Teenage Prize Reading Guide - Keith Gray
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The Reading Agency Reading Guide to: The Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray This great guide will help you present a title to a reading group. There are ideas to trigger in-depth discussion and information about some exciting online resources. There are six guides in total, one for each of the 2009 shortlisted titles.
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Title: The Ostrich Boys Format [eg: pb/hb]: pb Pgs: 215 Publisher: Definitions Price: £5.99 ISBN: 978-0099456575
About the author: Keith was born and brought up in Grimsby. He was turned onto fiction after almost accidentally reading Robert Westall’s The Machine Gunners. It was the first ‘proper book’ he’d ever read and made him want to be a writer. By the age of 14 he was writing stories. He later studied for a Business and Finance HND at Humberside Poly but spent his lectures writing stories. When he received 0% for his accountancy exams he decided to pursue his dream more seriously. He has since gone on to win the Angus Book Award and the silver medal in the Smarties Prize. He has twice been shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the Scottish Arts Council Book Award. Rave reviews about his writing have appeared in every broadsheet. Keith was a judge for the Blue Peter Book Award, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize and reviews regularly for the Guardian. Keith is now a full-time writer living in Edinburgh.
Obscure fact: Keith dressed up as a giant teddy bear called Billy-Bob for one hot, sweaty, humiliating summer at Pleasure Island Theme Park in Cleethorpes.
What’s it about?: When teenager Ross Fell is killed, his closest friends feel that his funeral is a sham. Filled with anger and resentment, they decide to steal the urn that carries their friend’s ashes and hold the funeral they feel their friend would have wanted in a place appropriately called Ross. But this place called Ross is 261 miles away in Scotland.
The boys embark on a remarkable journey to Ross, but the journey is far from straightforward. Along the way, the boys discover more about Ross, themselves, their friendship and the nature of grief and bereavement than they ever expected or wanted to know. Talk about: Ostrich Boys is not only a story about a journey to Ross, but it is the story of the emotional journey of three boys who have lost their best friend. Discuss how one journey affects the other. “Our friendship used to be a solid square, one of us to each corner. Things were very different as a triangle.” (p221) Discuss the theme of friendship in the novel. “Suicide is such an important issue, and one that touches many people.” Keith Gray. How do you think Keith tackles such a challenging issue so effectively? Ostrich Boys has been classified as suitable for teenagers and not younger readers. Do you agree with this classification?
Read more: • Warehouse • Red Fox, 2002
• Before Night Falls • Barrington Stoke, 2003
• Malarkey Red Fox, 2003
• The Fearful • Bodley Head, 2005
• The Chain Barrington Stoke, 2006
• Ghosting • Barrington Stoke, 2008
Online: To find out more about the Booktrust Teenage Prize, why not visit www.bookheads.org.uk. If you’d like your reading group to be featured on the bookheads blog please email [email protected] www.groupthing.org is an online community around words and creativity. Young people can set up their own groups and start taking part for free. www.groupthing.org will be running features and competitions on this year’s prize. Why not get the young people in your library or school to join a group, or start their own!
More links: • www.keith-gray.com
Contacts: Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to engage with books and the written word. Contact: Claire Shanahan Tel: 020 8516 2977 Email: [email protected] www.booktrust.org.uk The Reading Agency is an independent charity which inspires more people to read more. Contact: Kathleen Keaney Tel: 020 7324 2549 Email: [email protected] www.readingagency.org.uk
[cover image here]
Title: The Ostrich Boys Format [eg: pb/hb]: pb Pgs: 215 Publisher: Definitions Price: £5.99 ISBN: 978-0099456575
About the author: Keith was born and brought up in Grimsby. He was turned onto fiction after almost accidentally reading Robert Westall’s The Machine Gunners. It was the first ‘proper book’ he’d ever read and made him want to be a writer. By the age of 14 he was writing stories. He later studied for a Business and Finance HND at Humberside Poly but spent his lectures writing stories. When he received 0% for his accountancy exams he decided to pursue his dream more seriously. He has since gone on to win the Angus Book Award and the silver medal in the Smarties Prize. He has twice been shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the Scottish Arts Council Book Award. Rave reviews about his writing have appeared in every broadsheet. Keith was a judge for the Blue Peter Book Award, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize and reviews regularly for the Guardian. Keith is now a full-time writer living in Edinburgh.
Obscure fact: Keith dressed up as a giant teddy bear called Billy-Bob for one hot, sweaty, humiliating summer at Pleasure Island Theme Park in Cleethorpes.
What’s it about?: When teenager Ross Fell is killed, his closest friends feel that his funeral is a sham. Filled with anger and resentment, they decide to steal the urn that carries their friend’s ashes and hold the funeral they feel their friend would have wanted in a place appropriately called Ross. But this place called Ross is 261 miles away in Scotland.
The boys embark on a remarkable journey to Ross, but the journey is far from straightforward. Along the way, the boys discover more about Ross, themselves, their friendship and the nature of grief and bereavement than they ever expected or wanted to know. Talk about: Ostrich Boys is not only a story about a journey to Ross, but it is the story of the emotional journey of three boys who have lost their best friend. Discuss how one journey affects the other. “Our friendship used to be a solid square, one of us to each corner. Things were very different as a triangle.” (p221) Discuss the theme of friendship in the novel. “Suicide is such an important issue, and one that touches many people.” Keith Gray. How do you think Keith tackles such a challenging issue so effectively? Ostrich Boys has been classified as suitable for teenagers and not younger readers. Do you agree with this classification?
Read more: • Warehouse • Red Fox, 2002
• Before Night Falls • Barrington Stoke, 2003
• Malarkey Red Fox, 2003
• The Fearful • Bodley Head, 2005
• The Chain Barrington Stoke, 2006
• Ghosting • Barrington Stoke, 2008
Online: To find out more about the Booktrust Teenage Prize, why not visit www.bookheads.org.uk. If you’d like your reading group to be featured on the bookheads blog please email [email protected] www.groupthing.org is an online community around words and creativity. Young people can set up their own groups and start taking part for free. www.groupthing.org will be running features and competitions on this year’s prize. Why not get the young people in your library or school to join a group, or start their own!
More links: • www.keith-gray.com
Contacts: Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to engage with books and the written word. Contact: Claire Shanahan Tel: 020 8516 2977 Email: [email protected] www.booktrust.org.uk The Reading Agency is an independent charity which inspires more people to read more. Contact: Kathleen Keaney Tel: 020 7324 2549 Email: [email protected] www.readingagency.org.uk
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