Maria SMITH Nida BALDWIN

Librarian Library Assistant

THE HSC LIBRARY A STOREHOUSE AND VEHICLE FOR CULTURAL ENRICHMENT while celebrating students’ creativity

Huge thanks to Year 9 Coordinator and History/English Teacher, Ms Singh for giving the Library permission to put on display these amazingly creative model artefacts as part of the Year 7 Ancient Egyptian civilisation unit of study. Credit to Ms Singh’s highly engaging lessons, the students have been outstanding in their presentations. Well done, awesomely inspiring Year 7s!

VICTORIAN PREMIERS’ READING CHALLENGE UPDATE

The Reading Challenge has been instrumental in bringing more students to the Library, requesting support to register, finding books to read and sharing ideas about their chosen novels. At this stage, we have FIVE students who already completed the Challenge finishing in September. There is still plenty of time to get “wild about reading”! In the meantime, well done to brilliant book reviews by some of our Challenge participants. Please enjoy our BOOK REVIEWERS’ SEGMENT.

by Amelie P. (Year 7)

Lloyd, Megan Wagner.

Squished★★★★★

'Squished' by Megan Wagner Lloyd shows a realistic replication of what it is like to be in the middle of a huge family. I can definitely share the same feeling that Avery does when her little sisters get in the way of her things or her older brother is very moody and annoying. Overall, I would rate this book 5 stars because the illustrations and the storyline is very clear. I would recommend this book to 8+ because the storyline is easy to understand and the audience can enjoy colourful pictures.

by Amelie P. (Year 7)

McCranie, Stephen

Space Boy, Volume 1★★★★★

Space Boy, Volume 1 is a captivating and vibrant story. The way the author puts the story into pictures makes it even better. This is only the first part of the entire story but it is already so interesting and you will want to know more once you've read this. I love the way this story begins. It starts with 'In space the stars don't twinkle' and a beautiful background of brilliant stars bright in the sky. This is only the beginning of the story but I know it is completely original and imaginative.

by Ryan K. (Year 7)

Columbus, Chris

House of secrets★★★★

This book was fun to read even though it was bulky. This book is for people who like fantasy.

by Arjun K.(Year 7)

Collins, Suzanne

The Hunger Games★★★★★

It’s very interesting with suspense, thriller and action! I enjoyed this book very much, it was filled with adventure and teamwork as the two main characters tried to survive. I recommend this book to whoever enjoys this genre!

by Jonelle W. (Year 7)

Mackenzie, Fiona.

One of us is lying★★★★★

I loved it!

by Savier S. (Year 7)

Reeder, Stephanie Owen

Lennie the legend: solo to Sydney by pony★★★★★

This book is about the way Australia lived in the 1900’s, and the journey of a family. I loved this book and it was very interesting to read.

by Savier S. (Year 7)

Apel, Kathryn

On Track★★★★

I enjoyed reading this book about two brothers having a rivalry over who’s better at athletics. Shaun (the older Brother) is better at everything meanwhile Toby (the younger brother) is not so good at most things. But Toby trains hard for athletics day, and on the day he nails it.So I think the moral of the story is to work hard and never give up.

by Qiao Zhen Shu (Year 8)

Colfer, Chris

The land of stories: the wishing spell★★★★★

I really enjoyed the way the author describes each character and how I could picture it in my head.

by Thinuli T. (Year 8)

Ruth Shaw

The bookseller at the end of the world★★★★

Very interesting biography and showcased the author's lessons well.

by Blake C. (Year 8)

Flanagan, John

The Burning Bridge★★★★

This is a very interesting book. In this book Will and Horace travel to Celcita with Gilan in order to invoke a defence treaty in preparation for the coming war. Whilst there, they discover that all the Celts have gone missing. This book is a great read and I highly recommend to fans of the series. The only part I didn't like was the start because it undermined some of the character development of the last book. Overall an entertaining read, and I strongly recommend it.

by Norah T. (Year 8)

Coulthurst, Audrey.

Of ice and shadows★★★★★

Awesome sequel, hoping for a third book!

by Freya Huang (Year 9)

Colfer, Chris.

A Tale of Sorcery★★★

Don't think this book should be labelled as a 'challenge' book, however it was creative and imaginative. As a childhood fan of the author's 'Land of Stories' collection, I bought this book for fun. The writing is clearly aimed for audiences younger than myself, but it was a good read all the same.

by Freya Huang (Year 9)

Messenger, Shannon.

Keeper of the lost cities★★★★

Not sure why the other books in the series are labelled as 'challenge', however I believe this is one of the best in the entire series as of now. It was suspenseful, valuable plotlines have been revealed, and we got more backstory on many characters Messenger created.

by Freya H (Year 9)

Riordan, Rick.

The tyrant's tomb★★★★★

I loved the quality of the plot. Hilarious but with deep and thought-provoking moments.

by Pearce K. (Year 9)

Landy, Derek. Until the end★★★★

A must read, thrilling till the end and loaded with shocking revelations.

by Zavian M.(Year 9)

Edited by Susan La Marca and Pam MacIntyre

Things a map won't show you★★★★★

It was a good book to read with interesting different short stories

The EWF aims to “develop, nurture and promote Australia’s new writing talent, creating platforms for connecting writing communities and their audiences”, providing opportunities for emerging writers to develop professionally while supporting them to engage new and larger audiences. Please visit this link for more exciting opportunities:

https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/emerging-writers-festival/

FREE SPORTS WRITING SESSION

WHEN: June 20, 2023 at 1:00- 2:00 pm

WHERE: Conversation Quarter State Library Victoria

Meet an exciting line-up of sports-focused writers and artists Simona Castricum, Kirby Fenwick, Marissa Lordanic and Saraid Taylor “as they explore pathways to sports writing, representation in sport storytelling, the creative possibilities in sport and how we can use sport to tell our stories”. To learn more about the Emerging Writers’ Festival, please visit the following link:

https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/ewf-2023-re-forming-the-field

2023 Year Level Coordinators