National Year of Reading 2012
Did you know 46% of Australians struggle without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work? Australian libraries are behind a campaign to turn 2012 into the National Year of Reading. We’ll be running some great programs and events throughout the year and look forward to working together on raising the literacy standards of our community.
The NYR begins with the opportunity for you to vote for the book that you think should represent Victoria as one of the eight on our national recommended reading list for 2012.
Here is the shortlist of the eight Victorian books for you to vote. Voting closes on the 6th January 2012, with the winning books announced at the launch on the NYR on 14 February 2012 at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Click on the book to vote:
Student review – Ring of Water Young Samurai #5
Ring of water by Chris Bradford Young Samurai series (5) book review by Luke Murphy.
How you ever heard of a British Samurai? No, then this is one book that will find interesting and enjoyable. This book is called The Ring of Water from the Young Samurai series written by Chris Bradford and published by Puffin Books.
When I was given the opportunity to review this book I was a little skeptical on whether I should do it. The main reason for thinking like that was because I had been given the third book a few months earlier and The Ring of Water is the fifth in the series. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the book as much as I would have hoped because I had missed so many books. Fortunately my worries were washed away because at the beginning of the book is a short summary of the story so far, beginning from the end of book three and what happened in book four. This was a very clever idea and it didn’t take me long to get into the story.
I believe that anyone from the ages of ten to fifteen who enjoys action or emotional events (trust me, many people care for those moments) will enjoy reading The Ring of Water so much that they won’t be able to put it down until they finish it!
All in all, this is a great read and I can’t wait for to read the next book!
Student Review – Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness
Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness by Tim Collins
Book Review by Julian Virgona
Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness, written by Tim Collins, is a Comedy Fantasy book and also a parody of the Twilight and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, about teenage vampire Nigel Mullet as he goes through his day to day life in a year. Transformed at the awkward age of fifteen, Nigel must deal with the troubles of being a teenager for the rest of eternity, which includes everything from changing styles through the decades to trying to capture the heart of the girl of his dreams.
With a head start on the latter, Nigel has a girlfriend, his ‘true love’ Chloe, and is popular at school for the first time in his life. However, this seemingly perfect situation for Nigel is quick to change when a new kid arrives at school. But who is this boy and what is it about him that has Nigel’s entire life falling apart?
The book is written in the classic Diary of a Wimpy Kid style with the handwriting-like font and the chapters broken up into months and days to make it feel like a real diary. Diary of a Wimpy Vampire 2 has a very captivating storyline. It has some amazing plot twists that will definitely make you gawk and not only is it both interesting and funny, but it’s very relatable too. Not often do you find a book where the main character is fifteen. Usually they are either sixteen or seventeen or younger still at around thirteen. However, this is one of the books strongest features. It captures teenage problems perfectly such as being ignored by your family, romantic troubles, social groups at school and even Facebook Stalking!
This makes you relate to Nigel to a degree where you start to feel how he is feeling and understand what he is going through. If you have had any experience with one of the above mentioned examples, you’re going to find relating with Nigel a breeze as he has a run in with each, some for only a good chapter or two while others span over the entire book.
Collins did well in mirroring Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but the books only ‘parody’ of the series is the messy handwriting and the comedic pictures. Also, there isn’t much Twilight parody in this book either. I have read both series so I was expecting some really obvious jokes and big laughs but Diary of a Wimpy Vampire parodies the books more in a way of mixing the two series into one series as opposed to making fun of every aspect of the books. A few gags did make me chuckle but this book had more witty humour, that wasn’t even to do with making fun of the other books, than laugh-out-loud humour. Regardless, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it very hard to put down.
The character of Nigel is written extremely well as you really believe he is a one hundred year old vampire just by the way he talks, acts and thinks. He is much more believable as a vampire than those in Twilight which is probably a parody in itself. I really liked how in this book, they brought back the classic vampires who must drink human blood and simply get hurt by the sun (though not to the degree that they die). I really liked some of the fun little twists in the lifestyle of these vampires Collins introduced as well, like the vampires drinking their blood from flasks they’ve filled up on hunting trips. However, the only thing I found a little bit weird in an otherwise great storyline is why Nigel’s family transformed Nigel’s sister at such a young age. She was transformed at around ten so she will remain thinking, speaking and acting like a ten year old for all of eternity. It was all for laughs, I know, but I just found it a little bit ridiculous.
In conclusion though, Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness is a very fun book to read. Despite failing to impress in terms of its laughs and parodying of Twilight and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the book still has a great, captivating storyline, believable characters and a relatable main character. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the actual books of the above mentioned parodies or even would like to read a good, modernised book about vampires that isn’t Twilight.
We celebrated with afternoon tea
We recently had an afternoon tea to celebrate our students’ achievements in two important literary events – Book Week and The Premiers’ Reading Challenge (PRC).
We appreciated having Father Paul present the prize winners with their books and certificates. It was also lovely to have many families and staff present at our celebration.
A total of 512 books were read by all our PRC participants. Four students read more than 10 books and 18 students read more than 15 books. The students who met the Challenge will be listed in the Honour Roll which will be published on 27 November in The Sunday Age. Congratulations to all readers and we hope you take the Challenge again next year.]
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Seen the movie or read the book?
It is an age old argument – is the book better than the movie? One that will not be answered today. This post is simply to say there are some great movies and some not so great movies out there that are based on some of our favourite books. Some of these are due out soon and some due out or rumoured for next year. Leave a comment if you know of others that are due out soon or tell us which ones you are looking forward to the most.
Coming soon
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is a wonderful story told with both text and beautiful illustrations. Read all about the author, Brian Selznick and the story on this great website.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret movie – directed by Martin Scorsese – starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley.
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn by Herge
Due for release 2012 or rumoured for 2012/2013
The hunger games by Suzanne Collins
World War Z by Max Brooks
The hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Tinker, Tailor soldier spy by John la Care
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
Tomorrow, When the War Began 2 (The dead of the night) by John Marsden
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Septimus Heap: Magyk by Angie Sage
Forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
City of Bones (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
The passage by Justin Cronin
The Maze runner by James Dashner
See the list below to read about movie releases in the last couple of years that you may have not have realised were based on books
2011
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
Lincoln lawyer by Michael Connelly
127 hours by Aaron Ralston
Cowboys and Aliens by Fred Van Lente
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2) by JK Rowling
2010
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Scott Pilgrim Versus The World by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Percy Jackson and the lightening thief by Rick Riordan
I am number four by Pitticus Lore
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) by JK Rowling
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
2009
Where the wild things are by Maurice Sendak
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The road by Cormac McCarthy
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
NEW BLOG!
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the new and improved… ANTICLOCKWISE! http://anticlockwisealreadyexists.wordpress.com/ This site is the new student blog, completely independant of this one and the librarians. This is our pièce des résistance, the student masterpiece. All student posts will be found here now. The librarians will continue to make posts on this blog, but the new blog is now the student domain!
So, what are you waiting for?
Looking for something to read over the holidays?
Recommended fiction
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or if crime fiction is more your thing.
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If fiction is not your thing and you prefer true stories and biographies…..
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We also have a number of Kindles available to borrow. Some of the books available on the Kindles are…..
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Freshly shelved – Fiction
We have received lots of new fiction over the last month or so. There have been some new releases by some old favourites.
And some new additions to our most popular series:
- Peoples Republic - is book 1 in a second Cherub series by Robert Muchamore
- Survivor is book 2 in James Phelan’s Alone series
- The power of six the next book after I am number four by Pitticus Lore
- Derek Landy has released the 6th book Death bringer in the Skulduggery Pleasant series
- Dark Zone is book 4 in the Galahad series by Dom Testa
- Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane has a new title Black Ice, the 3rd book in his series
- The 2nd book in the new Tripwire series by Steve Cole Deathwing has just arrived.
- The exciting sequel to Inside Out by Marie V Snyder Outside in is a great read
Vote for the 2011 Inky Awards
Voting is now open for the 2011 Inky Awards for teenage literature. If you’re between 12 – 20 years of age, have a look at the fantastic shortlisted books and vote for your favourite title.
Click here to view the shortlisted books and to cast your vote. Voting closes on the 14th October.
CBCA Book Week displays
Our library is looking pretty good at the moment – all dressed up for CBCA Book Week in accordance with the theme for 2011:
One World, Many Stories
Celebrity Heads – CBCA Book Week 2011
Today is the first day of CBCA Book Week, and we kicked off by running our ever-popular Celebrity Heads game. Thanks to staff who generously gave their time to participate – Dom Hardiman, Nathalie Fox and Sarah Darmanin – and also student, Daniel O’Loughlin. The ‘Heads’ had to guess book characters such as King Arthur, The Grinch, Dr Who, The White Rabbit, Golem, Dracula, Tinkerbell and Edward Scissorhands. It was a lot of fun, with ‘Heads’ having to determine their characters’ book genre, gender, historical setting and characteristics amongst other things. Thanks to all who participated in the audience too.
Whose bookshelf is it?
Can you guess who the bookshelves belong to?
Here is a list of the names of people who belong to these bookshelves. Try to match these names (they each have a number) with the bookshelf you think
belongs to them (they each have a letter).
To see a better picture of the bookshelves click on View all images under the slideshow and on the page it takes you to on the right hand side click on FULL SCREEN.
You can email us librarystaff@whitefriars.vic.edu.au or collect an answer sheet from the library. This competition is also displayed in the staffroom. Thank you and good luck!
1. Ms Rotar
2. Mrs Akers
3. Mrs Newell
4. Mrs Scott
5. Mrs Benne
6. Ms Tecklenburg
7. Mrs Sheko
8. Mrs Power
9. Julian Virgona
10. Mr Treyvaud
11. Daniel O’Loughlin
12. Ms Scicluna
Last book read
Last book read – for this competition people submitted the last book they have read.
Can you guess who read which book? Match the person (they each have a letter) with the book title from the slideshow. (they each have a number)
You can email us librarystaff@whitefriars.vic.edu.au or collect an answer sheet from the library.This competition is also displayed in the staffroom. Thank you and good luck!
A. Ms Bates
B. Ms Price
C. Ms Wells
D. Mr Firmin
E. Mrs Power
F. Mrs Scott
G. Mr Poole
H. Ms Benne
I. Mrs Crossman
J. Mrs Newell
K. Daniel O’Loughlin
L. Ms Scicluna
M. Fr Kierce
N. Ms Morton
O. Paul Harrington
P. Julian Virgona
Q. John Tonti-Filippini
R. Patrick Wain
S. Ms Powling
T. Ms Fox
Foreign Book Covers Competition
Can you tell us the book title and the author for these books that have been published in a foreign language?
You get bonus points if you can also tell us which language the book is published in and the name of the series (only if it belongs to one)
This slideshow is also running on the TV in the library everyday during Book Week and you can collect an answer sheet are in the library or email your answers to librarystaff@whitefriars.vic.edu.au.
To pause the slideshow so you can take a closer look at the book cover just move your cursor onto the slideshow. This also shows you an alphabetical letter for each image for you to refer to when submitting your answers.
This years CBC award Notables and Short list is available on their site . See our slideshows to see which titles are available from the library. Once again there are some great reads. The library has these books on display for you to borrow.
The shortlist for each category has been announced and we will have to wait until the end of Book Week August the 26th to find out the winneer from each category.
Book of the Year: Younger Readers Short List
Bauer, Michael Gerard Just a Dog
Bongers, Christine Henry Hoey Hobson
Branford, Anna Ill. Sarah Davis Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot
Carmody, Isobelle The Red Wind
McKinlay, Meg Ill. Leila Rudge Duck for a Day
Murphy, Sally Ill. Rhian Nest James Toppling
Book of the Year: Older Readers Short List (These books are for mature readers)
Crowley, Cath Graffiti Moon
Hartnett, Sonya The Midnight Zoo
Horniman, Joanne About a Girl
MacLeod, Doug The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher
Marchetta, Melina The Piper’s Son
Wood, Fiona Six Impossible Things
Picture Book of the Year
Baker, Jeannie Mirror
Bancroft, Bronwyn Why I Love Australia
Greenberg, Nicki Hamlet
McKimmie, Chris Two Peas in a Pod
Masciullo, Lucia Written by Kane, Kim Family Forest
Riddle, Tohby My Uncle’s Donkey
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Brasch, Nicolas Theme Parks, Playgrounds and Toys
Brooks, Ron Drawn from the Heart: A Memoir
Davidson, Leon Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front
Dubosarsky, Ursula Illustrated by Tohby Riddle The Return of the Word Spy
Lloyd, Alison Illustrated by Terry Denton Wicked Warriors & Evil Emperors: The True Story of the Fight for Ancient China
One Arm Point Remote Community School Our World: Bardi Jaawi: Life at Ardiyooloon
