As part of the Explosive Reading project, which is part of the Barcelona Libraries’ Reading Action programme, seven secondary schools from different city districts will be taking part in the 42. Barcelona's Fantasy Genre Festival, an event centred around science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Therefore, during the 2023-2024 school year, 492 secondary-school students will visit the festival, go to exhibitions, take part in workshops and talk with authors about the books they will be reading throughout the year. This is a project which combines the dynamics of a book club, meetings with authors (national and international) or people related to the books, workshops and visits to locations linked to the novels. A way of working on reading skills through experiences that are meaningful for students.

The books included in the project and linked to Festival 42 are:

• Momo (Alfaguara), by Michael Ende.
• La lloba gris (Edebé), by Maite Carranza.
• Departamento de asuntos mágicos (Anaya), by Daniel Hernández Chambers.
• The Man with the Compound Eyes (Editorial Chronos, L’home dels ulls compostos), by Wu Ming-Yi.

In addition to these books, from November onwards, the students will be reading the winner of the 2023 Alba 42 Prize for the Best Young-Adult Novel.

The meetings with the authors will take place as part of the festival. So, the students will be talking to Maite Carranza, Daniel Hernández Chambers and Wu Ming-Yi. In the case of Momo, by Michael Ende, the participants will be meeting Quim Noguero, curator of the exhibition paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of the book's publication.

The secondary schools taking part in this edition are:

Instituto Doctor Puigvert

Instituto Josep Serrat i Bonastre

Instituto Martí Pous

Instituto Menéndez y Pelayo

La Salle Comtal

Instituto Vapor del Fil

Instituto Montjuïc