Jackdaw Summer

4. Letter writing

Write a short letter about one of the incidents to somebody in the book.

Dear Mr and Mrs Lynch, I write this letter to you, regarding your son, Liam Lynch. Id like you to know that your son, have just escaped away with the two foster childrens which escaped from a foster home a couple of days ago. They escaped to Kanes Cave, Oliver (Henry) Crystal, and Liam. Later on 3 more people arrived to Kanes Cave, and there occurred an tragically accident, your son Liam Lynch, ended up stabbing Nattrass. We were informed that Liam just wanted to defend his friend Oliver (Henry) who turned out to be an ex soldier from Liberia. But the good news are that Nattrass conditions are stable, and his injuries are not life treating. Hes going to be fully recovered. King Regards, PC Ball, police officer.

1. Describe a character

Mindmap with the characters name in the middle. Continue with answering the following questions: Do you like the person? Why or why not? Would you like to know her or him? Why or why not? How is s/he described? Is s/he realistic? Why or why not?

Henry Meadows Oliver a black teenager from Liberia. I like the person, he seems to a nice person, who just want to live in peace, without the violence. He have been through a lot in his life. Henry lost his parents when he was only eight years old when this tragedy occurred, an army came to his village and slaughtered almost everyone, even his teacher, and they took the childrens and made them to soldiers.

Yes I would like to know this person, since he probably got a lot to tell, I would sit and listen carefully and try to do everything to help him in every possible way

 He is described as an asylum seeking kid from Liberia and run the risk of being sent back home to Liberia. It were said that his parents have been slaughtered in front of his eyes, but that isnt the whole truth, as I stated above, after the army slaughtered people in the village, they took the children and made them to soldiers, these soldiers were sent to murder, rob, plague, innocent people Henry was one of them, he were only 8 years old.

Yes, he is realistic since theres tons of people out there right now, killing each other, while Im writing this text, people are dying all the time, murdering each other over nothing, theres many people from Africa who has suffered as Henry has. Henry is a good example of the violence out in the world, adult people brainwashes children to go out and murder innocent families.

6. An interview

Find out about the writer and prepare and write a fictive interview. Role-play your interview in front of a group if you want to.

How a typical day does look like for you? David: I work in a small study in the back of our house in Newcastle. I start at 9 oclock and work till noon then I take an hours break for lunch. I then work till 5 or later, if everything is going smoothly. I set a goal to write at least 1000 words per day, if Its going well Ill write more, about 3000 words. It takes me about 1 year to finish a book. Where did you get your inspiration for Jackdaws Summer? David: I actually live in Northumberland, so thats one of the things. How old are you right now?

David: Im a 59 years old man. Do you have any children? David: Yes I have a 11 years old daughter. What are you currently working on? David: Im currently working on a book which I call My name is Mina.

And the final question. About what average age are the people reading your books? Are the majority adults or children? David: Mostly it is older children and younger teenagers reading my books, but people with the age 8 9 are reading my books as well.

Id like to thank you for your time David Almond, I also like to wish you good luck with your future works.