New library books

 As librarian I am always trying to find new ways of telling you about the great books we get into the library. This term we have been using Twitter (@ArmAcadLib)  and so am posting photos of latest additions to the bookshelves.  If you are on Twitter follow us to get first dibs on new books!

As the Book Group know I like to use Book Trailers to promote new fiction. In the past we could show them at lunchtime on the Smartboard, not so easy in our split breaks, but will try to get this going again.  Am going to start with a series which has been one of the most requested this term. Karen McManus "One of us is lying", "One of us is next" ,"Two can keep a secret" and the new book "Cousins" is due in February. It is already on request. The books are gripping, with lots of secrets, suspicion, gossip, subplots and all set in high schools. 

Go to the Book Trailer Menu on Blog to find them all. Enjoy

Kindness

It has been a busy month in the library. Today we took down the Remembrance display and started preparations for Book Week Scotland. The library crowd decorated pennants with their favourite books at morning break- so many Manga and Harry Potter fans! And next week we will be encouraging our learners to write a short story on the theme of "Future."

We set up a quick display on the theme of Kindness as Friday 13th is Kindness Day. And this coming week is Anti-Bullying week. Surely there has never been a more appropriate time to celebrate Kindness. In the news today I heard a doctor urge the public to be Kind to their staff. Absolutely! We should not have to be asked!   And at school there are already plans for supporting our community this Christmas. 

There are many different ways we can show kindness. Am just going to highlight a few title which deal with this theme:

"The secret garden"-  a classic coming to the screens again soon- shows how kindness can heal emotional scars.

"The boy at the back of the classroom" and "No Ballet Shoes in Syria" both on the theme of kindness from children to a refugee family.

"A Library of Lemons"- a child carer and the importance of friendship.

"I am Malala"- an amazing young woman who has shown her support for girls around the world and for their right to education.

"Wonder" would be in my display but all copies are out! This book deals with bullying, I will end with my favourite quote from it

"When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind."

Spooktacular books for Halloween!

Our classroom boxes and Halloween cauldrons in the library are overflowing with a great selection of  themed titles. There are horror stories, tales about ghosts, ghouls, witches and all things spooky. 

These two titles by Celia Rees are fabulous. The story starts in Witch Child and concludes in Sorceress.  Told to us in journal form by the young Mary Newbury it all begins in England in 1659 when her beloved grandmother is hanged in a public square for being a witch. Mary flees from the same fate and sets off for the New World.  There within the Puritan settlements she finds similar intolerances.  There are serious consequences for any hint that you are different in this society. 

Fabulous story telling, loved the historical element, the adventure and the hint of supernatural.

European Day of Languages

 Saturday was European day of languages

No exciting trails in the library for S1 unfortunately this year but we do have a SWAY in the form of a library newsletter for European Day . Hopefully this will give you ideas on what to read and where you might try to find out more about languages. Enjoy.

If you like...Why not try...

So the Book request system is going great. You are doing a fab job of sending me requests. But I only have a limited number of copies of each book. There is not any more Harry Potter, Divergent, Twilight or Hunger Games books to be had. For the moment anyway.

So am going to start making a couple of sways to try and give you other ideas. Starting with: If you like Harry Potter ...Why not try these titles. Let me know what you think and if you have other suggestions please feed back to me.

Dr C's Book of the week: The one memory of Flora Banks.

 A holiday weekend means I can catch up on reading more teen fiction.  And one book I absolutley tore through is the thrilling "The one memory of Flora Banks" by Emily Barr. 

Flora has had amnesia since the age of ten.. At seventeen she can't remember what happened more than a few hours ago and relies on post it notes and writing messages such as "Flora be brave"on her arm to get through the day.  But one memory, that of kissing a boy on a beach, remains with her. Confident that it is real and that there has been a breakthrough in her fractured memory she sets off to meet that boy.

This book is an exciting and original page turner.

"How do you know who to trust when you can't trust yourself?"

Scottish Teenage Book Prize- Update- Calling all keen readers

 The short list was announced last week. We have have all three books in the library. This year you do not need to be part of a book group to vote. Simply read all three on the short list and register your vote online. If you are interested please see Dr Carter.

International Youth Day

 Last week was International Youth Day with a focus on youth activism. This is our first newsletter of the term featuring some teen books on activism. Press play to see the SWAY newsletter properly.

International Youth Day

12th August 2020

Go to this Sway

Children of Blood and Bone

Just finished reading this and it was fabulous. It is a book of the moment. Part dystopian fantasy, part adventure (strong female characters) but it also leads to the Black Lives Matter events and it did not surprise me when I got to the end and read that the author was inspired to write this novel after so many senseless killings of black teens. The novel draws on African story telling  traditions and is set in the mythical land of Orisha. Online I have since discovered that there is a growing number of teen stories for Young Adults relating to the divine spirits of the Yoruba who were brought to the New World in slave ships. Yet it reads like a dystopian novel with the chapters told from the viewpoint of the main protagonists- a tale of survival in a world where social mobility is almost impossible.We have book two of this trilogy in the library so hope to get my hands on it soon!From BlurbThey killed my mother.They took our magic.They tried to bury us.Now we rise.

Last update before the end of term..

Good news is that when we come back in August there will be a number of events for the Edinburgh International Book Festival running from the 15th to the 31st August. This will be online with live and pre-recorded conversations with poets and authors.  Details will be announced at the end of July and updates on the Edinburgh International Book Festival pages.

And this week's Fast Fiction at Scottish Book Trust is on the theme of a funfair (50 words max.) Closing date 23.55 on 30th June. Would love to have a winner from Armadale Academy!

Short Story Competitions.

Scottish Book Trust are running two 50 word short story competitions.

There is a new weekly challenge called Fast Fiction. This week on the theme of sewing. Closing date 11.55 pm on Tuesday 23rd June. A new picture and theme will be given next Wednesday.

And the monthly challenge is on the theme of fog. Use the picture for inspiration. Closing date is 30th June.

For further information and details of how to enter on both

 go to the Scottish Book Trust website.

Carnegie Medal winner

Carnegie Medal winner

Congratulations to Anthony McGowan who won the Carnegie Medal 2020 with his short novel  "Lark".

The themes of survival and connection with nature really resonated with the judges.

This is the fourth book by McGowan published by Barrington Stoke (Brock, Pike and Rook).  You will find them all in the school library in the super readable section at start of Teen Fiction.

"These books form an incredible body of work that eloquently explores the reality of growing up in deprivation, while also illuminating the potential for succour and healing that can be found in the natural world"

from the Barrington Stoke website.

Short story - Book Group

Calling all book group members. I have a short story I think we should read. It was on the BBC a few weeks ago so one or two of you may have picked it up already. By E, M, Forster it is called "The Machine Stops."

You can order it or follow this free online pdf link. The thing is, it was written in 1909 and here we are in lockdown 2020 living in what appears to be that reality.

It is a world where people choose to isolate, live at a social distance and communicate by video calls. Yep sounds familiar. Can we read for Wed 17th?

PUN OF THE WEEK

I feel the need for some light relief!

Dystopia: can we face reading more?

 This week I have taught myself how to use Sway by creating one on dystopian fiction as something which could be used for a book talk in the library.  Over the past decade the teen shelves have doubled in size mainly due to me acquiring new dystopian novels, as they have become ever more popular along with a growth in such films.  They offer a sense of adventure but more than that they focus on people who have no power taking on the authorities often in some alien future so unlike our own.

But as I was working on the Sway I wandered will dystopian novels be as popular now? Will teens still want to read about futures in pandemics or in worlds where authorities are controlling our every move? In this strange era where we all have to socially distance, are encouraged to go masked in shops and public transport  and when for much of the day there is barely a child to be seen on the streets, do we really want to read fiction that appears to reflect our reality?

Well a quick look at the Internet told me that apparently searches to purchase such books and films are as popular as ever. So why?  Caroline Zielinski in the Guardian says that light holiday fiction does not help when we don't know when we will be free to go out again - agreed. A number of commentators see our appetite for disaster books as a way to view the problems of our society through some sort of lens. It is not that we are looking at some specific catastrophic future reality but that it allows us a way to understand our reactions to our deepest fears. How would we cope in a crises? How do we understand what is going on when there are so many conflicting messages and getting to the truth is harder than ever? Now, more than ever, we need characters who have resilience: Katniss, Thomas, Saba, Offred they all stand out by standing up. There is something to admire and learn from all of them.  

 

Blood Red Road (Dustlands trilogy ) is one of my favourite dystopian novels so this gives me the perfect excuse to play a trailer from it.

Rowling or Shusterman?

If you have not found anything in the ebooks at West Lothian libraries or the previous suggestions I’ve given  (see below) then perhaps you might find something suitable amongst the two- yes two suggestions I have for you today.  So most of you will have heard on the news yesterday JK Rowling announced  on twitter that she is releasing on a daily basis this story she once read to her children. "The Ickabog". Just a fairytale? Or will there be something more satirical? A story about "truth and the abuse of power." Well we will see where this goes but enjoyed the first two chapters.

       The Ickabog

Then found out that Neal Shusterman is reading some of his short stories (very hard to get hold of short stories). For those of you who don’t know his books he wrote the Arc of the Scythe series (dystopian teen fiction) and also  “The Dry” , a book which has  come to my mind several times over the past few weeks as we have gone through lockdown. Highly recommended.

You will need around half an hour for each reading.

Shusterman reads The Bob Squad

This was the first one which I listened to about a kid who sees all seven of his guardian angels. At the end he talks about where the story comes from. Story 2 is only 5 mins long, an experiment on perspective.

If I was technically capable I would put in a vote Rowling or Shusterman. Oh where is my ICT support when I need it? Just message me what you prefer.  

Pun of the week- can you do better?

I almost hate to say it but I am really missing the weekly onslaught of library puns from one of our wonderful young learners. 

So just for my amusement we are going to have a weekly library pun. I have chosen one for this week but feel free to send me a library related pun for next week.  And if I am sent thousands then... I get to choose the best!

eMagazines

  

Just to highlight that you can access these for free through West Lothian libraries. You will need to have a library card for West Lothian libraries and you will have to download the rbdigital app and register with that. Once done though you can read a range of magazines for free. This month they are highlighting the New Scientist, though I may be more tempted to dream of far away places or even just get busy in the kitchen!

   

Mental Health Awareness Week

This year the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is kindness. And that is more important than ever before in these challenging times, when just the smallest act of kindness can make all the difference. 

And if there is one book to recommend on the theme of kindness, it has to be  "Wonder" by R J Palacio. Let us know any other suggestions.

Run out of books to read?

You can  borrow  e-resources for  free from West Lothian Public Libraries. If you are already a member of the Pubic Libraries use that card to access and download resources such as eBooks and eTalking Books with the BorrowBox App. 

If you don't have a membership card for the Public Library ebook service I can set you up with a Card using your school barcode. Email me on the Request form and I will send the card with instructions to on how to use BorrowBox to your English teacher.

 

Other options

Project Gutenberg; Great for reading free out of copyright classics such as Dickens (eg A Christmas Carol, Oliver, Great expectations etc) or Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Emma etc). Why not listen to the classic tale of a dog in "Call of the Wild", the last book read by our book group. Note they also have titles in other languages

Audio books -  where to find them.

During lockdown Sync  https://www.audiobooksync.com/    and

Audible: were offering free services. These have now finished but you might still be interested in what they have to offer.  

Neil Gaiman with the help of friends has been reading Coraline and the Graveyard book.

And for some light relief why not listen to David Walliams and his daily chapters in Elevenses. See also the post about Harry Potter books from last Friday. 

Great Book Trailers

As some of you might have noticed I am updating this blog. On the side bar I have provided space for book trailers. Those who are regular attenders to AA school library will know I like to put the occasional book trailer on at break time and have even been known to encourage, persuade (ok bribe) the book group into making their own trailer.

Send me your recommendations for any book trailers you have enjoyed. Make sure you have watched the book trailer to the end! And hopefully we will get the best of them added to this blog.

Calling all Harry Potter Fans

This week Bloomsbury is launching Readings of Harry Potter at Home. Many well known faces will be recording videos of themselves reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

And who else but Daniel Radcliffe to read the first chapter "The Boy Who Lived."
Watch it here  or listen to it on Spotify if you want the audio only version.
Each week a new chapter will be added with a new reader. Find them at   harrypotterathome.com  Seventeen chapters between now and the middle of the summer!

You can also visit the Harry Potter books website to try some of the crafts and activity sheets or if you are really keen to test yourself in the quiz!

Authors Live: Catch up.

If you have some time in lockdown and have run out of books to read then here is a suggestion on  finding information on top authors. You can watch some of the authors who have appeared on authors live in front of an audience of Scottish school pupils.

 

Scottish Booktrust Authors Live events

This week an interview with Kwame Alexander was highlighted. If you remember he was shortlisted last year in the Carnegie Medal for "Rebound". Hear what he has to say on sport, on race and the future.

To find other author talks click on the link to Authors on demand. If any of you find an author clip you particularly enjoyed then please let us know.

Senior Staff / Book Group

Next Wednesday we will be discussing the Isaac Asimov short story"The last question. " Still time to join our group. Bring your lunch and I promise some cake!

Harry Potter week

Lots of fun this week. Well done to the S1 team who beat all the others in the Harry Potter quiz. And thanks to everyone for taking part in the photo booth and flying lessons. Yes Dr Carter really took off...

We will be announcing the winners of the Scavanger hunt and drawing competitions next week.

Coming up : After February break the senior book group will be reading an Asimov short story and our 50 word short story competition returns on Friday.

Celebrating Harry Potter Night.

Today at 1.30 we will host our Harry Potter quiz, on Thursday a Scavenger Hunt and on Friday the Triwizard Photobooth. Yes you can have your photo taken with quidditch broom, gown and trophy!

All week we will have activities from colouring, an Hagrid art competition, Happy Families, Top Trumps Cluedo, Trivia ...

Advent Count Down - Book 24 white bird

You may know Auggie (real name Julian) from the wonderful story of “Wonder”. In this graphic novel we meet Julian again as he learns the story of his grandmother who was a young Jewish girl in occupied France during the Second Word War. We move from a fairy tale life to the horror, the terror, the brutality of Nazi occupation. But there is also the heroism of those who helped. It is a book about a historical event yet it somehow feels more relevant than ever to what is happening in the world today.  Highly recommended.

Advent Count Down - 23

It is never easy fitting in at a new school and making new friends.  Ella is a very anxious person and can't quite believe that the most popular girl in the school wants to be her friend. But this is a book about choices and knowing when to make that right choice. I chose this book for the calendar as not only is it a great read but so many teens share the exact same worries as Ella and yet she is such a  likeable character. A story that will resonate with many of you.

Advent Count Down -Series 21

Last year we read the “The Extinction Trials” with the Book group as part of the Scottish Teen Book Awards. The series has been very popular and described as a cross between “The Hunger Games” and “Jurassic park”. The story has continued with “Exile” and “Rebel.” Plenty of excitement and interesting characters /creatures.

Advent Count Down-Book 22

The Dogs

I love crime stories and this is a great psychological thriller about a boy and his mother who are constantly on the run.   The question for Cameron is, is it all necessary? Or are he and his mother both paranoid? Full of tension with lots of twists. Click on the link above to view a book  trailer.