Our next regular meeting will be in October (2024) on a Sunday at 7pm. There will also be a special meeting (probably in November) on AR’s influence on other authors, particularly Jon Tucker (in Those Seal Rock Kids). Watch this space for details.
Our books for the regular meeting in October are:
1) The Way to the Sea by Caroline Crampton (2019), adult nonfiction about the Thames
2) The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros (2019)
3) Cuckoo Summer by Jonathan Tulloch (2022), set in the Lake District in 1940
Zoom details:
Topic: TARS Bookclub
Time date in October TBA, 2024, 07:00 PM London
Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89659989201?pwd=S1V4L1IyL0J4K3Z1UXVIS2FWZm9Qdz09
Meeting ID: 896 5998 9201
Passcode: 935202
Hope to see you then.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
Announcing a social reading and discussion group with a particular purpose.
There will be three zooms a year to coincide with Signals publication. Zoom Details Page
Earlier books are listed in the Book Group Archive page.
This initiative arose from remarks by Mike Bender in Sunlight and Shadows to the effect that Ransome’s books had dropped out of the public eye or the ‘cultural conversation’ and ceased to have relevance in the world of current children’s literature. The idea behind the Book Group is therefore to raise the profile of Ransome’s books by developing a link between them and present-day children’s books – while providing an enjoyable reading experience and discussion forum for interested TARS members, possibly leading to the announcement of an annual shortlist and maybe an ‘award’ of our own.
We will usually focus on recently-published books that reflect the ‘Spirit of Swallows and Amazons’ – a discussion topic in its own right, but likely candidates will be books that celebrate initiative, action, challenge and achievement, co-operation, comradeship and capability, probably in an outdoor setting. Our selections will be culled initially from the shortlists of existing children’s book award schemes, including the Carnegie, the Costa Children’s Book Awards and schemes run for schools by county council
education departments, such as Cumbria and Oxford. Suggestions from members will also be welcome.
Elizabeth Williams (finnsarah1990@aol.com) will be bookfinder general – contact her if you want to suggest a title for the list. Diana Wright will look after the website side. Peter Willis will be general co-ordinator.
If you would like to make suggestions for new books, please add them to the ‘Please leave a reply’ box at the bottom of the page.
It’s getting a bit expensive to buy new books, and few are at my local library. Could we have at least one older book, preferably ones that are in the TARS library, e.g. books that AR read (or other books he wrote, not just The Twelve)? I’d like to discuss “A Thoroughly Mischievous Person”.
What about (for the Autumn meeting) “Impossible” by Michelle Magorian – she is mentioned as being influenced by Ransome in the Literary and Resources Committee meeting minutes. “Neverland” by Margot McGovern (troubled teens on an island where they do sailing for therapy) might also be worth considering.