Reading Club: Teenage Literature | O Fyllos [Leafhead]

In May, the SNFCC Reading Club is dedicated to the memory of Filippos Tsimpoglou, Director General of the National Library of Greece (NLG).

In May, the SNFCC Teenagers’ Reading Club continues its meetings, facilitated by comic book artist and translator Thanasis Petrou as facilitator. Books of his include: Giannoulis Halepas. The Myth of Modern Greek Sculpture (on a script by Dimitris Vanellis, Patakis Publishers, 2019); Gra-Grou (on a script by Tassos Zafiriadis and Yannis Palavos, Ikaros Publishers); At the Battle of Marathon (Patakis Publishers, 2015).

The book we will be reading together this month is O Fyllos [Leafhead] by Elena Glossioti. 30 Book Club members, aged 12 to 16, take a cue from this delightful mystery novel and engage in conversation, creating and discovering new worlds through the book's pages.

Don't worry if you haven't been able to read the entire book, or if you’ve missed our previous meeting. Each month, the Reading Club facilitator, Thanasis Petrou, will be giving us a new cue, announcing the book that we will all be reading together over the weeks to follow. At the end of the month, the group of people who have read the book (or at least half of it) will be meeting to exchange thoughts, impressions, feelings and concerns, triggered by what we have just read, whether we liked it a lot or not so much.

The plot

The dense forests with the tall trees and the high shrubs were home to the Treepeople. The Treepeople knew the forest inside and out. The forest gave them food with its roots, fruits, herbs, and mushrooms. Children learned to climb onto tree houses before they even learned how to walk.
And then came the Huntgrabbers, with eyes ablaze and predatory, and plundered everything. The Huntgrabbers thrived on wreaking havoc. They mercilessly killed animals and birds, and captured the Treepeople. 
The few who managed to escape experienced an unprecedented feeling: fear. 
Fyllos, the child with leaves for hair, who lived happily in the forest with the Treepeople, will suddenly find himself captive in a colorful but inhospitable city.
In a city where the law prohibits trees and plants, but also dreams, will this child of the Treepeople be able to survive, or will he end up in the land of Lethe?
A charming fantasy novel featuring people living harmoniously inside nature, and those who, disrespectfully and predatorially, wish to subjugate it.

The author

Elena Glossioti was born in Chalkida. She studied Obstetrics in Athens, and then returned to Chalkida where she lives, working for the local government. A mother of four, she slipped right back into fairy tales and dreams with her kids. In 2014, she was awarded by the Women’s Literary Team for her fairy tale “The Shepherd of the Sea and the Woman Called Surfhead.” Her book O Fyllos [Leafhead], illustrated by Myrto Delivoria, was awarded by the Greek IBBY – Kyklos Paidikou Vivliou (for cover design) and was listed in White Ravens 2016. Her collection of fairy tales, The Children of the World Paint Over the Black, was awarded by CYBBY - Cyprus Board on Books for Young People. 

A few words about the Reading Club facilitator:

Thanasis Petrou was born in 1971 in Thessaloniki. He studied French Literature in Thessaloniki and Paris, and holds a postgraduate degree in Sociolinguistics. In 2002, he won the first prize in the comic book competition (“New Talents” category) organized by “9” magazine of Eleftherotypia newspaper in collaboration with the AKTO School of Art & Design. From 2002 to 2005, he studied on a scholarship at the Sketch, Comic Book & Cartoon department of AKTO. He has worked as a French teacher, a translator, an illustrator, a musician. From 2005 to 2011, he worked with "9" magazine of Eleftherotypia newspaper. Since 2012, he has been teaching at AKTO. From 2008 to 2022, 16 comic books of his have been published by various publishers, both on scripts of his own and on scripts by other authors (Dimitris Vanellis, Katerina Servi, Pavlos Methenitis, Tassos Zafiriadis, Yannis Palavos et al.). His latest book is: “1923: Hostile Homeland” (Ikaros Books, 2022).

Sunday 28/05

13.00-14.30

ΖΟΟΜ

 

For children aged 12 to 16
Up to 30 participants 



Free admission with online pre-registration

A key prerequisite for participating in the Book Club is to have read the book and wish to share your opinion of it.

Elena Glossioti, O Fyllos [Leafhead] is published by Thines publications.

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.