CBCA Young readers shortlist 2013 – with links

The discussions have just begun about the 2013 CBCA Book of the Year shortlisted books.

Here is my post about the shortlisted books for the younger readers. We have 3 of the 6 in our secondary school library. It is interesting to see that Pennies for Hitler was on both the Older and Younger Readers lists but made it to the Younger Readers’ shortlist. Of the three books we have in our library, two are about young people surviving the Holocaust and the third is about refugees as well. The runaway winner in our library is After by Morris Gleitzman. His books are very popular but the series of books about the plight of Felix has captured the imaginations of many of our boys.

2013 Younger Readers Shortlist

• French, Jackie Pennies for Hitler (Angus & Robertson, HarperCollins)
  • This is  a companion novel to Hitler’s Daughter but is not a sequel. The two books easily work as stand alone stories but each offer different perspectives on WWII. In Pennies for Hitler, set in 1939 Germany it is dangerous for anyone to have any Jewish ancestry. Life for 11-year old Georg is good, offering a lot of promise under the Führer. Everything changes when Georg’s father, an English university professor, is killed by a group of pro-Nazi students. His crime is that he is suspected to have a Jewish heritage. Georg’s German mother, fearing for her son’s safety, arranges for him to be smuggled into England. After an uncomfortable and frightening journey Georg reaches England and stays with his father’s sister, his Aunt Miriam. Her wartime work means that Georg spends a lot of time alone. He spends his time listening to the radio, reading newspapers and trying to improve his English accent. When the London bombing becomes too prolific Aunt Miriam, like many others at that time, decides to send Georg to safety in Australia. He is put into foster care and is taken by a kindly elderly couple living in country NSW. When things go wrong here as well Georg has an important decision to make.  This is a well written book with  a lot of historical accuracy. It is about war, and peace, and seeing things from different perspectives, developing empathy for others and tolerance.
  • Read a review from ReadPlus,  one from SMH and another from Children’s Books Daily. There are also teachers’ notes in PDF form from HarperCollins.
• French, Simon Other Brother (Walker Books Australia) Not in our library
  • Read the ReadPlus review and another on the AussieReviews site as well as one by Bec Kavanagh.
  • The is an activity sheet and another PDF detailing some classroom ideas you can download from the Walker site.
• Gleitzman, Morris After (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
  • I enjoy reading Morris Gleitzman’s books. His stories for young people involve many important human foibles and experiences but he maintains such a good balance and is never too intellectual or patronising to his readers. The third book in the series, Now, portrayed Felix as a grown man. In this novel Morris Gleitzman returns to the 1945 and the Gabriek’s farm where Felix is hiding in a whole after the brutal death of Zelda. He is not there for long. Soon Felix is facing some of his greatest challenges as the war draws to a close. The invading Nazis become an even greater danger and then he encounters the Polish partisans who appear to be just as dangerous to him as the Germans. Although he still has maintained some of his natural naivety he is determined to survive.  Felix is now a teenager and has developed skills that make him useful.  He has some medical skills the partisans can use, and as in the earlier books he still has compassion for others and a courage that wins him friends. Some of the final chapters are very sad especially when, as the war in Europe coming to an end, Felix goes looking for his parents in the death camps. What he finds is terrible.

    Morris Gleitzman also doesn’t shy away from the grey areas of war. Most people are not simply good or evil or clever or stupid. He does however explain what happened during this time very honestly and realistically. The violence, the damage and anger are all portrayed on the pages but throughout the story there is also courage, compassion and hope. It was a fitting way to finish the story of Felix.

  • You can read a review from ReadPlus or a student review from the Penguin blog.
• Hartnett, Sonya Children of the King (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
  • Sonya Hartnett is a consummate writer, whose stories often leave me feeling uncomfortable, but are always well told. In this book she combines stories from two eras. The first is set in wartime Britain, the second stems from the time of Richard III and the mystery of the missing “Princes in the Tower”. Two children, Cecily and Jeremy, are sent away from the London bombings to live in the country, with their mother and Uncle Peregrine. Whilst there Cecily and another evacuee, May discover two little boys hiding in a nearby derelict castle. Who they are and why are they there? The characters of all the children are well written and they all have interesting and different parts to play in the story. The themes of class, growth/emotional development are woven into the story that is not simply a wartime story nor a ghost story nor just a mystery story or a coming-of-age story. Sonya Hartnett has woven many strands into her latest book.
  • You can read the transcript of a Q&A about this book on the interviews page on Sonya Hartnett’s site.
  • Read a review from ReadAlert (SLV) and another from ReadPlus
• Herrick, Steven Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend (University of Queensland Press) Not in our library.
  • The latest verse novel from Steven Herrick.
  • Read a review on the AussieReviews site and another by Joy Lawn for The Australian
  • Download the teachers’ notes PDF from the publishers site.
• Millard, Glenda & illustrated by Stephen Michael King The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk (HarperCollins)
  • Not in our library. Part of the Kingdom of Silk series: #6.
  • You can read more about the book here from the Children’s Books Daily.
  • Download the teachers’ notes PDF from the publishers site.

CBCA shortlist 2013 and the older readers list links

Congratulations to everyone who was connected to the short list this year, writers, publishers and of course the judges. The judges have such a difficult job to whittle down the long list to the short list. As always, there will be discussion with my colleagues about what was left out and their personal favourites. We have many of the titles on this years shortlist but a few did not make it to our shelves as we try to cater for our clientele and not break our budget. This year we had only one of the picture books,  A Day to Remember by  Mark Wilson and text by Jackie French, and none of the Eve Pownell shortlisted books.

Older Readers Short List 2013 (These books are for mature readers)

• Grant, Neil The Ink Bridge (Allen & Unwin)
  • Neil Grant has written a YA novel that tackles the very divisive political issue of asylum seekers whilst still delivering a story with enough action and suspense for our boys to enjoy the tale without losing poignancy
  • Teacher reviews  here and teaching notes also available from Allen & Unwin site.
• Lanagan, Margo Sea Hearts (Allen & Unwin)
  • This is the one book in this part of the list I have not read and we do not have in our library.
  • Reading groups guide, notes for teachers PDF and reviews by teachers PDF are also available from Allen and Unwin site.. Interestingly it is called The Brides of Rollrock Island for the US market
• MacLeod, Doug The Shiny Guys (Penguin Group)
  • An engrossing and affecting story on another serious subject, depression. Colin is a 15-year-old boy who, after a very traumatic event, is hospitalised. He exists in a world where fantasy and reality merge in his mind. Some of the other patients offer him friendship and are part of the lighter aspects in the story. Although not a comedic novel there are many touches of dark humour.
  • You can read more about this book on the Goodreads reviews page, the ReadAlert (SLV) site and a page on The Wheeler Center also discusses the novel.
• Touchell, Dianne Creepy & Maud (Fremantle Press) I have yet to read this and it must now be on my to-read list.
  • Teaching notes PDF is available and there are quite a few reviews on Goodreads
• Wakefield, Vikki Friday Brown (Text Publishing)
  • This story has many fascinating characters and very tangled relationships. Having lost her mother, seventeen-year-old Friday goes on the run and falls in with a band of street children who are led by an unpredictable but charismatic young woman called Arden. She running to escape her memories but throughout the book, Friday remains haunted by the ghost of her recently dead mother, and also the  family curse; a history of drowning.  Things don’t go well and Friday is lost, alone and afraid.
  • Teaching notes PDF is available. There is also an article you can read on the Readings site where Vikki Wakefield talks about the process of writing Friday Brown.
• Zail, Suzy The Wrong Boy (Black Dog Books, Walker Books Australia)
  • Suzy Zail is an Australian-born author and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She writes this her first fictional story in the first person. Hanna Mendel, is a 15-year-old girl living with her older sister Erika and her parents in the Debrecen Jewish ghetto in Hungary.  She is a good student and talented pianist who has always behaved appropriately. Her world changes when the Nazis arrive to announce that the ghetto is closing and the family will be “resettled”. After a long train journey in a cattle car they end up in the camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. There are examples of many survival strategies throughout the story and it quickly becomes evident that there are no longer any simple solutions or simple judgements in Hanna’s life. The characters are flawed and changeable, not simply good or evil but often a mixture of both. There is also a romance that blossoms between Hanna and the camp Captain’s son, Karl.  He does not seem to be like his Father and sees more to Hana than her Jewish heritage. Her mother and sister do not fare well but this is the story of Hanna. She may be a naïve teenager  but she is determined to survive. The end of the book leaves an opening for a further story.
  • Classroom Ideas PDF is available from the publishers sites and there are Reviews on the Insideadog site and Goodreads

Younger Readers Short List 2013 (Intended for independent younger readers.)

• French, Jackie Pennies for Hitler (Angus & Robertson, HarperCollins)
• French, Simon Other Brother (Walker Books Australia)
• Gleitzman, Morris After (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
• Hartnett, Sonya Children of the King (Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia))
• Herrick, Steven Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend (University of Queensland Press
• Millard, Glenda & Stephen Michael King The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk (HarperCollins)

National Year of Reading celebrations in our library.

It has been busy this week – first week of term 4 with senior students are getting ready for exams and we intend to do another big stock take to keep the library resources relevant to the curriculum. We still have time to celebrate however.

After school yesterday we had an afternoon tea for all the students who entered our NYR Film It! and Snap it! competitions and in particular the winners of all the competitions, our own Whitefriars NYR Ambassadors and the boys who completed the Premiers’ Reading Challenge and our own Whitefriars Reading Challenge (read between 10-14 books).

It was wonderful to see so many parents and siblings come along to celebrate with the Whitefriars boys.

Many really loved the photographs that were on display. They liked seeing the photographs professionally printed and framed. You can see a slide show of the photos the boys entered on our library blog.

We also had a screening of all the  book and reading trailers. Young and old alike became engrossed in short films created by the boys and played on our large television screen.

We  gave book prizes out to the PRC and Whitefriars Challenge boys as well as the NYR Ambassadors and the Guess It! winners.

The boys were given the opportunity to choose their book prize. We then put a book plate into each one and created matching certificates.

We offered a kindle as first prize for the Film It! competition and gift cards for the runner’s up.

The Snap It! competition’s major prize was a 12″ digital photoframe and a package made up with a packet of some very good quality photographic paper, mounts and artist’s sketch pad for the runner’s up

Yesterday afternoon the principal congratulated each boy and handed him the certificate and the book or his prize.

 

We are very lucky to have a very talented library technician who creates all our superb certificates adn book plates, Each of the Reading Ambassadors had a different image on their certificate and we had a special certificate and prize for one of our senior students who has spoorted all our activities over the past 6 years at school

Full set of images here

More thoughts on book formats.

The holiday are almost over. I have bought books for school, both in print and digital, and have even listened to a couple of audiobooks as I have driven around the state.

I have bought books for my niece and nephews, including the newest Graeme Base picture book. My niece has loved his books since I gave her a signed copy of an earlier book. He has become her favourite  artist so much so that she did her research piece in her art subject on him. She is only in grade 2 but takes all these things very seriously. I love seeing her share her books with her little brothers and her friends. Graeme Base’s books are great for sharing experiences as they have the puzzle element that  just begs for sharing the experience.

I, on the other hand, have only read from my kindle when reading personally. It is just so easy to carry with me and to get a follow-up book in a series when no bookshop is around. I still read paper version books but these holidays it has been e-books. It does not have to be either/or but just what is easiest/convenient at the time.

Below is another infographic that compares the different formats.

Browse more infographics.

Are e-books making the old-style book obsolete?

Will e-books eventually make the hardcopy (old-style) books obsolete?

This is a question that starts some interesting discussions. I work in a school that has a number of kindles. The boys have been borrowing them in much larger numbers this year, and so have the staff.

I have some staff members who refuse to entertain the idea of reading an e-book. They love the feel of the pages, the smell the very tactile eel of a book. Others love the ease with which you can carry an e-book reader and that you can have many books available to you on the small device.

One teacher was not keen for the students to read the e-book on the e-reader. We are a notebook/tablet school and she was worried about the boy staring at a screen for too long. We had to show her that the e-book reader was small and easy to hold, especially with its cover on (this makes it very similar to the way you hold the book). We also showed her how e-ink differs from our tablets. She was reassured and decided that it probably was ok for him to read e-books in their reading sessions.

The boys themselves have differing views. Some just want to read the story and it makes no difference to them as to how it is delivered. Some prefer the e-book and others prefer the traditional. The boys have borrowed a Kindle to read one book and when finished have continued to read other books loaded onto the device. Talking to a few boys this has led them to reading books they would not have read otherwise so it has broadened their reading and perhaps they have read not only more widely but just more books!

So for now I think we are quite a long way from seeing the demise of the traditional form of book. I live reading my own kindle and some of the picture books are great on my ASUS tablet but when I am reading to young children nothing beats sitting together and turning the pages together. I love being able to quickly get things on my kindle without having to drive to the bookshop but I also still enjoy visiting a bookshop on the weekends to browse the books on the shelves. I love browsing and looking at covers and flicking through the books they have in stock.

Things are changing but I believe for the moment the traditional book will still be a strong force. I cannot predict however how long this will be the case.

The infographic below is interesting. It indicates that people who own e-book devices say they read more than people who don’t, at a rate of 24 books per year to 15. The reasons for reading are varied but it also shows that reading itself remains a popular pastime but e-readers are rising in popularity so perhaps in the future there may be a world without the traditional paper books. Worldwide e-reader sales rose by nearly 3 million between 2010 and 2011 and buyers are not limited to one age-group. There are quite a few other predictions made as well.

Courtesy of: Schools.com