Down River by John Hart

The latest staff book was Down River by John Hart. It was a very popular choice, a gripping thriller which kept us guessing until the end, with lots of red herrings along the way.

Winter book choices

If anyone has any suggestions for books for the library, please let me know as I still have some money to spend. I am looking for ideas for S3/4 that you think other people would like as well as yourself.

Staff Book

Our last staff book of the month was Notes for an Exhibition by Patrick Gale. The group all really enjoyed it and would recommend it very highly.

Spring read news

Great news! We have funding for the Spring Read programme in 2009.

New S3/4 books

We have some great new books in for S3/4.

Try The boys who saved the world by Sam Mills. " Jon knows what he has to do. If he isn't strong everyone in his school is going to die."

Or Zoe and Chloe on the prowl by Sue Limb. Zoe and Chloe are best friends together "Until Chloe fall under the spell of darkly dangerous "Beast" Hawkins..."

Or Skylight confessions by Alice Hoffman. "On the night Arlyn Singer's father dies, she is certain her destiny will find her. Then John Moody shows up at her door."

Or Special operations:Dogfight by Craig Simpson. "A teenage boy and his best friend obsessed with fighter planes. A country invaded by the enemy. One daring mission might just save the day."

New Accelerated Reader books

I have added lots of new books to the AR section. Look out for the shiny new cover. I have also moved the books round to make room so you might find that your favourites have moved!

New Books

We have some new books coming into the library soon. 3 stories from the terrifying world of The Midnight Library, Troll Fell, an adventure with gold and troublsome trolls, Barnaby Grimes, The curse of the night wolf, and The Black book of Secrets. This last one grabs the reader with hooked talons!

Weird Suggestions

If you are really stuck for something to read have a look at this http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/toptens. It is a selection of author's top ten novels in various categories from Beijung to boredom!

New poll

I have just created a new reading poll. It is a short fun quiz to see what pupils think about reading. The link to it is hidden in the Easter egg on the library pages of the schoool site. If you want to comment on the poll, please click here.

Librarything

We now have our own page on Librarything
At the moment it has some ideas for personal study books, but I hope to add more as time goes on. Please comment on the suggestions given. Librarything is a fantastic site with loads to explore and millions of books, so you shouldn't be stuck for ideas for something to read.

doonreads new site

Over the summer I have created a new reading site with some reading suggestions and links to other useful sites. The idea is to help you use the web to guide your reading choices. click here to go the site. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Terrific reads

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine - A really enjoyable gripping read about a girl who is handed a negative of a photo of her dead brother by a stranger, which changes her life opening up new directions. By the author of Finding Violet Park.
Before I die by Jenny Downham - A sixteen-year-old girl makes a list of all the things she wants to do in the few months she has left to live. A very emotional read.
Fearless by Tim Lott - A dark sort of fairy tale set in the future, with a heroine called Fearless where the other girls are all numbers and they are stuck in a frightening school.

New thrillers

Inside the cage by Matt Whyman - A 17-year old boy ends up in an isolated camp in the Arctic for hacking into Fort Knox. Another detainee stages a break-out and our hero had to decide which side he is on. If you liked the film Con-Air, you will enjoy this gripping read.
Wilderness by Roddy Doyle - Part survival drama and part family drama. Set in Arctic Finland where two boys and their mother are on a wilderness holiday. When their mother doesn't get back to the lodge, the boys set out to find her. Lots about dogs and dog-sledging.

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser - If you have watched any of the Brat Camp type programmes on TV, you will enjoy this exciting insider story of what happens to a boy sent to a very tough camp.

Manga and comics

The manga and graphic novels I bought are now available for loan. The library now has some Bart Simpson, some Batman, Heroes and a selection of other titles. There is also a small selection of manga (Japanese comics) for people to try. Because manga are translated from the Japanese you read them back-to-front.

March book

The Staff Reading Group book for March was

Then we came to the end by Joshua Ferris

. This was the most unpopular book we have had for some time. Only one person finished it, everybody else hated it and couldn't see any point in continuing it until the end. We didn't think it was funny and were not engaged or involved with the cast of characters. Admittedly it is unlikely that teachers in a rural secondary school in Scotland will have a lot of sympathy for staff of an advertising agency in Chicago.

Catherine MacPhail visit

On Thursday 20th March, the author Catherine MacPhail came to Doon Academy. Pupils from Cumnock and Auchinleck academies came to join us here and listen to her very entertaining talk.

She chatted about some of her books and where she had got the original ideas from. I am sure that lots of pupils will be borrowing her books from the Library next week. Towards the ned of her talk she decribed a ghost story set is a school. She asked the pupils to imagine lots of creepy things that might happen in a dark school library in the evening once people had gone home. Loads of people came up with creepy suggestions, fortunately none of them featured homicidal librarians!

After the talk she was happy to chat to pupils and sign autographs.

Nicola Morgan

Firday 14th March. Most of Miss Borthwick's S1 class went to Auchinleck Academy to hear the author Nicola Morgan talk about her work. She discussed Monday are red, Fleshmarket, her Highwayman books and Blame my brain. She told us how she was inspired to write Fleshmarket by a visit to the Royal College of Surgeons' museum in Edinburgh and seeing some of the gory exhibits there.

S1 Readers' Cup

This was held on Tuesday 11th March in the Assembly Hall. This was also a very closely fought contest with only 4 points separating the teams at the finish. This time Doon won by one point. The winning team was Keiran Boyle, Bradley Kirkwood, Heather Dunn and Paige Collins. Well done to all the participants.

S2 Readers' Cup

This was a really close competition which ended in a tiebreaker between Bradan and Doon. Both teams finished with 27 points. Bradan won the tiebreaker. It was a fun afternoon with good performances from all the teams and lots of prizes won by the audience. The winning team consisted of Ryan McKnight, Steven Slider, Lisa Chalmers, and Bronwynn Dempsey.

Spring Read

We have had a Scholastic Book Fair in the library for the last few days. Pupils have had a chance to browse and buy books, posters and stationery. The winner of the logo competition was Ryan in S1 and Amy, Lauren, Ainsley, Tom and Gemma all won vouchers for the Book Fair for their book jackets and reviews.

World Book Day Books to talk about

WBD have produced a list of "Hidden gems" books you might have missed. These are titles that have not been widely publicised or been on Richard and Judy. Have a look at the list here . You can vote for your favourite and help choose THE book to talk about 2008. There discussion topics, downloadable toolkits and the chance to win books and book tokens.

January Reader of the Month

Our Readers of the Month for January are Kyle McCormick in S2 and Heather Dunn in S1. They earned the most points. Reader of the month for February will be for most quizzes passed.

February book

This month the group will be reading Lori Lansens The Girls. Members got their books yesterday and it has already provoked some discussion.

Spinebreakers

This is a new and exciting website for teenage reader from Penguin books. http://www.spinebreakers.co.uk/Pages/Home.aspx Check it out. There are lots of competitions!

Author visits in the pipeline

Our spring Read programme will be running again in March this year. Among other events planned We have the authors Janet Paisley, Nicola Morgan and Catherine McPhail coming to visit school. We are also planning a Book Fair and the S1 and S2 Readers' Cup Quizzes.
Watch this space for more news.