Season’s Greetings! Can you believe it’s the end of another term? Here’s a few  highlights from St Roch’s School Library to wrap up a very speedy month.  

Swatch eMagazine  

The winter edition of Swatch: Glasgow School Libraries’ eMagazine is out now. The winter edition features a great Q&A with author Skye McKenna by St Roch’s pupils. There’s also upcoming book releases and lots of reviews and recommendations. You can browse the issue online to keep up to date with new book releases and see what pupils are reading ( you might also get some bookish Christmas gift inspiration). 

Library volunteers 

After 8 weeks of hard work, this month pupils finished their volunteer-mentoring.  Those who completed all their training and helped in the library once a week, became official Library Volunteers. Welcome to the team everyone! 

There’s been a huge amount of effort put in by our pupil volunteers so far this year. We celebrated all their hard work with an end-of-term party this week. The new volunteers were welcomed to the team,  there was a prize raffle for pupils who went the extra mile and  new levels of festive competitiveness were reached in charades. A big shout out to the pupils who worked very hard over the term and completed the most tasks on their bingo sheets, Roya, Ava, Iman & Amany. Amazing work folks, well done. 

Introducing Libby 

First years were introduced to the digital library this month. Everyone set up an account and learned how to use the Libby app. With Libby pupils can access thousands of books and audio books on their iPad.

There’s lots of great features, like different background, dyslexia friendly font and built in dictionaries. After a bit of practise our first years all went away with an eBook they could adjust to best suit them – ready to read! 

Festive Fiction

Lastly, we’ve some lovely books on our highlight displays this month that are perfect for the festive season.

Some like it cold by Elle McNicoll 

After a long absence, 18-year-old Jasper is finally heading home for the holidays – and she’s keeping secrets.  Arthur, a budding filmmaker, is turning the town of Lake Pristine into a small town story worthy of the big screen. His plans are disrupted by the arrival of the town’s golden girl – the antagonist of his school days; a girl he’s never forgotten.

Jasper Montgomery is back in Lake Pristine for one reason: to say goodbye. But before long small-town tensions start to rise, and a certain brooding film buff starts to look like a very big reason to stay . . .

Let it snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle 

It’s Christmas Eve and the worst blizzard for fifty years has blanketed Gracetown. But as well as snowflakes, love is in the air – and appearing in the most unexpected ways . . .

Who’d have thought a freezing hike from a stranded train would end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger? Or that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow could lead to romance with an old friend? Or that the path to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks? 

Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens 

It’s Christmas, and the snow is falling in Cambridge, where the detective duo Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the festive period.

But Hazel’s hopes of relaxing amongst the beautiful spires, cosy libraries and inviting tea-rooms are dashed by the danger lurking in the dark stairwells of Maudlin College. Two days before Christmas, there is a terrible accident.  At least, it appears to be an accident – until the Detective Society look a little closer, and realise a murder has taken place.

Faced with several irritating grown-ups and fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course). 

All the jingle ladies by Beth Garrod 

Molly hates Christmas. And it’s not even her fault. Her mum and dad had the biggest ever Christmas single when she was a child, complete with video evidence of Molly in a hideous Christmas costume joyfully singing the mortifying last line that EVERYBODY knows. 

Molly has spent her life trying to play it down but then the song is used in the hottest new Christmas film. It’s only November and it’s already EVERYWHERE. And when Molly meets a cute guy at the premier, how can she stop him from working out who she is? 

But Molly isn’t the only one hiding her real identity… will her Christmas romance turn out to have a Hollywood ending? 

 Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (ebook) 

I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please. At the urge of her lucky-in-love brother, sixteen-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on her favourite bookshop shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. Curious, Dash isn’t one to back down from a challenge – and the Book of Dares is the perfect distraction he’s been looking for. As they send each other on a scavenger hunt across Manhattan, a whirlwhind romance ensues on paper. But finding out if they share their on-page chemistry in real life could be their biggest dare yet….   

 I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas by Tiffany Schmidt (ebook) 

Noelle Partridge is known for three things: being the best ballet dancer, babysitter, and person with the most Christmas spirit in her small town. But lately she’s bored by the lessons at her dance school, and her friends and father are more bah humbug than Hallmark movie marathon. So when her favorite babysitting clients ask her to accompany them on a ski trip over winter break, she packs her bags for the slopes. It helps that they’re offering double her rate—she’ll need the money for Beacon, an elite ballet academy that’s granted her an audition. 

Noelle is ready to “Deck the Halls” and have fa la la la fun, until Wyatt, the older half-brother of her babysitting charges, decides to surprise his family for the holiday. He’s one of the best dancers at Beacon, and makes Noelle’s head spin faster than pirouettes. Unfortunately, she also manages to step on his toes—spoiling his surprise and complicating his secret plans. After a few missteps, Noelle and Wyatt begin to thaw toward each other and bond over the big decisions looming in each of their lives. With enough Christmas magic, Noelle might just start the New Year with lots of babysitting cash in her pocket and a chance with the pas de deux partner of her dreams. 

Happy reading!