Hi, a woman posted a comment on the site today asking me for some tips to help her youngsters working on my book The Edge. Unfortunately it was nestled amongst a ton of junk emails and I accidentally erased it. I would love to reply. If you are the person who contacted me please get back in touch and I will give you a full reply.
Alan Gibbons
Entries (RSS)
December 7th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Hello Alan,
my name is Shelley, I e-mailed you the other day for any tips on ‘The Edge.’
Thank you
December 7th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Shelley,
Thanks for getting back to me. I’m glad you enjoyed The Edge. Like any novel, I think there are lots of activities you could do based on it. Here are some of the things I do.
*Imagine you are a new kid in school, like Danny. Write a story about your experiences.
You walk through the gate. How do the bullies look at you? What kind of facial expression? What kind of things do they say to you?
During the day how does this develop? Use your own experience/imagination to show how bullying behaviour builds up.
Finally, do a ‘problem-solving’ last paragraph. How do you survive bullying? Can you do it yourself or do you need to appeal to somebody?
*Try to get in the head of somebody like Chris. What’s he thinking when he bullies people? How does he feel physically? Does he have memories of a bad past that explain the way he is behaving?
*Try writing a ‘How to survive bullying handbook.’ Try to give as many tips as you can.
*Try to imagine what racist bullying feels like. For white kids, read Noughts and Crosses. Imagine if black people were the majority discriminating against white people. How would you feel?
Finally, get the pupils to email me on the Blog. I always reply within a week.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
December 10th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your reply. Your ideas were great, very useful. We’ll try them out with the kids and let you know how it went. It’s hard to motivate some of the children (particularly those in the lower groups), and your ideas seem as though they will go down very well!
Thanks again, Shelley
January 21st, 2008 at 8:23 pm
hi mr gibbons! you were in my school oaklands once and i wrote a story called Lair of the Ripper. i was wondering if you still have it, because i would love to have it back and work on it! thank you for your time! it was nice meeting! from sabina yasmin
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Sabina,
Sorry, I took excerpts from all the stories and kept the pack for a while but I got rid of a lot of documents recently. I thought school had a copy.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
January 25th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hey Alan!
You were in Oaklands Secondary School and you said you would put our stories on the net. Unfortunately you spelt my name Murgum Kham, but I was still wondering on which website you put our work.
P.S - I really loved your book, Scared to death and I wondered if there was a next book in that series.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Muryum,
Sorry about the typing mistake. I didn’t notice it.
You will find the excerpts of work from Oaklands on the intro page just below the Boys into Books Debate in a Creative Writing section. I have changed your name on the paragraph I chose to publish.
Finally, yes, there is a sequel to Scared to Death. It comes out at the start of July and it is called The Demon Assassin. It features an attempt on Winston Churchill’s life. Paul Rector has to find and stop the Nazi assassin. Look out for it.
Best wishes and keep on writing,
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
January 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
No wories! I got it back fom my librarain. What are you writing after Scared to Death. I heard it was something to do with the devil! oh and Muryum Khan is my friend. She really wants you to spell her name correctly. MURYUM KHAN. from sabina
February 1st, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Sabina,
Did I type Khan wrong? Sorry, I know how to spell it. The hero of my novel Caught in the Crossfire is a girl called Rabia Khan.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
June 11th, 2008 at 12:49 am
Mr gibbons i was doing a project on your book ‘the edge’ for school i was wondering if you could tell me what the theme was i’m not very good at this. I was thinking ’survival’ or overcoming your fears and obstacles in life to achieve happiness. i really loved the book though it actually made me want to read non-stop. Thankyou so much!!!!!!!
June 11th, 2008 at 12:51 am
please report asap
June 11th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Linda,
I think survival is definitely one of the major themes: surving abuse, surviving racism and being an outsider.I would also say redemption. Can Danny’s Dad put right the wrong he did when he walked away from his young family? Can Grandad overcome his ignorant racism. The other theme is identity. How much does it matter whether we are black or white, Northern or Southern.
All the best,
Alan Gibbons
June 11th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
wow it’s amazing how you reply! thankyou it really helps.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Linda,
If somebody makes the effort to contact me, I think it is only right I give them a thoughtful answer.
Good luck!
Alan G
June 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Hie Mr Alan Gibbons, my name is Jean, i’m a 14 yr old girl and i have been asked to do a class presantation on a book of my choice and so i decided to talk about ‘The Edge’ a book I think is very interesting. I have just finished reading the book today and I just want to say you did a wonderful job. I love every single bit of it and I lool forward to reading more of you books. I am going to be assesed on this and I was wondering if you could help me with what exacly you think are the most important facts and what my class needs to know. I would really like to impress my teacher and get a good level.
I really need your help and I would appreciate it if you could tell me a bit about yourself and what influenced you to write this book ‘The Edge’.
Thank you.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Jean,
I’m glad you enjoyed my novel.
My motivation for writing The Edge came from several different directions.
The first influence was my upbringing. In the working class community I grew up there was quite a bit of domestic violence. We all knew which men would raise their hand to their wives when they got drunk. I always found it cruel and unjust and it niggled away at me.
Years later, as an adult, I had friends who were involved in the Women’s Refuge movement, giving women somewhere to go if they had suffered violence at home. It was from them I discovered that about a third of women have been mistreated at some time in their lives by a boyfriend or husband.
Those facts triggered the novel. I then needed to turn these elements into a story. Over time, Danny came into my head. Abandoned by his own Dad and disgusted at the way Mum’s new boyfriend was treating her, he has to grow up quickly and become a man. I added the extra dimension of race because somehow, it just seemed to make the story more real and rooted.
Finally, I found it hard to tell the story from Danny’s point of view alone. That was the final piece in the jigsaw, that I would look at his and Cathy’s life from the points of view of all the main actors in the drama, including Chris Kane.
It obviously worked as the novel was shortlisted for the Carnegie and Booktrust Teenage Prizes and won the Angus Book Prize. It is now a set text in many schools in the UK and has been published in Turkey and Germany.
If there is anything else you would like me to know, just let me know.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
June 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Thank you so much Mr Gibbons. You really have helped me and now I feel even more confident to doing the class presentation. I’m probably going to get a good level and its all thanks to you. I also want to take this opportunity to thank you once again about the wonderful job you did writting the edge. I always have a hard time finding a book to read but I have to say now that I have a favourite author I see myself reading more of your books and asking you questions based on them.
Thank you
June 15th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Jean-Ana,
No problem.
If you liked The Edge, I would take a look at Caught in the Crossfire and The Dark Beneath. Though the three novels don’t have any linking characters, they share similar subject matter, looking at gender, race and identity in modern Britain.
Read on!
Alan Gibbons
June 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
hey mr gibbons
at the moment we are doin a whole moduel on your book the edge.its goin up to our high school so it important! im loving it so far we have to do a homework and write a poem about do u think you could give me a few idea’s please.i had some but the wern’t very good
June 18th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Charlotte,
Happy to help. If you are doing a report why don’t you plan some questions about The Edge and send them to you. I will answer them promptly.
In terms of the poem, why don’t you do one about Chris Kane?
Something like this works.
Wily and nasty,
That’s Chris Kane.
Mean and vicious,
That’s Chris Kane.
Then you can do a few more verses of your own, using your own adjectives to describe him.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
June 18th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
thanks for the idea’s i was thinking about an acrostic poem maybe?
any idea’s sorry to be a pain
June 18th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
An acrostic would work. Another idea might be a prayer by Danny praying that Chris won’t find them.
Don’t let this man
Come back into our lives
Don’t let him hurt us
….And so on.
I think that would work rather well.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
July 17th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Hiya Alan,
How are you? I am currently working on a writing project & I was wondering if you would read it after I had finished. I must warn you, it is really really long & I hope to finish it by September. So, how can I get you to read it? Also, can you give me some info about publishers? I was thinking things like the process needed to get things published, etc.
Many thanks,
Muryum
July 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Muryum,
Yes, I will read it over. Could you send it to me as a Word document? My contact email is on my website:
http://www.alangibbons.com
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
July 20th, 2008 at 1:31 am
i have chosen the theme of identity for your book and i have been asked to write about how you presented and the only way i think is by how the characters behave ??. couold you help please
July 20th, 2008 at 1:41 am
or how about redeption, how do you think you presented it
July 20th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Jimmy,
I take it you mean in The Edge.
Let’s deal with identity. Obviously, the first thing anyone will notice when they read the book is that I tell the story from multiple viewpoints. This is because I didn’t want some easy good-and-evil tale. Instead, I have concentrated on telling each person’s tale to some extent through their own eyes, even when it is a character like Chris. I wanted readers to try to understand what drives him, the sentimentality, the feeling that the world is against him. Similarly with Grandad. He is a man of his time, growing up in an all white Britain and only gradually coming to terms with the new multi-racial reality. It doesn’t mean he is a bad person, just somebody who feels his world has vanished and feels lost. Danny, of course, is the key character when it comes to identity. He is a mixed race lad. In London he barely gave it a moment’s thought. The community in which he lived was so racially and culturally mixed, it barely seemed to matter. The Edgecliffe estate makes him see himself the way ‘old’ England sees him, as an outsider, as black. He responds with angry indignation before trying to deal with the racism of ignorance of the older people and the harder, more poisonous prejudice of the gang.
When it comes to redemption, what needs looking at is how each character has to deal with some flaw in their own personality.
For example:
1) Danny flies off the handle too easily. He is impatient and doesn’t know how to make connections with people easily.
2) Grandad has to shrug off the old ways in which he grew up and find a way to accept his grandson’s colour.
3) Cathy has to discover new resources of strength to stand up to Chris.
4) Des has to at least put aside a young man’s thoughtlessness and take responsibility for his son.
I hope these notes help. Do get in touch any time.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
August 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Hi Alan
Any hints and tips for teaching The Edge? I’d love to make things as interactive as possible and have a few ideas but any feedback from yourself would be great! Thank you.
regards
Aisha
August 13th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Aisha,
Thanks for getting in touch.
When I do school visits, I run two different workshops on The Edge:
1) Imagine you are in the same position as Danny. Use your own personality, gender, interests, age.
*paragraph one: You are up on the hillside called The Edge. You could be jogging like Danny, or just hanging out with friends. Describe what you are doing, the weather conditions, time of day, describe the nagging worry about the event that shattered your life. (Don’t tell the reader what it is- that builds tension, just hint at something awful. As a writer you know that it was the night Chris attacked your Mum and put her in hospital. At the end of the paragraph you notice a silhouetted figure hanging round the back gate to your house. Is it him? Describe your feelings.
*paragraph two: You start to run down the hill. Flashback of what happened. Describe it as images going through your memory. Describe the tempo of your running and the feelings of anxiety as you get closer to the house.
*paragraph three: To your horror, the back door has been broken. How? Is the glass smashed? Is the lock hanging off? Describe what you see and how it makes you feel. Remember, feelings are best described physically: thudding heart, pounding pulse, sweat, breathing coming in gasps.
*paragraph four: Describe entering the house. Where is Chris? Where is Mum? Can you hear them arguing?
*paragraph five: How do you resolve the story? Do you intervene? Do you search for your mobile to phone 999? How do you resolve the story? Is there dialogue? Can you think of a twist in the tale or a good last line to resolve it?
2) Imagine you are Chris in prison. Describe what you are thinking about Cathy and Danny. Will you go after them after you get out? Describe the cell, your relationships with the other inmates? Does a friend visit you and tell you about Cathy and her life without you? How do you feel? Does he give you Cathy’s number? Do you ring her? What is her reaction? How do you, as a writer, sum up Chris at the end of this story? What are his plans? Make his voice chilling?
Usually, I try to incorporate some drama. Getting students to act out the scenario in mime helps them empathise with the characters.
I hope that helps.
Do get back in touch any time.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
August 13th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Thanks for your help Alan and for replying so quickly! I will certainly be putting some of your ideas into practise!
regards
Aisha
November 30th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Hi Alan!
I really enjoyed Scared to Death and Demon Assassin. I just wanted to know if there will be another? I want to know more about Paul!
Hannah
December 11th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Hi
I saw you speak at a conference some time ago and would like you to come and do a residency at my school but have lost your contact details .Thanks
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:23 am
Hey Alan, i’m doing this for my english assignment which is due in 2 more days, I’m not sure what to write, it says Report on one of te major characters:
i picked danny, but i don’t know what to write !!
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 am
Johnny,
I have emailed a personal comment on this.
Best wishes,
Alan Gibbons
June 12th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Dear Alan
I am a librarian and I run a bookclub for my daughter’s high school for parents. We read teenage fiction relevant to the curriculum to support our children with their work. We are currently reading The Edge. (I have just started reading it) I found this blog very useful as I need to prepare the questions to be discussed. Do you have any suggestions? Would you be interested in joining us for our next discussion? Thank you very much for your help.
Best wishes
Evi
June 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Dear Alan
Thank you for your reply. I would like to thank you for the time you give to young people. I used to teach and I know that even if you help one young person make a positive step it is worth it. I am very impressed by your replies to all the children, the depth in your replies and the fact that you are there for them to ask you. How fantastic!
Warm wishes
Evi
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
hi Alan where did you get your ideas for the ledendeer series because i am a big fan. please reply ASAP, thanks
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Max,
It started with two things, my enjoyment of the Greek and Viking myths and the arrival of computer games. Put the two together and hey presto! one of the few bestsellers I have ever written.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
hi alan i need help telling kids how harry and danny change in the story.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:45 am
hello Mr Gibbons! My class are studying The Edge and loving it so far - I wonder if you are still using this blog and if so would you be willing to answer posts from them if I get them to think of questions they would like to ask you?
many thanks in anticipation! Y.Kershaw
November 16th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Hello, are you going to produce a second book about the edge or a film about the edge.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
hi alan,
i was just wondering how you came up with the different personalities of the characters?
+
did you use other people you know to create the characters?
November 17th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
this is about ‘the edge’ btw
November 17th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Hi Alan my class are reading the Book Called ” the Edge ” in English and if you still use this site please get back to me. I have a question about a character in the story ~ Why did you make the character Chris a woman Beater and what gave you the idea of it?
Thanks
November 18th, 2009 at 11:26 am
what inspierd you to write the edge and are you making a film
November 18th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Hello alan gibbsons- I have been reading “the edge” in english and theres a question thats came to my mind
Have u ever been a victim of bullying? Why do u thing its important to explore bullying in ur book?
November 18th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
hi alan in you’r book ‘the egde’ you write about a place called edgecliff is it based on a real place?
November 18th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Hello Alan,
My class are reading your book “The Edge” in english (i think it is very interesting!!)
and I was just wondering if you would mind answering my question about your book “The Edge”?
Did anything from your childhood inspire you to write Danny’s Character and his childhood?
Thanks
Ellie
November 18th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
hi alan in you’r book ‘the egde’ you write about a place called edgecliff is it based on a real place?
November 18th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
hi allan, ive got 2 ask u a question bout the edge ” did a event happen in your life to influence you to write such a sad & tromatic book?”
November 18th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
what made you write that sort of story line ???
November 19th, 2009 at 7:57 am
please comment back
November 19th, 2009 at 8:31 am
whats your favorite charater in the edge?
November 19th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Im not sure if you got my earlier question so here it is again
Was danny’s Childhood and Character based on your childhood and your life?
thanks
November 19th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Hi all,
As you are all asking about The Edge, I will send one reply covering the points:
*Callum, yes, I have been bullied but only very briefly at primary school. Most of the time I was big and ugly enough to give as good as I got. I suppose I write for the kids who find it harder to stick up for themselves. It is vital that we understand this kind of behaviour is wrong. Look at the girl who was forced to jump to her death by abuse!
*Natalie, no, Edgecliff is a fictional town based on places I know in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The great thing about fiction is you can invent your own places based on your personal experience.
*Ellie, no, it wasn’t really personal experience. The best thing about us as human beings is that we are able to show empathy and see through the eyes of others. I try to depict the lives of other people as sensitively and accurately as I can.
*Nick, the main drive to write that kind of story is my dislike of any kind of cruelty and oppression.
*Amandeep, the character I enjoyed writing the most was Chris because he is such a complete psycho!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:33 am
i am complaning that this book is being read by my sons school and is teaching him violence and i am worrying that he might get violent but also the book is racist
December 1st, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Jordan,
I think you need to re-read the book.
It is clearly anti racist. Danny is a mixed race boy who has to face up to racist bullying and the sympathies of the reader are drawn towards his struggle.
Furthermore, there is violence in the book in the domestic abuse suffered by Cathy but the whole point is to empathise with her struggle to escape a brutal relationship.
Finally, anybody reading The Edge, a Carnegie shortlisted book on the approved reading list, as approving violence is either extremely short-sighted or downright mischievous.
Alan Gibbons
December 11th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Hi Alan,
I was wondering whether you could tell me your reasons for why you called your book the edge? please this would really help me if you could reply by monday. Thankyou
December 11th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Jess,
The Edge is the hillside where Danny runs. It is also a metaphor for life on the edge, a family in crisis.
Alan Gibbons
December 11th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Have you written any other books similar to the edge, with the same action packed chapters? i really think you should write a continuation 2nd series to the edge and make a film of it!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
My last question is would you be able to recommend me a book by you simillar to the edge book please?
I have to say that the edge is definitely a book i could read over and over again!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Why does Danny get so much freedom from running along the edge hilltop?
December 16th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
hey i was wondering what prejudice behaviour is in the edge please can you help me? i cant think of many because it is an assinment from school but i dont have the book with me. Get back ASAP.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:59 am
My teacher said that the edge is up north but i dont know how she knows it, i have looked through the book and can not see any quote to use in my essay which will prove that it is up north, please could you let me know ASAP.
many thanks
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Hi Alan again,
In my essay i have to explain in detail about each of the characters attitudes throughout the novel and i was wondering how i could start Chris and Dannys attitude?
I have also got to include which character has the upper hand?
In your opinion who would you of thought that would be?
Also above Vanessa says what prejudice behaviour is in the edge. What sort of examples did you mention to her?
If you could get back to me asap that would be great
Many thanks
January 3rd, 2010 at 4:23 pm
I have started Dannys attitude and nearly finished infact, but how can i explain Dannys attitude with Steve Parker?
And yes how shall I start Chris’s attitude with everyone? and finally if you could please also give me some examples which you gave to vanessa of prejudice behaviour that would be great!
Many Thanks
January 14th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Hi mr Gibbons i need some quots from the story could you give 7 of them to me because i am to the class and need some quote that mean somthing
May 21st, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Hi Alan
I’ve just discovered your blog & thought I’d say hello. I was recently rummaging through some of my son’s old school work (trying to have a clearout!) and found a newspaper clipping I’d kept from 1990 “Story-teller Alan gets the writing bug” (you used to teach at Eccleston Lane Ends, where my children went to school). I remember both of them enjoying Pig!
Now all these years later I think it’s just brilliant that you’re not only such a prolific writer but also helping children with their writing/self esteem in so many different ways.
Incidentally, my son’s now a games programmer & my daughter’s in her final year studying Illustration at Edinbugh College of Art - she’s really keen to write & illustrate children’s books and I was wondering if you could recommend any book publishers she could approach?
Keep up the excellent work!
Sue
July 29th, 2010 at 10:12 am
hi alan.. just wondering if u could give me some quotes from the Edge ?
thnk you soo muchh