NEXT UP! 1 34 Anne Fine (1947– ) was born in England. She is best known for writing children’s books, although she also writes for adults. Several of her books have been adapted for television or film. She has won numerous prizes, and her work has been translated into more than forty languages. Ivan the Terrible In Anne Fine’s novel Ivan the Terrible we meet Ivan, a Russian boy who is new at school. Ivan’s mother tongue is Russian, and he does not speak English yet. The head teacher, Mrs Blaizely, turns to Boris, a bilingual student, for help. Since Boris speaks both English and Russian, he is in Mrs Blaizely’s eyes perfect for the job as Ivan’s interpreter. Mrs Blaizely tells Boris to bring Ivan to assembly, where she can introduce him to the other students. Boris’ job as an interpreter turns out to be quite a challenge, and Ivan turns out to be quite a character. […] Mrs Blaizely’s got a thing about running what she calls ‘a civilized school’. She says she wants everyone at St Edmund’s to have good manners and a positive attitude. So we began Assembly by singing that wimpy little song about remembering to be grateful for everything round us. (Lulu once wrote a joke version of it about not being grateful for empty beer cans, or sick on the pavements, or homework or dog poo. Mrs Shah said it was ‘a brilliant spoof’ and pinned it on the display board. She kept it up right through till Parents’ Evening. Then she lost her nerve and suddenly it vanished.) Before reading You have just started lower secondary school. How do you feel about being a student at your new school? Freewrite for a couple of minutes. although – þrátt fyrir adapted – aðlagað a head teacher – yfirkennari assembly – samkoma quite a character – einstakur náungi lower secondary school – unglingadeild wimpy – aumingjalegur sick – hér: æla a spoof – skopstæling to vanish – hverfa
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