CARNEGIE BOOK AWARDS SHADOWING GROUP

This year, LGGS Library are once again shadowing the prestigious Carnegie Book Awards. A group of students from Years 7 to 10 are about to get stuck into the Shortlist of 8 of the best books for Young Adults published in the past year, as voted for by members of the Chartered Institute of Librarians.

Our student judges will read and engage with the shortlists critically and creatively, through group participation and digitally: posting online reviews, artworks, videos and taking part in creative activities and online events. Each member of our shadowing group will vote for their favourite book to receive the Shadowers’ Choice Award at the winners’ ceremony in June 2023.

Shortlisted books and the 2023 winner will be available to borrow from the school Library once judging has finished at the end of June. For now, check out our reviews and artwork via the LGGS Shadow Questers group page at: yotocarnegies.co.uk/reading-group/lggsshadow-questers/

Lancashire Book Of The Year Young Judges 2023

This year, LGGS was chosen as one of just a number of judging schools in the prestigious Lancashire Book of the Year Awards (LBOY).

LBOY is the longest-running regional book award in the country, celebrating young adult fiction from Lancashire-born or Lancashireresiding writers published in the past year. It is also one of the only book awards in the country to be judged entirely by students!

Longlisted books arrived in our school Library in early November. Since then, our 10 student longlist made the shortlist, which is testament to the professionalism and discernment of our student judges!

Our judges will now continue to caste their critical eyes over the shortlisted books before voting opens in June to decide the winner. The Awards will culminate with a celebration event in July where all judging schools gather to share their experiences of the process and chat with all the 2023 shortlisted authors!

Longlisted books are now available in the school library for all students to borrow. Shortlisted books will be available for all students to enjoy after the judging process has concluded in July.

‘I really enjoyed the LBOY workshop – talking about the books we have read was very interesting and engaging. I also loved hearing the other judges’ opinions.’ judges in Years 8 9 have been making their way through and discussing their thoughts on each book. In February, we held an in-school workshop to finalise our opinions before submitting our votes on the shortlist. We were delighted that 5 of our top 6 books from the

- Erin Munford, Year 8.

‘I really enjoyed the LBOY workshop because I found it opened my eyes to the books on the longlist that I haven’t read yet!’

- Darcey Gibson, Year 8.

You can check out our shortlisted books here: www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/ libraries/lancashires-book-of-the-year/

Blind Date With A Book

LGGS Library gave students the chance to pick a Blind Date with a Book for Valentine's Day! Our Student Librarian Team were busy wrapping and decorating piles of mystery books for the display. Students in all years could read the clues on the wrapping and choose their blind book date to take home. The mystery books included junior and young adult fiction, senior fiction, graphic novels, non-fiction and poetry. Aside from sparking much excitement at taking home a beautifully-wrapped mystery book, the aim was to encourage students not to judge a book solely by its cover and to perhaps discover new genres and authors. Students were then encouraged to rate their date by leaving a book review on the library web app!

Extended Reading Project

I have made a model of the Hound from the Hound of the Baskervilles, which I chose for my extended reading project in English. The Hound is sculpted from clay with a wire frame to give it a stronger and more specific shape, however, it is still quite fragile! For the extended reading project, we have to make an artefact and a presentation focusing on an area of the book that we have chosen. I thought that a model of the Hound would hopefully clearly demonstrate the ferocity and aggressiveness with which it is described. The hound is described as having ‘blazing red eyes’ and I have tried to make the model look just as it is described in the story. It took several hours of intense concentration but I found it very enjoyable to make.

Jennifer Hayes