Library News 

This term we have been buying some great fiction, as suggested by our students. We are constantly adding to the collection to keep it relevant and current. 

The sudden lockdown only kept the library closed for the first week: since then the Year 11s and 12s are on site, so we have been open too.

Children’s Book Council Awards (CBCA) – Shadow Judges

As testament to our positive and vibrant reading culture, we had 24 students sign up to act as Shadow Judges to the 6 books that have been shortlisted by the CBCA for 2021. Students will read each of the 6 books and write a review using the same criteria that the official judges use. These reviews will be posted on our Library Platform, Accessit. Towards the end of the year, just before the official winner is announced, students participating in the program will come together to debate which book they believe should win the Book of the Year for Older Readers. 

This is the second year that the students at Box Hill HS have taken part in this program. 

Shelftalkers

Another initiative that we have signed up for in 2021 is Shelftalkers. 

This fabulous new initiative from SLAV: School Library Association of Victoria, has been designed to connect publishers to share advance titles for review by student readers in schools. The hope is that Shelftalkers becomes an exciting engagement tool to facilitate discussion of both established and forthcoming titles and ways to promote reading. https://www.shelftalkers.slav.vic.edu.au/ 

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

Students who are provided with books are expected to:

• read and submit reviews of no more than 100 words 
• provide a rating out of 5 stars 
• complete both by the date provided by the publisher. 

And the best part is that students get to keep the book! 

So far we have had four books arrive that have been distributed to some very happy students. It is always nice to review a book before it’s officially available to the general public so if this sounds like a group you would like to be part of, see Mrs McQueen or Mrs Pearson in the library. 

Getting ready for Book Week 

The theme this year is OLD WORLDS, NEW WORLDS, OTHER WORLDS. 

We have so many things planned for Book Week in August and have high hopes to hold a week long, Literature Festival. 

As part of this we would love students to look through their book collection and see if there is a book that they have loved but would like to pass on to a new reader.  

During Book Week, we would also love to run a Book Swap. 

The idea is that students can donate a book that they have loved and select a new book from the collection. 

To begin our preparations we are accepting books for the Book Swap from now until Book Week in August. 

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body – Joseph Addison. 

Parent Student Book Club

At the beginning of term we started our new Parent Student Book Club. The aim was to share books from our young adult fiction collection that are enjoyable but also promote healthy, critical, and engaging discussions about real and challenging issues that impact our society. 

We have a very healthy reading culture here at Box Hill High School and we encourage all of our students to actively utilise our library resources and space – it is what keeps us relevant, present, topical and alive. And while much of our young adult fiction provides for some fabulous escapism, it also deals with really important and provocative themes and issues within our society. 

Two books with similar themes were selected for our first Book Club. They provided a choice in appropriateness and maturity.

The first book was titled Between Us, written by Clare Atkins and was aimed at middle to upper secondary.  

The book explores issues surrounding race, multiculturalism, and immigration in Australia. Set in Darwin, the book is about an Iranian asylum seeker called Ana who is only allowed out of detention to attend school. At school she meets Jono, who is dealing with his own problems – his mother has walked out, his sister has gone off to uni and he is left alone with his Vietnamese father, Kenny. Kenny is working out the rules of his new job as a guard at the Wickham Point Detention Centre. He tells Ana that she should look out for Jono at school but soon regrets that decision: who is she really? What is her story? Is she a genuine refugee or a queue jumper? As Ana and Jono grow closer, Kenny spirals into mistrust and suspicion…  

This book has many accolades including:

• Winner of Book of the Year for Older Readers in the Children’s Book Council Awards (CBCA) in 2019
• Shortlisted, 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, Young Adult category
• Shortlisted, 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature
• Shortlisted, 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Young Adult Literature category
• IBBY Australia’s 2020 Honour Book for Writing

The second book was called DETENTION by Tristan Bancks and explores similar issues including race, multiculturalism and immigration in Australia. This book is aimed more at junior secondary. It was longlisted for Book of the Year for Older Children by the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA); it has a contemporary storyline and would definitely promote some great conversations surrounding Australia’s treatment of refugees and the difference between what is morally right and what is legally right.  

Set in Queensland the story is about a young girl called Sima who escapes with her family from a detention centre after they are informed that they are to be sent home. In the chaos of the escape, Sima loses her parents but her dad told her whatever happens, to run and so she does. Hiding in a school, Sima triggers a lockdown. A boy, Dan, finds her hiding in the toilet block. What should he do? Help her? Dob her in? She’s breaking the law but is it right to lock kids up? Is she really a danger to society? 

If you would like a copy of either book, please pop into the library and loan one of our copies today. You can also borrow it using our eBook platform via Wheelers online or visit your local library.