Library

The winners of the four $25 Dymocks gift cards raffled off to Premier’s Reading Challenge students were: Rafferty Ganly (9E), Claire Speare (8R), Lucy Thomas (7A), and Kiera Walker (9M). 

And a special mention to our Year 10’s who completed PRC this year – many of whom have participated since Year 7: Farhana Amusa (10G), Miranda Linton (10P), Mia Dreyer (10P), Asher Watts (10P), Parneet Kaur (10R). This is the final year that they can participate in PRC, so we wish them all the best in their future reading adventures!

Year 8 Readers’ Cup is in progress! Most classes from Year 8 have a team of 2-4 students and will read the following books: Bite risk by S.J. Wills, The road to winter by Mark Smith, and Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman. The competition will take place around Weeks 4 or 5.  

Students are encouraged to return their Readers’ Cup book once they have finished reading and borrow the next one to ensure there are enough books to go around. 

There are new additions to our eAudioBook ePlatform:

• The gilded blade (The grandest game #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The book listed is also available on our bookshelves.

Book of the Week

Thornbird

by E. Kennedy

Seventeen-year-old Ryan Shipley has a secret.

Ten years ago, her father, Gabriel Thorn, was arrested for the kidnap and murder of seven women in the small town of Starling. Now she is forced to return to her hometown after her grandmother’s death, to live with her estranged aunt and cousins. Nobody in town knows her identity except her family, and Ryan is committed to keeping her head down and leaving town as soon as she graduates high school.

This proves difficult however as the town is abuzz with the news of her father’s impeding execution and the offer of a huge reward for information on the murders. Ryan struggles to navigate new friendships while dealing with her own past trauma and painful memories. When she starts receiving threatening anonymous texts, Ryan is forced to confront the past and consider the possibility that she knows more about the murders than she is willing to admit.

Ryan has a lot of second-hand guilt weighing her down and it's heartbreaking to see the way that it affects every relationship she has - whether it's with other kids at school, the boys she likes, and her own family members. Thornbird is a gripping read, well-written with strong character voices, and the tension is maintained well throughout. It is a worth-while mystery with elements of horror.

Susan Winfield