Things to keep you busy

There is a wealth of stuff being made available online try keep us busy during the lockdown. So here are some of the things I have found this week that I think might be useful, or at least interesting.

Educational

I just found the best library/Gaming crossover by Western Sydney University - it's a guide to referencing that they've turned into a computer game dungeon crawl!  perfect for anyone thinking about Advanced Highers next year or heading off to Uni and wanting to get a head start on these vital skills.

Babble.com are offering 3 months free to students to learn a new language. 

Audible are offering free audio books during this time - for free and no login or bank details required. It includes stuff for all ages and includes books in French, German, Spanish and Chinese.

Open Library have removed waiting times on their ebooks until June. So multiple people can now read the same titles. It's a US based project sharing out of print titles so there is some amazing stuff in the collection and well worth a browse.

For more digital book ideas try the ebook tab on this blog.

Best of Social Media - book edition

• Patrick Stewart is reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day on twitter @SirPatStew 

• Cressida Cowell is working her way through her 'How to Train Your Dragon' book - one chapter at a time https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe01xn13M8q2dsIw0mvW9lg

• Alex T. Smith is sharing a 3 story starters a day on his twitter@Alex_T_Smith

• While Kelly Yang is doing teen writing classes for free on her instagram.

• If you fancy more of a meet the author then A Case for Books is launching 'Book Wanderers Club' thrice weekly starting Friday with a chat with Robin Stevens 


• Illustrators are in on the act as well my personal favourite is Rob Biddulph 


• You can find loads more by looking for the #UnitedByBooks on twitter.

Try Something Fun
If you fancy from STEM fun Makerspaces.com has some ideas that might be possible with stuff you have at home. Or Kiwi Crates have a daily project and have released some of their STEM projects for free - there is stuff suitable for all ages.

Podcasts are plentiful but I'm really enjoying Shedunnit a podcast about Golden Age Detective books.

If you'd like to try Dungeons and Dragons you only need one other person and you can play The Hermit’s Sanctuary a free, full-length, introductory adventure. 

Or you could download a copy of If you are looking for a game to play with your household - might I suggest Mr Lister. Big Potato games are giving it away for Free! 

Mental Health 
Author Matt Haig said on twitter:

  "Limit news intake when you need to. Talk to loved ones more than ever. Eat well. Focus on the day, not the year, in front of you. Appreciate the future is as unknowable as always. Be as safe as you can. Let yourself feel what you feel. Find a routine baggy enough to live in. Be."

Remember the Library blog has a Mental Health tab that might offer some help. I'm adding to as I find more resources (so any ideas gratefully received).

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

This book is about a boy who is passionate about plumbing, and his cabbage obsessed granny. The boy’s parents are both fanatical about ballroom dancing and send the boy to his granny’s house on a Friday night. One night when the boy is at his granny’s place, a huge secret is revealed but what could this boring woman be hiding? To find this out read the book.

I found this book interesting as it was very random and exiting.

By Chitonkimar 

The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson

"The Dare Game” is a stunning story. It’s about a girl called Tracy Beaker who stays in a children’s home while her glamorous mum is away modelling. Later Tracy gets a foster mum called Cam.

Throughout the book Tracy doesn't like Cam because she’s not fashionable - she wants her real mum, not a foster mum. Tracy does really badly at school and decides to run away.

Tracy finds an old abandoned house and meets Alexander who makes lots of stuff out cardboard and is very shy. Later on she finds a boy called Football in the street. Before they know it, they are playing a dare game in the abandoned house.............THEY ARE TAKING RISKS WITH THEIR LIVES!!! Later on she finally gets her mum back  but is it really what she wants?

 If I were you, I would grab this book. I DARE YOU!!!!

By  animal girl 2000

Heather's been reading....

Elephant in The Garden by Michael Morpurgo

It was about a family in Germany in the Second World War. They save an elephant and go on a journey away from their bombed city and survive the Russians

Star rating ****


Enemy by Charles Higson

It was about when everyone who is 15 or over gets a disease and dies or mutates. A gang of kids now live in a supermarket surviving attacks from the mutated grown ups. When they are told of a safe house, will they go?

Star rating****

Girl Missing by Sophie McKenzie

This book is about is about a girl who knows that she is adopted but with a little research she thinks she might have been snatched from an American family as a baby. Her life then takes a turn. How will she find her biological family? Are her adoptive family really responsible for the kidnapping? When her family decide to take a trip to America this gives Lauren time to maybe run off and get a little more information about her life but her kidnappers are still at large and are willing to do anything to keep her quiet.

I think everyone should read this book because it is very exciting and makes you want to turn the page and keep reading. It is a thriller with lots of bits that will make you cringe but want to keep going. It is a book for age 10+ because of the scary bits which might cause children any younger than that to have bad dreams. 

By Jambo Rachy Forever 

If you'd like to find out what happens to Lauren next, we have the next two books in the "Girl Missing" series available in the library, "Sister Missing" and "Missing Me". We also have lots of other great books by Sophie McKenzie - come and check them out now!

Life on the refrigerator door by Alice Kuipers

This book is about a teenage girl and her mum. Unfortunately they don’t talk much, except via notes on the fridge door. When life gets tough for both of them, they try to make as many arrangements as possible to talk things through. But when Claire doesn’t receive a note from her mum, suspicions are high... This a fantastic book for those who enjoy an interesting but sad book. Highly rated! 

Enjoy!

Bluebird1020

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The bestselling book, "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, has been extremely popular in the library over the last few months. It will probably be even more in demand now that the movie has been released. The book is a great read and it will be interesting to see how it compares to the film.You can watch the author, John Green, talking about his book and reading an excerpt online. Get your name on the library waiting list now! See what some JYHS pupils thought of the Book:

This book is quite popular at the moment, but it’s worth the read. It’s a touching book by John Green. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she afterwards meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. 

Everyone should read it because once you open it, you find it difficult to put it down. You’ll definitely enjoy reading it. There are times in the story when you will shed a tear, there are times in the story where you are joyful, and there are also times when you will be shocked.  It’s a powerful book, and I think everyone should read Fault in Our Stars.  And if you don’t, you are missing out. By Haze 1

“The Fault in Our Stars” is about a girl called Hazel. She has a form of cancer that makes her struggle with her breathing. Her mum takes her to a support group and one week Augustus Waters comes along with his friend, Isaac. Augustus is a survivor of cancer but his friend Isaac still struggles and, like Hazel, goes to the support group every week. Augustus and Hazel look into each other’s eyes and it is love at first sight. Each cancer child gets one wish and no matter what it is it comes true. Hazel used her wish when she was younger and she wished to go to Disneyland. Augustus still hasn’t used his wish from when he was younger and he wants to treat Hazel. He wishes that he and Hazel could go and meet Hazel’s favourite author, Peter Van Houten. There is only one issue: they are in America and he is in Amsterdam. Will they get to meet him? Will something life changing happen?

This is a heart-breaking teen novel and everyone one should read it because it is a gripping novel, I couldn’t put it down for days. By Hazel

Indigo Blue by Cathy Cassidy

'I need a seriously brilliant daydream . . . because everything is far from OK . . .'

Indigo blue is all about the problems you face as a teenager. Along with having to keep her best friend Jo happy, Indigo is faced with a bigger problem; her mum and her long term boyfriend Max are splitting up. Indigo has to say goodbye to the life that she knows and say hello to a horrible basement flat at number 33 Harrington Drive. Indigo’s household problems affect what high school she will be attending next fall, which only causes more problems between her and Jo. Jo is beginning to doubt her and Indigos’ friendship and is becoming friendlier with Alisha. One night Max comes over to the house and asks Indigo’s mum out for dinner to talk things over about their fight and tells them he wants them to come home. After a lot of persuasion Indigo’s mum gives in and leaves Indigo in the house with her little sister Misti when suddenly something tragic happens. Little does Indigo know that the next few weeks would be the worst in her life...

 Everyone should read this book because it talks about the problems you face as a teenager.

By Choc Chip

Bad Company By Cathy Macphail

Everyone should read Bad Company! The book is about a girl called Lissa who is disliked by everyone in her class as her father was sent to jail after joining Magnus Pierce in crime. She hates J.B (that’s what Lissa calls her dad as she is too ashamed to call him “Dad”) as he left her family in stress and in debt. Before J.B went to jail Lissa had loads of friends and was her teacher Mr Murdoch’s favourite. Now Mr Murdoch dislikes her and her friends have left her. Ralph Airds is full of himself and does whatever he can to annoy Lissa. A couple of weeks before Christmas her father J.B is let out of prison, meaning he is coming home. J.B tries to make Lissa love him again but Lissa hates him and wishes he was dead. Dianne Connel ( the new girl) soon becomes good friends with Lissa they battle the world together until Diane leads her into trouble...... Lissa thinks JB has been in contact with Magnus Pierce so she does something which leads her and JB into deep trouble....... Everyone should read it as it is a great book about friendship and loyalty and is put in great detail. Report writen by smilepop

Zelah Green Queen Of Clean by Vanessa Curtis

Zelah Green Queen Of Clean is a very good book,written by Vanessa Curtisit. It is about a girl that loves cleaning. At the beginning it seems a bit boring but if you read on and let your imagination run free you will understand why I like this book. Although some parts of the book are sad it’s a really good book and it will make the reader engage with the story. I think people should read this book because it is an amazing book and if you read it you will love it. By a1s2d3

Shadow

Shadow by Michael Morpurgo

What is it about: Matt's best buddy is Aman! However, Aman has been put in prison with his mother and will be sent back from to where he came from in a few weeks. Matt is really missing Aman and does not want him to go back to Afghanistan; neither does Aman. So Matt and his grandpa set up a protest outside Yarl's Wood prison.

Why everyone should read it: This book really makes you think about the life you are living and how lucky you are. Some bits are funny but the rest is sad.

Codename: Master Splinter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!