Please click into the individual blog post, as the links are currently not visible on the library page, (formatting issue being investigated).
Now I'm sure some of you are waiting to hear the answers to the quiz from the book advent, particularly if there were ones that stumped you, so here they are.
Window 2 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling Window 5 - Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman (Noughts and Crosses series) Window 6 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Window 11 - The Witches by Roald Dahl Window 14 - War Horse by Michael Morpurgo Window 15 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney Window 18 - Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials series) Window 20 - Peter and the Star Catchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson Window 21 - Villain by Michael Grant Window 23 - The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
However no students got all 10 fully right although some of you knew the series, but were submitting the series name rather than the book title for either windows 5 or 18. And some of you only gave us the name of one of the authors for window 20. So we had to stretch the rules slightly to make sure we had some names in the hat, which we drew on a Library Teams session. Without further ado, I can announce the winner as Debarun of 7L, who will be sent his prize next week. Plus 7L was also the form with the most correct entries and will be given some edible treats once we are back in school and this is able to be done safely. Nice to see some members of staff entering too. And I hope the quiz gave everyone plenty of fun.
Now I have to say I think perhaps we caught you out with window 18, as no students said Northern Lights for it. Was that because window 1 also contained an alternative cover design of Northern Lights, namely the new illustrated version?
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For those of you who haven't logged into Sora yet, here is a reminder of how to borrow library ebooks via Sora. But if you are having any difficulties accessing Sora, then I will be happy to help you.
There is a link to the Sora app on the pupil page of the school website or at the top of the sidebar here on the library page. Download the Sora app or explore in browser https://soraapp.com Enter the setup code uksecondary if asked, and sign in with your school Google login and email password. And in the meantime, here is a Getting Started video guide or there is a PDF version on the P drive in the P:\LIBRARY\Sora folder.
Last week I promised to share a summary of some of the resources we mentioned on the blog during lockdown 1. Hopefully these will be of particular interest to Yr 7, who won't have read those posts and a reminder to the rest of you. Also if you wish to revisit older blog posts which are not currently displayed on the library webpage, you may find all posts back to July via the News & Events webpage.
Anyone who is not already a member of Sutton public libraries, you may join online here.
Book download sites. Z Library Your PDFs ePDF PDF Duck Internet Archive
Borrow ebooks from:- Open Library
Toppsta have revamped their website since we first mentioned it. They don't appear to have brought back their very useful daily listing of book related events yet, but I will keep my eye out for it., In the meantime, I thought I would point out the reading lists they have now collated for Yr 7 and Yr 8.
Maybe you just fancy a 10 minute challenge. There are plenty on Authorfy by best-selling authors and illustrators.
National Literary Trust have also revamped their website. Here are the current links to their 9-12 and 13+ years literacy activities. And of course, we have been regularly mentioning their Virtual School Library. This week's author of the week is Josh Lacey and you are able to read the first book in his series, Hope Jones Saves the World for free. Very topical if you're making an effort to use less plastic or giving Veganuary a try.
Free Reads Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds by Darren Shan is still free to download on Amazon. There are a few of his titles available to borrow on Sora too.
Free Audiobooks Audible BBC Sounds
YouTube Award winning author Piers Torday is once again reading a chapter every weekday at 2.30pm of his books during lockdown. He is now currently reading The Dark Wild.
Book Fun Harry Potter at Home
Magazines First News is once again downloadable for free during the current school closure.
Podcasts Booklings Chat - Podcast of nearby Glenthorne High School Book Riot publish the Hey YA podcast weekly, all about young adult books. Here is a podcast series I've just found on the teen section of the World Book Day website, called Reading is Power. I haven't mentioned this before, but if you are missing the magazines on our shelves, New Scientist has a podcast too.
Don't forget that we are thinking about setting up a podcast book chat here at SGS plus a conventional book club. Both of these could still go ahead whilst we are remote learning, so please do email us with your name, if either of these ideas would be of interest. In particular, as regards the podcasts, we would love to hear if you have any ideas or editorial experience you wish to tell us about.
I've previously mentioned how much I enjoyed reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, so I shall be looking forward to reading the prequel, Concrete Rose in due course, which was published earlier this week. Here is an interview with author Angie Thomas about her new book plus she is also Hive's author of the month.
Now for some Book Award news. Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant is the winner of the 2020 Costa Children's Book Award category. This book is available to borrow online from LLC and you may listen to the author talking about her book on last Thursday's edition of radio programme Front Row.
So a new year. Some of you may have made a resolution to read more, so let us help with a few suggestions. Here are some bestsellers available on Sora or LLC, published during the last 12 months.
When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (LLC) Unstoppable by Dan Freedman (Sora) Nothing Ever Happens Here by Sarah Hagger-Holt (Sora) Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold (LLC) Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (LLC)
Now for a quick round-up of a few other ideas and resources.
Egmont Books have set up the Paper Beach project to celebrate the power and magic of reading for pleasure which you may wish to get involved with.
This year's Young Landscape Photographer Of The Year competition has just been launched. Perhaps you could take some photos whilst out doing your virtual cross country exercise.
Do you fancy playing iReporter, an online game to spend a virtual day working at BBC Broadcasting House.
Finally for a bit of fun, I have found you a downloadable Alex Rider activity pack full of secret codes and ciphers, based on bestselling series, by Anthony Horowitz. These books are available to borrow on Sora. We have also saved a copy of this on the P drive in the P:\LIBRARY\Book_Activities folder.