Our School library has been a hive of activity this half term.  We have some new graphic novels with more set to arrive soon.  The kind team behind the Jhalak book prize have kindly donated us a big box of free books for our students to enjoy, which we are very grateful to them for.

Come into the library before we break up and choose some books to read, you are allowed to borrow up to four books on your account.  It is good to chat about what you have read over the holidays and we have some sizzling summer suggestions for you in this month’s blog.

 

Our Day Trip to Watch
Yoto Carnegies Award Ceremony 2024

This year our school was lucky enough to be selected to watch the Yoto Carnegie award ceremony in-person and see the winners being revealed live at the Cambridge Theatre, home of the Matilda Musical.

Year 8 book club students and our year 7 top readers travelled up to London on 20th June 2024 accompanied by Mrs Taylor and Mrs. Payne.  When we were seated in the auditorium, we eagerly awaited to see which authors would be awarded the anticipated Yoto Carnegie Medals for writing and illustration, as well as the Shadowers’ Choice for each category. Our students had previously read and reviewed all of the books from the shortlist including voting for their favourite book – Shadower’s Choice.

The award ceremony was hosted by author Manjeet Man, the 2021 Shadower’s Choice winner for her book “Run Rebel.” We had the opportunity to watch a question and answer session with all the shortlisted authors and illustrators at the start of the ceremony. As the 2024 winners were announced, we were on the edge of our seats, cheering for our preferred books. Children’s Laureate Joseph Coehlo received the Carnegie Medal for Writing for his novel in verse, “The Boy Lost in the Maze.” The Shadower’s Choice for writing was awarded to Tia Fisher for her novel “Crossing the Line.” Illustrator Aaron Becker had a remarkable double win, securing the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Shadower’s Choice for his book “The Tree and the River.”

Buzzing with excitement from the event, we returned to school. Some students purchased books at the theatre as a keepsake of the day, and we were all in awe to have been a part of such a prestigious event.

All of the Yoto Carnegies shortlisted books for writing are available in our School Library or on SORA to borrow.  We also have Run Rebel Run and The Crossing by Manjeet Man.

 

 

Summer Reading

Make the most of your summer break by exploring the wide variety of books available for borrowing in our school library.  With so many options to choose from, you can either browse through the Reading Cloud or visit the library in person. Feel free to approach Mrs. Taylor, Ms. Lo, or Mrs. Payne for assistance in finding some great reads – we have plenty of recommendations to share with you.  So, whether you like reading on the go or relaxing on the beach with a good book and ice-cream here are some of our top picks, which are sure to captivate you right from page one!

The Infinity Files (book1) by S.M Wilson; The 1000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford; Ben Archer: The Cosmic Fall (book1) by Rae Knightly; Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve; While the Storm Rages by Phil Earle; What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin; How To by Randall Munroe; Rangers Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan (book1) by John Flanagan; The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.

We found these amazing ebooks on SORA for KS3 students to download.

 

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; Gone (Book 1) by Michael Grant; Forever and A Day by Anthony Horowitz; I am Number Four (Book 1) by Pittacus Lore; Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome; The Witcher by Andrzel Sapkowski; Book of the Ice: The Girl and the Stars (Book 1) by Mark Lawrence; Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé; Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie.

Check out these brilliant ebooks on SORA for KS4 students to download.

 

The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall; The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock; The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks; The Midnight Library by Matt Haig; Atonement by Ian McEwan; Where The Crawdads Sing by Della Owens; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot.

For our KS5 students, these ebooks on SORA are great for expanding your reading knowledge.  If you are going into year 13 in September, check out the Booker prize website for their guide to summer reading by clicking here.

 

Football The 300 Feats (KS3 and up) by Smart People; The Deadlands Survival (KS3) by Skye Melki-Wegner; Killer Instinct: Book 2 of The Inheritance Games Series (KS4) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes; Black Heat by Bex Hogan (KS4); Written in Bone (KS5) by Sue Black; Robots Kinematics Robots for Kids (KS3 and up) by Booksgeek.

 

 

Football Crazy

The Euros are here and if you are a football fan we’re sure you already have your flags out to support the countries in their matches as they take on each other to win the World Cup for Euro 2024.  With fever pitch at an all-time high we thought it would be fun to do a school football quiz for KS3 students to win some football prizes.  We have a football shirt, a football, a great football mug to win as well as some sweets.  To enter, simply come into the library and pick up a form, answer the questions and give it to one of the librarians to be in with a chance of winning.  There are some clues to help you around the library.  Mr Marsh and Mr Humphries have thrown in some curve-ball questions – you’ve been warned!

Ms Lo has put up an excellent display in the ‘Centre Spot’ of the library with all of our football books we have available for borrowing.  Here are some of our library favourites:  Booked by Kwame Alexander; Football School Season 1 by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton; Over the Line by Tom Palmer; Charlie Merrick’s Misfits in Fouls; Friends and Football by Dave Cousins.

Don’t forget to check out SORA for more footie inspired books.

 

 

Frank Cottrell-Boyce Is Named
Children’s Laureate 2024 – 2026

The new children’s laureate has been announced as author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce. He was passed the prestigious medal by the former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho in a recent ceremony in Leeds.  Frank is famous for writing children’s books such as Millions and Framed.

Frank will hold the medal for two years as Children’s Laureate and has spoken about how he will use his role to promote the life-changing benefits of reading aloud to children, especially for children from poorer backgrounds whose access to books is limited.  Frank was quoted in an interview to have said his year 6 teacher in school had read out a piece of work he had written in front of the class.  This had made a big impact on him had gone on to encourage him to become a writer.  To learn more about the new children’s laureate click here.

We really enjoy the novels that have been written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce in our school library they are instantly engaging.  Borrow one his critically acclaimed books today: Framed; Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth; The Astounding Broccoli Boy.

 

 

 

Mal Peet

Mal Peet grew up on a council estate in North Walsham, Norfolk. His father worked in a confectionery factory, while his mother was a part-time bookkeeper. He went to Paston school after passing the 11-plus exam to attend the grammar school. Mal was thinking to go on to Art School afterwards, but a teacher encouraged him to study literature. He went on to achieve an MA in English and American Studies from the University of Warwick.

At the age of 52, he began writing Young Adult literature and quickly found success. His works, such as Keeper (2003) received the Branford Boase Award, this accomplishment was followed by his second novel, Tamar, which won the 2005 Carnegie Medal. In 2007, Mal’s novel, The Penalty, made the shortlist for the Book Trust Teenage Prize. He won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2009 for Exposure, a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello.

Mal Peet was not only a talented writer but also a strong advocate for social justice and was passionate about the importance of reading for children & young adults.  He died on 2nd March 2015 aged 67.

We love Mal Peet’s books and we have Beck (KS4); Tamar (KS3) and Life an Exploded Diagram (KS4) available.  If you like football thrown into the storyline, give these books a go: Keeper (KS3) and Exposure (KS4).

 

Becoming a Blog Buddy
By Ezra 9T

Every month or so, I write a blog for Blog Buddies.  Not too long, not too short. But why do I?  Why do I take time out of my free time to write a blog that usually takes time to research, plan and write, especially when I am already stimulated from all the homework that I get set?

Well firstly, I do it because it is an extra-curricular activity, and one that is not overwhelmingly exciting or crazy, but one that is relaxing and engaging.  More importantly, you can do all of it from the comfort of your own home.  It allows me to get involved in the school, and embed myself in the school community through the blogs that get posted each month, with my name on it, not to mention the achievement points I get for each one.

Additionally, it allows me to explore more styles and topics of writing that I don’t really get exposed to anywhere else.  For example, my most recent blog was one of King Henry VIII, and it led to me learning many intriguing things about him that one might not really expect from the tyrant king that he is portrayed as in class.  Furthermore, I had never really written any blogs or articles that would actually get published before, and it allowed me to hone in my senses of what my audience want and how I should shape the article with that in mind.

So if you would like to try it for yourself, why not give it a go, and ask Ms Payne in the library after school about it.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

 

 

Expand Your Search on SORA

Did you know that you can add libraries on to your SORA account to increase the number of ebooks and audio books you can access?  It’s really simple to do.

Go to your SORA app or click here.
Sign in (see instructions below if unsure), and click on your account (the three horizontal lines at the top left), a drop down menu should appear and you will see the “Add Library” button, click it and type into the Search bar “The Libraries Consortium” to add it to your account.

The Libraries Consortium is part of the London Borough of Sutton online library service.  Begin your journey to have an even greater choice of ebooks!

 

Not sure how to log into SORA?
Follow these simple instructions by clicking here. Use your SORA App on the go or on your home/school computer to read novels, non-fiction, graphic novels and magazines, it’s all at your fingertips!

Remember SORA is a good source for non-fiction books!

Think SORA Sweet Reads
this Summer Holiday

Venture into your own reading journey with SORA Sweet Reads, available to download on your phone, PC or tablet.  What will you read next?

Picture Credit: https://soraapp.com

 

 

Winners of our Library
Comic Strip Competition

Thank you to everyone who entered our KS3 library competition to design a 3-frame comic strip based on the fiction novel they had read.  We had some creatively drawn entries and we are pleased to announce our winners: First prize was awarded to Aayush 8T for his well thought out comic strip of 1984 by George Orwell.

Second prize went to Aaron 8M for The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. Third Prize went to another year 8 student for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling. Our runners up were James 8L and Nicholas 7G.

 

 

New Graphic Novels

On your marks, get set, go….. Leap into section 741 in our library to find these new arrivals in our Graphic Novel and Comic book shelves.  These great new additions were recommended by our local Comic shop in Sutton and are already being borrowed by avid comic readers.

For more Comic book fun and to read the whole Once Piece collection check out SORA TODAY!

 

 

Book Recommendations
From Activities Week

Activities week 2024 was a great success with students enjoying the many trips and activities laid on by the school.  For two days, our library hosted Mr Turners Board compendium for year 9 students to play an array of games; which got everyone’s competitive streak going as students took on staff to win.

Mr Bartlett took Year 9 students up to the War Museum in London and has kindly donated a book called “Victoria Cross Heroes by Michael Ashcroft for students interested to read about this prestigious medal awarded to military heroes for bravery in serving their country.  This book celebrates the 150th anniversary of the medal.

Mrs Taylor accompanied Year 7 on their French trip to Normandy and spotted the graphic novel book 6 Juin 1944: Overlord.  Both the French and English translations of the book are available in school library.

 

 

 

Thank you Jhalak

Sutton Grammar School would like to thank our friends at Jhalak for all of the wonderful books they have sent us for our students to read.

First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize and its sister award Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize founded in 2020, seek to celebrate books by writers of colour in Britain and Ireland.

The winner of this year’s Jhalak Prize for Children’s & YA literature is Hiba Noor Khan with her book Safiyyah’s War.  If you are in year 7/8 make sure you take a look at this award winning novel along with the other kindly donated books from Jhalak: The Kingdom Over the Sea by Zohra Nabi; Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera; Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters by Ciannon Smart; A Romani Story by Richard O’Neill; Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic by Romesh Ranganathan; Where Are You Really From? By Adam Rutherford; In the Shadow of the Wolf Queen by Kiran Millwood Hargrave; Bright Stars of Black Bristish History by J.T Williams.

If you are studying music or enjoy economics try these books suitable for all:

Musical World by Jeffrey Boakye (section 306.4), author of Musical Truth. And Nuts & Bolts by Romas Agrawal (section 609) for fans of Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy by Tim Harford.

 

 

Summer Reading Challenge

Ms Roberts has set a summer reading challenge for students to read 5 books by different authors.  Write down all of the books you have read and ask your parent/guardian to sign them.  Show them to Ms Roberts or library staff in September.

Achievement points will be awarded for your efforts.  You can use the Reading Cloud to help you select some books and write reviews.

 

 

 

100 Best Books For Young Adults

The Toppsta website is an amazing tool for finding your next favourite book. As students, we all have different tastes in books, and it can be tough to figure out which ones will really capture our attention. Toppsta was created to help you find book recommendations fast. Their website makes it easy to search for YA books.

We especially enjoyed their list of the 100 Best Books for YA.
In addition there are plenty of cool videos, top booktok books and other fantastic resources to explore.

Credit: www.toppsta.com

 

 

 

The World of Graphic Novels

This September the National Literacy Trust (NLT) are exploring and celebrating the popular world of graphic novels and comics for children up to 14 years old.

We will be following this initiative in school for our students.  Come into the library to ask for more details from Mrs Payne.  If you love graphic novels and comics this is definitely not to be missed.

Credit: National literacy Trust www.literacytrust.org.uk