Inspiring morning in Hjulsta

This morning it was time for Meg Rosoff to visit Hjulsta elementary school and meet all the enthusiastic and curious students and teachers there. We had a great time! First Meg got to meet a group of seventh graders who had prepared questions for her.

“Where does your inspiration come from?”

“What was your first profession?”

“What was your reaction when you first got to know that you had won the price?”

Meg shared her thoughts with the students and told them, among other things, that it took a long time for her to figure out what she wanted to do in life.

“In a way, I stayed a teenager for a long time. I just couldn’t figure out how to be an adult. I have done everything late in life; I met my husband late, I got my daughter when I was 40 and I didn’t write my first book until I was 45. But, as Shakespeare says, the readiness is all. Sometimes you just have to wait until it’s time for something to happen in life.”

Then it was time for a discussion in the library with ten 15-year-old students who had all read the book “How I live now”. The war theme in the book, the way the story is written and the psychological development of Daisy, the main character, were topics that were brought up for discussion.

To conclude the morning in Hjulsta, the young pupils in the school had prepared some wonderful ALMA inspired entertainment. A group of fourth graders performed their own, fantastic ALMA song as well as a few classic Astrid Lindgren songs from the Pippi Longstocking movies. Then Meg Rosoff got more questions from the pupils. Among other things the children wanted to know what she plans to do with the money she receives as an ALMA laureate.

“Well, I want to buy a spotted horse and be able to lift it with only one hand”, she said and the children laughed.

To get a feeling of what it was like to be in Hjulsta today, have a look at the beautiful pictures taken by photographer Stefan Tell.