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SYNOPSISA poignant and uniquely powerful story about strangeness, strength, friendship and keeping the shadows at bay.

Frank’s cat has gone missing so she goes out to put up some posters asking people to look out for him. As she’s sticking up the � rst one, nasty Neil Noble and his cronies arrive. After subjecting Frank to a barrage of teasing taunts, they throw her bag into ‘the deepest, darkest patch of stinging nettles in the whole park’, but the bullying is cut short when classmate Nick retrieves Frank’s bag and tells them to leave her alone. Seeing as Nick is the boy no one wants to sit next to, the boy everyone says has � eas and ‘smelt weird’, Franks feels like she might ‘die of embarrassment’ if people see her with him, but all that changes when she � nds herself at Nick’s house and hears strange, enchanting music streaming from the cellar. It was ‘music of a sort she’d never heard before’ and makes Frank feel happy for the � rst time in a long time. After this, she can’t keep away from Nick’s house and on her next visit she follows the magical music and makes an extraordinary discovery that changes everything. But soon enough, and as the bullying worsens, Frank’s newfound loyalty to Nick is tested to extremes and they both discover the power of friendship, through the highest of stakes.

ABOUT THE AUTHORA.F. Harrold is an English poet who writes and performs for adults and children. He spends his time showing o� on stage, writing poems and books, and stroking his beard (it helps churn the ideas). He is the author of the Fizzlebert Stump series and The Imaginary. Illustrated by Emily Gravett, this highly praised work (‘A moving read about loyalty and belief in the extraordinary’ – Guardian) was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. He lives in Reading with a stand-up comedian and two cats.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATORLevi Pinfold has been drawing from imagination for as long as he can remember. His published picture books are The Django, Black Dog and Greenling. Black Dog won the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal in 2013. Born in the Forest of Dean, he has somehow found himself living in northern NSW, Australia. He likes paintings, books, music, and some cats.

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PRE-READING: FOR DISCUSSIONAsk students to look at the cover of The Song from Somewhere Else and discuss what sort of book they think it is. What do they think the story will be about?

POST-READING: FOR DISCUSSION 1) Neil ‘sought her out, found her in the playground, stumbled across her at lunchtime, followed her as she walked home from school, and she didn’t

know why’ (pp.4–5). Why do you think Neil does this to Frank? Why does he bully her? Why do you think Roy and Rob ‘always followed’ Neil around (p.5)? Why don’t they stop Neil from bullying Frank?

2a) ‘Frank said nothing. She had turned to clay ’ (p.10). What does this metaphor tell you about how Frank is feeling? (De� nition: a metaphor is a � gure of speech in which something is described as being something else in order to suggest a similarity between the two. In this example, Frank’s legs hadn’t really turned to clay, but it felt to her as if they had.) Write your own metaphor to express this same feeling in a di� erent way.

2b) ‘She was suddenly � lled with shoals of � sh, darting and moving like one great whole’ (p.28). What does this metaphor express about how Frank is feeling? Describe how Frank feels in your own words.

3) ‘God, she thought. Nicholas Underbridge thinks I'm his friend. What am I going to do? No one must know. I'll die of embarrassment’ (p.27). How did you feel when Frank says this? Did you feel any empathy with her reaction, or did you think Frank shouldn't mind if anyone sees her with Nick? (De� nition: empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of someone else.)

4) ‘No one liked him. He had � eas, they said’ (p.12). Why would Nick’s classmates say something like this? Why do you think they are so mean about him?

5) Why do you think Frank felt that she ‘couldn't just roll up’ (p.38) to Nick's house to ask him abut the about the ‘spooky’, ‘beautiful’ music (p.27)? Why does she say he’s a ‘completely di� erent kettle of � sh’ (p.38)?

6) Would you have followed the music into the cellar ‘knowing it was wrong, knowing [you] shouldn’t ’ (p.52)? Why/why not? Why did Frank feel it was wrong to follow it?

7) How did you feel when Frank sees something unusual sitting in the cellar (pp.53–54)? ‘It must’ve been real,’ she thinks (p.63). Did you think it was real?

8) ‘In your dreams even your Neil Nobles are defeatable’ (p.72). Have you ever had a dream in which you did something you could never imagine doing in real life? How did you feel when you woke up?

9) How did you feel when a ‘crazy idea’ tells Frank to ‘“Just go!”’ (p.71). Why do you think she went? Should she have gone? Would you have done the same?

10) ‘There was something special about him’ (p.85). Do you agree that Nick is special? If so, what do you think is special about him?

11) What did you think of Nick’s matter-of-fact reaction to Frank describing what she saw in his cellar (p.93)? What did you think of his explanation about there being ‘other worlds’ (p.94)? How would you react if you were in Frank’s situation?

12) How did you feel when Frank tells the boys about Nick’s mum? Why does she say she ‘hated herself ’ (p.118)? ‘Why hadn’t she just lied?’ Frank asks herself (p.119). Why do you think she didn’t lie?

13) ‘Trust me on this’ (Auntie Mimi, p.145). Would you have trusted Auntie Mimi? Would you have done as she asked and put the disc in the cellar?

14) What would you have done if you'd found Neil Noble ‘like a ghost’ (p.160)? Why do you think Frank helps him (p.161)?

15a) ‘It ’s all your fault’ (p.170). Is this true? Is any of what happens Frank's fault?


15b) ‘I'm so sorry about all this. It's my fault’ (Nick, p.192). What does the fact that they both think it’s their fault reveal about their characters?

16) Think about the di� erent times Frank hears her stomach. For example:

‘“Bad move,” her stomach muttered’ (p.10).

‘“Well done,” said her stomach. “Perfect question”’ (p.26).

Does she really hear it? What does it mean when she hears it? What does it tell you about how Frank is feeling?

17) ‘What could she do?’ (p.190) What’s the most di� cult thing Frank has to decide to do?

18) Is Frank brave? Is Nick brave? Are they heroes? What does it mean to be a hero?

19) Is Frank a good friend to Nick? What does it mean to be a good friend?

20) Look at pages 54–55, 60–61 and 116–117. How do these illustrations make you feel? How do they support and/or add to the events and emotions expressed in the written story?

21) Which moments in the novel did you � nd most tense or frightening? How does the author create this feeling?

22) What do you think of the book’s title? Think of three alternative titles.

23) What did you think of the end of the story?

24) Has reading this book changed anything about how you think or will behave?

POST-READING: CREATIVE ACTIVITIES 1) Summarise the Story in a Strapline

Straplines are short, snappy lines that give a sense of what a book is about, and/or give a � avour of what the writing is like. Here are some examples from the covers of recently published books:

– BEWARE! Ten delightfully dreadful tales within… (The World’s Worst Children, David Walliams)

– Will Tilly ever get to wear her dream dress? (Rent a Bridesmaid by Jacqueline Wilson)

– Ready to take on the world (Demolition Dad, Phil Earle)

Write your own strapline for The Song from Somewhere Else.

2) Express Yourself in Poetry

Write down � ve words that describe how this book made you feel. Use these words as the basis for your own poem about the book.

3) Create a Comic StripIllustrate and write text for a six-frame comic-strip version of a scene from The Song from Somewhere Else. Before starting, break down the scene into six key moments and plan what illustration and text will go into each frame.

4) Dynamic Descriptions

Powerful descriptive writing uses di� erent senses to bring scenes and emotions to life. Re-read the description of Nick’s house on page 25 to see how the author uses smell to bring the scene to life, for example. Practise making your own writing more powerful by describing the following using the speci� ed sense:

Christmas – smell

Happiness – taste


Walk on a beach – touch

Thunderclouds – sight

Night at the fairground – sound

5) Same Scene, Di� erent Story

Re-read pages 52–57 and write this scene from Nick’s mum’s point of view. Think about how she would have felt when a stranger disturbed her. What would she think Frank was trying to do? What would she think of Frank?

6a) Evocative Illustration

Illustrate the following scene: ‘As she watched the boys, afraid to take her eyes o� them, she thought she saw dark shapes � it behind her, like the shadows of animals, circling the rec’ (p.110). You might like to use the style of the novel’s illustrator as your inspiration. Think about the atmosphere of the scene and how Frank feels as well as the action.

6b) Evocative Illustration

Illustrate the ‘stick-creature scarecrow-thing’ described on page 180. Pay attention to the details described.

7) Produce a Play

Working in a group, transform the opening scene of this book into a play.

Think about the di� erent roles you’ll need. For example, as well as writers, actors and a director, you might also need sound-e� ect and lighting technicians, and you’ll need to think about costumes, scenery and props.

8) Create a cover

Design an alternative cover for The Song from Somewhere Else. Think about what happens in the story, and its mood. Think about whether you want your cover to feature an illustration, or perhaps a photograph you could source from the internet.

FURTHER READINGBy the same author:

The Imaginary, illustrated by Emily Gravett

The Fizzlebert Stump series, illustrated by Sarah Horne

By other authors:

Coraline – Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell)

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle

Skellig – David Almond

The Nest – Kenneth Oppel (illustrated by Jon Klassen)

A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness (illustrated by Jim Kay)

Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

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