Events: Events and activities that took place in the School Library during March

To celebrate World Book Day, the School Library invited pupils to write a review about any book of their choice using only five words for a chance to be entered into a prize draw. Read the reviews on our 5 Word Book review blog post. We also hosted a quiz featuring three rounds: a general literature knowledge, emoji book titles, and a Shakespeare or Young Adult quote taster round in preparation for our Shakespeare week quiz.

Shakespeare Week Quiz and choice board: We uploaded an interactive choice board for pupils to explore more of Shakespear’s works and hosted our first Shakespeare Week quiz. Pupils were to guess whether a quote was from a Shakespeare play or a Young Adult novel. We’ve included a selection of quotes below, can you guess which ones were from a Young Adult novel and which ones were from one of Shakespeare’s plays? Answers are at the end of this blog post.

1. “Reading would make me brilliant, but writing would make me infinite”

Juliet takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera or William Shakespeare?

2. “All that glitters is not gold”

All That Glitters by Lucy and Lydia Connell or William Shakespeare?

3. “If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcism”

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han or William Shakespeare?

4. “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations”

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green or William Shakespeare?

5. “If music be the food of love, play on”

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan or William Shakespeare?

Swatch: Our Spring 24 issue of Swatch, the Glasgow School Libraries eMagazine is now available. Here are some links to our previous issues: Winter 23, Autumn 23, Summer 23, Spring 23, Winter 22, Autumn 22, Summer 22, Spring 22, Winter 21, Autumn 21, Summer 21, Spring 21, Winter 20, Autumn 20.

 

Literary and Cultural Celebration Booklists for March: Booklists to tie into various literary and cultural celebrations.

Anti-Racism Book List: Anti-Racism fiction and nonfiction.

International Women’s Day Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books about women’s history, feminism, and equal rights.

Neurodiversity Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring neurodiverse characters.

Ramadan Reads Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books by Muslim authors and featuring Muslim characters.

STEM Nonfiction Book List: STEM nonfiction.

Trans & Gender Nonconforming Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring transgender and gender nonconforming characters.

 

Recent Arrivals: New Book Highlights

Forensic Science by Chris Cooper

The Illustrated History of Ghosts by Adam A Boardman

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

Kicked Out by AM Dassu

The Minecraft Ideas Book by Thomas McBrien

 

Trending Booklists: Monthly highlights and new releases

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favorite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstone’s – Books of the Month

 

Recent Awards: UK book award winners, shortlists, and longlists

Inclusive Books for Children Award – Winners

British Book Awards – Shortlist

UKLA Book Award – Shortlist

Women’s Prize for Fiction – Longlist

Women’s Prize for Nonfiction – Longlist

YOTO Carnegie Medals – Shortlists

 

Competitions: Writing competitions for young people

Foyles Young Poets of the Year Competition

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Poetry By Heart Competition

 

Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and Young Adult book websites

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

 

What’s On in April

Pop-Up Library: Exams will be taking place in the library starting April and throughout May, but pupils can visit our Pop-Up Library stall (location TBA) for book returns and collections as well as weekly activities.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day Activities: We’ll be creating Shakespeare masks and Elizabethan ruffle collar using the templates from Talklikeshakespeare.org and uploading a list of Shakespearean phrases still commonly used today.

Teams Quizzes: Our Quizzes will be uploaded to Teams using MS Forms in lieu of exams.

National Pet Month Quiz: Learn fun facts about our furry, feathered, and leathered friends.

World Art Day Quiz: Test your knowledge of artists, paintings, and styles. Comes with an accompany list of links to famous museums and galleries from around the world.

International Guitar Month Quiz: For serious guitar aficionados, this quiz is packed with facts about one of the world’s most popular instruments. The interactive answer sheet included is jammed with links with further information and videos.

 

Displays and Booklists for April:

Planet vs Plastics Book List: The theme for this year’s Earth Day is Planet vs Plastics to raise awareness on the health and environmental risks of plastics.

Stress Book List: Stress Awareness Month calls for a greater awareness of the negative impact of stress. Our booklist features some Nonfiction titles to help young People manage their stress.

Autism Book List: World Autism Month and Autism Awareness Day (April 2^nd) aims to celebrate Autism awareness and acceptance. Our Junior, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff booklists feature nonfiction and fiction titles featuring Autistic characters.

Shakespeare Quiz answers:

1. Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
2. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
3. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
5. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

 

As part of our World Book Day festivities, pupils were invited to write a five word book review for a chance to be entered into a prize draw. Below is a list of the books they’ve reviewed.

1. Afterlove by Tanya by Tanya Byrne: Heartfelt, Emotional, Agonising, Romantic, Tragic by A
2. Billionaire Boy by David Walliams: Funny, wealth, youth, friendship, humour
3. Dracula by Bram Stoker: Seduction, bloodlust, pursuit, doom
4. The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Confrontation, sacrifice, death, dedication,
5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Senior, abandonment, tragedy, selfishness, consequence
6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling: Mystery, exciting, enjoyable, magical, extraordinary
7. Heartstopper V1 by Alice Oseman: Heartfelt, sweet, romantic, freedom, trauma
8. Heartstopper V2 by Alice Oseman: Surprise, sweet, love, realisation, heartfelt
9. Heartstopper V3 by Alice Oseman: Supportive, encouraging, love, family, hope
10. Heartstopper V4 by Alice Oseman: Adventure, helplessness, love, care, charming
11. Heartstopper V5 by Alice Oseman: Growth, sensitive, relationships, love, heartfelt
12. The Malign Mischief of Megabyte by Steve Barlow: Cool, weird, boring, crazy, fun
13. Morgan Charmley, Teen Witch by Katy Birchill: Magical, growth, belief, hope, self-love
14. Over the Line by Tom Palmer and Ollie Cuthbertson: Dull, profound, cunning, silly, glorious
15. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: Exciting, funny, comedic, thrilling, eye-opening
16. Powerless by Lauren Roberts: Unpredictable, Labyrinthine, convoluted, ambiguous, riveting
17. Solitaire by Alice Oseman: well being, helplessness, love, happiness, optimism
18. Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan: Realisation, Sweet, Heartfelt, Growing, Love

 

 

 

This month, we’ve been busy working on reorganizing the library by expanding and adding new sections to our Fiction and Nonfiction collections. So far, we’ve expanded the Comedy, Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction sections. Our new sections include:

Equality & Empowerment: Fiction and non-fiction books about equal rights for all and include our Shelf Help section with books about mental health and wellness.

Historical Fiction: Stories set in the past.

Slice of Life: Realistic stories, families, friendships, and romance.

Thrillers: Action, crime, and mystery stories.

 

What’s Trending: Popular and recently borrowed books this month.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby

Charlotte Says by Alex Bell

Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

 

Recent Arrivals: New book highlights.

The Football Encyclopedia by Emily Stead

Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Plants & Fungi by DK

Amazing Ancient World Atlas by Nancy Dickman

Northern Soul by Phil Earle

 

Trending Booklists

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favorite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstone’s – Books of the Month

 

Recent Awards

Excelsior Award – Shortlist

Klaus Flugge Prize – Shortlist

Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize – Shortlist

YOTO Carnegie Medals for Writing and Illustration – Longlist

 

Book Buzz

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

What’s On – March

World Book Day week:

5 Word Book Review Prize Draw – This year, we’re encouraging pupils to submit book reviews of some of their favourite or most recently read books using only 5 words. Each entry goes into our World Book Day prize draw. The reviews will be displayed outside the library on our bulletin board.

World Book Day Quiz – We’ll also be hosting our annual World Book Day quiz, hosted by members of our Pupil Library Committee during lunchtime.

Shakespeare Week:

Choice Board – Pupils can learn more about Shakespeare and his work using our interactive choice board which will be posted on our Teams Library Channel.

Shakespeare or YA Quiz – Participants must guess if a given quote was featured in either one of Shakespeare’s plays or from a popular Young Adult novel.

Displays and Booklists for March: Booklists of monthly cultural and literacy events.

Anti-Racism Book List: Anti-Racism fiction and nonfiction.

STEM Nonfiction Book List: STEM nonfiction.

Neurodiversity Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring neurodiverse characters.

Ramadan Reads Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books by Muslim authors.

International Women’s Day Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books about women’s history, feminism, and equal rights.

Trans & Gender Nonconforming Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring transgender and gender nonconforming characters.

Hello! I’m Miss DeLeavey, the new School Librarian for Whitehill Secondary School. In this blog, I will post monthly roundups of the events and activities that took place in the School Library.

Some plans for this year include:

February: We will recruit a Pupil Library Committee with the help of the library volunteers to ensure the service is led by and for young people. We will also circulate a BGE survey to inform our stock selection and plan the activities that our pupils will engage in. We will also share booklists for LGBT History Month and Children’s Mental Health Week (5^th-11^th).

March: We will organize some fun activities as part of World Book Day week (4^th-8^th), including a quiz and a 5-word Book Review competition. As part of Shakespeare Week (18^th-24^th) we’ll post an interactive choice board linked to information about Shakespeare and his works. We’ll also host a lunchtime Shakespeare or YA quiz where participants will guess whether the quote is from one of Shakespeare’s works or a popular YA novel. We will also share booklists for International Women’s Day (8^th), Ramadan (starting 10^th), British Science Week (8^th-17^th), Neurodiversity Celebration Week (18^th-24^th), Anti-Racism Day (21^st) and International Transgender Visibility Day (31^st).

April: For World Book Night (23^rd), we will host a special ‘Biblio Bistro’ during lunchtime where pupils can ‘sample’ a variety of books from our book menu. We will host a 50-word short story competition to tie in with National Tell a Story Day (27^th) and a fun activity to celebrate Talk Like Shakespeare Day (23^rd). We will also share booklists for Stress Awareness Month, World Autism Day (2^nd), and Earth Day (22^nd).

May: We will host a quiet reading hour during lunch as part of Mental Health Awareness Week (13^th-19^th) and Keep the Heid and Read, a celebration of reading across libraries in Scotland to take the pledge to read for just 6 minutes. We will also host a Star Wars-themed quiz as part of Star Wars Day (4^th) and an Edgar Allan Poe or YA quiz for World Goth Day (22^nd). We will also share booklists for International YA Literature Month, and World Goth Day.

June: We will show some livestream author events as part of the annual Empathy Day (6^th) celebrations. The library will host a Reading Picnic as part of National Picnic Week (17^th-25^th). We will also share booklists for Audiobook Month, National Crime Reading Month, Pride Month, Refugee Week (17^th-25^th),

We’ve curated several themed booklists that have been uploaded to our Library Channel in Teams for pupils looking for reading recommendations. We will add new ones throughout the year to tie in with various literacy and cultural events, with input from our young people. The lists have a wide range of titles for Junior, Young Adult, and Senior and Adult fiction and nonfiction. Access the booklists on the Glasgow School Libraries Book Lists article on our blog.

National Non-Fiction November is the Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ annual celebration of all things factual. This month in Whitehill school library we’re spotlighting some of favourite new non-fiction books to celebrate all those readers that have a passion for information and facts.  

Engineers making a difference / Illustrated by Adam Allsuch Boardman  

Engineers are the superheroes of the real world. They use their problem-solving skills to face down the biggest challenges we have, from creating clean energy to designing prosthetic limbs, from eliminating food shortages to programming AI to exploring the surface of Mars. In this book you’ll meet 46 engineers, from apprentices and lab technicians to university professors and start-up CEOs and hear what problems they are solving and why they love their jobs. Engineers are changing the world. Will you be one of them? 

Beauty, hair, style / Sophie Hannah Stanford 

It’s time to let go of outdated beauty rules and expectations, and to discover empowering and exciting ways to express yourself. Welcome to the new beauty bible. This book has absolutely everything you need to know, from how to put together your beauty kit, take care of your skin and master basic techniques, to ideas for experimenting with hair colour and styles, and finding sustainable ways to develop your look. Including step-by-step illustrated tutorials and aspirational ideas, it is packed full of information to teach, inspire and give you the confidence to develop your own unique style.  Life is short – so let yourself feel good being you! 

Pinch of nom budget : affordable, delicious food / Kate & Kay Allinson 

Pinch of Nom Budget is bursting with meals and desserts that bring all the flavour for a fraction of the cost. From cheeky fakeaways and hearty one-pan meals to mouthwatering sweet treats, this food feels so indulgent that you’d never guess it’s also wallet friendly.  Thanks to bold flavours, delicious recipes and affordable ingredients, Pinch of Nom Budget has your mealtimes sorted.
 

Automotive : a visual history of automobiles / Illustrated by Ryo Takemasa 

A stunningly illustrated tribute to all things car, Automotive celebrates the ingenuity and usability of cars, trucks and motorbikes past, present and future. From Karl Benz’s Motorwagon, through to the flashiest, super-fast cars of today, Automotive is a spectacular look at the history of road vehicles throughout the world, and the fantasy and jaw-dropping awe they evoke. Packed full of iconic models including the rip-roaring Hot Rods and luxurious limousines with beautiful artwork by the award-winning artist Ryo Takemasa. 

What’s where on Earth? History atlas : history as you’ve never seen it before 

What’s Where on Earth? History Atlas is totally unique and the ideal book for anyone and everyone who wants to know more about the world. This round-the-world trip begins with the first humans and cities before visiting the Egyptian pharaohs and experiencing the rise of the Roman Empire. This History Atlas is the perfect gift for children curious about the past and the world around them, as well as parents and educators looking for a visual way to tell stories. 

And last but not least, we’ve got some fresh footie books! Our football section is always popular, these won’t be on the shelf for long.  

Football rules the world / Illustrated by Dan Green 

Robertson : from the playground to the pitch/ Matt and Tom Oldfield 

Vinicius Junior : from the playground to the pitch / Matt and Tom Oldfield 

Klopp, Tales from the touchline / Harry Coninx 

Every February, Scotland celebrates LGBT+ History Month -a chance to connect and to reflect on the past and present of the LGBT+ community. 

Whitehill Secondary School is currently working towards LGBT Charter Bronze award, as a way to ensure inclusivity for all pupils. In the school library, there’s a great range of non-fiction and fiction LGBT+ books available for pupils to borrow. You’ll always find something great to read in our display area, which highlights books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters. And there’s even more books in the digital library! Here’s a sample of some titles you can download and read during the month. 

You can access e-books and audiobooks from anywhere, using the Libby library app. New to the digital library? Check out this handy video on getting started with Libby. If you need any help using the eBooks or getting set up on Libby, remember you can visit the library on Thursdays and Fridays and chat to the librarian.  

Happy reading!