Pupils and staff alike were eagerly anticipating the arrival of G.P. Taylor, New York Times bestselling author, to St. Wilfrid’s on Wednesday 26th November. Year 8 pupils have been on the receiving end of exciting and engaging lessons in English and Art which are related to the author’s books and characters.G.P. Taylor, formerly an Anglican Minister from Scarborough, was disturbed by the amount of occult and witchcraft in children’s stories. After relaying this message to his clergy some years ago, they suggested that he should write one of his own.The author subsequently created a story encompassing Christian imagery, set on the Eighteenth Century Yorkshire coast in Britain called Shadowmancer. The novel narrates the story of an evil vicar, Obadiah Demurral, who attempts to achieve world domination, but is overpowered by three teenagers and a smuggler.Shadowmancer was first published in Britain in 2003 and was soon referred to as the Christian alternative to Harry Potter. The book surged to the top of the paperback best-seller list, outranking its secular rivals, the Harry Potter books, for 15 weeks in a row. Mr Taylor states: ‘I wrote Shadowmancer and Wormwood as a rebuttal to the writings of Philip Pullman as I was outraged by what he said about the church’.Graham Taylor now 
dedicates much of his time to inspiring reluctant children and teenagers to read; his latest books The Dopple Ganger Chronicles have been revolutionising reluctant readers’ attitudes in several countries across the globe. Children with learning difficulties have been enjoying these aesthetically appealing books and previously reluctant readers have reportedly been ‘devouring’ them. G.P. Taylor’s books are inspiring pupils at St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School with pupils of all abilities now scrambling to get hold of one of his books from the library. It was an absolute delight to watch many pupils crying with laughter at the author’s performance which conveyed a very clear message: if you wish to succeed in life then reading and writing are of paramount importance. Around 200 pupils queued eagerly for over half an hour to purchase a signed copy of one of his texts, and meet the author personally. We hope that our pupils will allow God to burst through into their lives as well as having improved attitudes towards reading, writing and literacy.Miss Kate Midgley Head of KS3 English
G.P. Taylor had a fantastic time at St. Wilfrid's and emailed after the evening of the event, stating:
"I have done some school visits in my time and never been to one where so much effort has been put in before hand. It was truly amazing.The children were really good and I mean REALLY good. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I am so thankful to you and your mates in the English
Dept for all that you have done. I loved the children's work and it was a really inspirational time.You will never know how happy I was today - the best visit ever... I couldn't stop thinking about it all the way home - the look on the faces of the children was amazing.Please would you thank everyone concerned! You will go far in education if that is the standard of your work.I was truly blessed."We look forward to welcoming G.P. Taylor back to inspire and motivate other pupils in the future.
Miss Kate MidgleyHead of KS3 English
