Quote of the week

Art by (and from) The Dreams You Have on Prozac (tumblr)

"A book is a dream that you hold in your hand".

~ Neil Gaiman. 

             

eBooks for holiday reading

Did you know that the ILC has eBooks that you can download and read? This means that even though borrowing has finished for the year, you can still get your reading fix from us!

All you have to do to find eBooks is go to the ILC homepage and type ebook into the search. If you are looking for a particular title or genre, simply type that into the search followed by ebook. For example: Head of the river ebook or Adventure ebook.

If you hover your mouse over a title you are interested in, you will be able to open the book by clicking on the link marked related web addresses.

Try some of these great reads:

      

Don't forget that eBooks can be read on any device that can read ePub files. That means you don't need your laptop, you can curl up with your phone or tablet with your new favourite book.

Quote of the week

"So this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be"

- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

ILC back open

The ILC has reopened now the Year 12 exams have finished. We would like to thank all students and staff for their patience during this last month of interruptions.

Book Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Have you ever watched a film staring a teenage superhero and wondered what the other kids at their school thought: What would life be like if you went to school with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or John Smith (from I am Number Four), Percy Jackson, or even Harry Potter? Where weird stuff seems to happen when they are around, and you know they are caught up with something bigger than you are, and they are off saving the world. But somehow adults don't seem to notice.

The Rest of Us Just Live here is about those ordinary kids. The ones who know that the heroes are risking their lives, they just don't know what to do about it, and know that they are not really welcome to start asking questions.

They may not be heroes, but the problems they face, though "normal" often require just as much courage as those faced by the ones saving the world. Only, they don't have the black and white definitions of right and wrong to guide them. There are a lot of different kinds of gray out there to confuse matters.

Not to mention, on top of navigating your final year of high school, trying to work out what the future has in store for you, changing friendships and love, you need to be able to survive the apocalypse, and hope that you graduate before anyone blows up the gym.

 

Library available Monday, Wednesday and Thursday next week

The Library will be available for returns before and after school, and during class time (not lunch time or recess) next week on the days there are no exams scheduled:

• Monday 9th
• Wednesday 11th
• Thursday 12th

The Library staff will be supervising X12 at lunchtime on these days, and all the other days the library is closed for exams. You are welcome to come in to play Uno, return or renew books and borrow new items by arrangement.

The space will still be set up for exams, so please be aware that areas with furniture stacked are off limits for OH&S reasons.

The Library will reopen as usual from Wednesday 18th of November.

ILC Closure for the VCE exams

 

The ILC will be closed from Thursday 29th of October, reopening on Wednesday 18th of November.

This is to allow the year 12s to have enough space, and enough quiet to complete their exams.

The ILC staff will have a number of arrangements in place to make sure this closure impacts you as little as possible. Here are the answers to a number of the questions you might have:

I have a book on loan. When will it be due, and how can I return it?
Books will have their normal due dates (i.e. 2 weeks after the day it was borrowed). ILC staff will be visiting homerooms in the mornings to collect any books students want to return.

How can I borrow something new, or renew something I have already borrowed?
The easiest thing for you to do is to email ILC staff via the library email address: library@ignatius.vic.edu.au. If you let us know what you want to borrow/renew we will organise it for you.

Will I still be able to play Uno or Chess at lunchtime?
You will not be able to come into the ILC at lunchtime, but there will be space provided in the Xavier Centre, and many of the board games will be moved across there during the exam period for you to play at lunch and snack.

What if I need help finding information for an assignment or help creating a bibliography?
ILC staff will be very happy to help you. All you need to do is email them using the library email address library@ignatius.vic.edu.au and someone will get back to you with email help, or to arrange a time and place to give you face-to-face help.

Any other questions? email us and we will do our best to help!
library@ignatius.vic.edu.au

So, you liked Percy Jackson...

You've read Percy Jackson, and it was one of the few books you've enjoyed. But now your teacher wants you to read something else. Is there anything as good that you might like? Here are a few suggestions from Rick Riordan (the guy who wrote Percy Jackson).

Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

Artemis Fowl is a twelve year-old criminal mastermind. He knows fairies are real, and he is going for their gold. All of their gold. Fast paced, humourous, easy to read.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Prince Aleksander, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne is on the run. Deryn Sharp has disguised herself as a boy so she can join the British air service. In an alternative version of our own world, World War I has just started.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

A funny fantasy/mystery series featuring a detective who just happens to be a fire-throwing skeleton.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

First in a series about two siblings who are plunged into a world of immortals and mythological creatures. Fast-paced fantasy set in the modern world.

For more of Rick's suggestions: http://www.rickriordan.com/educational-resources/ricks-reading-recommendations

2015 Inky Award Winners Announced

The Gold Inky Award (Australian author) for 2015 goes to.....

The Intern, by Gabrielle Tozer

Josie Browning dreams of having it all.

A stellar academic record, an amazing career in journalism - and for her current crush to realise she actually exists. The only problem? Josie can’t get through twenty-four hours without embarrassing her sister Kat or her best friend Angel, let alone herself.

Josie’s luck changes though when she lands an internship at the glossy fashion magazine Sash. A coveted columnist job is up for grabs, but Josie’s got some tough competition in the form of two other interns. Battle lines are drawn and Josie quickly learns that the magazine industry is far from easy, especially under the reign of powerful editor, Rae Swanson.

From the lows of coffee-fetching and working 10-hour days, to the highs of mingling with celebrities, scoring endless free beauty products (plus falling for her cousin’s seriously gorgeous flatmate James) this is one year Josie will never forget.

Totally fresh and funny, this debut novel from industry insider Gabrielle Tozer reveals just what is behind the seeming glamour and sparkle of the magazine industry. [Goodreads.com]

The Silver Inky Award (international author) for 2015 goes to....

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? [Goodreads.com]

Study Skills

Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen

It's that time of year - when all your hard work is starting to make a difference. You are nearly finished, you can see the holidays coming. But first - the final few hurdles, those last few assignment, and, of course, exams.

The end of the year is always a tricky time. You are tired from all the work you have already put in, but still have some of the most important assessments to go. This is the time that good study habits, stress management and focus really make a difference. The difference is big enough that, even at this late stage, it is worth taking the time to read up and make sure you know how to be your best.

The State Library of Victoria hosts a website called Ergo, that has a whole lot of useful advice, especially the study tips section: http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/study-skills.

James Madison University has provided a quick downloadable leaflet on how to study more effectively. Full of dot points it is easy to spot the tips for your own study weaknesses: Improve my high school study skills.

New in the Cinema: The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir is taking the world by storm, and now there is a movie. Set in the very near future, humans are starting to send manned missions to Mars.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. 

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? [blurb from Goodreads.com]

Scorch Trials in the Cinema

The new Maze Runner movie comes out this week. Have you read the book yet?

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.
Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.
The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.
There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive. [Blurb from Goodreads.com]

Have you picked your holiday reading yet?

Holidays are great, you get to sleep in, catch up with friends, and generally muck around. But there are always a hours here and there where you don't feel like running around, or playing games. Those bits of time where you can just curl up in the quiet and read something that takes you away for a bit.

Maybe it is something that will make you laugh, like Life in Outerspace by Melissa Keil

Something that will make you cry, like Looking for Alaska by John Green

Or just something that will get your heart beating fast because you just want to know what is going to happen next, like Bomb by Sarah Mussi

Maybe it will be something popular that you haven't read yet, like Divergent by Veronica Roth

Or maybe something more obsure, like Hold Me Closer Tiny Cooper by David Leviathan

Or an old favourite, like Matilda, by Roald Dahl

Whatever you feel like, I am sure there is something in the ILC that will catch your eye.

Book Review: As Read as Blood by Salla Simukka

Seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson keeps to herself. Living on her own, she just wants to finish high school.Until the day she finds find thousands of dollars worth of bank notes washed of blood hanging to dry in the school's darkroom...

Suddenly caught up in a world corruption and danger and the international drugs trade, Lumikki finds herself on the run from the infamous 'Polar Bear'.

Set in Finland, in winter where nighttime lasts over 18 hours, leaving less than 6 hours of light each day. With temperatures are often around -25 degrees C, meaning that getting caught in the cold is just as deadly as not escaping the killers.


The first part of a thrilling new Nordic crime series, AS RED AS BLOOD will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page is turned... and then some.

Now in the Cinema: Me, Earl and the Dying Girl

If you enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars you might also enjoy Me, Earl and the Dying Girl.

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight. [Blurb from Goodreads]

Scot Gardner visiting Saint Ignatius

Australian author Scot Gardner will be visiting Saint Ignatius this Thursday and Friday. All year 7 students will have an opportunity to hear Scot talk about himself and his work before participating in writing workshops.

Scot has a lively sense of humour, and has enjoyed writing his whole life. He is most often inspired by real things, in particular the language and things said by young people to allow give his work that touch of realism.

"Write brutal, write brief." - Scot Gardner (official website).

Now in the cinema - Paper Towns

John Green's Paper Towns has been turned into a movie, and is now showing in the cinema. 

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. 

After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. 

Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew... [Blurb from Goodreads.com]

Feast Day!

Racing Spheros

Feast Day was enjoyed by one and all. In spite of the amazingly beautiful weather outside, the ILC saw its share of traffic with students enjoying gaming on the Xbox and Wii. The spheros were also out with students racing them around a track, while others played on the school MineCraft server.

MineCrafters hard at work

Outside the petting zoo, mechanical bull, sumo suits, jousting, jumping castles and obstacle course , talent show and so much more provided loads of entertainment. Congratulations to all the organisers.

Students relaxing playing Xbox and Wii