Student review - Agent Nomad

Agent Nomad by Skye Melki-Wegner

Reviewed by Brodie Rabbas (8 Realino)

Agent Nomad is about a girl called Natalie who has the one-in-a-million ability to see people’s quintessences – their magical abilities and how they are using them.

She is a normal 15 year old before starts working for HELIX – a secret agency who protects normal people from evil people that feed off everyone’s magical essences.

Natalie’s ability is both very useful for HELIX, but makes her a target. Can she learn to master or powers before the Inductors manage to kill her?

Why I finished it: I finished it because it drew me into the book. I never wanted it to end, or put it down.

I’d recommend it to: I’d recommend it to anyone who likes spy stories, and anyone who like stories set in Australia

I rate this read: ««««« - OMG it was amazing

Check out the official book trailer:

Food quiz - Winners!

This week we had just 3 people answer every question correctly.

Congratulations...

Harrison Rolfs (7 Carroll)
Harrison Keating (8 Xavier)
Liam Power (11 Juana)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for another chance to play!

Book trailer - The Outliers

The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight

It all starts with a text: Please, Wylie, I need your help.

Wylie hasn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, not since their last fight. But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.

This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice: she has to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.

But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?

Food, Glorious Food - Quiz!

Test your knowledge of food trivia - how much do you know about the things we eat?

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 10th of November.

Winners announced here on Monday 13th of November.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

A new one in the Gone series

Monster by Michael Grant
The latest in the Gone series...

Michael Grant continues the story of the teens who morph into superheroes—and supermonsters—when they ingest an alien virus.

Four years after the events of the FAYZ, new meteorites are hitting Earth, and the whole world is exposed to a strange alien virus that gives humans unique superpowers.

As some teens become heroes and others become dangerously out of control with their new powers, the world will become more terrifying than the FAYZ—and only a monstrous battle between good and evil can save them [goodreads.com].

Navigating "Alternative Facts"

To protect yourself from post-Trump world of "Alternative Facts" it is worth knowing why new sites,
ads, and social media grabs are deliberately trying to trick you.

What are they doing, and why?


Fake News - Think of this as click-bait. These are made up stories designed to look like journalism. The purpose? to make money out of the surrounding ads - the more you click, the more money they make.

Misinformation - This is when a story is designed to fool you - often to make you laugh or to see if something will go viral. How many times has Morgan Freeman apparently died according to social media? Satirical stories like those on The Onion are also examples of this.

Propaganda - This is when Trump's "alternative facts" come in. This is when something is biased or misleading to encourage you to believe a particular idea or political belief. Governments do this all the time, but it is not just governments, and it is not just about politics.


For more information on how to spot a fake check out this blog post from EasyBib: http://www.easybib.com/guides/5-takeaways-news-literacy-edcamp/

Hunger Games - winners!

This week we had 9 winners, and since we haven't had many winners for the last few quizzes, everyone gets a prize!

Congratulations...

Matthew Warwick (7 Carroll)
Ella Ball (7 Miki)
Mimosa Gillespie (7 Miki)
Toby Mew (7 Miki)
Emily Green (7 Licona)
Olivia Ball (7 Ward)
Agnel Joseph (8 Xavier)
Caine Gale (9 Isore)
Benjamin Robertson (10 Loyola)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again in the first week of Term 4 for a new competition and a chance to win!

Book suggestion

Sparrow by Scot Gardner



Sparrow and the other kids from Juvie are returning from a wilderness exercise when their boat sinks.

Instead of waiting in the water for help, Sparrow swims for shore.

Alone, in the middle of the Kimberly, with only salt water crocs and mosquitos for company, Sparrow has to find a way to survive in this dangerous freedom.

Mrs Kelleher rates this read 4 1/2 stars

Study tips #6

Keep it... Green

A weird thing about our brains is that, for some reason, there is something about the colour green that
helps with concentration.

Maybe next time you are buying highlighters or post-it-notes grab the green ones!

The Hunger Games - Quiz

Test your knowledge of The Hunger Games - have you read all 3 books?

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 27th of October.

Winners announced here on Monday 30th of October.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

Study tip #5

Make exam conditions normal

It is worth trying to keep your study space similar to how you will be during the exam. The more
normal your exam conditions feel, the less stressed you will get - and that will make it easier to remember what you need to know.

Try things like wearing the same clothes you will wear at your exam, don't listen to music while doing practice exams, have a similar desk set up.

In particular wear the same deodorant you will wear the day of your exam - you would be surprised how closely connected your memory is to you sense of smell. Every little thing that is the same when you are studying to when you are doing your exams will help those memories surface that you need the most.

Celebrity smiles - Winners!

It must be harder to recognise someone's smile than it is their eyes - this celebrity quiz had only one person get every celebrity right

Congratulations...

Annaliese Joly (8 Xavier)

Congratulations also go to the following homeroom who all worked together to also correctly identify every smile:

12 Inigo

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for a new competition and a chance to win!

Inky Award Winners Announced

These are the best books published last year, as voted by teenagers.

The GOLD Inky (written by an Australian author) goes to:

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Years ago Rachael had a crush in Henry, her best friend. The night before she moved away she left him a letter confessing her feelings inside his favourite book. Although he called, and emailed her, he never mentioned the note. So Rachael stopped communicating with him.

Now, three years later, Rachael is mourning her brother who drowned after being sucked into a rip. To help her stop dwelling on this her mother has encouraged her to move back to the city to get a job. Even if it means risking bumping into Henry.

Henry is still working in his family's second hand bookshop where people can leave messages to each other between the pages of the books in the Letter Library. He is also still in an on-again, off-again relationship with Amy - the girl who only seems to want him when there is no one better around.

“How do you feel?" Lola asks.
"Like I've just had every single one of my organs harvested while I'm still alive."
"Good to know you're not overreacting," she says.


The SILVER Inky (written by a non-Australian author) goes to:
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Frances has her life planned out. Everything she does at school is with her end goal in mind. Her choice of subjects, her extra-curricular activities, and even friends to a certain extent are all done to look good on her college application. The only time she really does what she wants to do is when she listens to her favourite, but very obscure, podcast Radio Silence.

But then she meets Aled - the shy creator of Radio Silence, and for once she feels she can be herself. He likes the geeky clothes she only wears around the house. He "gets" her, and suddenly she is wondering if the success she has always worked so hard for is what she really wants.

But when Radio Silence goes viral the fragile new friendship between them is shattered.


'Are you wearing that?' he [Daniel] said. I looked down. I was wearing my batman onesie.
'Yes,' I said, 'Problem?'
'So many,' he said, turning around. 'So many problems.'

Study tips #4

Get some sleep

There are a lot of reasons why sleep is an important part of healthy study habits.

1. Sleep helps you consolidate your learning. Once we have learned something, sleeping allows our brains to finish processing it, and linking it into our memories better. Even a short nap can help improve your memory of what you have just learned!

2. Sleep deprivation makes it harder to remember new things. Research has shown that because sleep is such an important part of the memory creation process that without it it is very hard to learn effectively.

So, time to ditch the all-nighter, it just wont help!

Celebrity Smiles - competition

Test your knowledge of celebrities and famous faces. How many do you recognise?

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 13th of October.

Winners announced here on Monday 16th of October.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

In the mood for some Anime?

You've seen it on Netflix, want to see where it all started? Try some of these from the ILC...

Naruto

Story and art by Masashi Kishimoto

Outcast and shunned, Naruto is determined to become the best ninja ever.

Even though none of his classmates take him seriously, he will join them on an adventure that will take them far beyond the Ninja Academy.

Will Naruto find his true destiny?

Ouran High School Host Club

Story and art by Bisco Hatroi

This romantic comedy centres around Haruhi, a poor student on a scholarship to a wealthy private school.
Mistaken for a boy, she falls in with a group of super-rich gorgeous guys who call themselves the "Host Club".

What happens when they find out she is a girl?

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Story by Shin Yoshida, Art by Naohito Miyoshi

Yugi and his friends have become obsessed with the new card game Duel Monsters. But it looks like there is more to the game than just cards.

When Yugi's grandfather gives him the Millennium Puzzle, something that no one else has been able to solve, a series of events begins to unfold.

With the help of an ancient Egyptian spirit Yugi and his friends must save his grandfather in a competition of Duel Monsters.

Study tips #2

Rinse and repeat

Your memory is a strange thing - but it is worth learning out how it works, so you can make it easier
to remember things.

When you see, read or hear something for the first time it goes into your short term memory, but will soon be lost for good. If you see, read or hear it again soon after, it will make it into long term memory, but very well. It is only when you see, read or hear something repeated over time that you truely learn it.

So, make sure you go over the materials you are learning more than once - and have a break between each revision or it wont stick. The traditional Allnighter wont help you that much for your exam, but a couple of much shorter sessions will set you up nicely. Also, the extra sleep the night before the exam will also be very beneficial.

Beauty and the Beast - Winners!

This was a hard quiz. No one got every question right! We had 2 students who got 10 out of 11 questions right.

Congratulations...

Tadhg Evans (7 Carroll)
Will Palmer (9 Beltran)

A special mention also needs to go out to the following homeroom who worked together and also only got one question wrong:

10 Rodriguez

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again in the first week of Term 4 for a new competition and a chance to win!

New in the ILC

In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black

Tamara is a stowaway on the starship her aunt works on as a chef. With no other family, she and her baby cousin, Gub, spend their days being silent and existing on leftovers. Tamara dreams of being tall enough to pass for 16 so she can work in the kitchens and earn a place with her aunt.

When the Starweaver Layla is attacked by the Garuwa, a crow-like alien species, everyone is being killed. Desperate to save Gub, Tamara leads the crow-people away from his hiding place, and ends up being captured rather than killed.

Tamara now has to learn enough about these aliens to be able to communicate with them if she wants any hope of finding Gub again.

Mrs Kelleher rates this read 4 1/2 stars.

Nothing by Annie Barrows

This book is about Charlotte and Frankie, and some stuff that happened to them last year. 

If you are sick to death of books that take themselves way to seriously filled with abused/drug-addicted/depressed/alien-infested teens, then this book might be for you. They will not have insane sex, shoot up, combat aliens, kill themselves, flunk out or realise they are gay. Their parents are also guaranteed to stay alive for the entire book.

This is a book about some not incredible, but not entirely basic fifteen year old girls. There will be laughs along the way.

Study tips #1

Chunk it up

Loads of research has shown that lots of shorter study sessions are much more effective than one long session - even if you spend exactly the same amount of time studying.

So, ditch the 5 hour marathon study sessions over the weekend, and try to get in an hour study each weeknight instead.

Not only will you get more done, have the weekend to relax, but you will also end up doing better work and getting better marks with no more time spent studying!

This strategy also make large assignments feel a lot more managable. As the famous saying goes:

How do you eat an elephant? One small piece at a time!

Beauty and the Beast quiz

In honour of our production next week, this week we will be testing your knowledge of all things Beauty and the Beast.

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Thursday 7th of September (Friday is TriUMPH).

Winners announced here on Monday 11th of September.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

New in the ILC

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning. . . .

Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world. 

Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war. [Blurb from Goodreads.com]

Maybe by Morris Gleitzman

18 May 1946.

Dear Zliv,
It's me you want, not Gabriek or Anya.
I caused your brother's death, just me.
But you'll have to come to the other side of the world to kill me, because that's where I'm going.
If you don't believe me, check the newspapers.

Felix.

This is the latest book in Morris Gleitzman's series that started with Once.

Book Week quiz winners!

Quiz #1 - Escape to Everywhere
We had one student who was able to correctly identify all 11 locations.

Congratulations...

Eva Kilpatrick (8 Xavier)

Quiz #2 - Pretty Little Liars
This quiz was the hardest quiz of the week, with six students getting 7 out of 10 questions right.

Congratulations...

Alisha Jones (7 Miki)
Mimosa Gillespie (7 Miki)
Ella Ball (7 Miki)
Olivia Ball (7 Ward)
Janelle Nichols (7 Miki)
Paddy Gleeson (9 Regis)

Quiz #3 - CHERUB
Another hard quiz, with one student getting 8 out of 10 questions right.

Congratulations...

Ned Poynder (7 Borgia)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for a new competition and a chance to win!

CHERUB - Book Week quiz #3

This week is Book Week - to celebrate, the ILC will be running 3 quizzes, so check the blog posts from this week if you have missed one.

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Tuesday 29th of August.

Winners announced here on Wednesday 30th August.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

Children's Book of the Year Award - Honour listed books

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

This is a love story.
It's the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets.It's the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea.
Now, she's back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind. [Blurb from goodreads.com]




Mrs Kelleher and Mrs Stephenson both rate this read:

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

Subhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention centre after his mother fled the violence of a distant homeland, life behind the fences is all he has ever known. But as he grows, his imagination gets bigger too, until it is bursting at the limits of his world. The night sea brings him gifts, the faraway whales sing to him, and the birds tell their stories.

The most vivid story of all, however, is the one that arrives one night in the form of Jimmie, a scruffy, impatient girl who appears from the other side of the wires, and brings a notebook written by the mother she lost. Unable to read it, she relies on Subhi to unravel her own family's love songs and tragedies.
Subhi and Jimmie might both find a way to freedom, as their tales unfold. But not until each of them has been braver than ever before.
[Blurb from goodreads.com]

Mrs Kelleher and Mrs Stephenson both rate this read:

Pretty Little Liars - Book Week quiz #2

This week is Book Week - to celebrate, the ILC will be running 3 quizzes, so check back during the week for additional chances to play.

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Tuesday 29th of August.

Winners announced here on Wednesday 30th August.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

Study tips #3

Tell someone about it

A great way of strengthening your learning is by trying to explain it to someone else.

Put your notes away and tell a friend, a parent, other family, or even your dog, what you have just learned. It's a great way of summarising without needing to write it all down, and it will quickly let you know which bits you don't fully understand or remember. Get the other person to ask questions when they don't understand something, and it will make your learning even stronger (ok, the dog isn't so helpful here!)

Also, it's a good change of pace from studying on your own.

Children's Book of the Year - Winner

One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn

It’s 1997 and seventeen-year-old Sam is mourning the sudden loss of his mum …

Sam has always had things going on in his head that no one else understands, even his mum. And now she’s dead, it’s worse than ever. 

With nothing but his skateboard and a few belongings in a garbage bag, Sam goes to live with the strangers his mum cut ties with seven years ago: Aunty Lorraine and his cousins Shane and Minty. 

Despite the suspicion and hostility emanating from their fibro shack, Sam reverts to his childhood habit of following Minty around and is soon surfing with Minty to cut through the static fuzz in his head. But as the days slowly meld into one another, and ghosts from the past reappear, Sam has to make the ultimate decision … will he sink or will he swim. 

[Blurb from insideadog.com.au]

Mrs Kelleher rates this read:

This book is also on the Short List for the Inky Awards!

Science Fiction or Science Fact - Winners!

It must have been a hard quiz, we only had two winners this week!

Congratulations...

Lennon Gangoso (8 Montserrat)
Parker Volke (11 Juana)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Keep any eye on the blog this week for lots more quizzes as we celebrate Book Week!
The first quiz will be released on Monday morning at 8am.

Escape to Everywhere - Book Week quiz #1

This week is Book Week - to celebrate, the ILC will be running 3 quizzes, so check back during the week for additional chances to play.

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 25th of August.

Winners announced here on Monday 28th August.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

Now in the Cinema - Stephen King's The Dark Tower

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower book 1) by Stephen King

The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum. It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it.

In Roland’s where and when, the world has already begun to move on. Time and direction are in drift, and the fabric of reality is fraying. However, things are about to get much worse. The six invisible magnetic Beams, which maintain the alignment of time, space, size, and dimension, are weakening. Because of this, the Tower itself is foundering. Unless Roland can find a way to save the Beams and stabilize the Tower, all of reality will blink out of existence. (Blurb from http://stephenking.com/)