VICTORIAN PREMIERS’ READING CHALLENGE

A reminder to all Year 7 – 10 students to keep reading books for the Premiers’ Reading Challenge. Students can continue to borrow books from the Wheelers ebook/audiobook platform or from the physical collection when they return to school.

To complete the Challenge, students must read 15 books. A minimum of 10 books must be from the Victorian Premiers’ Challenge and the remainder can be Choice books. Students can include picture story books, graphic novels, non fiction books and novels.

When students complete a book, they can access the website at https://vprc.eduweb.vic.gov.au/home. Students use their Edupass username and password. They can search for books and add the titles after they have finished reading them.

Once students have fulfilled all the requirements, I will verify their finished books. Students will receive value cards, house points and an invitation to a special library party if they complete the Challenge. Each student will also receive a certificate signed by Premier Daniel Andrews.

If students need extra assistance or are having problems logging in, they can email me at Georgia.Flaskas@education.vic.gov.au

Congratulations to the following students for receiving value cards for reading 5, 10 or 15 books so far.

Andrew Ngo 7B (15)

Renee Raslan 7D (15)

Jakeh Ah Fook 7H (15)

Sonja Duleska 7H (5)

Katelyn Nguyen 7H (5)

Mariama Camara 8B (15)

Sin Lai 8B (15)

Kholoud Ali 8F (5)

Jeremy Kumar Payroda 8H (10)

Shou Lai 8H (15)

Nikolaos Nikoloudis 8H (10)

Suganja Sathiyananthan 8H (15)

Johnnie Tran 8H (15)

Oriana Trusciano 9C (5)

Nicky Ah Fook 10B (5)

Georgia Flaskas – Library Resource Centre Manager

NEW BOOKS

Ariana Grande: Break Free

by Katy Sprinkel

Ariana Grande: Break Free is the ultimate tribute to this pop queen and a must-have for Arianators. Including nearly 100 full-color photographs, fans are provided a glimpse into this star’s life as she tours the world and tops the charts. This keepsake also explores Grande’s unbeatable style, far-reaching activism and charity work, and her unique and special relationship with fans

A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader

Maria Popova, Claudia Bedrick, David Remnick

In these pages, some of today’s most wonderful culture-makers – writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers – reflect on the joys of reading, how books broaden and deepen human experience, and the ways in which the written word has formed their own character.

On the page facing each letter, an illustration by a celebrated illustrator or graphic artist presents that artist’s visual response. Among the diverse contributions are letters from Jane Goodall, Neil Gaiman, Jerome Bruner, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a ninety-eight-year-old Holocaust survivor, a pioneering oceanographer, and Italy’s first woman in space.

Some of the illustrators, cartoonists, and graphic designers involved are Marianne Dubuc, Sean Qualls, Oliver Jeffers, Maira Kalman, Mo Willems, Isabelle Arsenault, Chris Ware, Liniers, Shaun Tan, Tomi Ungerer, and Art Spiegelman.

Billie Eilish Ultimate Guide

By Scholastic, Sally Morgan

Find out everything there is to know about the winner of the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist Billie Eilish! Full of photos, interviews, lyrics, and more! A Lovely must-buy for Billie Eilish fans. 100% unofficial! Billie Eilish has taken the music world by storm! With her unique sound and statement style, Billie is one of a kind. Discover everything from what happened when Billie got her start with the viral hit Ocean Eyes to how her chart-topping collab with Khalid, Lovely, came to be. Packed with fantastic facts, top tips, and insider info, this book has everything you need to know about the music megastar!

The Boy Who Steals Houses

C.G. Drews

Can two broken boys find their perfect home? By turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, this is a gorgeously told, powerful story.

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing - each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.

Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs

Michael Osterholm, Mark Olshaker

A World-leading epidemiologist shares his stories from the front lines of our war on infectious diseases and explains how to prepare for epidemics that can challenge world order.

Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.

Drawing on the latest medical science, case studies, policy research, and hard-earned epidemiological lessons, Deadliest Enemy explores the resources and programs we need to develop if we are to keep ourselves safe from infectious disease.

Fabulous Fantastic Footy Fun & Fact Book

AFL

In the Fabulous Fantastic Footy Fun and Fact Book, footy-mad children will learn a host of fascinating facts about the game-from its origins and traditions to the tips and tricks of their favourite players in the AFL and AFLW.

This fun and fact-filled activity book is a treat for young fans features profiles of every AFL club, plus a host of AFL and AFLW stars, including full colour pictures, puzzles and brain-teasers. Learning the history of each club, of the great Grand Finals, Norm Smith and Brownlow Medallists, and a host of other footy facts, kids can test their knowledge in a series of quizzes-and see that footy is a game for kids of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds.

From the Adelaide Crows to the Western Bulldogs, all AFL and AFLW teams are featured, and stars of game profiled.

Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today

Alison Whittaker

This important anthology, curated by Gomeroi poet and academic Alison Whittaker, showcases Australia’s most-respected First Nations poets alongside some of the rising stars. Featured poets include Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Ruby Langford Ginibi, Ellen van Neerven, Tony Birch, Claire G. Coleman, Evelyn Araluen, Jack Davis, Kevin Gilbert, Lionel Fogarty, Sam Wagan Watson, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Archie Roach and Alexis Wright.

Frida A to Z

Nadia Bailey, Susanna Harrison

This intricately illustrated and fastidiously-researched book unpacks the life of Frida Kahlo, who herself was larger-than-life. From growing up in Coyocoan, Mexico City, in her family home, where she embraced sports - including wrestling - to overcome her childhood ill-health; her school days as one of very few women attending Mexico City’s renowned National Preparatory School (where she met Diego Rivera), and the tragic accident that would leave her with a lifetime of pain and artistic ambition.

Girls Change the Game: A Choose Your Own Football Adventure

Gabrielle Gloury, Michael Hyde

The first Scorpions Under 14 Girls team from the Westpark Football Club has just been announced and this is their very first game. The Girls Scorpions are up against the in-form team of the comp, the Eastvale Ravens.

You can steer the Scorpions to victory by choosing what happens in the game.

Great Australian Sporting Stories

Ian Heads, Norman Tasker

Australia enjoys a rich sporting heritage. Our small population has yielded a disproportionate number of champions. These sports stars have become known worldwide as fierce combatants and honourable competitors, achieving soaring victories, but also heart-pounding near-wins and humbling defeats.

Marvel-verse: Black Panther

Jeff Parker, Ed Hannigan, Peter B Gillis

T'Challa, the Black Panther, is one of the most skilled fighters and brilliant minds in the Marvel-Verse…and these are some of his most thrilling adventures! When the Fantastic Four venture deep into the jungles of Africa, they find Wakanda - the world’s most technologically advanced nation - hidden within! And just wait until they meet its warrior king! But when T'Challa reveals his country to the world, he must join the Avengers in battle with his old nemesis, Klaw! Plus, Iron Man helps the Panther protect his country’s precious Vibranium from Erik Killmonger! And when T'Challa is lost in space, his sister Shuri must step up!

My Brilliant Friend

Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

A gorgeous hardcover gift edition of the first novel in the much-loved Neapolitan series.

The story of Elena and Lila begins in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples. They learn to rely on each other and discover that their destinies are bound up in the intensity of their relationship.

Elena Ferrante’s piercingly honest portrait of two girls' path into womanhood is also the story of a nation and a meditation on the nature of friendship itself.

My Brilliant Friend is a modern masterpiece, the work of one of Italy’s great storytellers.

Oracle Code

Marieke Nijkamp, Manuel Preitano

After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon enters the Arkham Center for Independence, where Gotham’s teens undergo physical and mental rehabilitation. Now using a wheelchair, Barbara must adapt to a new normal, but she cannot shake the feeling that something is dangerously amiss. Within these walls, strange sounds escape at night; patients go missing; and Barbara begins to put together pieces of what she believes to be a larger puzzle. But is this suspicion simply a result of her trauma?

The PLAIN Janes

Cecil Castellucci, Jim Rugg

The Janes are back! For the very first time, the first two instalments of the cult classic graphic novel THE PLAIN JANES– The Plain Janes and Janes in Love -are available bound up into one volume with a never-before-seen third story, Janes Attack Back.

After getting caught in the midst of a terrorist attack on Metro City, artsy misfit Jane Beckles is forced to leave her beloved bustling metropolis for the boring suburb of Kent Waters. At first Jane thinks her life is over but then she finds where she belongs: at the reject table in the cafeteria, along with Brain Jayne, Theatre Jane and sporty Polly Jane.

Pogba: Updated Edition

Luca Caioli

When Manchester United re-signed their former youth player Paul Pogba for a world record fee in the summer of 2016, they made a powerful statement. Together with the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it signalled their determination to attract the best players in the world to Old Trafford, despite three seasons of underachievement. In the four years since he had left the Reds, Pogba had blossomed into a midfielder of undoubted world class, his power and dynamism propelling Juventus to a host of club titles and the French national team to within a whisker of winning Euro 2016. With exclusive insights from those closest to the player, Luca Caioli’s Pogba is an in-depth portrait of one of modern football’s greatest talents.

Stand Up, Stand Out!: 25 rebel heroes who stood up for what they believe

Kay Woodward

Meet 25 of the bravest humans of all time! These fascinating rebel heroes stood up for what they believed in, spoke out against injustice, and overcame impossible obstacles. From world leaders such as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to unsung heroes Irena Sandler (who smuggled 2,500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War 2) and Juliane Koepke (who survived an airplane crash aged 17, followed by nine days in the Amazon rainforest) - Stand Up, Stand Out! is filled with incredible and inspiring stories of passion and endurance.

Survivor Kids

Peter Macinnis

It seems almost second nature for many Australians to go wandering out into the bush, but how many would know what to do if they ran out water, got lost or needed to take shelter for the night?

In this new title, experienced science teacher, Scout leader and children’s author Peter Macinnis seeks to begin training young people in the art of safety in the Australian environment. Starting with bush safety and moving on to look at surviving fire, earth movements, wild water, wild winds and dangerous animals, Survivor Kids is a fun introduction to the risks of the natural environment and the ways in which children can try to avoid harm.

The Glimme

Emily Rodda, Marc McBride

Lone Annie sees dragons in your future…She sees giants. She sees fire and water. She sees death.

Finn’s life in the village of Wichant is hard. Only his drawings of the wild coastline, with its dragon-shaped clouds and headlands that look like giants, make him happy.

Then the strange housekeeper from a mysterious clifftop mansion sees his talent and buys him for a handful of gold and then reveals to him seven extraordinary paintings. Finn thinks the paintings must be pure fantasy-such amazing scenes and creatures can’t be real!

He’s wrong. Soon he is going to slip through the veil between worlds and plunge into the wonders and perils of The Glimme.

The Museum of Broken Relationships: Modern Love in 203 Everyday Objects

Olinka Vistica, Drazen Grubisic

These objects and many others make up the inspiring, whimsical, sometimes bizarre, and always unforgettable population of the real-life Museum of Broken Relationships.

A decade ago, two lovers were struggling through their own painful breakup, desperate to heal their heartbreak without destroying the memory of the love they had shared. Then, an idea struck: they would create a communal space, a kind of refuge for - and cathartic celebration of - the everyday objects that had outlasted love. These items, along with the anonymous, intimate stories each piece represented, quickly captured hearts and imaginations across the globe. As word spread, the tiny museum became a worldwide sensation.

Collected here are 203 of the best, funniest, most heartwarming and thought-provoking pieces that offer an irresistible experience of human connection. The Museum of Broken Relationships is a poignant celebration of modern love - and a must-read for anyone who has ever loved and lost.

White Bird: A Graphic Novel

R J Palacio

To the millions of readers who fell in love with R J Palacio’s Wonder, Julian is best-known as Auggie Pullman’s classroom bully. White Bird reveals a new side to Julian’s story, as Julian discovers the moving and powerful tale of his grandmother, who was hidden from the Nazis as a young Jewish girl in occupied France during the Second World War.

An unforgettable, unputdownable story about strength, courage and the power of kindness to change hearts, build bridges, and even save lives, from the globally bestselling author of Wonder.

Yassmin’s Story

Yassmin Abdel-Magied

At 21, Yassmin found herself working on a remote Australian oil and gas rig; she was the only woman and certainly the only Sudanese-Egyptian-Australian background Muslim woman. With her hijab quickly christened a ‘tea cosy’ there could not be a more unlikely place on earth for a young Muslim woman to want to be. This is the story of how she got there, where she is going, and how she wants the world to change.

Born in the Sudan, Yassmin and her parents moved to Brisbane when she was two, and she has been tackling barriers ever since. At 16 she founded Youth Without Borders, an organisation focused on helping young people to work for positive change in their communities.

Yayoi Kusama: Revised & expanded edition

Catherine Taft, Laura Hoptman, Akira Tatehata

Kusama is internationally renowned for her groundbreaking work on themes such as infinity, self-image, sexuality, and compulsive repetition. A well-known name in the Manhattan scene of the 1960s, Kusama’s subsequent work combined Psychedelia and Pop culture with patterning, often resulting in participatory installations and series of paintings.