Pupils felt out of this world after visit from supernatural author

Pupils at Penwortham Priory Academy felt out of this world after a visit from supernatural author AJ Hartley

Ribbleton-born AJ Hartley has written a number of books but he was promoting ‘Cold Bath Street’, a young adult thriller, which is a ghost story where main character Preston Oldman dies in the first chapter.

Oldman then tries to navigate his way through the void between life and death with many Preston landmarks and legends woven into the story.

Year 7 pupil Grace H said: “I have read a lot of books and was looking for something else to read so this sounds perfect. It’s a thriller which I enjoy.”

Zaynah said: “AJ talked to us about the book and it sounds interesting, I will definitely read it.”

Paige enjoyed the talk, she said: “I have read a part of it but I haven’t had time to finish it but I will definitely make time now.”

Violet S added: “He made Preston sound interesting and fun.”

Author AJ commented: “I enjoy visiting schools, I am an educator and I love taking questions from children as they are always so different from what adults ask. It’s a buzz coming into schools and talking to children who had read my book or who now want to. I get excited about anything which promotes reading.”

English teacher Mrs Elliott added: “We are trying to inspire our students to read more and when a real author comes into school, it has the ‘wow’ factor. From September we will be taking part in the Accelerated Reader Programme and hopefully this, along with author visits, will encourage our students to pick up more books.”