty young people imagined that they, like my characters in 'Red Leaves' were hiding out in an air raid shelter on the eve of Halloween. They threw red leaves in the air, caution to the wind, let their imaginations flow and produced some beautiful writing.

 'Red Leaves' draws on some harsh real world realities but the young lives who find their way to the air raid shelter in a London wood discover a place where magic and transformations are possible, where young people can return to the simple pleasures of building dens, enjoying fireworks light up the sky, catching a falling leaf and making new bonds of friendship.

See the whole programme for the rest of the week at:

http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/production/storystock_tuesday/

Reviews and endorsements of 'Red Leaves'

Here are reviews and endorsements on 'Red Leaves' from reviewers, educators and young readers:

Julia Eccleshare :'Red Leaves' is LoveReading4Kids Book of the Month

'Award-winning Sita Brahmachari has a great gift of understanding for the confusions and loneliness of adolescents and their need to be gently nurtured and cherished.'

'Sita Brahmachari has created a beautiful tale of modern multicultural Britain.' 

The Book Trust Review

http://www.

'Red Leaves' was published on 25th September 2014 by Macmillan Children's Books.

Red Leaves is endorsed by Amnesty International UK 

 "We are proud to endorse Red Leaves because of its sensitive depiction of diversity and the human need for somewhere to call home. It's a novel that encourages readers' empathy, which is a big step towards understanding, tolerance and kindness - all values that help us to uphold human rights.''

(Nicky Parker, Publisher at Amnesty International UK)

'If I was a Year 6 or Year 7 teacher, I’d order a copy of this book for my classroom or school library right now. Why? Because it’s ambitious in its scope, but gets away with it spectacularly. On the surface, the story involves a small gang of kids having an adventure and solving a mystery with a bit of magic thrown in. But look deeper and you’ll find issues like divorce, working parents, homelessness, domestic abuse, looked-after children, refugees, mental illness, multiculturalism and wars past and present packed into its pages. And Sita Brahmachari does it in a way that seems entirely natural and not in the least didactic.'

For the full review read: http://dorristheloris.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/book-review-red-leaves/

It's not often that once you have finished reading a book you need to sit down and simply say “Wow.” This is precisely what I did when I finished reading Red Leaves. It’s not often that a book can redefine your way of thinking and provoke thought about the things we take for granted: family, community, culture, home and the people in the world around us. This is a really poignant book, one which carries a very important message.

For the full review read: http://booksandbookends.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/book-previewreview-red-leaves-by-sita-brahmachari-%E2%9C%AE%E2%9C%AE%E2%9C%AE%E2%9C%AE%E2%9C%AE/#more-274

'It's about telling stories, weaving tales from past and present, far and near around the world, and bringing them all together in a wonderful crescendo.'

http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/2014/10/07/red-leaves-by-sita-brahmachari/

Teacher endorsements: 

Amnesty International UK will be creating education resources for 'Red Leaves' and a number of teachers have recommended the book as a class reader.

Annie Birch , Leader of Literacy at St Paul's way Trust School London

'From the first paragraph onwards ‘Red Leaves’ is visually rich.  My recent teaching has highlighted how students quickly understand this story on a symbolic, as well as a literal level, as a result. It is a seemingly simple tale and yet it holds within it a depth of meaning. It is a story for our times and yet for all times, for young people and yet for all people.‘Red Leaves’ is also emotionally and linguistically rich. Beautifully written, both boys and girls in my lessons immediately empathise with the lives of the carefully observed central characters. As with all of Sita’s books, these represents a rich range of cultural backgrounds and experience, both similar to and different to their own; this makes very fertile territory for dialogue and developing deeply empathic and moving writing. Readers can grapple with the impact of significant issues faced by young people in the story which are also so prevalent in all of our lives; divorce, fostering, bullying, isolation, homelessness, history, war and also family, community, friendship and love- all permeate the pages. 

Great literature should enable us to reflect on society, understand it a bit more and in the process change ourselves. ‘Red Leaves’ does this. The setting of ‘Home Wood’ can be seen as a microcosm of 21st  century society, an arena in which to explore modern life with all its multi-layered, complex cultural issues. ‘Red Leaves’ reveals beauty in nature, diversity and struggle and within the conclusion of the plot, it highlights what people have in common across cultures. 

At a time when PSHE is too often squeezed out of the curriculum in favour of subjects that yield more point scores or test results, the emotional relevance of this text alone is a strong argument for using this as a must-read text, not only for KS3, but across the school. Of course students will learn about fantastic writing in this book ; setting, character, imagery, plot and description. But literature can also teach us about life. The issues explored in the dialogue and dynamic between characters enable readers to have greater insight into the lives of others, make connections with people who may initially appear to be different to themselves and hopefully to overcome prejudice or limits in viewpoints and judgements. 

‘Red Leaves’ is a special treasure. It is moving, magic and meaningful on many levels. Isn’t it time to allow young people to experience some magic back at the heart of the curriculum?

Catherine Coles English Teacher, Fortismere School. London.

'I would choose 'Red Leaves' for a reader for year 7 or 8 for the following reasons: It has interesting contemporary themes that are also timeless - identity, conflict and coming of age that provide good comparative themes to other work eg, poetry. This will work really well with the new ' Comparing text' requirement in the National Curriculum beginning Autumn 2014. The structuring devices with parallel narratives and time frames would be interesting to explore with a year 7/ 8 class. The book offers many possibilities for creative writing. There are also strong links to PHSE, Citizenship, RE and Literacy  The length of the novel is manageable and could be read as a whole class text. The length of the chapters can be easily read in one class sitting and the text is rich enough with a range of stylistic uses eg. dreams, poems, multiple narrative to be analysed in detail. The style of writing is beautiful and accessible '

Catherine Coles English Teacher, Fortismere School. London.

Joanne Chadwick Head of Social Sciences at Alexandra Park School, London. 

'What a great read! A lovely book, truly easy to access and relate to.

In terms of Citizenship:’Red Leaves is a relevant book to modern multicultural Britain. It explores three teenage lives through their varied problems, yet draws together the underlying similarities facing young adults today. Life for young people is a struggle, no matter their background and upbringing. Red leaves enables us to relate to and have insight into these modern day struggles, whilst making important connections to the past. There is a shared humanity and human desire in Zak, Aisha and Iona that despite their differences and troubles, unites them.

Red leaves can be used to explore the impact of conflict outside of the ‘war zone’ (be that Somalian conflict or domestic violence in the UK) how young adults make their way in British society, how they fit in, but are wrestling with multiple identities. They are part of the fabric of modern British society but still feel excluded at times from the expectations, routines and bureaucracies of British life.
Red leaves could be used to make the connection between conflicts old and new and the impact and scars that these leave on children. Red leaves allows these connections to be subtly made and could be used as an exploration or starting point to gently ease students into the study of conflict and its impacts.

Young Reader Reviews

In my opinion ‘Red Leaves’ is the best of Sita’s books. All of her books have a light heartedness to them that intrigues younger readers but this book addresses something a lot more serious. The way that Sita writes about the unity in different cultures teaches young readers about the sense of community we have in the UK.

My favourite thing about the book is that Sita brings together histories of three culturally different teenagers without the help of technology. The setting of the ‘Home Wood’ - which I visited in Highgate – is perfect for uniting the ancient and the new. The woods are very old with an air raid shelter which is where Aisha, Zak and Iona hide out. I really loved this idea because we know that people hid in the air raid shelter when they were escaping from war but the 
characters hid in the air raid shelter to escape from their problems which was a very interesting parallel. The woods also had a conservation area to allow new, diverse fauna and flora to grow which represented the children that were still yet to grow.

My favourite character was Iona because despite being a young, homeless girl she still took great pride in her artwork. In spite of not having seen the drawing of her dog – Red – I really loved the way that Sita described the artwork as sophisticated and detailed which is a distinct contrast to Iona’s life. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who feels out of place for the older and younger readers.

Mymona Noor, St Paul's Way Trust School