FOSTERING a love of books helped Ava Fallon to improve her ability at primary school, and she has now achieved a Platinum reading award at high school.
Haslingden High School student Ava, 13, achieved Bronze in Year 7 after reading and reviewing five books, then Silver after another 10 books read and reviewed.
Her Gold saw her reading and reviewing another 15 books, and now in Year 9, she has gained Platinum after reading and reviewing 20 more books.
“Reading makes you smarter. I didn’t use to read, and I wasn’t doing very well in primary school, but then I started reading. I got a lot better in Year 5. I got better at English, and I had found something different to do; everyone seems to spend so much time on screens, but I try to read every night, and I sleep better. The best book I have read is ‘The Last Paper Crane’ by Kerry Drewery. It is about the bombing of Hiroshima; I didn’t know much about it, but I had to find out and research it. The story is written from the perspective of an old man and his granddaughter, and he is trying to find his sister. He wants to know if she has survived – and if you want to know more, read the book.”
For the award, she had to read lots of different books, and chose Jane Austen’s classic ‘Pride and Prejudice’ as one and a short book ‘Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret’ by Judy Blume and 18 others.
“When I read a book, I get a picture of what the characters look like, how they move and speak. A book to me is my escape, and I will not watch a film until I have read the book first.”
Her next school challenge is the 16 before 16, and she is looking forward to reading George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ and many more.