CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

If we are feeling a little giddy after the announcement of longlists, shortlists and winners over the past two days, imagine how people like Tony Eaton must be feeling. Well, sleep deprived as it happens. Into White Silence was named on the Golden Inkys longlist on Thursday, a CBCA Honour Book on Friday and shortlisted for the Queenland Premier’s Literary Award also on Friday.

Joanne Horniman and newcomer to YA fiction Lia Hills also appear on the Inkys longlist and the QPLA , so special congratulations to all three authors, but also to all the Australian writers to have been acclaimed this week – writing for YA is in a very fine fettle indeed.

Here are the QPLA nominees:

• Into White Silence – Anthony Eaton
• The Beginner’s Guide to Living -  Lia Hills
• Sprite Downberry – Nette Hilton
• My Candlelight Novel by Joanne Horniman
• A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

Children’s Book Week was launched in Perth last night with a dinner at the Royal Perth Golf Club and more animal prints, pith helmets and other outrageous headgear being worn than, well, at a safari. Always a terrific event, the BW Dinners set the mood for the week to follow with great food, great companionship, lots of laughter and this year, a 100% entertaining speech by Jayne Lyons who demonstrated that she was selected for reasons well beyond her highly appropriate name. The hardworking CBCA (WA) commitee are to be congratulated as well.

Enjoy the week ahead. There’s great BW coverage in our state paper – hope yours is as generous. It makes a nice change.

Thanks, Deb Robins from Trinity Beach School in Cairns. Smart idea to get a smart car into your library!

Deb tells us that as the Year 7 students are looking at alternative energy this fitted the Book Week theme perfectly.

Schools in the area are also having a ‘fuel protest’ during Book Week – for one hour nobody travels anywhere. Instead they read for the hour and fuel their minds rather than their cars.

What are other schools doing?

Book Week 2008 draws ever closer. CMIS will be interpreting the slogan ‘Fuel Your Mind’ by suggesting that we challenge students to read and respond to literature that might be unusual or a little out of their comfort zone.

The Book Week 2008 pages are still a work in progress, but we have made a start on the lists for Older Readers and the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

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