Book-sell blurb: Someday Birds

Your dad is in hospital on the other side of the country. There’s this strange woman in your house who is supposed to be “babysitting” you and your siblings. Your sister convinces you to run away on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend to find your dad but you end up stranded in Las…

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Opinion: 2023 Softlink report – Part 1/3

The 2023 Softlink report has been released for 2023 and I am FINALLY getting around to writing up my thoughts on it. I am pleased to see that there was a significant increase in respondents this year, particularly in New Zealand! As a result, two separate reports, one for Australia and one for New Zealand…

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Book-sell blurb: Six of Crows

This town isn’t big enough for more than one gang, and Kaz will do almost anything to be the only man of power in Ketterdam. Would you join him? Ketterdam is run by criminals, exiled Grisha, and hunters. Survival is a way of life. Loyalty and honesty are almost non-existent and money is power. In…

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Book-sell blurb: Grace and Fury

It’s deadly to be a woman in this world, especially one who likes to think for herself. Would you survive? Two sisters. One heir. A twist of fate. Imprisonment or marriage? How will they save themselves? Serina was born for a life in the palace as the wife of the next heir. Nomi was born…

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Book-sell blurb: Red Queen

Imagine living in a world where the colour of your blood decides how much power you’re allowed to have, until one day, you realise that your Red blood is just as powerful, if not more so than that of the Silvers…  Mare is a red blood in a world made for silver bloods. Silvers have…

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Book-sell blurb: The Extraordinaries

Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world with real-life superheroes? Would you ever want to meet them or maybe even write stories about them? Nick not only idealises Shadow Star, but he also writes fanfic dedicated to his favourite superhero. After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nick decides that…

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Book-sell blurbs for YA

I have recently been trying to think of ways I can help overworked, time-poor, teacher librarians (TLs), particularly those with smaller teams or working by themselves. In a conversation with one of my TL colleagues, she got me thinking about how time-consuming and difficult it is for one person to read ALL THE BOOKS (not…

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Reflecting on giving feedback

Once upon a time, there was a senior geography teacher and she had a year 11 class filled with 10, bright and diligent students. One day, the teacher gave the students their marked assessments back.  To her surprise, despite the generally high quality and marks awarded, the students seemed unhappy. The teacher, who had spent many years developing relationships with…

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Identifying reading identities

Ever wondered how I’ve been identifying reading identities in young people? In this blog post, I step you through my process and the tool I used!