Reading Club: Children’s Book (ages 10–12) | The Blue Sock Gang #3: This story is not true

In December, the SNFCC is launching a new Children’s Reading Club for young booklovers aged 10 to 12, facilitated by author Angeliki Darlasi. Angeliki Darlasi is a writer of prose and theatrical plays, while she has also engaged with television and cinema. Among her awarded works are: The Boy in the Royal Box, Badboy, When We Hid an Angel, and Dream Guardians.

The book that will be discussed in this month's meeting is The Blue Sock Gang #3: This story is not true by Miranda Vatikioti. 

On Saturday 17/12, our young readers will meet to share impressions, feelings and thoughts, as well as to embark on an imaginary journey, sparked by the book of the month, into the fascinating worlds emerging from its pages. 

The book 

Generally speaking, gangs are not to be admired. And yet, there are some gangs that are…different. Such is certainly the famous “Blue Sock Gang,” a band of children who, strangely enough, never actually wear blue socks, but are actively engaged in trying to solve everyday mysteries that occur around them. After all, this is not their first adventure, but indeed already the third one that they are sharing with us. The narrator of the story is Rosa. Not because she is the leader of the gang — strange as it may seem, this gang does not in fact have a leader — but rather because she has a flair for telling their adventures very vividly, without forgetting any of the details. In this third adventure, the gang members, whom Rosa will introduce to us in detail — so it doesn’t matter at all if you have not read their two previous stories — are trying to discover the secret of the basement of horror. Meanwhile, they are drawing a giant sock, borrowing shrubs, reshaping the garden of the city’s police department, following the instructions of a ghost, digging up half the city to find a treasure, and engaging in a host of other activities that we will not tell you about here because we don’t want to spoil your reading pleasure. 

So, if you enjoy solving mysteries too, if you dream of being a member of a similar crew, or if you want some information about setting up such a crew, we suggest that you read this book. Especially if you like to go beyond the surface of things and dig deep to uncover the truth, let’s read this book together and share our thoughts, fun adventures and fascinating truths, however small they may seem. 

The author

Miranda Vatikioti was born in Athens in 1982. In her own words: “I was born and raised in a house that was brimming with books, to two parents who were constantly with a book in their hands. From a very early age, I imitated my parents’ example and did the same.”  As an undergraduate, she studied Theatre Studies at the University of Patras. She then did her postgraduate studies at the University of Athens School of Philosophy. Since 2014, she has been a doctoral candidate at the University of the Peloponnese School of Arts, where she has been studying contemporary dance in Greece. At the same time, she is working as a dancer and actor.

Her involvement with literature began from a very young age, and has never stopped since. 

She has published the children’s mystery novella Magic Clock, released by K.M. Zacharakis Publications, a book that was proposed for a Greek National Award for a Children’s Literary Book (2006). She has also written the crime novels The Four Seasons of Mr Ananias (2016) and The Secret of the King of Geraniums (2017), available from Pikramenos Books. The first two volumes of the Blue Sock Gang series are: The Most Beautiful Story (2019) and Vangelis is alive (2019), available from Aiolos Books. And according to the author, there are many more sequels to come.

The facilitator

A writer of literature for children and young adults, playwright and teacher of creative writing and theater. 

Works and books of hers have been translated into English, Turkish, Korean, Spanish, and French. Her books have been adapted for theater (most recently, The Boy in the Royal Box, by the National Theater of Greece, 2021-2022) and puppetry performances, while some are in the pre-production stage to be adapted into films (on screenplays by the author herself), in Greece and abroad.

She has participated as co-author in productions of the State Theaters of Karlsruhe and Uppsala and the National Theater of Luxembourg (2021 & 2022), and the Union des Théâtres del'Europe (2018). Several plays of hers have been staged in Athens: Lighthouse–SNFCC, Athens Concert Hall, Art Theatre Readers’ Theatre Festival, Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Alkmini Theater, Amore Theater–stage B, et al. She has been repeatedly awarded and distinguished for her work (both prose and theatre). 

Since 2006, she has been teaching Creative Writing and/or Theater to adults and children-teenagers, working with both public and private organizations (e.g. The Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Peloponnese, public and private post-secondary vocational schools, Metaichmio Publications, etc.). She is a motivational speaker and facilitator of activities for children and adolescents (creative writing, theater, arts and education, love of reading, etc.).

She holds degrees from the Athens University Department of Theatre Studies and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA in Performance Studies).

Activities for children before the Reading Club meeting

A few things that you may want to think and take notes about before our meeting, so we can share and discuss them when we meet:

• Vatikioti said in an interview that she began writing because, while still in primary school, she had been given a journal in which she would record her daily thoughts and everything she experienced over the course of the day. Do you by any chance also have this habit? Or do you occasionally jot down in a notebook what you experience or think about? Would you like to share with us, not its exact content, but, for example, whether you write down truths or lies in there? 
• All of us experience some adventures together with our friends. Have you experienced a small or big adventure with your friends, which you would like to share with us? You may write it down, or prepare an oral presentation of it – whichever you prefer. You may also “sprinkle” it with as many lies as you want, in order to make it even more exciting for us to hear. And let us worry about figuring out which parts of your story were true or false; and let us talk about lies and truths in art. 

Saturday 17/12
17.30 - 19.00

NLG KIDS LAB 

Up to 22 participants | For children aged 10 to 12
Free admission with online pre-registration

Pre-registration starts on 01/12, at 12.00

To participate in the Reading Club, it is necessary for those who hold a position to have read the book of the month. (It is also useful to have it with them).

The children’s book “The Blue Sock Gang #3: This story is not true” by Miranda Vatikioti is available (in Greek) by Aiolos Books.

Children should always be accompanied by parents or adult attendants who should not be away from the outdoor activity.

As part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's collaboration with the National Library of Greece, the book for the Reading Club has been chosen by NLG staff members.