Old books never die

Well, some don't - and that's a lovely thing to discover. Bookshops normally stock a title for 3 months and then it's mostly nudged aside. Even bookshops in your hometown, and award-winning titles - who can figure it? But schools are less fickle. Last Friday I spent an hour answering insightful and entertaining questions from a year 11 class who had studied Out on the Edge as a set text. Real fun, and nothing like teens to keep you on your toes.
In preparation, I reread the book - something I generally avoid, as there's nothing more disheartening than finding the bits you'd like to edit just a little (or the massive clanger where a name was changed late in the piece but the proofreaders missed one instance of it...). Pleased to report I still love this book, as much now as when I wrote it. Maybe more. Even better that a whole bunch of kids do too...