Library Read Up! Kingston
Questions
As a First Year at KGS, you will participate in a shared-reading project that is designed to help ease the transition into your new school and to help you prepare for your arrival in September. KGS staff will also be taking part and some of your lessons in the Autumn Term may include themes or links to the book. Since everyone will have read the same book, we will all have something in common to talk about! This year we are reading ‘The Boy Behind the Wall’ by Maximillian Jones.
1. What would you risk for a friend you’ve never met? Before reading the book, discuss what you think the strapline means. Think about what friendship means to you and what you might do. Once you’ve read the book revisit this question and discuss whether your thoughts have changed.
Things to do over the Summer: • Read the book! • Have a think about the answers to the questions below – we will discuss them at the start of the Autumn term. • Have a go at some secret lemon writing (see page opposite). Maybe try writing a letter to a new classmate. • Enter the Extreme Reading Competition. To enter, simply take a photograph of yourself (or ask someone to take it for you) reading a copy of the book in the most extreme place you can think of – the more unusual the better! Photographs can be submitted in September and more details will be provided nearer the time
2. The chapters in The Boy Behind the Wall are narrated alternately by Harry and Jakob. How does that affect the telling of the story? Do you think it is a good way to tell a story? Can you think of other examples of books being written in this way? 3. “Sometimes, when I’m feeling a bit nervous, I pretend to be one of the superheroes from my comic books.” Have you ever done this? Maybe not a superhero, but maybe you pretend to be someone else or think about having different characteristics. Do you think this is something that everyone does when they are nervous? In what sort of situation do you think this might be helpful?
Work well and be happy
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4. The Berlin Wall was pulled down in 1989, but there are still many walls in place around the world – in Belfast, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the wall under construction along the US/Mexico
