The Book Festival was a fantastic event that each member of the book group, including myself, enjoyed greatly.  Many thanks to Miss Summers and Mr Braddick, who took time out of their busy schedules  to put up with us from 6am to almost 11pm! And also thanks to Ms Jeffs for hosting the Invergordon Academy Book Group to the highest standard the school can deliver. 

When we first got there our first reaction was to instantly buy every signed copy of a book we could see. A few books later, after a flick through the disappointing manga section, we met in the centre of the festival to go to the first event, Different is Good, with Laura Jarratt.

Miss Jarrat is a wonderful author with an amazing, vibrant personality who wrote the amazing book, Different is Good. Her event was very enjoyable and really got us in the bookish mood! The event was very good as it taught us about equality and how peer pressure can affect someone’s life.

Laura Jarratt herself works at a school and deals mainly with teenagers, who also happen to be her preferred group to write about. Her first two novels were shortlisted for prizes and are a very good read!

Afterwards we could go and buy one of her books and get them signed. I got to speak to her personally, and she is simply wonderful, and thanked us for coming such a long way to meet her!

After her amazing event and the book signing we met at the centre again for lunch and we could split up and have a wander. It was rather amazing seeing all the other schools, some in blazers, some jumpers. It was very diverse!

The next event was in the Main Theatre and was Every Second Counts with Sophie McKenzie. This was fantastic, and mainly revolved around thrillers and science fiction. Her books are very extreme in their topics and this makes them so much more exciting.

However, we were sadly distracted by another academy that lovingly kicked our chairs and made a racket for almost the entire event.

Afterwards there was a book signing and it was great. She signed the books and we went on our way to Starbucks to have coffee. It was very good, I must say! Afterwards we split up to go shopping… and the number one spot had to be Waterstones! We also went to the art gallery and saw some beautiful art pieces, as entry was free. We then met for dinner and ordered from either McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC or Subway (which was amazing).

After that it was back on the train with the KFC.

Over all it was a fantastic event that was enjoyed by us all and one I would quite happily go to any day of the week!

Brooklyn Junor, S4