A Million Words and a Thousand Miles

Back in Book Week at the beginning of last month, we launched the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire reading challenge, daring students to read a million words by the end of the year.

There were two prizes up for grabs – one for the first form to read a million words collectively and one for the first individual.

Well, I am happy to report that this Monday, just 35 days after the launch of the challenge, 8TJ became the first form to reach their target.  Well done to them, in particular to Elizaveta Fortova and Ekaterina Fortova who contributed the majority of the words, but also to fellow contributors Olivia Sullivan, Esteban Halmi, Khalil Fakhry, Chloe Jeffery and Max Bennett. The form were delighted to learn that their reward will be a Mad Hatter's Tea Party to be held in the library next Friday afternoon during form time.  Their victory is a testament to teamwork; at the time of going to press no other form had managed to match them, but several others were getting very close and it was a hard-won contest.

First prize for individuals is currently being hotly contested with several students having passed their halfway mark.  Though there will be a first prize in this category, all students who reach the target before the end of term will have their efforts rewarded in some way, so keep reading!

When this challenge was first launched, students entered with more than a little trepidation and skepticism.  Were they ever going to get there?  Surely a million words was an unachievable target?   Staring down the barrel of it all, even I wasn't sure!  But consider that the average Young Adult novel has 50,000-70,000 words and you realise that it soon adds up, especially if, as some students have, you really put in the hours.  Even the most daunting goal can be achieved as long as you persevere, undaunted – a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Literature and life lessons from the Swans School Library!

Las Poetas de Swans

Many many congratulations to the talented Swans poets who won top prizes in the recent XVIII Certamen de Poesía Para Escolares Poetas del 27, a Malaga-wide poetry competition run by the Ayuntamiento.

Out of the sixteen finalists, no less than five were Swans students, with two Swans finalists scooping first and third position.

 

They are beautiful poems too - some of our students really do have an exceptional talent and flair for creative writing, and are a real credit to themselves and their teachers.

Their poems now appear in print in this book, and the Spanish department have given us several copies to keep here in the library for all the students who would like to come and read the winning poems. (Many already have!)

Blue Jeans and a Pen

You will no doubt already be aware of the young Spanish literary sensation, Blue Jeans, and his novel Canciones Para Paula, which was said to be the first novel to be published in print following its huge popularity on social networks.  Well our copy of his novel has been on a little adventure to Malaga to meet its maker… and has come back signed by Blue Jeans himself!

Yes, thanks to Sara Rifat and Natalia Fernandez in Year Nine, who took the book with them, waited in a seemingly endless line late into the night, and were rewarded with an encounter with the man himself.  What a thrill for them to have met a local hero, and for us to now have a signed copy of the book in the library for all Swans readers to enjoy!  Sara and Natalia have promised to write about their experience so look out for that report in the upcoming issue of Pulse magazine.

If you´ve never done it, you might not see the appeal in getting an author to sign a book, but there is something really exhilarating about meeting someone whose work you admire.  Part of the appeal is in fact seeing how normal and human they really are and therefore realizing that there is a writer (or a creator of some sort) in all of us.  Another by-product is all the like-minded individuals and fellow fans you will mostly meet while waiting in line!

Blue Jeans fans will already know plenty about this young author (real name Francisco de Paula Fernández), who hails from just down the road in Sevilla, and studied law before giving it up to pursue a degree in journalism and later a career in writing.  All the latest news from him and his current signings tour are available on his very nice website at http://www.lawebdebluejeans.com/ .  Check it out and call into the library to view our signed copy soon!

Reading the News

A host of new titles have been added to our collection in the last week or so, thanks to the generous donations of our users, and the hard work of our monitors who have been frantically getting them catalogued and covered.

Two books featuring the eponymous hero Jason Bourne are now ready to borrow, as is the English translation of Isabel Allende´s classic Latin American novel The House of the Spirits, which will no doubt be a popular title.  Johnny and the Bomb, another Johnny Maxwell novel by the author of the Discworld series, is set to be a hit with our younger readers, and Started Early Took My Dog by the ever-popular Kate Atkinson will not be languishing on the shelves long if our older and adult users have anything to do with it.

There are also new books in our Spanish and French collections as well as a few new additions to our modest but growing selection in German.

We are always open to donations of books as long as they are in reasonable condition.  I suppose it won´t surprise you to discover that we in the Swans School library believe very strongly that books should be read, enjoyed and then released into the world to find new readers.  If you have books gathering dust in your house, consider setting them free.

In the meantime, call into the library to check out the fifty new titles that have recently hit our shelves.