Hay-on-Wye is the town of books. There are secondhandbookshops, brand new bookshops, shops full ofonly poetry books, and (wonder of wonders) abookshop where everything is £1. It is also thelocation for the annual Guardian Hay Book Festival;an event that attracts five-year-old Angelina Ballerinafanatics and older book lovers alike.The festival was smaller than I had expected, and thestalls consisted of freshly squeezed orange juice, herbalteas and organic local produce guaranteed to attract alarge throng of enigmatic middle aged Guardianreaders. I wondered what I was doing there, but then Ibegan to notice other teenagers milling about theplace, and even a pink-haired rather eccentric thirtysomethingwho turned out to read teenage fiction‘because it helps me to know what teenagers are likethese days’.The reason for this sudden emergence of crazy-hairedbook-loving teenagers soon became apparent. MelvinBurgess, Kevin Brooks and Anne Cassidy wereholding a discussion about what issues are appropriatefor inclusion in teenage fiction novels. During thediscussion, many good points were made, mainly byMelvin Burgess, whose novel Junk had caused a lot ofcontroversy because it is about drugs, sex andviolence. He writes about life. He seemed to be a veryintelligent man, who thinks that teenagers get anunfairly negative press, and that life as a teenager is noworse than it was when he was young, it’s just thatTV subjects you to more stories about violence andcrime which has in fact been happening for years.Anne Cassidy (winner of the Book Trust TeenagePrize) says that it is ok to write about murder, suicideand death in books, as they are issues that teenagersoften stumble across in newspapers. She also discussedthe fact that she once watched a TV programme thatshe knew her teenage son often watched, with a lot ofswearing in it, and this was ok, it was not an issue, butmention the f-word in a book and you’ll havenewspaper reporters camping at your doorstep,desperate to cash in on the controversy that this willcause.Anne Cassidy argued thatteenagers should not haveaccess to only books labelled‘teenage fiction’, but shouldhave a whole range of bookswritten for their age group, asadults do and why use the term ‘teenager’ anyway?Not all teenagers are going to read the same thing.Kevin Brooks agreed, adding that there is a greatdifference in someone aged thirteen and nineteen, andyet they would both be labelled ‘teenagers’.by Catrin Greaves, 9Trecastell.MORE THAN 10,000 ECSTATIC BRITS CELEBRATEDYESTERDAY’S TRIUMPH OVER THE FRENCHLondon will host the 2012 Olympic Games after theirtriumphant victory over the French. The victory was ashock to many people (especially the French) as theythought they had won the bid with weeks to spare. Manyimportant figures such as David Beckham and Dame KellyHomes expressed their delight at hosting the games butwhat did Y <strong>Pant</strong> pupils think? The announcement of hostingthe next Olympic Games has urged many Y <strong>Pant</strong> pupilsto aim for representing Great Britain. Swimming fanaticHannah Goulden thinks that the prospect of competing inthe next games will make her train harder and will begreat for the country. This feeling is representedthroughout Y <strong>Pant</strong> although pupils think that the Olympicgames will be useless. One year 8 pupil complained that:‘it doesn’t mean much to me, what will it do for us?’ Butthe majority of Y <strong>Pant</strong> is looking forward to the Olympics.By Catherine RobertsI first glimpsed my beloved hometown in Yorkshire when Iwas wheeled out of Dewsbury hospital, wrapped up like a‘dumplin’ in a hanky’ as Billy Connolly would say. Mymother fussed over me - as mothers tend to do - cuddlingme and rocking me on her knee.Yorkshire’s nothing like the quaint little country of Wales.I remember it as completely flat. The only hilly and mountainousregions are the lovely Yorkshire Dales. The peopleare the most friendly, loyal people you could ever wish tomeet. They will gladly take you in as one of their own, andsome even have a tendency to go up to complete strangersand have a friendly chat.Most of Yorkshire is covered by lush grasslands, with rowupon row of fields filled with strawberries, mushrooms andjuicy blackberries, where I used to play before I came to thecold concrete and crushed glass that is scattered across theplay parks of Wales.Collages of colour line the roads in summer, as people takea real pride in their gardens, up in t’dales, while bluebellsgloss the roads further along the houses.There is an endless string of pubs in Yorkshire, so it’snever a dull place to go. Also, people are never without apint glass in their hand. Everyone is cheerful in the pubs,and you can feel it in the atmosphere; they love rugbyleague. It is not unusual to walk past a pub and hear a greatshout of “Waaaaaaaaay!” come blaring out of open windows,almost bowling you over.Yorkshire Day is celebrated by everyone,wearing a white rose. Yorkshire is a veryinteresting place to visit but if you’re lookingfor a sophisticated and glamorous party, gosomewhere else.by Leon Gray (Year Eight Exam Answer)Edited by P.Gould
A2 Sarah Jonathon — Year 13A2 Alex Shaw — Year 13 A2 Rhian Goulden — Year 13
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