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SCHOOL OF LITTLE
HORRORS!
Pupils at
Gaelscoil
O'Doghair,
Newcastle West,
are certainly a
bloodthirsty
lot, at least
where literature
is concerned!
The recent visit
of Darren Shan
(children's
author) to the
school bore out
this truth. The
students and
teachers greeted
him with a
vampirish
enthusiasm, on
the day when his
third book,
Tunnels Of Blood,
was officially
launched in the
UK.
Since early
September, the
school had
undertaken a
major project to
prepare itself
for Darren's
visit. Students
from third class
upwards devoured
all of Shan's
books to-date
and then wrote
their own
individual
reviews, even
daring to
suggest "better"
endings for the
stories! Their
teachers helped
them create
appropriately
ghoulish artwork
based upon his
ghoulish
characters. Many
pupils contacted
Darren by
e-mail, and
during lunch
time each class
was taken into
the computer
room, where they
got a chance to
surf Darren's
website,
"Shanville",
view other
children's art
work and read
letters from
Darren's fans
from all over
the world.
Before Darren's
visit, Gaelscoil
was forced, by
the sheer demand
from its pupils,
to buy out the
entire Darren
Shan stock from
the shelves of
Easons and Coole
Lane bookshops.
On the day, the
pupils of Fourth
Class surprised
Darren by
appearing before
him as fully
adorned
vampires! For an
hour and a half,
Darren
entertained the
pupils of
Gaelscoil by
reading an
extract from
book number 3 in
The Saga Of
Darren Shan,
i.e. Tunnels
Of Blood, by
holding Question
& Answer
sessions, and by
finishing up
with a book
signing.
Darren Shan, who
hails from
Pallaskenry, has
already signed a
contract with
Warner Brothers
to have his
first two books,
Cirque Du
Freak and
The Vampire's
Assistant,
made into films.
Much to the
delight of the
pupils of
Gaelscoil
O'Doghair, he
announced that
he has planned
20 books in the
entire series.
The wonderfully
motivating and
inspiring effect
which Darren's
visit had upon
the children can
be summed up in
the words of one
child to his
mother, on
returning home
that day. He
announced, "Mam,
I'm going to
write a book!"
And it seems
that the
children's
enjoyment of
Darren's visit
was reciprocated
in kind, as
Darren paid
tribute to
Gaelscoil as
being, "The
happiest school
he was ever
in!", and
stating that he
would love to
launch book 4,
Vampire
Mountain, in
Gaelscoil
O'Doghair next
May. The Saga
goes on
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