Quote of the week

My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.

- David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)

Inky Award Long List announced

Every year Australian teens vote on their favourite book. Sort of like the Children's Book of the Year Awards, but voted on by teens not adults!

The Gold Inky is for books by Australian authors

         

The Silver Inky is for books by international authors

          

A classic for Easter

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice. [Description from Goodreads.com]

This is one of those classics that everyone should read at least once. There is a very good reason that it has rarely (if ever) gone out of print since it was published in 1950. It will stick with you long after you have finished reading it.

What many people have not realised while reading it, is that it can be considered an allegory (a symbolic retelling) of the Crucifixion.

Read it for yourself and see if you agree!

Quote of the week

"There is nothing better than a friend. Unless it is a friend with chocolate."

- Charles Dickens

An Irish read for St Patricks Day

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey. 

[Review from Goodreads.com]

Quote of the week

"So many books, so little time" - Frank Zappa (musician)

How much time do you have?

One of the biggest challenges facing students is the ability to juggle homework with sporting commitments, family, work and having time to chill out.

We all know that slacking off and not doing homework is a bad habit to get into - firstly it is very bad for your grades. Secondly, it gets you into bad habits for the rest of your life - habits that will make your life feel a lot harder than it is. On the other hand, spending all you time doing homework, working part-time jobs, and helping around the home, is not all that healthy either. You need to make sure you have time to catch up with friends, get in some exercise, or just hang out. It's all about balance. But balance can be hard to find.

One of the best things you can do is a little bit of an audit of how you are spending your time. How much time do you spend at school? How many hours do you spend sleeping? working? catching up with friends? What do you do with your weekends? How many hours are left over that you can use for homework? If you week balanced?

RMIT University has made a useful tool that helps you look at your week, and find some of those "missing" hours that can be used for homework: https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/time-management-tutorial

This tool is designed to help you find hours for homework - and be surprised at how many hours you actually have. But it can also be used to look at how balanced your study/relaxing habits are.

Strong Women in Fiction

Women come in all shapes and sizes, and can be strong in a wide range of ways. In honour of International Women's Day the library would like to celebrate some amazing, strong characters:

Liesel from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Liesel has a strong sense of social justice. She develops her own set of moral values, rather than following blindly what society says. She combines compassion with a quick mind and strong critical thinking skills. She learns the value of language and the written word - both to empower, but also to suppress when used in propaganda.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is a survivor. She is extremely resourceful, which allows her to survive situations that would defeat others - from facing starvation through to participating in the Hunger Games. Although she keeps her emotions close, and doesn't like expressing them, she is fiercely loyal to family, friends, and to her district. 

Willowdean Dickson from Dumplin'

Willow is a plus-sized girl who is comfortable with her own body. She is willing to stand up for herself, and get people to question their own assumptions. When self-doubt strikes, Willow takes courage with both hands and challenges herself to confront her fears - by entering a beauty pageant.

Quote of the week

"The book to read is not the one that thinks for your, but the one which makes you think."

- Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird)

2016 Young Journalist Award (Australian Catholics Magazine)

Write a story about someone inspiring in your community for the 2016 Australian Catholics Young Journalist Award.

Our communities are full of people who have a heart for others, and who we can all learn from in this Year of Mercy in the Catholic Church.

It might be someone in your school who pays special attention to people in most need. It might be a doctor or nurse, whose care and support helps many who are unwell. It might be someone who has a special heart for refugees, the homeless, those in prisons, the elderly or other forgotten people in our society. 

Find someone whose example inspires you, conduct and interview and write up their story for the chance to win cash and great prizes.

Entries close 27 May 2016. Winners will be notified in late August, and their names will be published in the Spring 2016 edition.
(From https://australiancatholics.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=38218#.Vte4mxigtwX)

To enter the competition you will need the support of a teacher (preferably your English teacher).
For guidelines and judging criteria see: https://australiancatholics.com.au/uploads/yja/2016/YJA16_Guidelines_judges'%20criteri_tips.pdf

Plagiarism & how to avoid it

Plagiarism is when you take someone else's idea and pretend it is your own. Some examples of plagiarism are:

• Handing in an assignment that someone else wrote.
• Copying and pasting from another source (like a website) without giving credit to the original source.
• Not using quotation marks when you use someone's exact words.
• Changing only one or two words in a sentence, but pretty much leaving the sentence the way it was, and not giving credit to the original source (for tips of paraphrasing so it is not plagiarism check this website: http://www.plagiarism.org/citing-sources/how-to-paraphrase/).
• Providing incorrect information about where you got information from (especially if you make it up).
• Copying so many words or ideas that you didn't really write much of your assignment at all.

(Adapted from: http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/)

For more information check out: http://www.plagiarism.org/, or come and talk to the Librarians, we are very happy to help you avoid plagiarism!