New Year Honours

Congratulations to recent OLA visitor Wayne Mills who has been awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education in the Queen's New Year Honours list 2011.

Wayne launched the Kids' Lit Quiz™ in New Zealand in 1991 concerned that his children’s school prize givings never included awards for keen readers. He wanted to make children who love books as highly valued as school sports stars in his sports-mad country, with national TV coverage, trophies and trips to compete in exciting venues to spur them on. The competition has been spreading around the world, is hugely popular in the UK and is launching in Canada in February.

The New Zealand Order of Merit, established in 1996, is awarded to those “who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and the nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions, or other merits”.

Wayne Mills is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland in the Faculty of Education. In March 2008 he was awarded the Margaret Mahy Medal in New Zealand for his substantial and distinguished contribution to both national and international literature and literacy.

Treasure Island and classic books

Following Year 7's visit to the theatre to see an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island we had a discussion in the Library about what we mean by a classic. We looked at the definition in the Oxford English Dictionary (my favourite reference book) and then thought about classic books, suggesting titles. A list of classic books arranged by genre was given out to paste into English exercise books. All the books on the list are available for loan from the school library, and of course, make a great Christmas present or gift for a child at any time of the year.
Season's Greetings!

The 2011 Blue Peter Book Awards Shortlist

The 2011 Blue Peter Book Awards Shortlist is:
Best Book With Facts:
Do Igloos Have Loos? by Mitchell Symons
How the World Works by Christiane Dorion
What You Need To Know Now: The World in Facts, Stats, and Graphics by Joe Fullman et al.
Most Fun Story with Pictures:
Alienography by Chris Riddell
Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree by Andy Stanton, illustrated by David Tazzyman
Lunatics and Luck (The Raven Mysteries) by Marcus Sedgwick, illustrated by Pete Williamson
Favourite Stories:
Dead Man's Cove (A Laura Marlin Mystery) by Lauren St John
A Web of Air (Mortal Engines) by Philip Reeve
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
The panel of adult judges selected the shortlist which will now be judged by Blue Peter viewers. They will decide both the winners in each category, and the overall winner of Blue Peter Book of the Year 2011.

KLQ Quiz Master visits OLA

Wayne Mills, the KLQ Quiz Master, visted OLA before he flew back to New Zealand. He attended the lunchtime Debating Society taster session 'Fairytales should be banned - they delude young children', and then spent the afternoon in the Library recommending books (see the list here), and giving out prizes for a correct answer to a spot question. He never asks a quiz question on a book unless he has read it, and his enthusiasm for reading is infectious, so by the end of his sessions I was very busy issuing books for loan!

Kids' Lit Quiz - UK Final

The UK Final of the Kids' Lit Quiz took place yesterday in Oxford Town Hall, an exciting afternoon where some of the best readers in the UK were being rewarded for reading. Children’s author, actor and comedian Charlie Higson, creator of the Young Bond series and new zombie thriller series The Enemy along with 30 children's authors came to cheer on their readers. The winners were Cockermouth School with Bristol Grammar coming second after a nail-biting play-off. Both teams are invited to New Zealand in 2011 for the 20th Anniversary International KLQ Celebration.

Roald Dahl Funny Prizes and Costa Shortlists

Authors Louise Rennison and Louise Yates have won this year's Roald Dahl Funny Prizes with Withering Tights (7-14 year-olds) and Dog Loves Books (0-6 year-olds).
More information

Costa Book Awards 2010 Shortlists
The Costa Book Awards is one of the most prestigious and popular literary prizes in the UK and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
The shortlists have been announced for the five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. The winner in each category will receive £5,000, and one of those five books will be selected as the overall winner of the Book of the Year and receive a further £30,000.
Costa Children's Book Award
* Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
* Annexed by Sharon Dogar
* Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
* Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Costa First Novel Award
* Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
* Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla
* The Temple-Goers by Aatish Taseer
* Not Quite White by Simon Thirsk
Costa Novel Award
* Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
* The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale
* The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
* Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Costa Biography Award
* How to Live A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell
* My Father's Fortune by Michael Frayn
* The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
Costa Poetry Award
* Standard Midland by Roy Fisher
* The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson
* Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott
* New Light for the Old Dark by Sam Willetts
The award winners in all five categories will be announced on 5 January and the 2010 Costa Book of the Year on 25 January 2011.
Full details

Kids' Lit Quiz

The Oxfordshire and Berkshire Heat of the Kids' Lit Quiz saw OLA teams come 4th and 12th in a field of 42 teams. Well done! Their knowledge of books was tremendous and shows that reading is always a winner.
Authors supporting the KLQ at this heat were Lucy Coates, Jo Cotterill, Susie Day, M.G. Harris, Marie-Louise Jensen, and Mark Robson. A bookshop selling their books meant they were kept busy signing in the interval and after the event.
Thank you to Oxford High School for the venue, and congratulations to their team, which goes on to the the UK Final at the end of the month.
From the Quiz Master's blog: Two records were set - one UK and one World. There were 42 teams tonight the largest ever in the UK and to top that off a new world record score was established by Oxford High School when they scored 97.5. (The previous record was 95). Obviously this school went on to win and their number two team was second. Third place was tight and required a sudden death play-off between St Gregory the Great School and The Cherwell School. It was won by St Gregory. It was a very busy exciting afternoon, the literary brain-power was awesome. The Mayor of Bicester commented as he awarded the trophy that the competition was of an exceptionally high standard and that he was looking forward to attending the UK Final in Oxford on November 30th.(http://kidslitquiz.blogspot.com/)

Scholastic Book Club

I’ve just set up our latest Scholastic Book Club school group order online. This means you can order your book choices from the Book Clubs leaflet (which I'll be handing out this week) and from a wider selection at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/olab and, what's more, you'll be able to have your books delivered to school for free.

You need to order your books by Thursday 18th November 2010 and the books will be delivered to school for me to hand out. For every £1 you spend 20p goes back to the library to spend on books.

Take a look at what’s on offer at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/olab – there are some great bargains with books costing as little as £1.99! Please note that some books are badged 13+.

Selecting OLA's teams for the Kids' Lit Quiz

Preliminary rounds to select OLA's two Kids' Lit Quiz teams have been taking place for all pupils in Year 7 and Year 8. Higher scorers have been invited to a second round taking place in their own time, outside lessons. Once we have a squad, members will need to confirm their availability to take part before we finalise the teams.

This year the Oxfordshire and Berkshire Heat will be taking place on Tuesday 16 November, 2.30 - 5.30 p.m. It’s a great spectator event and super entertainment: put the date in your diary now! The winning team from this heat will go through to the UK Final taking place later in the month, on Tuesday 30 November this year in Oxford, in the Town Hall, 1.30 - 4 p.m.

First children's story book with 3D animation

The world's first interactive 3D animation story book for children is on sale in Finland. The 3D animation story book for children looks just like any picture book, but with special small black squares on some pages which indicate the interactive 3D animation. Once a web camera faces the black square, 3D-animation cartoon figures and pictures will appear on the computer screen. See a picture.

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010 winner

Michelle Paver has won this year's Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for Ghost Hunter, the sixth and final book in her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.
It's relatively rare for a book late in a series to win a major prize but it was aunanimous choice by the judges who said it is "a towering achievement, as a whole as well as in terms of the individual books."
The shortlist for the £1500 prize included Maurice Gleitzman's Now, Gregory Hughes's Unhooking the Moon and Eva Ibbotson's The Ogre of Oglefort. Michelle Paver now joins a distinguished line of past winners, which includes Ted Hughes, Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Philip Pullman.
The Guardian children's fiction prize was founded in 1967 and is unique in that it is judged by children's authors themselves, and can only be won once by any single author.
More information and author interview.

Booktrust Teenage Prize

Launched in 2003 to recognise and celebrate contemporary fiction written for teenager, the Booktrust Teenage Prize is judged by a mixed panel of adults and teenagers. The shortlist for the 2010 prize is:

The Enemy by Charlie Higson
Halo by Zizou Corder
Nobody’s Girl by Sarra Manning
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes.
The winner will be announced on 1 November.
More information

Guardian children's fiction prize shortlist

The shortlist for the Guardian children's fiction prize has been announced.

Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver
The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes (also shortlisted for the Booktrust teenage prize)
Now by Morris Gleitzman.

The judging panel includes last year's winner Mal Peet and authors Linda Buckley-Archer and Jenny Downham. The winner will be announced on October 8.
More information

Summer Reading

Welcome back! What have you read during the last two months?

Over the holiday I hope many of you will have enjoyed spending some of your leisure time reading. New Year 7s - bring in your OLA Summer Reading Challenge or your Space Hop record for a commendation. Year 8s and 9s - a book review will earn you a commendation. Bring it or email it to the Library.

This term in the school library: the start of the Reading Olympics and reading buddies, book clubs, Kids' Lit Quiz heats, book chains, a book swap, 'poetree',and, of course, much more reading.

Reading! Reading! Reading!

This is the time of year when reading is on the summer agenda. All the classes which come regularly into the Library have been recommending books to each other, and to me. I have been encouraging loans of books over the summer so that pupils will keep reading. I have also used their suggestions to add to my own lists of recommendations which this year will be put in their English exercise books, and be more easily available for future reference. Year 11 suggestions, with a wide-ranging selection suggested by UVI leavers and many subject staff, have been put in the end of term mailing - look out for the pale blue sheet.

Abingdon Carnegie Forum - 23 June

Twenty-one keen readers from OLA had a wonderful day at Abingdon Guildhall to reward their reading and reviewing of the books nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the prestigious children's book award, whose past winners include The Borrowers, Watership Down, Tom’s Midnight Garden and Northern Lights. Joining with other readers from the six secondary schools in Abingdon they discussed the eight books on the shortlist and then concentrated on their favourite title, preparing a short visual review to convince a panel of judges to read ‘their’ book.

This successful reading partnership of the six state and independent schools has been running for 10 years, and has lead to joint book quiz sessions, author talks and culminates in an annual Abingdon Carnegie Forum organised by the schools’ Librarians, with over 130 teenagers, Librarians, English teachers and guest judges participating in a day to celebrate reading.

This year the six schools had special cause to celebrate as Marcus Sedgwick, one of the shortlisted authors came to Abingdon to speak to the Carnegie shadowers, following a writing workshop earlier in the day with Year 9 at OLA. At the end of the afternoon the Shadowers voted for their winning book, which was Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson with just one vote separating it from The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness. All eight books were outstanding in their own way and fully deserved their place on the Carnegie Medal shortlist.

The winner of the Carnegie Medal, announced the following day, was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which joins the ranks of the best in children's literature.

Marcus Sedgwick and Carnegie shadowing

Marcus Sedgwick, shortlisted for the prestigious children's book award the Carnegie Medal will be at Our Lady's Abingdon on Wednesday 23 June to lead a writing workshop with Year 9. He will then move on to Abingdon Guildhall to speak to over 100 Carnegie shadowers from local secondary schools at the Abingdon Carnegie Forum. Read reviews by OLA shadowers - there are some excellent ones, and they all make you want to read the books!

2010 Orange Prize for Fiction winner

Barbara Kingsolver has won the 15th Orange Prize for Fiction with The Lacuna. The Orange Prize for Fiction is awarded to the woman who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best, eligible full-length novel in English. The winner receives £30,000,and a limited edition bronze figurine called the 'Bessie'.

Vote for the Puffin of Puffins

What's your favourite Puffin?
The publisher Puffin is celebrating its 70th birthday and has chosen 7 modern classics, one from each decade it has been publishing, and wants you to choose your favourite.
* The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett - 40s
* Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - 50s
* Stig of the Dump by Clive King - 60s
* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - 70s
* Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian - 80s
* The Hundred Mile-an-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong - 90s
* Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - 00s
If you haven't read some of these entertaining and inspirational children's books then come along to the Library and borrow them.
Voting has opened and will close on 16 June, and the winning book will be announced on 17 June.

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010 - Longlist

Prisoner of the Inquisition, by Theresa Breslin.
Now, by Morris Gleitzman.
Unhooking the Moon, by Gregory Hughes.
The Ogre of Oglefort, by Eva Ibbotson .
Sparks, by Ally Kennen.
Lob, by Linda Newbery.
Ghost Hunter, by Michelle Paver.
White Crow, by Marcus Sedgwick.

The Guardian children's fiction prize will be awarded in September.

Red House Children's Book Award 2010 Winners

Judged entirely by children from shortlist to final overall winner, the votes have been counted and the winners of the Red House Children's Book Award 2010 are:
Overall Winner:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Category Winners
Younger Readers:
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman
Younger Children:
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower
Well done to our five keen readers who read and voted for their favourite among the shortlisted titles for the Older and Younger Readers categories. The books are available for loan from the Library.
For more reading ideas see the Pick of the Year for Older Readers.

Book awards news

Forty years after it was first published, Troubles, by J G Farrell, has been announced as the winner of the Lost Man Booker Prize - a one-off prize to honour the books published in 1970, but not considered for the prize when rules about publication dates changed.

The Branford Boase Award was set up to encourage new writers and is given each year to the most promising work of fiction for children by a first time novelist. The books on the shortlist for the 2010 award are:
Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Life, Interrupted by Damian Kelleher
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
Big and Clever by Dan Tunstall
Numbers by Rachel Ward
Paradise Barn by Victor Watson

Top Reads

Following a recent survey which reported that increasing numbers of children are starting school without having been read to, The Guardian published five lists of books by age group The best children's books ever.

With the enormous number of books available it can be difficult to make a choice which is why browsing is so important. Another help to selection is recommendation which is why we recommend books to each other in Library lessons. I also issue Reading Suggestions regularly and have many lists by genre.

Online - look at the Book Choosers which are linked on the right in this blog, or visit the selections I have made at Lovereading4schools.co.uk. I have lists of recommendations for years 7, 8 and 9 which you can see here http://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/viewschool/1870/favourite.
This is the website of a children's online independent bookstore which features only children's books. It's free to register and obviously there is no obligation to buy. The sister site http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ can be searched by many categories, features over 5000 opening extracts, profiles authors and offers the useful Author Like for Like.

Puffin celebrates 70 years

Puffin Books are celebrating 70 years of publishing for children. To celebrate this anniversary year the publisher has set up Happy Birthday Puffin site. Both websites feature writers new and old, beloved by generations of readers, plus opportunities to read, listen or watch Puffin's latest news.

Shadowing News

The Carnegie Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people. Shadowing involves school students reading the books, assessing them using the same criteria that the judges will use, and writing a review.

Many schools have, like us at Our Lady's Abingdon, set up a shadowing book group, and meet regularly to change books, exchange views and opinions, and write reviews. The reviews are posted on a special website.

On Tuesday we will meet with students from other local schools, and take part in a Carnegie ‘Tea’, here at OLA, for initial reactions to the shortlisted books, and tips on reviewing books. As usual cake will play an important part in helping our critical skills!

Friday 23 April - International World Book Day

We will be celebrating International World Book Day on Friday with a number of fun activities in school, all with PRIZES!

1. Decorate-a-Door-as-a-Book. This popular and delightful competition will be judged at 1 pm, and to make sure the judges see all the doors I need to have the entry forms by the end of Friday morning break.
2. There will be a Match the Book Cover to the Book competition in the Library
3. Dress up as a Book Character at lunchtime in the Library. Character parade starts at 1.30 in the Library.

It is also St George's Day, the feast day of St George, patron saint of England as well as of Catalonia in Spain. The origins of World Book Day come from Catalonia, where roses and books are given as gifts to loved ones on St. George’s Day – a tradition started over 80 years ago on the feast day of their patron saint, and the anniversary of the great Spanish writer Cervantes who wrote Don Quixote.
It is also the anniversary of William Shakespeare, a fitting day to celebrate books and reading.

Orange Prize 2010 shortlist

The shortlist for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction has been announced. The authors and titles are:
Rosie Alison The Very Thought of You
Barbara Kingsolver The Lacuna
Attica Locke Black Water Rising
Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall
Lorrie Moore A Gate at the Stairs
Monique Roffey The White Woman on the Green Bicycle.

The Orange Prize for Fiction is awarded to the woman of any nationality who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best full-length novel in English during the previous year. The winner will be announced on 9 June.
More information

Shadowing the Carnegie Medal

Our first meeting is on Monday 19 April at 4.15 in the Library.

What does Shadowing the Carnegie Medal involve?

• Reading Books. Past Carnegie Medal winners have become classics. These include The Borrowers, Watership Down, Skellig, Flour Babies, and Northern Lights. You will be reading future classics!

• Meetings. There will be ‘shadowing’ meetings in the Library on Mondays, at 4.15, where you can come to change your books, chat about the books you have read, write reviews and persuade others why your favourite should win the Medal.

• Writing Reviews. You post your review on a special shadowing website, where other ‘shadowers’ around the country are doing the same. We will also be discussing the books informally on our own OLA private wiki.

• Meeting Carnegie Shadowers from other schools and the Carnegie Forum. The six secondary schools in Abingdon have worked together over the Carnegie Medal for several years. We have three joint meetings: a 'tea' to introduce the books, a quiz a few weeks into the shadowing, and a joint Abingdon Carnegie Forum where 100 students from local schools discuss and vote for their Abingdon winner.

The shortlist of books for the Carnegie Medal will be announced this Friday, 23 April, which is International World Book Day. As well as finding out the titles on the shortlist there will be other fun activities which everyone can join.

Twilight novella to be free on internet

Stephenie Meyer, the author of the enormously popular Twilight books, is to let fans have access to the 192-page novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a spin-off from Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series. The Twilight series has sold 100 million copies worldwide and this instalment will be published simultaneously in Britain and America on 5 June, and then two days later will become available to read for free online, but not downloadable, until July 5.
Meyer said she was allowing it to be read for free online "as a special thank you to fans", according to a spokesman.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7538597/Twilight-novella-to-be-free-on-internet.html

Hetty Feather - Best Blurb Awards

The winners have just been announced for the Best Blurb Awards. Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson came a close second behind The Other Hand by Chris Cleave, coming joint second with The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom. This was the inaugural award for 2009 books.
London, 1876 and Hetty Feather is just a tiny baby when her mother leaves her at the Foundling Hospital. The Hospital cares for abandoned children - but Hetty must first live with a foster family until she is big enough to go to school. Life in the countryside is hard but with her 'brothers' Jem and Gideon, she helps in the fields and plays imaginary games. Together they sneak off to visit the travelling circus and Hetty is mesmerised by the show, especially Madame Adeline and her performing horses. But Hetty's happiness is threatened once more when she is returned to the Foundling Hospital. The new life of awful uniforms and terrible food is a struggle for her. But now she has the chance to find her real mother. Could she really be the wonderful Madame Adeline? Or will Hetty find the truth is even more surprising?
Available for loan from the school library in the Junior Fiction section.

Orange Best of the Best

A youth panel is to choose a "best of the best" to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Orange Prize for Fiction.

The six teenagers will read all the past Orange Prize winners from 1996's A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore (Penguin) to last year’s winner Home by Marilynne Robinson (Virago). The 14 books will be whittled down to a shortlist of four before a final judging meeting to decide on the Best of the Best.

The four girls and two boys, aged between 17 and 18, were selected from entries sent to the Spinebreakers website for teenage readers. Last year’s youth panel shadowed the existing judges to read and choose their own shortlist and winner.

The longlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction was announced on 17 March.The shortlist for the Orange Award for New Writers will be announced on 13 April, followed by the Fiction shortlist on 20 April. The winners of both will be announced at a ceremony on 9 June.

Information from http://www.thebookseller.com/news/114965-youth-panel-to-pick-orange-best-of-the-best.html

Hans Christian Andersen Award 2010

David Almond is the 2010 winner of this prestigious international award, which had a shortlist of 28 writers. The International Board on Books for Young People gives this award every other year to a living author and illustrator whose complete works are judged to have made lasting contributions to children's literature: "In awarding the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for writing to David Almond, the jury has recognized the unique voice of a creator of magic realism for children. Almond captures his young readers' imagination and motivates them to read, think and be critical. His use of language is sophisticated and reaches across the ages." The illustrator award went to Jutta Bauer from Germany. The prize is named after the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, and winners receive a gold medal from the Queen of Denmark.
More information

Monday 22nd - Mini Kids' Lit Quiz

On Monday 22nd March, at 4.15 pm there will be a mini Kids' Lit Quiz in the school hall. Everyone is invited to participate in or watch this lively and enjoyable event.

This is a fun team quiz which will finish by 4.50, the end of 'coach study'.

Make up a team of any size and give yourselves a name - anyone can enter, you can even ask a teacher to join your team. OLA Junior School is fielding three teams.

Don't be afraid you won't know the answers - you WILL know the answers to many of the questions! It's a team effort, and answers are written down - no-one is put on the spot! There will be 5 rounds of 5 questions on: fairy tales, animals, characters from classics, blurbs & beginnings and picture books, so even if you are not a great reader you should be able to answer most questions in a team.

There will be MANY PRIZES but you will be surprised at how much entertainment the KLQ generates.

Please join us!

Oxford Literary Festival 20-26 March

The Oxford Literary Festival, which will feature more than 250 writers, runs from Saturday 20 March to Sunday 28 March. Novelists, biographers, historians, poets, critics, politicians, soldiers, public servants, scientists, and medics will be joined by artists, philosophers, theologians, architects, engineers, botanists, environmentalists and children's writers and illustrators.
Speakers at the Children’s Events this year include Malorie Blackman, Frances Hardinge & Philip Pullman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Ali Sparkes & Harriet Goodwin, William Nicholson, Anthony Horowitz, Cressida Cowell, Mal Peet & Meg Rosoff, Geraldine McCaughrean & Philip Reeve, Louise Rennison, Catherine Rayner, Chris Riddell & Axel Scheffler.
Throughout the festival, tickets will be available from the festival box office at Christ Church.
More information:
http://www.oxfordliteraryfestival.com

Caroline Lawrence - The Western Mysteries

Caroline Lawrence, who has visited OLA twice, is the author of the Roman Mystery series, and the final book of the series is The Man from Pomegranate Street, now out in paperback. Her latest book is a volume of Roman Mysteries short stories, called The Legionary from Londinium and other Mini Mysteries and has some stories that go between the main books.
But as hinted during her most recent visit she is now working on a new series called The Western Mysteries. In her blog she writes, 'For the past three years I've secretly been working on a new series: The Western Mysteries.' The following is from Caroline's new Western Mysteries Blog:
"The Western Mysteries will be set in wild and woolly Virginia City in the fall of 1862.
Why 1862?
Back east the American Civil War is in its second year.
Out West the Silver Boom is taking over from the Gold Rush.
And in the final days of September, a dusty prospector walks into the offices of the Territorial Enterprise Newspaper to take up a position as a 'local' reporter. His name is Sam Clemens but within half a year he will begin writing under the name 'Mark Twain'. But Mark Twain isn't the only exciting thing about Virginia City in 1862. There are also gamblers, miners, con-artists, hurdy girls, prospectors & gunmen galore.

Here are some of the original ideas I had for The Western Mysteries.
1. The series will be for children aged 8 - 14+
2. The detective will be a loner: the western hero is always a loner.
3. The detective will be a kid.
4. The detective will own a Smith & Wesson seven-shooter.
5. Real historical figures will appear in the books.
6. The bad-guys will be gunfighters, tricksters & newspapermen.
7. The mysteries will be based around real historical events.
8. The books will be told in the first person.
9. My detective will love black coffee and layer cake.
10. I am going to have a lot of fun writing these books.

Here are some of the things which have made it into the first book:
1. A hero like nobody you've ever met before.
2. A terrifying, sadistic bad guy...
3. ...and his two side-kicks.
4. A terrible massacre, apparently by Indians.
5. An exciting stagecoach chase.
6. A beautiful hurdy girl, a Chinese boy & a handsome gambler.
7. Shootouts galore and some Bowie knife action, too.
8. A Pinkerton detective. Kind of.
9. A heart-stopping showdown in a deep mine shaft.
10. An ending that promises more."
(4 February entry)
The first book is due to be published next year.

Blue Peter Book of the Year

The Blue Peter Book awards were announced today.
Frozen in Time written by Ali Sparkes has won the Blue Peter Book of the Year award. It's available for loan from the school library and can be found in the Junior Fiction section.
There are three categories in the Blue Peter Book awards:
Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things won Most fun story with pictures,
Why Eating Bogeys is Good For You won Best book with facts and
Frozen In Time won Book I couldn't put down, and was voted the favourite to win Blue Peter Book of the Year.
More information

World Book Day

Since we had the excitement of World Maths Day yesterday I decided some time ago that at OLA we'll celebrate International World Book Day next month instead. On 23 April we'll have a variety of activities, some favourite ones and some new.

This week all students have received a £1 World Book Day voucher which can be used towards book purchases in a variety of ways: as a £1 token in participating bookshops or orders from Cover2Cover magazine in school, or exchanged in bookshops for one of the six specially produced books.

Red House Children's Book Award 2010 Shortlist

Books have been nominated by children across the country, and these are the top ten books published in 2009, chosen by them!
The Older Reader category shortlist:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Ausländer by Paul Dowswell
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
The Younger Readers category shortlist:
Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman
The Younger Children's shortlist:
A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage & Layn Marlow
Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch! by Paul Bright & Mike Terry
The Baby Dragon-Tamer by Jan Fearnley
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower
Voting to select the top books closes 1 May. You need to have read all 3 books in any section to vote 1, 2, 3.
Reads of the year 2010
After taking out the Top Ten, which become the shortlist for the 2010 award, these are 40 recommended books, chosen by children as their favourites.

Great Expectations - whole school reading during 2010

Our Lady's Abingdon shares its 150th anniversary with Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations. It was published in instalments, starting in 1860, and the aim is to read the book over the year, about five chapters each month. Monthly instalments are on the Library pages on the school intranet. We are now up to Chapter 15. There are also printed copies, including abridged and play versions, available for loan from the Library. As the book is out of copyright there are also web versions available.

Michael Foreman

Read an interview with one of Britain’s best loved illustrators Michael Foreman in Write Away online magazine. He talks about his books, his ongoing collaboration with Michael Morpurgo, and a career which spans five decades. He has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and is the subject of an exhibition at the National Army Museum.

Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010

The winner of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010 is The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies. The Great Hamster Massacre is the story of a young girl's life and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the untimely death of her beloved pet.

Anthony Browne, Children's Laureate, who announced the winner, described the book as “a funny and touching story told very convincingly and honestly from the point of view of a young girl."

Davies, a former literary agent who has also written and performed comedy sketches for BBC Radio 4’s One programme, said: “I’m as happy as I am surprised. I keep catching sight of myself in shop windows, grinning like an idiot. I haven’t won anything since the St Helen’s C of E sack race in 1985. Thanks very much to Waterstone’s, and to everyone who helped me write it.” She beat stiff competition from the other books on the shortlist:
Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
The Seven Sorcerers by Caro King
The Toymaker by Jeremy De Quidt, et al.
Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor
Desperate Measures by Laura Summers

Last year's winner was The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison.
More information.

Marcus Sedgwick

Award winning author Marcus Sedgwick visited Abingdon and spoke to over 800 local children about his books and where he finds his ideas. This entertaining event, jointly organised by the Librarians from Our Lady’s Abingdon, Abingdon and St Helen & St Katharine schools, was the 5th annual Joint Schools' Author Visit, with the aim to also invite children from local schools who may not have the opportunity to see a ‘big name’ author.

In the morning there were two talks to secondary students featuring his vampire novel My Swordhand is Singing. All of OLA's year 8 and year 9 found out about the background research and reading which had gone into creating this terrifying tale.

In the afternoon children from local primary and prep. schools were introduced to his new and funny series The Raven Mysteries, and found out how he planned his books. There was plenty of time to ask questions, and some took part in a mini play featuring the characters from the Raven Mysteries.

Next year's event will take place at Our Lady's Abingdon.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

It's the 21st century and a teenager discovers he's the descendant of a Greek god. He sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. Based on the book Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan this film is released in the UK on 12 February, and rated PG.

Cat tales

Following the runaway success of the story of Dewey the library cat from Iowa USA, the story of Casper the commuting cat from Plymouth (UK) is to be told.

Dewey: The Small-town Library-cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron (available for loan from the school library at 636.8 MYR) tells the story of an adorable library cat whose antics kept library users in stitches. On the coldest morning of the year, Vicki Myron found a tiny, bedraggled kitten almost frozen to death in the night drop box of the library where she worked, and her life — and the town of Spencer, Iowa — would never be the same.

Casper became an international celebrity last year after it was revealed that he regularly caught the No 3 bus from his home in Plymouth for the 11-mile (18km) round trip into the city centre. The 12-year-old black and white cat would queue patiently with other commuters and, if there was a spare seat on the bus, would curl up and fall asleep. Casper, who had been making the journey for several years, was killed by a car last week and New York publishers Simon and Schuster intend to publish a book telling his life story.

More information

Author visit - Marcus Sedgwick

Year 8 and Year 9 pupils will enjoy listening to author Marcus Sedgwick on Thursday 4 February. He is coming to Abingdon for this year's Joint Schools' Author Visit, organised by the Librarians of the three independent schools. This is an opportunity to also invite students from other local schools and Marcus will do two other session including groups from local primary schools. Mostly Books will be selling books which can be autographed on the day.
Please return permission slips and advance book orders as soon as possible.
http://www.marcussedgwick.com/

Closing date for Scholastic Book Clubs order changed

Because of recent snow days I’ve changed the closing date of our Scholastic Book Clubs School Group Order to Thursday 28 January. You can add an order at any time up until that point and benefit from free post and packing when your order is delivered to school. There are books on sale from £1.99! Go to: http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/olab

Great Expectations - whole school reading during 2010

Our Lady's Abingdon shares its 150th anniversary with Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations. It was published in instalments, starting in 1860, and my aim is that as many students and adults associated with the school read the book over the year, with book group discussions for anyone interested. There are 59 short chapters so five chapters will appear, in monthly instalments, on the Library pages on the school intranet. There are also printed copies, including abridged and play versions, available for loan from the Library.
Start reading Chapters 1- 5 now!
As the book is out of copyright there are also web versions available.

Bodleian Library Winter Exhibition

Crossing Borders: Hebrew Manuscripts as a Meeting-place of Cultures
Exhibition Room, Bodleian Library (free, open every day)
The Bodleian Library winter exhibition, running until 3 May 2010, tells the story of how together Jews, Christians and Muslims have contributed to the development of the book. It illustrates the cultural exchange, the social interaction and the religious toleration between Jews and non-Jews in the Muslim and the Christian worlds during the late Middle Ages. The exhibition draws on the Bodleian Hebrew holdings, one of the largest and most important collections of Hebrew manuscripts in the world.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
* The Kennicott Bible, the most beautifully and extensively illustrated manuscript among Spanish Bibles of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and
* The Michael Mahzor: the earliest illuminated Jewish prayer book for the Festivals, produced in Germany in 1258. The prayer book was illuminated by a Christian, who - not familiar with the Hebrew script- painted the first illustration upside down.
More details and opening hours.

Patrick Ness - Costa Children's Book Prize Winner

Some links to recent interviews with this popular teen author:
-Patrick Ness' s Diary
-BBC report including a 4-minute interview (scroll down the page)
-YAReads.com Author interview.

Costa Book Awards 2009 Category Winners

This year's Category Award Winners are:
Costa Children's Book Award Winner
Patrick Ness - The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking, Book Two)
Costa Novel Award Winner
Colm Toibin - Brooklyn
Costa First Novel Award Winner
Raphael Selbourne - Beauty
Costa Biography Award Winner
Graham Farmelo - The Strangest Man
Costa Poetry Award Winner
Christopher Reid - A Scattering

Each category-winning author receives £5,000. The 2009 Costa Book of the Year will be announced on Tuesday 26 January 2010.
Click here to read more.