In the Reading Corner

In this podcast, Nikki Gamble talks to Frederick Joseph about his recently published book: The Black Friend

Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirs—creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.

Frederick is an award-winning marketing professional, activist, philanthropist, and author of the upcoming highly anticipated book The Black Friend (2020), with over 10 years of marketing experience, and a Forbes Under 30 list maker for Marketing and Advertising.

He is also the sole creator of the largest GoFundMe campaign in history, the #BlackPantherChallenge, which ultimately generated over $43 million dollars in earned advertising and media for Disney and raised over $950K and allowed more than 75,000 children worldwide to see 'Black Panther’ for free. He is also the creator of the largest individual Covid-19 support effort, the #RentRelief campaign, which has raised over $1 million dollars.

Frederick has been honoured as the 2018 Comic-Con Humanitarian of the Year award and a member of the 2018 Root 100" list of Most Influential African Americans. 

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. And if you are interested in the books we have featured, purchasing from our online bookshop Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. It is produced by Alison Hughes.

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates, follow us on Twitter @imaginecentre

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

Nicola Skinner is a writer of originality and wit. Her latest book is inspired by Brunel's great ship the SS Great Britain,  the biggest tourist attraction in Bristol, the city where Nicola now lives. In this episode, I talked to Nicola about what the historic ship means to her, her cast of colourful characters and some of the themes that underpin the story.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

David Almond is a British writer born in Newcastle on the north side of the Tyne and raised in Gateshead on the south of the river. His writing is infused with the culture and language of the northeast.

David's latest book Bone Music is an extraordinary prose poem that distils and amplifies many of the themes from his earlier work. It's the only novel that I have read cover to cover and then immediately started at the beginning again and read from cover to cover, so I was thrilled to welcome David into The Reading Corner.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

When Elle McNicoll researched the representation of neurodivergent characters in books for children and young adults, she drew a blank. She decided that the only way to redress the problem was to find a job in publishing.

But Elle went one better than that by writing  A Kind of Spark, which was published in 2020 to critical acclaim, being chosen as Blackwell's Book of the Year 2020.

In this podcast, she talks about her second novel Show Us Who You Are.

Show Us Who You Are
When Cora's brother drags her along to his boss's house, she doesn't expect to strike up a friendship with Adrien, son of the intimidating CEO of Pomegranate Technologies. As she becomes part of Adrien's life, she is also drawn into the mysterious projects at Pomegranate.

At first, she's intrigued by them - Pomegranate is using AI to recreate real people in hologram form. As she digs deeper, however, she uncovers darker secrets... Cora knows she must unravel their plans, but can she fight to make her voice heard, whilst never losing sight of herself?

Read a review on the Just Imagine website

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

Jonathan Stroud's latest book The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne is a post-catastrophe story set in a future England. In this England, you either live in the Cities or you are an outlaw - or perhaps worse, one of the tainted. The animals have evolved too. It's an exciting adventure driven by mystery - some of which are revealed in this book and others that will take us forward to the next book in the series.

I enjoyed talking with Jonathan about where this book started and the decisions he made along the way to publication.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

Raymond Antrobus was born in Hackney was diagnosed as deaf during childhood,  He is a writer and educator and has achieved many accolades for his poetry, including the Ted Hughes  Award,  and Poetry Book of the Year for both The Guardian and The Sunday Times.

His picturebook, Can Bears Ski? illustrated by Polly Dunbar and published by Walker Books in February 2021, is the story of a young deaf bear, and inspired by Raymond's own experiences.

In this episode, he talks with Nikki Gamble about the book and the challenges for education and support of deaf children in school.

Purchase the book here

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

From the silliness of Sing a Song of Bottoms to the sharp wit of Tadpole's Promise and the gently reflective Bog Baby, Jeanne Willis is a prolific and much-loved writer of many moods and tones. In this interview, she chats with Nikki Gamble about her latest book Hom  and some of her classic stories which remain popular with her young readers.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

Annelise Gray has written a thrilling adventure set in Imperial Rome.  

Circus Maximus, the greatest sporting stage of the ancient Roman world, where the best horses and charioteers compete in a race to the death, and one girl dreams of glory. . Twelve-year-old Dido dreams of becoming the first female charioteer at the great Circus Maximus.

She's lost her heart to Porcellus, a wild, tempestuous horse she longs to train and race. But such ambitions are forbidden to girls and she must be content with helping her father Antonius - the trainer of Rome's most popular racing team, The Greens - and teaching the rules of racing to Justus, the handsome young nephew of the Greens' wealthy owner. When her father is brutally murdered, she is forced to seek refuge with an unlikely ally.

But what of her dream of Circus triumphs and being reunited with the beloved horse she left behind in Rome? And the threat to her life isn't over as she faces a powerful and terrifying new enemy... the emperor Caligula.

In this podcast, I chatted to Annelise about the background to the story,  her interest in Rome and horses and the relevance of Latin.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

Laura Wood, author of Vote for Effie and Effie the Rebel chatted with me about the importance of taking a stand and making your voice heard. It's a great message for International Women's Day... or ver any other day of the year.

About Laura Wood
Laura Wood is a British writer and academic. As well as writing for children and young adults, she has a PhD in Nineteenth-Century Literature.

In 2014 Laura won the Montegrappa Scholastic Prize for New Children's Writing. Her first children’s book ‘Poppy Pym and the Pharaoh’s Curse was published the following. This was followed by further adventures for Poppy.

 Since then Laura has written a YA novel A Sky Painted Gold . This book was followed by Under a Dancing Star, a Much-Ado About Nothing Prequel set in 1930's Italy.

 Most recently Laura has written Effie the Rebel, the second story about Effie Kostas. The first book about Effie, titled Vote for Effie was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book award. These books were inspired by the Women's Marches and by the incredible young activists who are fighting for a better world and making their voices heard. 

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk

In The Reading Corner caught up with Maz Evans shortly after the publication of the first book in a brand new series. What do you do one your Mum is a celebrated spy but has given up spying to look after the family and your Dad is a supervillain who is no longer around? And what if you harbour secret dreams of attending spy school but Mum just wants you to be safe? These are just some of the everyday challenges that Vi has to face. Throw in Mum's second marriage to your class teacher and an 'uncool' soon to be step-brother - can things get any worse?

Yes, they can! Tune in to find out about the background to this hilarious story with some serious common-sense approaches to relationships.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. 

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre  Bluesky  https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk