Happy Christmas everyone!

The Kimbookworms' Christmas party earlier today!

She is not invisible

Set in London and Manhattan, Marcus Sedgwick's latest thriller centres on Laureth and her mission to find her father. There are many aspects that make this book special, not least that it's told from the perspective of a blind person. Another page-turner from a master story-teller, with plenty of adventure and puzzles but so much more...theories, philosophies, ideas. Marcus Sedgwick is definitely one of the most versatile writers around.
More details in this Telegraph review.

ComicMaster

Create your own graphic novels with this free ComicMaster website. Decide on the visual appearance of the page, characters, backgrounds, props and special effects. Comics can be printed. You do have to register if you want to save a comic.

The History Girls blog

http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk/

As the name implies, this blog is written by female authors who specialise in writing historical fiction. They cover all ages and include contributors such as Theresa Breslin, Adele Geras and Caroline Lawrence. Full of fascinating information and with links to other resources, this blog is definitely one to check out if you're a fan of historical writing.

Sally Gardner's new website

Sally Gardner's website has been revamped. News about her latest release 'Tinder', drawings from the book, together with information about Sally herself and her other superb stories, feature here.

More information about the story of 'Tinder' can be found in this Guardian review.

Doctor Who Google Doodle

Google has replaced the search engine's normal logo with a succession of Time Lords marching across their banner to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary. The play button releases a dalek which then zaps the word and begins the Doctor Who game. Choose which Time Lord you want to be and try to avoid your famous enemy!

Kids' Lit Quiz

Another superb afternoon at the Central England heat of the Kids' Lit Quiz. With 25 teams battling it out for the trophy and the chance to take part in the National Final, we had to move venue from the library to the lecture theatre. Comberton Village College won with an impressive 4.5 marks clear of the field. Pictured are the two Kimbolton teams with Wayne Mills, the Quiz Master. Well done to all who took part in the Sport of Reading!

Charlie Higson talks about Doctor Who

Watch some of the biggest names in children's literature talk about Doctor Who:
http://www.puffinvirtuallylive.co.uk/author/drwho2013

Michael Morpurgo Month: Legends

Carnegie 2014 nominations announced

The nominations for the most prestigious children's book award have just been announced. This year is the biggest selection ever with 76 titles nominated for the Carnegie and 61 titles for the Kate Greenaway. The Kimbookworms will be perusing the lists and trying out some of the titles to see if they can guess what the judges will choose to go on to the longlists in February and, ultimately, the shortlists in March.

Michael Morpurgo Month

November 2013 is Michael Morpurgo month! A chance to celebrate Michael's wonderful stories as well as his 70th birthday. There are lots of video clips, extracts, and competitions online plus a focus on a different book every day of the month. Try Michael's own website or Harper Collins' website.

Derek Landy and Doctor Who

Derek Landy is the penultimate author to publish a Doctor Who short story to celebrate the Time Lord's 50th anniversary. Watch him talking about his writing or read the article in this week's Guardian.

Boy Nobody

Bond meets Alex Rider meets Jason Bourne...this action-packed thriller is already making its mark in the publishing world. Check out some of the reviews, start reading an extract or watch the trailer at Hachette's site devoted to Zadoff's new series.

More than this

The Guardian has a good review (despite the slight spoiler) of 'More than this', Patrick Ness' latest philosophical and challenging book.

Picture Me Gone

Meg Rosoff's latest book, 'Picture Me Gone' has just been nominated for a National Book Award. Watch Meg talk about becoming an author and about her latest publication on the Good Reads site.

How I Live Now - Official Trailer

'How I Live Now' by Meg Rosoff was published some years before The Hunger Games but it's easy to see why it's now been released as a film. Watch the trailer or read a review here:
 http://idolmag.co.uk/film/review-how-i-live-now
Better still, read the book before you see the film! (N.B Film rating: 15)

Maths secrets of the Simpsons

I've always been a fan of the Simpsons but never realised that behind the more obvious humour, there lies a secret core of advanced Maths.  Science writer, Simon Singh's latest book, 'The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets' reveals these hidden jokes, some only obvious when you press pause. Singh has trawled through 100s of episodes and obscure Internet forums to find examples. Read Simon Singh's comments in The Observer or borrow the book from the library to discover all the nerdy jokes!

100 books to read before you're 14

BookTrust has revealed a list of 100 books it suggests children should read before they are 14. Take a look at the best books for 12-14 year olds and see what you think. Should we have lists like this...do you agree with the choice...are any of your favourites missing?

Read for RNIB Day

Marcus Sedgwick is supporting the Read for RNIB Day on Friday 11th October. He's pictured here with his latest release, "She is not Invisible", which has been published simultaneously in hardback, eBook, audio, large print and in braille.
Read for RNIB Day is one of the RNIB's biggest fundraising events, helping to raise money to open up the world of reading for blind and partially sighted people across the UK. You can find out more or donate at http://readforrnib.org.uk/

Pottermore

Have you discovered Pottermore yet? This unique website takes you into the unknown parts of the Harry Potter series, re-telling the stories in an interactive way. The first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have now been revealed with 2 audio clips of J.K. Rowling herself telling the story and she has some new things to say about portkeys and the Floo network. Sign up for a free account and get wizarding!

Book an appointment with the Demon Dentist

David Walliams' latest book has become the fastest selling children's book this year, selling 29,002 copies last week alone. Find out more about David and his hilarious books at The World of Walliams and reserve your copy by email or in the library today.

Patrick Ness talks about his new book, More Than This

Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz - book trailer

Goodreads YA Interview - Maggie Stiefvater

The Carnegie Medal is announced!

At last, after months of reading and debating, the announcement was made at 1pm today. 'Maggot Moon' by Sally Gardner has won the Carnegie Medal for her superb dystopian story about Standish Treadwell. The Kimbookworms celebrated with chocolate cake of course - chocolate features in so many of our activities!  Want to read the book now? Then borrow one of the Kindles from the library. In the meantime, read what Sally had to say in the Guardian.

Hold your breath

Caroline Green's latest supernatural thriller is out now. Get a taste by watching the trailer.

Library Challenge

Well done to 2L for winning the Library Challenge! Lots of enthusiasm and accurate answers, well-researched.

Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman has just been appointed as the new Children's Laureate. She has inherited the position from Julia Donaldson (of Gruffalo fame) and it seems timely that we now have a Laureate who will champion the cause of teenage readers. Malorie Blackman's next book 'Noble Conflict' has literally just been published and will arrive in the library early next week. Read what she thinks about her new position and about her early struggles with racism here.

The 5th Wave

 

Rick Yancey's latest epic tale 'The 5th Wave' is now on the library shelves. Catch the trailer here or visit Rick's website at www.The5thWaveisComing.com

The Drowning by Rachel Ward

What happens if you've done something terrible but you can't remember what? When Carl opens his eyes by the side of a lake, his brother is being zipped up into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember. All he knows is that he must find out...
Watch Rachel Ward reading the opening lines of her latest dark, psychological thriller here or on YouTube.

Mayhew's Month of Monsters

To celebrate Jon Mayhew's superb new Monster Odyssey, Bloomsbury has created an interactive calendar that unleashes a different monster every day. The monsters range from giant sharks to dragons and are taken from myths, legends, classic tales and ancient history. Mike Love has created the brilliant illustrations for each creature - a great way to whet your appetite for Jon's book, The Eye of Neptune.

Branford Boase shortlist

The Branford Boase award is given every year for an outstanding debut novel for children. This year's varied list includes the outstanding 'A Bear and a Boy in a Boat' by Dave Shelton and the dystopian thriller 'After the Snow' by S.D. Crockett.

50 most popular authors in Vanbrugh Library

A snapshot of the most borrowed authors so far this year.

After Tomorrow: Gillian Cross



What if you woke up tomorrow and everything had changed? Your money is worthless, friends are gone, armed robbers roam the streets. That is how the story opens for Matt and his brother, Taco, in Gillian Cross's latest book, 'After Tomorrow'. Read an extract on the Guardian's book site and then order your copy from the library.

Gillian has also been talking to the Guardian about her top 10 books about being different - some brilliant reads here.

Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2013

Annabel Pitcher won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize last night for Ketchup Clouds. The tale of a teenage girl writing to a murderer on death row is based on Annabel's own experience of writing to a prisoner. Described as a 'classic coming of age story featuring death, betrayal and redemption' Ketchup Clouds beat two other category winners, including Wonder by R.J. Palacio, to the title. Annabel will be here at Kimbolton on 18th June so we'll be able to congratulate her in person!

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be dyslexic, watch this short animation from Sally Gardner's 'Maggot Moon (from her Multi-Touch iBook). It demonstrates just how the words jump about for Standish Treadwell, the main character, who sees the world very differently from his classmates.

Science and Engineering Week

Solving the QR Codes Quiz in the library for Science and Engineering Week. All the codes (generated by http://delivr.com) linked to websites that answered or gave clues to the questions.

Search Credible

Looking for credible sources of information on the Web? Why not try Search Credible - a clever Google based search engine which suggests a range of useful sources to try. Key in your query and click on the service you'd like to search.

Carnegie Shortlist

The shortlist for this year's Carnegie Medal has just been announced. Another collection of challenging themes and epic storytelling!. Explore the books and authors further on the Carnegie shadowing site. The Kimbookworms' reviews will also appear here on their own Carnegie webpage.

World Book Day

Lots of crazy characters around school today - of course it's World Book Day! Pupils were challenged to guess which fictional characters their teachers had dressed up as. Other happenings included staff wearing badges with anagrams of favourite book titles, a reading personality quiz and a book sale in aid of Book Aid International. A great way to celebrate World Book Day!

World Book Day is coming...

World Book Day will be here this Thursday and, as in previous years, you can download an app to try out some new books from our favourite authors. Click on the link below for details of the app and for WBD games, webcasts and competitions.

P.S. Don't forget to pick up an entry form from the library for the 'Guess the Character' competition on Thursday.

Book Sorter

Stuck for a good book to read? Try the Book Sorter from the Reading Agency! All the books have been recommended by young people involved in the 'Story Lab' Summer Reading Challenge. You can add your own books to the Sorter too.



Quantum Drop by Saci Lloyd

Anthony Griffin is an ordinary kid caught up in a dangerous world. The boundaries between real and virtual are more and more blurred, and when Anthony's girlfriend is taken out in a gang hit, he has to venture into the underground world of the Drop to flush out her killer and bring him to justice. This is the story of a boy whose girl is worth more than money.

Bubbles of ideas

Thank you Peters' Library Suppliers for our superb new display - it's certainly brightened up one end of the Non-Fiction section.

Malorie Blackman webchat

 

Malorie Blackman will be chatting to the TES on Thursday 28th February at 11am. Send your questions to webchat@tes.co.uk More details at: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6308276#.USISYB1A3Tp

Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2013

Some of our favourite books from last year have appeared on the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize shortlist including Wonder and Ketchup Clouds. Check out the full list at http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/pages/childrens-book-prize/1185/

Fully booked

Are you a big fan of books? Then this tent has got to be for you....it's a giant book! Wouldn't it be great to hold a reading group meeting in here? For more details go to Field Candy's website.

John Green webcast

John Green will be live on Monday 4th February from 2.00-2.45pm talking about his books and what led him to write his phenomenal 'The Fault in our Stars'. Register for the webcast at http://www.puffinvirtuallylive.co.uk/author/johngreen or view the event on demand shortly after.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

The Kimbookworms had a brilliant time at the Harry Potter Studio Tour last Saturday. We stepped into Dumbledore's office, sat on Hagrid's motorbike, wandered up Diagon Alley, gazed in wonder at Hogwarts and discovered all sorts of secrets about the making of the films. Magical!

Radio 2's 500 words is back

If you're aged 13 or under, you can enter the 500 Words story writing competition - now in its 2nd year. You have until 22nd February to submit an entry. Get inspired by watching the video clip with lots of tips from your favourite authors. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/500words/2013/

Blue Peter Book Awards 2013

The shortlists have been announced for the 2013 Blue Peter Book Awards. Winners of the Best Story and Best Book with Facts will be announced on World Book Day on 7th March.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/articles/blue-peter-book-awards-2013

Ketchup Clouds

Book Tweets

Could you write a book review using only 140 characters? That's what the Kimbookworms did this week using BitLy and Character Counter websites to shorten the Amazon links and count the number of characters used. A great way of getting to the very essence of a book!

Blind Date a Book

Pupils are being invited to make a blind date with a book this month. All the 'blind dates' have been recommended by other pupils as good reads and wrapped up in brown paper and string.  There are no nasty surprises (like gory horrors or girly chick-lit). All pupils have to do is make a commitment to read at least 2 chapters and then, who knows...this may be the start of a beautiful relationship!

Costa Children's Book Award

Sally Gardner has just won the Costa Children's Book Award for her superb fantasy 'Maggot Moon'. This unusual tale about Standish Treadwell, the story's narrator, is set in an alternative universe but one that, although brutal, is still recognisable. It sounds grim but it's actually an uplifting read with comic elements.
If you haven't read it as yet, you can try the extract on the Guardian's website and have a go at winning your own copy.