To celebrate World Book Day, we've asked Ferryman author, Claire McFall, to give us her top five favourite teen books
So... my top five favourite books. Wow. This was hard! There are way too many books to choose from. Old favourites, new favourites, I-read-you-a-million-times-and-still-love-you-favourites... but I was only allowed five so - with just a teeny tiny bit of cheating – here are mine:
1. Noughts and Crosses Malorie Blackman
I can’t help it, I cry. Every time I read the ending. I’ve actually taught this novel a couple of times with classes because I love it so much, but I discovered it at University. It made me laugh, squirm, bawl... feel. The concept of reversing racial roles is really interesting, and the way that Blackman shows the changing ideas through the generations (especially if you follow it up with the rest of the series, which you should!) is fantastic. But mostly, it’s just a great story. The characters are real people and the twists and turns of the plot mean you will be up at 4am to finish it. But it’ll be worth it.
And then there’s Callum. I can’t help it: I love him. Oh poor Callum. I may have to cry again now.
2. Harry Potter – All of them! JK Rowling
This is cheating because there are seven of them and this is meant to be a top five, but oh well! I’m a little too old to say I grew up with Harry... but then I still don’t think I’m a grown-up, so maybe I did! I’ve read the whole series at least ten times. The world J K Rowling created is so real... I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve day-dreamed my way into it. I would, of course, be a kick-ass auror with awesome skills. Maybe I could get a job at Hogwarts, because, okay, apostrophes and inverted commas may not be quite as important as potions and transfiguration, but witches and wizards need to be able spell in both senses of the word!
3. Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian
Everyone should read this book. In fact, I think David Cameron should declare it a new law. Not only is it rich with WWII detail, but it just warms your heart. Willie is sent to stay with the terrifying Mister Tom during the war a thin, sickly, abused little boy. Only Mister Tom isn’t scary – he’s the granddad every child ought to have! I first read this book when I was at school, then I studied it at university, and I’ve taught it too. But mostly, I just read it because I love it.
4. Crossing the Line Gillian Philip
This is a brilliant book. I read it with a class a couple of years ago as part of the Royal Mail Book Awards. It was one of those where I read it and thought: Man, I wish I’d written that! The main character, Nick Geddes, just grabbed me from the very first page. He’s a big, brutish thug with an absolute heart of gold. The narrative is really interesting, intertwining the present with the back story so that your understanding unfolds with the action.
5. The Famous Five – Five Go off in a Caravan Enid Blyton
Okay, so this book totally doesn’t go with the rest of the list, but I don’t care. I LOVED the Famous Five books growing up. And when I was done with them, I read my way through the Secret Seven before going back to the Famous Five. There were corny VHS tapes in my local library too (Julian, Dick and Ann... George and Timmy the do-o-og. We are the famous five...Yup, I still know the tune). This was my favourite of all of them, though. They went in a horse drawn gypsy-style carriage (how cool is that!), on their own with no parents, gallivanting about the countryside rounding up baddies. Can you imagine mums and dads doing that nowadays? Mine certainly wouldn’t have let me! Oh, but I dreamed...
One of the reasons I loved Me, Suzy P by Karen Saunders is that she wrote such heart-warming and realistic characters. I saw a little of myself in the characters in the book (both good and bad), which is why I loved it so much.
I absolutely love St. Patrick’s Day. It’s one of my favourite days of the year, if not my favourite. It’s right up there with Christmas, Easter and birthdays. Since childhood it has always been an eventful one. I always used to go to Portstewart (my neighbour town) with my family to watch lots of very brave people jump into the sea dressed as leprechauns, shamrocks and all sorts of other wonderful costumes.
Apart from when I studied Illustration in Falmouth I’ve lived on the North Coast of Ireland my entire life. It’s a really beautiful spot and I’ve always spent a lot of time outdoors because of that. If I could live on the beaches I would!
If I’m outside I’m actually a lot more likely to have a camera in my hand than a pencil. I’d much rather be exploring, but a camera still manages to capture what I see, without losing too much time. I really enjoy taking photographs though. It wasn’t until my degree that I realised all the textures I’ve been focusing in on with my camera all these years are the very textures I use subconsciously in my illustrations!
