Testimonials & Press

School Testimonials

“Hi Mark,

A huge thank you for delivering such a fantastic session this morning. Please find attached the notes with all of the wonderful ideas from the students. It’s been a pleasure working with you again.”

School Improvement Advisor (English and Literacy)

Royal Greenwich Children's Services

Dear Mark, It’s been a delight working with you and we are so incredibly grateful for all the time and effort you put into creating bespoke sessions. We would love to work with you again in the future. The children are continuing to talk about your visit and your book ‘Home’, across all our sites. Please see attached some ‘pupil voices’ which have been collected from across the campuses. All so incredibly positive. Again, thank you so much for working with us.

"Dear Mark,

It’s been a delight working with you and we are so incredibly grateful for all the time and effort you put into creating bespoke sessions. We would love to work with you again in the future.

The children are continuing to talk about your visit and your book ‘Home’, across all our sites. Please see attached some ‘pupil voices’ which have been collected from across the campuses. All so incredibly positive.

Again, thank you so much for working with us."

Reception Class Teacher & Federation Primary Science Lead

Christ Church CE Primary School

" We had a lovely day with you, all three sessions went well and our Year 9 pupils enjoyed hearing about your journey to publishing your book 'Home'. We were so happy with how the day went. I would definitely recommend you to other schools in the future."

Librarian & Information Resources Officer

The Sacred Heart Language College

"It was a pleasure to welcome author of ‘Home’ @MarkBallabon to speak to our Year 8 students today. His book tells the story of 14yr old Leah, who expands her horizons on a journey of self discovery, & touches on many of the issues our young people are concerned about."

St. Thomas More school

"A fantastic day with @MarkBallabon who has been an inspiration to our students.We hope to have Mark return in the future for the second and third books of #leahsuniversetrilogy"

Arbor Library Dubai

“It was great to hear about Mark’s work… it was really interesting and informative to learn more about his approach to climate activism.”

Gloucestershire Youth Climate Group

Mark spoke to students about his new book 'Home: My Life in the Universe'. Students were fascinated by the story as all its characters were based on real people and it was edited by young people. Students were then able to get their books signed and engage Mark in philosophical discussions.

Teacher

Toot Hill School

“The author event with Mark was amazing. I have just received an email from one of the parents which I feel goes a long way to explain how the pupils felt “ : Good morning, I just wanted to pop a quick email to thank you for organising the author visit. Reading has never come particularly easy to my son, but this year he is really trying hard, and the positive reinforcement of this has really gone a long way. He was so inspired when he came home yesterday, shared some facts that he’d discovered and was keen to get reading (as am I when he has finished!) Thank you again for this opportunity Thank you again for organising this for us. Many thanks, Clare.

Librarian

Ralph Sadleir School

"Positive teen-fiction books on the climate crisis are rare but vital. Home - my life in the universe is a fabulous read for KS3. Watching author Mark Ballabon talking relationships, philosophy & environment with pupils today was joyful."

Teacher

Corbridge Middle School

I’ve had lots of pupils coming to talk to me about the book and how much they’ve enjoyed it – and lots still keen to read it! Some of our most reluctant readers (many of them will say they ‘hate reading’) have spoken to me to say they want to know more about the book and about Leah’s story. The pupils who attended the creative writing classes, in particular my high achiever’s book club, have had so many new ideas and inspiration following their sessions with Mark. I think there are a lot of different things that students will take from reading the book. We have some students who are keen environmentalists who will really appreciate the climate change aspects of the book. We have students who struggle with things such as self-confidence and body image and navigating their relationships with their peers who will see a lot of themselves in Leah. Our KS3 pupils will be lucky to read this book.

Teacher

Ingleby Manor School

“We had such a wonderful day. Mark and his team were fantastic to work with. The students really enjoyed Mark’s presentations, as did the staff. We’re more than happy to invite him back to the school in the near future.”

Librarian

Longdean School, Hertfordshire

“Mark encouraged our Year 8 students to engage in their own thought-provoking tasks and challenged their inquisitive minds with philosophical questions... I was immensely impressed by our students' appreciation and enthusiasm, and I hope this visit has further piqued their interest in reading.”

English Teacher

Burnside College, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

“Mark's Climate workshop for the Eco Council and Science magazine was fantastic. He gave clear examples of how the choices he makes every day relate to the environment, including what he buys, eats and wears, and challenged us to make similar choices. He also got the pupils to act out a section of his book in which the characters are arguing and discussing the state of the planet and what will happen if we continue to behave as we do. It was a clever way of getting the pupils to think of the planet as our home and something we must protect at all costs.”

Teacher

Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School

“Through our visitor Mark Ballabon’s “unique perspective on life” our students got to explore topics such as self-image, the importance of the relationship with ourselves, and how the ‘temperature’ inside of us can affect how we interact with the environment around us. Our students loved the opportunity to think deeper, learn how the mind operates and how our actions and emotions represent people’s lives. They also liked how representative Mark’s book was, due to his close collaboration with young teenagers throughout his writing process. “The book feels very suitable to us”, several students said - and it has received enthusiastic praise from students who have read it.”

Senior School Librarian

Crosfields School

Multi-Award Winning Bookseller review

Moon Lane had the wonderful Mark Ballabon over to sign some copies of his book ‘Home’ 📚 🖋️

We had an amazing discussion about what inspired his writing, and the message behind the book ✨

‘Home’ is about 14 year-old Leah, whose world revolves around stargazing, the wilderness and more. The novel follows her as she heads off to an international summer camp. There, she finds love, and meets people she doesn’t get along and more… all while learning about navigating the world and her place within it. As well as answering her question ‘What is home?’.

Filled with stunning illustrations and writing, ‘Home’ is a guide on this journey called life! 🌟

Thank you Mark for stopping by - it is always a pleasure to meet and learn more about the authors and books we stock 🎉

Copies of ‘Home’ are available in-store and online.

moonlaneink.co.uk

Moon Lane Ink CIC