Kid's Lit Fun

A fun day was had by all at the West of Scotland heat of the Kid's Lit Quiz held yesterday at Kilsyth Academy near Glasgow. Korin, Roy, Brenna and Nicola did exceptionally well to take 6th place, a 7 place improvement on last year (but who's counting!!).

All the teams did very well and in the end there was not much between them. Bannerman High in Glasgow were the winners and they will go to the UK final in Newcastle next Monday. Congratulations!!

To find out more check out Wayne Mills' blog at http://kidslitquiz.blogspot.com/. Wayne is the Quizmaster and organiser.

Thank you to Wayne Mills and to all at Kilsyth Academy for making our day so much fun.

The Reading Club speak...

...about their meeting with Catherine MacPhail.

I really enjoyed my visit to meet Catherine MacPhail. I loved the fact that she made up stories on the spot and used our names in them. Some of the stories were very funny and some were quite spooky.
Caitlin, S1

Catherine MacPhail was excellent! She told us all about how she makes her stories and what inspired her to write them. She answered all our questions about her books and made up stories on the spot! She really was brilliant.
Eilidh, S1

She told us stories from her books and some she made up after taking names and words from the audience. She gave us a little advice about how to write our own stories. I really enjoyed meeting Catherine MacPhail last wednesday.
Carrie, S1

For more info about Catherine check out her website http://www.macphailbooks.com/ and why not borrow one of books from the LRC. The Nemesis series is very popular at the moment and I can highly recommend Worse Than Boys and Catch Us If You Can.

Catherine Macphail

On Wednesday the Reading Club popped along the road to the local library to meet Catherine Macphail. We thorougly enjoyed hearing all about how she comes to write her stories and where she gets her ideas from. But I am not going to say anymore about the visit as the Reading Club will be sharing their views here next week.

New Books!!

Have you discovered all the new and exciting resources in the LRC yet?

Loads and loads of new books and DVDs have been added to the collection since the summer. You can check out the lists on the Useful Links Wiki (on the right of this page), just click on Library Resource Centre once your on the website.

But if that's too much like hard work, simply scroll to the bottom of this page and you can see what new Junior Fiction is now available in the LRC.

Kid's Lit Quiz

There are still two places on the Cumnock Academy team which will be competing against other west of Scotland schools in the Kid’s Lit Quiz later this month in Kilsyth. So if you would like the chance to take part in this, next Friday is your chance to fight for a place.

If you read a lot and have a competitive streak, come along to the Library at 1.10pm on Friday 2nd November. There will be a quiz open to all pupils who will be 13 or younger by July 2008.

If you have any queries about the competition or about the types of questions please come and see me in the Library Resource Centre.

Try out for the team
Lunchtime on Friday
in the
Library Resource Centre @1.10pm

Remember we WON the East Ayrshire Reader’s Cup this year so I’m sure we have many fine readers to choose from!

Useful Links

Need help finding useful websites for projects or homework?
Well you need look no further than the "Useful Links" link on the right-hand side of this page. Your Librarian and teachers have put together lists of websites to help you with projects and homework for a variety of subjects. All this is available both at school and at home if you have access to the internet.

Take a look and let us know if you find this helpful or if you have any suggestions for new topics or websites that you have found useful.

Amnesty International Youth Group

Amnesty International Youth Group

The Cumnock Academy Amnesty International Youth Group will meet for the first time this term on Wednesday 12th September at 1.10pm in the LRC.

If you are in S4, S5 or S6 and are interested in Human Rights and want to make a difference this is a good place to start.

For more information speak to me in the LRC or visit Miss Simpson in the Modern Studies Dept or Miss Gemmell in RE.

Find out more about Amnesty International by checking out www.amnesty.org

Reading Club

Reading Club will kick off for the new term on Tuesday 28th August from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Anyone with a keen interest in books and reading is vey welcome to attend. Transport home or a bus pass extension can be arranged for those who live further afield.

Last year we had a great time getting involved in reading activities, creating displays, shadowing book awards, organising events and generally having fun. This year should be even better!!

If you have any questions please speak to me, Ms Colquhoun in the LRC or to Miss Sharpe in Rm1.01.

I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

Welcome Back!!

I hope you all had a fun, if not very sunny, summer. But as always it's great to be back!

This summer was a particularly exciting one for Harry Potter fans, of which I most definitely am a big one. The week before Deathly Hallows was released I decided to re-read both The Order of the Phoenix and The Half Blood Prince. My life was completely taken over, and it's possible I began to confuse reality and the world of Hogwarts, especially as I saw the new film that week as well! But i'm glad I did my revision. As always with JK Rowling, the clues were in the little details, and i'll very smugly say that I was right about a couple of big things in Deathly Hallows. Obviously i'll not discuss the plot here, but I thought it was a great book. What did you think? I wont publish any comments that spoil things, so if you want to discuss the finer details please come and see me in the LRC.

I've also just finished reading Garth Nix's Sabriel. I've been meaning to read this for years and now that I have I wasn't disappointed. I did feel it got off to a bit of a slow start, but it wasn't long before the adventure and magic really got going. I think i'll need to read the rest of the trilogy.

So what did you read over the summer? What was good and what is best avoided? Post a comment and let us all know your recommendations.

Wee Review of the Month

Star-Crossed by Rachael Wing

STAR-CROSSED is the perfect book for all the girly girls out there. It is a simple read with the right amount of imagination but your feet are kept firmly on the ground by its realism.

The main character is Jen Anderson who loves Shakespeare's play Romeo And Juliet. She has always dreamed of playing the character Juliet so when her English teacher tells her class the school will be putting on a performance of the show, she's thrilled.Better still, she thinks all her dreams have come true when she auditions and gets the part. Then she learns that her worst enemy, Chris Banner, has been given the part of Romeo.

At first she is determined to hate him because of the history between their families, but then her teacher tells her that there is a fine line between love and hate.In the book Jen constantly asks herself: does she love or hate Chris? If she loves him, does he love her? How will their families take to the news of their relationship? This is a well-written book by a young author who has conveyed how young people really feel about school and how students act differently in school.

Every issue written about in the book had the right amount of detail and emotion.

Review by Kirstin Bell, S3

East Ayrshire Reader's Cup Final 2007: WINNERS!

After class heats, school finals and a lot of practice, today was finally time for the Grand Final of the East Ayrshire Reader's Cup. Eight teams met in reigning champion Loudon Academy's assembly hall to take part in what turned out to be a very closely fought and exciting competition.

The first round, 10 questions on Horror books, was very tight with all teams getting either 5 or 6 points. Things got quite exciting after the Heroes and Heroines round in which Auchinleck Academy got a fantastic 10 out of 10! At this point Cumnock and Auchinleck were neck and neck, with reigning champs Loudon only one point behind. After the Pets round and 10 Lucky Dip questions Cumnock had a very slim lead of one point over Loudon. All was to play for in the final round of 10 questions on popular Scottish author Catherine MacPhail -at this point nearly every team had a chance to win.

The room went very quiet as we waited for the final scores to be appear on the big screen -some of us hid or head in our hands! But the room erupted with a chorus of Ooohs as it became clear that the competition was not yet over. Cumnock and Loudon had drawn on 36 points with Auchinleck guaranteed 3rd place on 35. This meant a tie-breaker question was needed.

The Cumnock and Loudon teams sat side-by-side awaiting the all important question, and when it came it was certainly not easy. The winning team would have to name Sephy's Nought friend from Malorie Blackman's book "Noughts and Crosses". Cumnock team member Ruth edged her arm in the air but changed her mind. If anyone got the answer wrong it would automatically be offered to the other team, so everyone had to be very careful. Then Cumnock captain Jenna raised her hand, then lowered it, raised it and lowered again before finally with confidence she told the room that Callum was Sephy's friend. She was right!

So Cumnock Academy are this year's champions. Congratulations to Jenna, Ruth, Holly and Korin.

Well done to everyone who took part, it was certainly an exciting afternoon.

Many thanks to the staff and pupils of Loudon Academy for hosting the final and making us all very welcome, and to East Ayrshire Library Service for presenting the cup.

Wee Review of Month

Review of “Samurai” by Jason Hightman

So… basically dragons are real - and not nice in the least. They prowl around the planet in the guise of humans causing disease, famine and the occasional plane crash - if they’re bored. They feed on the suffering of humans, and are generally unfriendly.

Simon St Gorge (the descendant of the Englishman himself) and his father hunt the dragons. Accompanied by the magician Alaythia they track them down and slay them in elaborate battles with machine-gun crossbows. But, Alaythia discovers she had become a liability and can reveal their whereabouts to all of dragon kind. She leaves in the night and the Dragonhunters chase her to Japan where they discover the Samurai and fight The Japanese Dragon in the most far-fetched battle yet - spanning several chapters.

But the Dragon of Japan has an ace up his sleeve…

The story in essence is really good. All I needed was the sadistic dragons to give it an edge, but they way it’s told was slightly disappointing. At the start it seemed disjointed; it was fast-paced like he was writing on a time limit. This carried on in the book a bit with the writing lacking depth. Descriptions were sparse; there was a lot of plot and not much detail. The book seemed, to me, to be in a rush to get to the next fight scene. However, the fights were suitably face-paced and exciting. The enemies were perfect, evil and cruel and each had an interesting, individual character with their own quirks. Shame the protagonists couldn’t have the depth the baddies had.

The book feels like anime. Elaborate, drawn-out fights with shallow characters and Samurai with suction-cups up their sleeves. But of course this formula works very well as we know and the book is gripping and fascinating by the end.

Chris Stevenson, S6

Have you read this book, want to comment on Chris's review or have a review of your own you would like to see here? If so just click on the comment link below and let me know, or come and see me in the LRC.

70 Years of the Carnegie Medal

This is the 70th anniversary year of the Carnegie Medal, the most important award for children’s books in the UK. There is currently a display of many of the winning books in the LRC. You might be surprised what is and isn’t there –no Harry Potter!

As well as choosing one of these classic books to read you can vote online for your favourite by going to http://www.ckg.org.uk/toptens. Poll closes 12noon 14 June.

My all time favourite is Granny was a Buffer Girl by Berlie Doherty. It won the prize back in the 1980's -which of course I am far too young to remember!!

Staff Book Group

Our Staff Book Group met today to discuss our latest read, Louise Welsh's The Bullet Trick. We all enjoyed it, finding it quite dark in places. There was a general agreement that if we had not known that the author was a woman we would have thought it was a man. But this was a good thing as it worked perfectly for the story, and made the main, male character very believable. We also reckoned that if we had seen the book in a library or shop there's a good chance we wouldn't have picked it up thinking it wasn't our style, but in fact it proved hard to put down.

We chose The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney to read next.

Carnegie Shadowing

The Shortlist has been announced.
The Books have arrived.
It's time to get reading!!!

It's that time of year again when we get the chance not only to read some of the best books of the past year, but we get to tell the world what we think of them. Using our very own space on the Carnegie Shadowing website (see the link in the grey box on the right) we can post our thoughts, praise and criticism about each book. There is already one review posted!! You can also check out the views of hundreds of other schools in the UK.

We will be kicking off this year's shadowing with a chance to choose your first book and to get more information at 1.10pm in the LRC on Tuesday 1st May. I'll look forward to seeing you!!

Pictures of the shorlisted books are below. Find out more about them at http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/current_shortlist.php

The winner will be announced at the end of June.

Wee Review of Month

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is a book that you dream about reading but rarely get the chance to. It is a mix of fantasy, horror, violence and comedy; just enough to make it seem real. The main Character is twelve-year-old Stephanie, who turns out to be more than the great Skulduggery bargained for. Stephanie forces him to take her on his adventures, and over time she gets to know him as an ace detective, mighty mage and master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course).

Oh yes. I forgot to mention that Skulduggery Pleasant is a living Skeleton!

Scott Holland, S3

Do you have a short review you would like to share? If so either bring it to me in the LRC or post via the comments link.

East Ayrshire Reader's Cup

The last week of term saw us host the year group finals of the EAC Reader's Cup. After thrilling competitions on both Tuesday and Wednesday, we now have a team who will compete against the other schools in East Ayrshire at Loudon Academy in May.

Our S1 finalists are Korin Vallance and Holly Cameron and S2 are represented by Louisa McCaffrey and Jenna Dickson. Our reserves are Brenna McCulloch and Ruth McKay.

Well done to everybody who took part and Good Luck to our team.

Goodies & Baddies

Pupils and staff have been telling us who their favourite Goodies & Baddies are in the wonderful world of fiction.

Amongst the more popular choices for Goodies has of course been Harry Potter (though my personal choice was Hermione Granger). Roald Dahl characters such as Matilda and the BFG also proved to be very popular.

The staff however favoured characters from the classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee as their goodies, along with heros as diverse as Rebus (Ian Rankin) and Elizabeth Bennett (Jane Austen).

We all seemed to find it much easier to choose our Baddie! Lord Voldemort was picked several times, as was Hannibal Lector.

You can see all the choices in the LRC display and there is still time to pick up an entry for our competion -you could win an Easter Egg! Entries should be returned by Tuesday 27th March.

Certainly not dull!

On Tuesday S1 & S2 pupils from Cumnock, Auchinleck and Doon Academies were treated to a visit by the very entertaining author Jonathan Meres.

Everyone had great fun listening to Jonathan's poems, stories and most of all his general madness! It came as no surprise to learn that amongst his many talents he has also been a comedian.

If you were there why don't you tell us what you thought? Or better still contact Jonathan via his website and let him know.

Find out more about him at his website:
http://www.jonathanmeres.co.uk

Children's Book Award

The WHSmith's Children's Book Award shortlist has just been anounced and inlcludes both The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean.

I love The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and I know that a lot of you have really enjoyed Peter Pan in Scarlet. What do you think? Did you enjoy these books? Do either of them deserve to win?

Maybe you prefer something else on the shortlist -you can check it out at http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/pnbb_shortlist_childrens.asp?#1

Let me know what you think.

Book Swap

Do you have a book that you no longer want to keep?
Would you like to pass it on to someone else?
Are you looking for a new read?

If any of the above apply to you come along to the LRC’s Book Swap.
1.10pm-1.40pm
Thursday 8th March

To take part, bring in your used books (good condition only please) to the LRC. For each book you will receive 1 Book Swap Token that you can exchange for a new used book.

World Book Day & Spring Read

Thursday March 1st is officially World Book Day. However we are not going to celebrate reading on just one day. No! We will be embracing the wonderful world of reading throughout March with the big Spring Read.

Activites include:

• Book swap
• Author Visits
• Year finals of the EAC Reader's Cup (who will make the school team???)

And don't forget your World Book Day £1 token. S1 & S2 pupils will get this from their English Teacher, anyone else who would like one should see me in the LRC.

If you have anymore ideas for our Spring Read or for displays in the LRC just let me know!

Competition Winner

Congratulations to Colleen Young in S3 who beat off competition from other members of reading clubs around East Ayrshire to design the logo which will be used to help promote our Spring Read festival.

More information about the big Spring Read will be posted here soon.

Get your reviews published in FRESH!

The editors of the Sunday Herald's FRESH magazine have sent us some brand new, not even published yet, books and they want YOU to review them. Suitable reviews will be published in a future edition of FRESH.

If you are an enthusiastic and confident reader, and fancy yourself as a published writer, come to the LRC as soon as possible and see what titles are available.

Hurry, I think these books will go quickly!

Carnegie Medal Shadowing

It's nearly that time of year when we shadow the Carnegie book awards.

The longlist is out and we already have most of the books in the LRC so why don't you check out the list and see what you fancy.
http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_car_nom_07.html

You can still see our reviews from last year on our very own Carnegie website.
http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/shadowingsite/group.asp?groupid=1825

We're back!

The blog is back -though you may never have noticed we were here at all!!

I will keep you up to date on all the goings on in the LRC. But if you have any ideas for the blog (even if it is just a change of colour), let me know.