Library News

Here is a small selection of some new books in the library:

The Arab of the Future : vol. 1 by Riad Sattouf (graphic novel)

The Arab of the Future, the #1 French bestseller, tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf’s childhood, spent in the shadows of three leaders - Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father.

In striking graphic style that captures both the immediacy of childhood and the fervour of political idealism, Riad Sattouf recounts his nomadic childhood growing up in rural France, Gaddafi’s Libya, and Assad’s Syria - but always under the roof of his father, a Syrian Pan-Arabist who takes his family along in his pursuit of grandiose dreams for the Arab nation. Riad, delicate and wide-eyed, follows in the trail of his mismatched parents: his mother, a bookish French student, is as modest as his father is flamboyant

Pie in the Sky By Remi Lai

When Jingwen moves to a new country, he feels like he’s landed on Mars. School is torture, making friends is impossible since he doesn’t speak English, and he’s often stuck looking after his (extremely irritating) little brother, Yanghao. To distract himself from the loneliness, Jingwen daydreams about making all the cakes on the menu of Pie in the Sky, the bakery his father had planned to open before he unexpectedly passed away. The only problem is his mother has laid down one major rule: the brothers are not to use the oven while she’s at work. As Jingwen and Yanghao bake elaborate cakes, they’ll have to cook up elaborate excuses to keep the cake making a secret from Mama.

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference By Greta Thunberg

In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day. Her actions ended up sparking a global movement for action against the climate crisis, inspiring millions of pupils to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

This book brings you Greta in her own words. Collecting her speeches that have made history across Europe, from the UN to mass street protests, No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.

When Michael Met Mina By Randa Abdel-Fattah

Winner of the People’s Choice Award in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards

Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Writing for Young Adults

A boy. A girl. Two families. One great divide.

When Michael meets Mina, they are at a rally for refugees - standing on opposite sides. Mina fled Afghanistan with her mother via a refugee camp, a leaky boat and a detention centre. Michael’s parents have founded a new political party called Aussie Values. They want to stop the boats. Mina wants to stop the hate. When Mina wins a scholarship to Michael’s private school, their lives crash together blindingly

A novel for anyone who wants to fight for love and against injustice.

READING IS MY SECRET POWER –

CBCA THEME FOR 2019

Each year the Children’s Book Council of Australia celebrates Children’s Book Week to recognise and award prizes to authors and illustrators who have created the best books for children and teenagers in Australia. Here at Lalor Secondary College Library, we celebrate Children’s Book Week with a range of activities and competitions early in term four, including our huge lunchtime party for all students who have completed the Reading Challenge. More details will be available later this term.

In preparation, Ms Cecchini has created a lovely display of all the shortlisted books in each of the five categories in the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards. These include: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Book, Eve Pownall Award (Non Fiction) and New Illustrators. She has also designed a range of superhero bookmarks that can be picked up by students.

Mitchell and I will be reading and discussing the shortlisted picture books that are in the running for the best Picture Book of the Year by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 2019 to all Year 7 students during their Library Reading periods. Students will vote on their favourite picture book during Children’s Book Week.

SELECTING THE ‘RIGHT’ BOOK

Students often come into the library looking for books to read. Sometimes they are unsure about how to choose the right book.

A good starting point is to choose a book about a subject or genre that interests them and to find a book that is suitable for their reading level (i.e. not too easy or too hard). They can also ask the library staff who can recommend new book releases or check out the lalorsc_library Instagram page as all new books are posted here as soon as they arrive in the library. Alternatively, students can look for books by authors they have enjoyed reading in the past, check out the books on the returns trolley and displays of popular and new books around the library. Another good book selection strategy is to read the blurb at the back of the book and one or two pages to see if the book interests them and check if it is at the ‘right’ level.

There are also a wide range of resources on the Internet that may be helpful in book selection. One of these is the Inside A Dog website which is specifically aimed at teenagers aged between 12 and 18 years of age. Students can read book reviews, enter competitions and even publish their own stories on the site. More information is available at https://insideadog.com.au.

Students should also check out a wide range of book trailers on Youtube and from book publishers when they are selecting books as these often include new releases. Some of the more popular book publisher sites for teenagers in Australia include Penguin Random House, Text Publishing, Allen & Unwin, Hardie Grant Publishing, Hachette Australia and many more.

VICTORIAN PREMIERS’ READING CHALLENGE

Students are reminded to keep reading books and adding books to the Reading Challenge website as it ends in early September. A reminder that students who complete the Challenge will receive a signed certificate by the Premier and will be invited to a special celebratory party in the library during Book Week. Students also receive value cards and house points along the way. More details at www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

Congratulations to the 28 students who have completed the Challenge so far this year:

7B Daniel Aleki, Mariama Camara and Sin Yin Lai

7D Toni Abbas

7E Harbhinderjit Pal Singh

7F Oluwatomi Abbas

7G Siratpreet Kaur

7H Jeremy Kumar Payroda, Jessica Tozievska, Johnnie Tran, Kevin Ly, Najad Haibe, Shayla Vo, Shou Lai and Suganja Sathiyananthan

7I Breannah Baston-Burgess and Maryam Alsayyab

8B Brian Ah Fook and Tabarek Al-Rahmawee

8D Kevin Tran

9B Nicky Ah Fook and Safa Ammari

9E Hadia Nazari, Roksana Hussain and Shana Senthooran

9H Niki Sangas, Sarah Nguyen and Sarah Sekandary

Georgia Flaskas – Library Resource Centre Manager