The author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas takes on the Guardian children's books quickfire interview
Why should we read your current book?
With the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War approaching in 2014 it seems a perfect time to interest young readers in a conflict which has resonated through the century that followed. In Stay Where You Are And Then Leave, I'm looking at issues that they might not be too familiar with: shell-shock, conscientious objectors, the effect on the families at home when the husbands and fathers went away.
Who was your childhood hero?
I don't think I ever really had any heroes when I was a child. I was lost inside books and spent much of my time in our local library and so didn't idolise sports figures or pop stars in quite the same way that many of my peers did.
What was your favourite book when you were younger?
Although I have never had an interest in fantasy, CS Lewis's Narnia books were hugely important to me when I was young, as they were to so many other readers. My earliest favourite however was Noddy – I was obsessed with Noddy. And I loved H.E. Todd's Bobby Brewster books. As I grew a little older, I was fascinated and moved by The Silver Sword by Ian Seraillier and classic adventure fiction such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Three Musketeers. By the age of about 13 I had discovered Charles Dickens and I started reading adult fiction then.
Did you read a lot as a child and do you still read children's books now?
I read compulsively as a child but didn't read any children's literature from the age of 13 until shortly before the publication of my first children's novel, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. Then I returned to reading young people's literature, usually the prize-winners and the books people are talking about. Since then, writers such as Michael Morpurgo, Malorie Blackman and Philip Ardagh have become favourites and how I wish that Siobhan Dowd was still with us, for her four novels are quite brilliant.
What was the last book you had recommended to you and what book would you recommend to us?
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer was recommended to me by a friend and I loved it. A book about a young boy, but more traditionally seen as an adult novel, is The Go-Between by LP Hartley and I would recommend that to any young person; it's one of my three or four favourite novels of all time.
What advice would you give to your 10-year-old self?
Stop being so shy. Join more clubs. Make more friends. Eat less sweets.
What would you be if you hadn't been a writer?
I would have liked to have been an actor. I didn't have the confidence when I was younger to pursue that but I like the idea of telling stories through different characters. If I could go back twenty years I'd probably try to pursue acting alongside writing.
If you could travel in time, where would you go first?
St Petersburg, Russia, in the twenty years leading up to the end of Tsarist Rule, so from the end of the 19th century until 1917. It's a period that fasinates me and that I wrote about in one of my adult novels, The House of Special Purpose. Also, if I could wait about 40 years before beginning my time travel, I would go back to 1971, the year of my birth, and start all over again.
What is the weirdest thing a fan has ever said and/or given to you?
Recently, at a reading in Hamburg, a child put his hand up and asked 'What makes you angry?' which I thought was a great question. I was once asked whether I was friends with Wayne Rooney – I'm not sure why the questioner thought I might be.
What is your next book going to be about?
My next novel will be for adults and for the first time in my career, I've written a fully contemporary novel set in my own country, Ireland. I've drawn on many of my recollections of growing up so it's something quite different for me.
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