Tag Archives: Reading

SLAV Online Book Club – August 10th 2022 – Reluctant Readers

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Our thanks to those of you able to join us for our book club meeting to discuss titles and strategies for engaging Reluctant Readers. As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated. This topic has been one of our most popular book club meetings and our third discussion on this subject. It was wonderful to engage with new recommendations, revisit old favourites and consider strategies that help school libraries support their reluctant readers.

This was our fifth book club meeting for 2022, and we look forward to chatting with you again at our next meeting on September 8th to discuss the topic LGBTQI+ titles. We will discuss across all age groups which texts are working well for those wishing to engage with LGBTQI+ experiences? How are these texts positioned in your school library to support and bolster inclusion?

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Books that have been adapted for TV and Movies

Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman (YA)

The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin (MG)

Sandman by Neil Gaiman (Mature Readers)

Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer (MG)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (YA)

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch (YA)

High Engagement Reads

School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (MG)

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Fart Boy Series by Adam Wallace

Ninja Kid/Wolf Girl/ Weirdo Series by Anh Do

Anything by Colleen Hoover (Mature Readers)

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (the original verse book and the graphic novel version)

John Scalzi books suit those who want something a bit outside the box. We have Redshirts (sci fi) and Lock In (mystery/suspense)

Warcross by Marie Lu (YA great gamer tie in)

Football Superstar series (soccer) – easy on the eye layout, not much text. Super popular with boys not confident with reading

Making Friends by Kirsten Gudsnuk

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney

A number of our Year 7-8s love ‘Electric State‘ by Simon Stålenhag – it’s a bit more expensive, but it’s beautiful and the illustrations are amazing!

Verse Novels

Verse novels by Sarah Crossan have worked will with students who wanted Colleen Hoover books

The Poet X is a fantastic YA verse novel, Other Words for Home for a slightly younger reader

Bindi by Kirli Saunders is a beautiful verse novel too

I sell the verse novels to reluctant readers by pointing out that they are a super quick read, but you’ve read a whole book!

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Steven Herrick verse novels are well used at our boys school, including as class texts Yr 9-12

When the Stars Wrote Back by Trista Mateer (mature readers) – poetry

NCACL verse novel database

Other titles that work well

The Other Side of the Sky Series by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

(Horror) Dark Hunter books by Benjamin Hulme-Cross

Flowers in The Attic by Virginia Andrews (YA)

Gordon Korman books have been popular with boys who reject other things e.g. Restart and The Unteachables Planning to buy War Stories, Linked, Notorious, and The Fort (His books cover many genres)

Stormbreaker Series by Anthony Horowitz (novels and graphic novels)

A Spoonful of Sadie by Lana Spasevski, Joanie Stone (Illustrator) (soccer)

The Fox Swift Series by Cyril Rioli (AFL)

I Can Be Series … Belinda Clarke (etc) Phil Kettle author (sport)

Ash Barty Junior Fiction Series – Little Ash (tennis)

The Life and Times of Gracie Faltrain by Cath Crowley (girls soccer story fiction)

More Than a Kick by Tayla Harris

Chessboxer by Stephen Davies is amazing – suitable for secondaries

Bulletcatcher is a well-written series (Barrington Stoke) by Chris Bradford

Virtual Kombat trilogy by Chris Bradford  www.barringtonstoke.co.uk

We recently bought the Investigators series, and the primary students love them

I’m pretty sure LMERC have audio books if you join them https://lmerc.softlinkhosting.com.au/oliver/libraryHome.do

I Survived graphic novels are great

Strategies Shared

Try matching books to video games https://screenrant.com/ten-best-video-games-based-books/

Making book lists on our catalogue e.g. Bring the Tissues, At Least One Explosion, Enemies to Lovers, etc

Getting them to talk with their peers about books they recommend

Flip Guides to assist them with choosing

Display or list of banned books – everyone wants read something that they are not allowed to!

Create a short / quick or easy book collection

Have students choose the book they will study for English and buy it or have them choose books from a bookshop for the library.

Invite students to choose from our Lamont book boxes to be added to our collection

Definitely do displays based on Booktok and Bookstagram trends. Latest is the “He’s a 10 but…” meme.

Our students recommend books – a tick is added on the cover and it’s displayed faced out

For the students who don’t know what they want to read we have top 30 lists for different year levels and top 6 lists for all of our different genres. They use them far more than I thought they would

Invite the author to speak

Promote the audio of the book

We have a ‘Bookflix’ window for trending books

I always ask them what they enjoy watching and go from there

Adding book promos to our library promotional trailer (runs over lunchtime) is very successful

What We Are Reading Adult Titles

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Salt and Skin by Eliza Henry Jones

Tanith Lee novels

In by Will McPhail is a great adult graphic novel.

Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Partway through ‘Wake’ by Shelley Burr

The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Dinner with the Schnabel’s by Toni Jordan

 

 

 

 

 

SLAV Online Book Club Wednesday May 18th 2022 – Humour

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Our thanks to those of you able to join us for yesterday’s book club meeting to share your favourite Humour picks. We all love a good laugh, but we don’t all share the same views about what is funny in fiction.  What books work best with your readers? As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated.

This was our third book club meeting for 2022, and we look forward to chatting with you again at our next Online Book Club discussion on June 16th  to discuss the topic: Non- Fiction for pleasure. Books that present factual information for pleasure have become more sophisticated with high production and design values adding to the pleasurable reading experience. What texts are always off the shelves in your library?

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Books Discussed/Attendee suggestions

Young Adult

That Thing I Did by Allayne L. Webster

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Louise Rennison Series (possibly a bit dated)

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams

Junior/Upper Primary Fiction

David Walliams Series

My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg

The Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney

Paul Jennings – Unseen, Unbearable, Uncanny, Uncovered

The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings

The Weirdo series by Anh Do

The Wednesday Weeks series by Cristy Burne & Denis Knight

Skullduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

Matt Larkin titles – The Orchard Underground and The Chameleon Thief

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey

Funny Stories for 8 year Old’s by Helen Paiba

Malory Towers – Enid Blyton (BBC series)

The World of Norm by Jonathan Meres

What’s New Harper Drew by Kathy Weeks

The Little Brute Family by Russell Hoban

Picture Books

Backyard Birdies by Geppert (non-fiction)

The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It was None of His Business by by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith

Tyes Picks – SLAV Book Club May 18th 2022 – Humour.

Young Adult

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell https://www.readings.com.au/products/27633528/wayward-son

It’s Not You, It’s Me by Gabrielle Williams https://www.readings.com.au/products/33725018/its-not-you-its-me

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee https://www.readings.com.au/products/23546046/the-gentlemans-guide-to-vice-and-virtue

The First Third by Will Kostakis https://www.readings.com.au/products/17240619/the-first-third

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy https://www.readings.com.au/products/19460247/dumplin

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett https://www.readings.com.au/products/26868214/good-omens

Stardust by Neil Gaiman https://www.readings.com.au/products/5124406/stardust

Junior Fiction

The Naughtiest Unicorn Bumper Collection by Pip Bird https://www.readings.com.au/products/33210346/the-naughtiest-unicorn-bumper-collection

Marge in Charge by Eglantine Ceulemans, Isla Fisher https://www.readings.com.au/products/21975952/marge-in-charge

Fortunately, the Milk . . . by Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell https://www.readings.com.au/products/31346500/fortunately-the-milk

Skunk and Badger (Skunk and Badger, Book 1) by Amy Timberlake, Jon Klassen https://www.readings.com.au/products/32916785/skunk-and-badger-skunk-and-badger-book-1

The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier, Douglas Holgate https://www.readings.com.au/products/27266334/the-last-kids-on-earth

Look into my eyes by Lauren Child (Ruby Redfort) https://www.readings.com.au/products/14670542/look-into-my-eyes

The Bolds by Julian Clary https://www.readings.com.au/products/19410936/the-bolds

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, K.G. Campbell https://www.readings.com.au/products/21735595/flora-and-ulysses

Hilda and the Hidden People by Luke Pearson, Stephen Davies, Seaerra Miller https://www.readings.com.au/products/26846991/hilda-and-the-hidden-people

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny–Detectives Extraordinaire! By Polly Horvath, Sophie Blackall https://www.readings.com.au/products/17513683/mr-and-mrs-bunny-detectives-extraordinaire

Jefferson by Jean-Claude Mourlevat, Ros Schwartz https://www.readings.com.au/products/32659486/jefferson

Mat Larkin https://srchy.readings.com.au/results?query=Mat%20Larkin

The Wee Free Men: A Tiffany Aching Novel by Terry Pratchett, Laura Ellen Andersen https://www.readings.com.au/products/23772770/the-wee-free-men-a-tiffany-aching-novel

 Picture Books

Who Wet My Pants? By Bob Shea, Zachariah OHora https://www.readings.com.au/products/27502393/who-wet-my-pants

Going to the Volcano by Andy Stanton, Miguel Ordonez https://www.readings.com.au/products/26360624/going-to-the-volcano

Super Happy Magic Forest by Matty Long https://www.readings.com.au/products/19858036/super-happy-magic-forest

I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon https://www.readings.com.au/products/30361565/i-just-ate-my-friend

I’ll Wait, Mr Panda by Steve Antony https://www.readings.com.au/products/21441628/ill-wait-mr-panda

Miss Understood by KATHRYN APEL, Beau Wylie https://www.readings.com.au/products/35003178/miss-understood

Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe https://www.readings.com.au/products/27630367/pokko-and-the-drum

Graphic Novel

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen https://www.readings.com.au/products/33759137/garlic-and-the-vampire

Adult Books Discussed 

The Nancys by R.W.R. McDonald

Hanya Yanagihara – all

The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe

Hannah Gadsby’s biography – Ten Steps to Nanette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SLAV Online Book Club List March 23rd 2022 – Disability/Neurodivergent

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Our thanks to those of you able to join us for yesterdays book club meeting. School libraries are safe, inclusive spaces that support their communities needs. All readers deserve to see themselves in the books they read. We discussed which books contain interesting characters who are also are disabled and or neurodivergent. We also shared some great non fiction resources and here is the link we discussed for the YA Disability Database 

As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated.

This was our second book club meeting for 2022, and we look forward to chatting with you again at our next Online Book Club discussion on Wenesday May 18th to discuss the topic: Humour. We all love a good laugh, but we don’t all share the same views about what is funny in fiction. What books work best with your readers?

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Titles Discussed

The Conversation Train by Joel Shaul

Just Like Me: 40 neurologically and physically diverse people who broke stereotypes by Various.

I Am Not a Label: 34 disabled artists, thinkers, athletes and activists from past and present by Cerrie Burnell and Lauren Mark Baldo.

All Dogs Have ADHD by Kathy Hoopman

All Cats Have Asperger’s by Kathy Hoopman

Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Unbroken: 13 stories starring disabled teens by Marieke Nijkamp

Petra Lyre’s Rating Normal by Anna Whateley

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

The Things I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim

100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zane Comber

The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide by Siena Castellon

The Right Way to Rock by Nat Amoore

Dylan Alcott Biography- Able

Stars In Their Eyes by Jessica Walton

Future Girl by Asphyxia

Whisper by Chrissy Perry

El Deafo by Cece Bell

A Boy Called Bat by Elan Arnold, Charles Santoso

Wonder by R.J Palacio

Wink by Rob Harrell

Ugly by Robert Hoge

Stargazing by Jen Wang

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

The Space We’re In by Katya Balen

Be the Difference: 40+ Ideas for kids to create positive change using empathy, kindness, equality and environmental awareness by Jayneed Sanders, Cherie Zamazing

A Different Sort of Normal by Abigail Balfe

NOTE: International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is held on 3 December each year so is a great chance to advertise at the end of the year. Neurodiversity Pride Day is June 18

What We Are Reading – Adult

A Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Still Life by Sarah Winman

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Reid Jenkins

Devotion by Hannah Kent

After Darkness by Christine Piper

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

A Solitary Walk on the Moon by Hilde Hilton

Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson

Neon Pilgrim by Lisa Dempster

The Expanse Series by James SA Corey

Books That Made Us by Carl Reincke

Twelve Secrets by Robert Gold

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Hell’s only half full by Kerry Clarke

True Blood series by Charlane Harris

 

 

SLAV Online Book Club List for November 18th 2021 – Books Every Library Should Have

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Our thanks to those of you able to join us for our recent book club meeting to discuss titles that you believe every library must have. As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated. Sadly, we only had an hour, so there are many, many titles missing, but we believe the list below is great start.

This was our last book club meeting for 2021, but we look forwarding to welcoming you all back next year! Watch this space for a new list of topics and a link to register.

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Books that every school library should have
What books do you think are essential for a school library? Popular or important, award winners or timeless but maybe not a classic? There are various criteria one could use – what are your must haves?

We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad
The Yield by Tara June Winch
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman
Once Series by Morris Gleitzman
Earthsea Series by Ursula Le Guin
Anything by Rebecca Stead – Liar & Spy and When You Reach Me
Billie B Brown, Hey Jack and Polly and Buster Series by Sally Rippin
Cherub Series by Robert Muchamore
All books by Stephen King
All books by Matthew Reilly
Tomorrow When the War Began Series by John Marsden
The Wonder Books by R.J. Palacio
Mortal Engines Series by Phillip Reeves
Angel Creek by Sally Rippin
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Papertowns by John Green
Wandi by Favel Parrett
Things a Map Wont Show You Anthology Edited by dr. Susan La Marca and Pam McIntyre
The First Third by Will Kostakis
Holes by Louis Sachar
Red Dirt Diary by Katrina Nannestad
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Obernewtyn Series by Isobelle Carmody
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Mapmaker Chronicles by Alison Tait
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks
Mr Romanovs Garden in the Sky by Robert Newton
Charlotte’s Web by E B White
Pony by RJ Palacio
Laurinda by Alice Pung
Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan
Alex Rider by Anthony Hoowitz
Sister Heart by Sally Morgan
Rich and Rare short story collection
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett
Scythe Trilogy by Neil Shusterman
Unwind by Neil Shusterman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Peacock Detectives by Carly Nugent
New Kid by Jerry Craft GN
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Land of Stories Series by Chris Colfer
The Left Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Detention by Tristan Bancks
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson GN
All books by Maxine Beneba Clarke
Future Girl by Asphyxia
Girls in Boys Cars by Felicity Castagna
Changing Gear by Scott Gardner
The Philip Bunting fiction and non-fiction books
Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
All books by Poppy Nwosu, Sara Epstein, Kay Kerr, Anna Whateley
Diary of a Minecraft Zombie Series
Invisible Boys by Holden Shepperd
Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough
Crow Country by Kate Constable
The interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Breath by Tim Winton
Non-fiction – National Geographic Kids
Daisy Meadows Rainbow Fairies Series
Horrible Histories – Murderous Maths etc.
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton – The Treehouse Series
Bren MacDibble – The Dog Runner, Across the Risen Sea and How to Bee
Are you there Buddha? by Pip Harry
The Spellslinger Series by Sebastian deCastel
Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
Real Pigeons Fight Crime Series by Andrew MacDonald and Ben Wood
The Bad Guys Series by Aaron Blabey
Where We Begin by Christie Nieman
Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad
Tokyo Ghoul and Promised Neverland for the manga fans
Kingdom of Silk series by Glenda Millard’s
Between Us by Clare Atkins
In The Dark Spaces by Cally Black
Number the stars by Lois Lowry
Silver Sword by Ian Seraillier
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
I Am David by Anne Holm
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
The Librarian of Auschwitz – Antonio Iturbe
The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
The Road to Winter Trilogy by Mark Smith
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Adult – What We Are Reading
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Bruny by Heather Rose
Louise Penny books
Liane Moriarity – has some great reads
The Nowhere Child by Christian White
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
New Anthony Horowitz – A Line to Kill
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Are you smarter than a chimpanzee – test yourself against the amazing minds of animals by Ben Ambridge
99 other bad arguments by Julian Baggini
Girt, True Girt & Girt Nation by David Hunt
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge Stephenson
The Wattle Island Book Club
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Peter May novels
Barbara Vine novels
Love stories by Trent Dalton
Rewilding the Urban Soul by Claire Dunn
Helen Garner How to End A Story
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

 

 

 

 

 

SLAV Online Book Club May 19th 2021 – Graphic Novels

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Our thanks to those of you able to join us for our third book club meeting for 2021 to discuss graphic novels. As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated.

Below is the list of titles and series shared and discussed. Some titles may have an indicated suitable age range next to each title, however this is merely a guide and we encourage you to use your own judgement, as you know your students best.

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Thursday June 17th to discuss Speculative Fiction.

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson
Lumberjanes Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen and Noelle Stevenson
Over The Garden Wall by Jonathan Case and Patrick McHale
Pawcasso by Remy Lai
When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed, Victoria Jamieson
Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi
Wings of Fire Series by Tui Sutherland
My Hero Academia (Manga)
Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone – great for secondary readers, girls or boys.
The ‘I Survived’ Series by Scholastic looks like a sure-fire winner for kids who like graphic novels and true stories.
London: New Burlington Books, 2016 – suitable for boys or girls, good readers because the language can be challenging.
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Robert Smith’s illustrations and layout are crisp, arresting, and quite remarkable.
Seance Tea Party by Reimena Yee
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries
Witchlight by Jessie Zarbasky
Lightfall by Tim Probert
Tyranny by Lesley Fairfield
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Flamer by Mike Curato
Directly from the chat:
Horror – Locke & Key series Romance/LGBTQI – Heartstopper Series, Bloom, Mooncakes Manga series – My Hero Academia, Bleach, Assassination Classroom, Fairy Tail, Manga Dogs

Sheets by Brenna Thummler (Best book ever! according to one reluctant reader)
Doug TenNapel books (Ghostopolis, Cardboard) Grimoire Noir by Yana Bogatch

The graphic novels of Vera Greentea Anne of Green Gables : the graphic novel Meg, Jo, Beth by Rey Terciero.

The Graphic Novels of – To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Great Gatsby, & The Handmaids Tale are very popular

These are really popular in our Primary Library –
Dogman by Dav Pilkey, Big Nate, Super Sidekicks, The Odds by Matt Stanton, Percy Jackson and Wings of Fire graphic versions, Asterix, TinTin, Geronimo Stilton graphic versions, Mighty Robot, Catstronauts, Legend of Zelda.

What if We Were by Axelle Lenor

Just read ‘Animal Farm: A Fairy Tale Graphic Novel’ beautiful illustrations

The graphic novel of Anne Frank’s Diary

The Deep (Tom Taylor)

Fruits Basket Series by Natsuki Takaya (Manga)

Guts, Smile, Drama, Sisters, Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Babysitters Club graphic novels

Meg Dunley set up a Padlet for anime/manga recommendations. You can find it here https://padlet.com/09297081/13hww6jduitzv95f

White Bird by RJ Palacio (class text year 7 & 8)
Maus (class text year 10)
Coraline (class text year 7)
We have a GN for Macbeth
Illegal by Eoin Colfer
Romeo and Juliet
Speak by Laurie Anderson
Sapiens Graphic Novel

OMG Shakespeare’ which are retelling of plays in ‘twitter’ format – e.g. ‘YOLO Juliet’ and ‘srsly Hamlet’ – very funny and has hooked a few reluctant Year 10s doing Macbeth

Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr by Laura Lee
Long Way Down
Future Girl by Asphyxia
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Parvana by Deborah Ellis
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci – Goodreads

graphiclibrary.org – curated by sarah smooth – site recommended by Jo Menzies for ratings of graphic novels

ALIA have a graphic novel book club – aliagraphic.blogspot.com
Non-fiction graphics for primary – Graphic Library titles and Illustrated History. Wheelers good for ordering non-fiction graphics for primary.

All Marvel -Superman, Spiderman, Batman are popular with Manga. Simpsons, Snoopy, Garfield
‘Great Lives in Graphics’

A Beginner’s Guide to Manga

Manga for libraries – VIZ Media Catalogue has titles listed under age groups – got a copy from our book supplier

ADULT – what we are reading
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Scars like Wings by Erin Stewart
A Million Things by Emily Spurr
Love Objects by Emily McGuire
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
Born Into This by Adam Thompson – (Tasmanian, indigenous short stories)
Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Amy Tan – short stories
Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Where we Begin by Christie Neiman. Coming of age story includes domestic violence and racism.
The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte
First Person Singular by H.Murakami.
Sunburnt Veils by Sara Haghdoosti
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Slow Reading: the Power to Transform

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Reading programs and the support of a culture of reading is a common commitment in school libraries.  As teacher librarians, and librarians, we promote reading for enjoyment as a means of raising literacy levels through activities such as reading classes; engaging children in the Premiers’ Reading Challenge; running Book Clubs or supporting English teachers. To this end, the Synergy article Slow Reading: The Power to Transform by Dr Pam Macintyre, Senior Lecturer in Portfolio of Design and Social Context in the School of Education at RMIT is of particular interest.

In this article Pam says it’s logical to state, ‘greater understanding produces greater pleasure when reading’.  To fully understand and learn the skill of reading she encourages us to take time and to give students time, through a process of ‘slow reading’ saying:

Students need us to slow the reading, to model and facilitate the enjoyment of contemplation and the sharing of responses and interpretations. We need to share our enjoyment of language, and the delight in the places reading can take us well beyond the physical, geographical, emotional, intellectual boundaries of our daily lives. We also need to share our knowledge and pleasure about the how of what is said, not only the what.

Pam mentions the Australian research, the Children and Reading literature review which reports a 4% drop in the number of children reading for pleasure between 2003 and 2012.  As a passionate advocate of adolescent reading, she notes the opportunities for further research in this field as reading formats change from hard copy to digital.

In promoting a reading culture Pam quotes Terry Eagleton’s, How to Read Literature (2013)  and urges us to encourage in students a peculiarly vigilant type of reading, ‘one which is alert to tone, mood, pace, genre, syntax, grammar, texture, rhythm, narrative structure, punctuation, ambiguity’ (2013, p. 2).

This article, published in SLAV’s professional journal Synergy, provides teacher librarians and educators involved in raising literacy levels through a formal reading program, with a thoughtful approach to developing skilled readers.  Synergy is published bi-annually and is freely accessible online, apart from the two most recent editions.  It is a valuable source of research relating to school libraries.

Congratulations – Dromkeen Librarian’s Award

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book_imagination_edited Congratulations to Melbourne High School Head of Library, Pam Saunders, recipient of the 2014 Dromkeen Librarian’s Award presented at the State Library of Victoria (SLV) on 12 October. The award ‘is presented to a teacher, a teacher librarian or a children’s librarian, working within or outside the education system, in recognition of the important role played by this person in introducing young people to literature and encouraging an enjoyment and love of reading.’ Jan-dromkeenPam has a long involvement with libraries and adolescent reading having previously worked as a librarian in schools and public libraries, as well as managing the Centre for Youth Literature at the SLV. In her interview with Tania Scheko, teacher librarian, she speaks of the development of her love affair with reading, saying..

I was fortunate to have become a reader on the lap of my father as he read to me. I remember walking as a very young child to the shop to buy the new magazine Playhour and then my father reading it to me, especially the comics. This was further fostered by a dynamic school librarian, Mrs Cecilia Stubbs, who ran the library at Burnie High School in the 1970s. She encouraged students to use the library, to be involved and, best of all, she challenged my reading, pushing me to read titles which I would not have discovered myself. Titles like Black like me by John Griffin. I hope I have emulated her as a librarian.

Pam’s award shines a spotlight on the role of library staff in the development of a culture of reading within the school and individual students. We know that to instil a love of reading is to give a student the passport to seeing the world through a different set of eyes. At the forthcoming School Library Assoc of Victoria (SLAV) conference to be held 21 November, author Leigh Hobbs and others will explore the importance of the school library, and the primary school in particular, in “Building Community Through Reading”. Reading is a skill for life. Congratulations Pam, you and others like you in our libraries are a positive influence on our students’ futures.

The Dromkeen Medal, this year awarded to esteemed editor and publisher, Helen Chamberlin, and Dromkeen Librarian’s Award have a distinguished history of over 32 years, with previous Medal recipients including well-known children’s book illustrators and authors such as Shaun Tan, Bronwyn Bancroft, Roland Harvey, Ruth Park and Graeme Base. 

Shift Alt Story – how we tell stories online

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Whether it’s ebooks, gaming or graphic novels, we’ve all encountered new forms of storytelling.

The Centre for Youth Literature’s new online course, Shift Alt Story explores how stories have changed (and stayed the same) as they’ve collided with new media in all its forms.

Shift Alt Story is a four week online course, delivered in a similar way to the Victorian Personal Learning Network (VicPLN). Each week participants explore different aspects of story and how they work and change in different online platforms. With a weekly toolkit of handy web tools, professional resources and guest speakers, Shift Alt Story connects your passion for reading to the exciting new world of digital storytelling and transmedia.

Here’s a excerpt from the first unit of the course.

Sometimes it can feel like storytelling and publishing are changing at break-neck speed: we wanted to create a safe space where we could explore these changes together, to play and discuss the challenges and possibilities of digital storytelling with teenagers and children. This course will be a shared experience. We know that young people are playing in this space, and so can we. It’s an opportunity for teachers, librarians, creators and young readers to learn from each other in a new environment.

The course starts on the 1st September. For more information or to book your place in the course, visit the Shift Alt Story page on the State Library of Victoria’s website.

CBCA Book Week 2014 – Connect to Reading

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Children’s Book Week this year is coming up on 16-22 August.   It’s a  special week on the Australian literary calendar as an opportunity to highlight quality Australian children’s literature and, as the 2014 theme suggests, spend the week connecting readers with great stories.  We are fortunate in Australia to have a strong community of writers and enthusiasts supporting the writing of children’s and adolescent’s literature.  They are ensuring stories are written through Australian eyes and embedded into young minds at a time when our identity can be diluted by the mass of other pursuits that fill the lives of young people.

School libraries in particular plan this week as an opportunity to connect with readers, their teachers and their families.  Visiting authors conduct writing workshops, book highlight activities are planned and special efforts are made to tie the event into student programs.

The new Australian Curriculum also supports the role of local literature in our students’ lives stating:

The presence of Australian literary texts and an increasingly informed appreciation of the place of Australian literature among other literary traditions will be part of the national English curriculum.  Australia’s evolving ethnic composition and the increasing national importance placed on our geographic location in the Asia-Pacific region brings with it a variety of cultural, social, and ethical interests and responsibilities. These interests, and the collective cultural memories that have accumulated around them, are represented in a range of literatures including the inscriptional and oral narrative traditions of Indigenous Australians as well as contemporary Indigenous literature.
To assist you in making the most of the 2014 CBCA Book Week, here are a few resources to launch ideas:
We’d love to hear if you have more ideas to share?  Please ‘leave a reply’ to this post.

Text to speech – supporting online information access

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There are a growing number of online tools to support students in need of literacy support. As part of a new series on web based literacy aids, this post from Catherine Hainstock talks about how text-to-speech programs can support students’ reading online.

Implementation of the Australian Curriculum  is in full swing across the nation and as a result schools are committing more resources towards their Literacy programs. The demands and opportunities for TL’s to support this literacy focus may vary, but as information specialists our core business is to ensure our students can effectively find and interact with information.

After giving a brief demonstration on advanced Google searching to our school’s Literacy Support teacher, I wondered about other ways to improve access to online information for students who may be struggling. Many of the mainstream tools students use for accessing information such as Google Search and Wikipedia do not support students with literacy needs as well as they could. There are a number of ways we can help improve this experience. First I turned my attention to browsers; I found they offered very different experiences and levels of assistance. Text-to-Speech support is available on most browsers (you can read about the options here). When I tried them I found:

  • Bing relies on Microsoft Window’s software being installed on your computer. The system was complicated and required a lot of reading to work out. The version we had installed on our computers used a very robotic voice
  • Firefox’s add-on Text to Voice app plays MP3’s of selected text so it’s very slow. Any words it doesn’t recognise, it spells out. Again it was a very robotic voice
  • Google’s Chrome Speak app (available from the Web Store) was easy to install and provided options for varying the rate, pitch and volume but once again the voice sounded very robotic
  • Once I added Google’s US English Female Text-to-speech voice extension to Chrome (available from the Web Store) and activated it in Chrome Speak’s options (found under Chrome Settings – Extensions – see image below), the voice offered pleasant web reading support.

It’s important to note different schools run different versions of software, different implementation programs and have preferred devices including mobile devices and BYOD programs. In mycase, I used desktop computers in a school library for testing. Every school is unique so it’s important to investigate and experiment with your own equipment.

Many schools in Victoria are also restricted to only one browser, usually Internet Explorer. As information specialists, it is vital that we recommend and push for technical decisions to be based on educational criteria, so explore browser tools and lobby for programs if you think they will benefit staff and students.

In the next instalment I’ll look at improving access via search engine tools and options.

Image credit: Chinese children in class with Australian kids at Carlton State School, H2002.199/1074,  State Library of Victoria Pictures Collection