London LitSoc Kids' Book Club

Welcome to LitSoc!
Meet your next favourite author at our new kids’ book club
- Read the book! You don’t have to buy one. You can borrow a copy from your school or local library.
- Try and finish the book before we meet so that you won’t be too worried about spoilers!
- Come along to our meeting where the author will join us for an hour or so to bring their book to life
- You’ll have time to ask your own questions and share your thoughts with your book club friends
- Afterwards there’ll be a chance to meet the author and have your book signed PLUS
- Every month we’ll have a list of books to read after book club which we also think you’ll love AND
- We’ll also pick a wildcard each month which is a book we think might surprise you.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s get reading and we’ll see you at LitSoc!
LitSoc May
Saturday 7 May 2022
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
2.00pm – 3.15pm
Suitable for 10+ years

Frances Hardinge is one of our greatest storytellers, the first children’s writer to win the Costa Book Award with The Lie Tree since Philip Pullman. Join her as she discusses this extraordinary novel, which is part Victorian Gothic murder mystery and part historical novel with added palaeontology and blasting powder!
Frances Hardinge grew up in a spooky old house in the country which inspired her to write strange stories from an early age. Her debut Fly By Night won the Branford Boase First Novel Award and the sequel Twilight Robbery, was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. She has since published seven more acclaimed novels for children including The Lie Tree, which won the Costa Book of the Year 2015 award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and several other awards. Her hobbies include ‘scrabbling about on volcanoes.’

LitSoc April
Saturday 23 April 2022
The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan
2.00pm – 3.15pm
Suitable for 8 – 12 years
When Arthur and Rose were little, they were heroes in the Land of Roar, an imaginary world that they found by climbing through the folding bed in their grandad’s attic. Roar was filled with things they loved – dragons, mermaids, ninja wizards and adventure – as well as things that scared them (including a very creepy scarecrow!) Now the twins are eleven, Roar is just a memory. But when they help Grandad clean out the attic, Arthur is horrified as Grandad is pulled into the folding bed and vanishes. Is he playing a joke? Or is Roar… real?
Join bestselling author Jenny McLachlan where she’ll bring the magical world of Roar to life using film, costumes, stories and…dragons’ eggs! Don’t worry if you haven’t read all the books in the Land of Roar series, you can still come along and join in the fun as Jenny shares her top tips for creating magical worlds of your own.
Jenny McLachlan always loved reading so she studied English at university so she could read a bit more! Before becoming the bestselling author of The Land of Roar trilogy, and several acclaimed teen novels, Jenny was the head of English in secondary school. When she isn’t thinking about writing stories, she enjoys living by the seaside, cycling and running over the South Downs.
We’d love to see you in person here in Barnes but if you can’t make it, you can join in from anywhere via our live stream thanks to St Paul’s School.