MAT Co-curricular

The Things We Leave Behind
This is a conversation between Clem from The Things We Leave Behind and Kofi from The Door of No Return. Kofi has travelled to England and has gone to the same school as Clem. Clem: Hello Kofi: Hi Clem: Welcome to St Mary’s, I am Clem. I will show you to all your lessons today. Kofi: Okay Clem: This is the English, Maths and Science building. Across from here is the humanities, music, art and PE building. But we have art first. Do you like art? Kofi: I don’t mind it that much, but it isn’t my best subject. Clem: What is your favourite subject? Kofi: I love English, especially Shakespeare, what about you? Clem: Same, I love creating stories, in fact we have English second period, so maybe we could share ideas. Kofi: Yeah sure that would be great. What stories do you like writing? Clem: I like to write fantasy tales. Kofi: Maybe I could read one some time. Clem: Yeah, I have been working on a new one about mystical creatures. Kofi: Ooh I can’t wait to read them. Clem: I will show you one in English, but we better get to Art first.

Georgia

The Things We Leave Behind
“Clem, Clem, where’d you go”, i look all around me and wander hopelessly in circles, screaming her name. She’s nowhere, i carry on looking without stopping although all i want to do is sit in a corner and cry until someone comes to me, gives me a hug and reassures me that it is all going to be okay. But i can’t do that, i have to keep looking, i have to find Clem. I keep circling around screaming her name until i bump into someone, who also looks worried and like they’re looking for someone. It makes me drop my owl, but that’s my smallest concern right now. “Sorry”, i say still trying to calm myself down and stop crying. He looks me in the eyes also crying and he grabs my hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here”, he starts running not letting go of my hand and squeezing it tightly to the point where it hurts but i’m so scared so i don’t mind. We’ve been running for what seems like forever, until eventually we find a place that leaves the crowd and i can freely move. I take one last look at the crowd with some hope that i might see Clem, but i don’t, so i turn back to take a proper look at the guy who’s just saved me. he looks quite young, probably a couple years older than me and he looks frightened. “Are you alright.” he says whilst i still scan his face. i nod, slightly still shaken up and we both just stare back at the crowd. “What is all this?” i mumble, pointing at the protests, tears rolling down my face. “Some people don’t like what the government are doing, so they are protesting and trying to change what is happening.” I realise as he speaks that he is very mature for his age and may be able to help me find Clem. Still worrying about Clem, I don’t realise that he is guiding me away from the protest and towards an old pub with only a few people in. “Sit down and I’ll get you a glass of water” he says with a half-hearted smile on his face. I thank him as he sits down and begin telling him about Clem as she is the only thing on my mind. “i came here with my older sister ,Clem, and her best friend, but we got separated in the crowd and she got swept away when you saved me” i whisper, just loud enough so he can hear me. “i’m so sorry” he whispers back “i got separated from my cousin too, we came here together and he went to get food and never came back. We sit in silence for a few minutes, processing what just happened. “She’s gone forever isn’t she” i mutter under my breath. He doesn’t hear but begins talking about his cousin and how they were inseparable. i feel bad so sit in silence and let him talk. “We came here together, by boat, and left our parents behind in our home country. Kofi is all i have.” he says, not making eye contact with me. “i need to find him.” we both sip our drinks and jump when the TV suddenly flickers on. Images of people being thrown into ambulances or covered up by a plastic bag flash across the screen. Both our drinks go down as we focus all of our attention to the injured and dead people. “NO!” i jump, as my new friend begins screaming. “THATS KOFI!” I look up and see a boy being wheeled into an ambulance with a plastic bag over his body. “HES GONE FOREVER!” I begin comforting him until i recognise a face that just flashed on the screen. “Wait, pause the TV.” I step closer and realise it’s Clem being covered up by a tarp and shoved into an ambulance. “NOOOO!” I scream, and we both sit and cry together.

Amelia

The Things We Leave Behind
The first thing that I can say about this book os that it is a great book for anyone who likes reading (more teenagers and young adults.). My favourite character in the story is Billie as she is fun and caring character. My favourite part of the book is that it is the ending where she wakes up early and she thinks of her favourite things. The worst part of the book is the start as it’s quite slow start to the book.

George

The Things We Leave Behind
The things we leave behind is a fantastic Book for anyone who enjoyed reading with lots of different twists and turns as a reader, you would not know what happens next. I would recommend this book to teenagers and kids, my favourite/best part of this book has to be the ending my favourite character like a lot of you I’m sure it’s Billy as she is all you need from a character. The worst part is the start of the book as it takes a lot of getting in to. The book is absolutely fantastic and I would recommend to everyone of you here.

Marcus

The Things We Leave Behind
‘The things we leave behind’ by Clare Furniss is an emotionally compelling novel based around a fifteen year old Clem and her half-sister Billie as they flee London and its harsh regime to seek refuge in Scotland. Clem stands out as my favourite character mainly due to her strength and resilience to her tough journey. Her dedication to protecting Billie really highlights the type of person she truly is making it another big reason as to why she’s my favourite character. I really enjoyed the storys’ structure, and how it alternates from past to present timelines, therapy sessions and Clem’s own narratives. However, I did think that the shifting timelines and narrative styles could be particularly disorientating at times. Nevertheless, I still appreciate the creative structure of the novel. I am recommending ‘The things we leave behind’ to everyone who enjoys deep stories with hidden meanings behind it that really define the books truth.

George

The Things We Leave Behind
The things we leave behind is a great book for teenagers and young adults as it gives them a different perspective on what is going on in the world and what could happen. It taught me to value what i have in life and appreciate the little things as they may all be taken away one day. In the book Clem explains how annoying her stepmother was and how she nagged her all the time. However, when her stepmother was taken away , Clem felt the complete opposite and realised that she wanted the nagging to come back as long as she had her family back. This was my favourite part of the book as i related to it the most. My least favourite part of the book would be when Clem talked about her sister not being with her throughout the story she told. This is my least favourite part because it was a bit confusing. This book is very emotional and has a sad ending however it does show you that although there may be a dark tunnel, there is light at the end of that tunnel and good things may come from dark times, like Clem being reunited with her stepmother. I would recommend this book to my sister and my cousin as i think they would really enjoy it and would learn a lot from it.

Amelia

The Things We Leave Behind
In the book, my favourite character is Mischa because I like her personality and how she talks to Clem. My favourite part of the book was when Clem got a call from Claudia because it showed how happy Clem was to hear her after losing most of her family. In my opinion, the worst part of the book was when Clem found out that Mischa disappeared because she was my favourite character. Other than that, I liked every part of the book. I would recommend it to my brother because I think he would enjoy this.

Macie

The Things We Leave Behind
I think the book The Things We Leave Behind is a great book about a girl travelling over borders to find safety. It tells the story of Clem who has gone through difficult things in life and then settles down with her dad, stepmom and half sister. But this all changes when Toby Knight wants power and this rips the family apart. The author Clare Furniss describes how Clem feels and the journey she has to take. I like how Clare has put a story that Clem has written within the book and how she has described the emotions Clem feels. Overall this is one of the best books I have read, even though it is quite sad.

Georgia