Seven Books For Seven Weeks
Have you heard about the Summer Slide? Unfortunately, I am not talking about a slide at a theme park, but the very real decline in reading ability and other academic skills that can occur over the school holidays.
Numerous studies show that students who don’t read during the summer holidays actually slip in reading ability by the time the new school year rolls around. So, what can we do to avoid this common problem? Research suggests that students who read 7 books over 7 weeks can make a significant impact on their reading and academic skills.
Here are some tips to help prevent the Summer Slide:
- Take our reading list to the library and borrow some of the recommended texts
- Get them interested in reading – try a new magazine
- Make time for reading – 20 minutes a day
- Ensure the reading material is not beyond your child’s ability – appeal to your child’s interest and age
- Create a cosy reading nook – get comfy and curl up on the couch
- Look for a variety of reading material: consider a new genre like graphic novels
- Let humour work its magic: check out David Walliams
- Listen to audiobooks – great a long car ride
- Attend local book events – check your local book stores.
Students are encouraged to borrow from the school libraries with all due dates extended till school, returns in 2020.
The library continues its normal hours till Friday 29th November (7:30 am to 5:00 pm).

By Nova Weetman
A Wonder story.
Meg uses Sick Bay to hide from other kids. She’s struggling with changes at home, wears slippers to school and buries her head in books.
New girl Riley is a type 1 diabetic with an over-protective mother. She’d rather chat with her friends than go to Sick Bay, but sometimes she has no choice.
Goodreads. (2019). Sick Bay. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43198002-sick-bay?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5SpoV2WI7k&rank=1

By Kathy Helidoniotis
More than anything Devi Sharma wants to win the upcoming BollyOz competition for her mum. Then shell be on her way to becoming Bollywood’s first ever Australian half-Indian, sort of Kiwi, quarter Scottish, Vaisnavi vegan superstar! Then Devi starts AFL lessons at school and she’s surprised to find she has talent…and a feeling she hasn’t had in a long time.
Goodreads. (2019). Nice Girls Don’t Play Footy. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45377034-nice-girls-don-t-play-footy?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=g8dd3QG2SX&rank=1

By Garth Nix
Arthur Penhaligon’s first days at his new school don’t go too well, particularly when a fiendish Mister Monday appears, gives Arthur a magical clock hand, and then orders his gang of dog-faced goons to chase Arthur around and get it back.
Goodreads. (2019). Mister Monday. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47613.Mister_Monday?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RZP9quxZ08&rank=1

By Pip Harry
When a Manly school sets out to bring a country class to the city for a beach visit, three very different kids find each other and themselves.
Noah is fearless in the surf. Being at the beach makes him feel free. So where does his courage go when his best mate pushes him around?
Goodreads. (2019). The Little Wave. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44282630-the-little-wave?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=AlDhAHnKsc&rank=1

◦ By Katrina Nannestad
Freja and her mother, Clementine, are reunited at last. Tobias and Vivi are in love. And Lucerne, their new home, is a paradise of snowy alps, sapphire lakes, white swans and delicious Swiss chocolate!
◦Goodreads. (2019). The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Lucerne. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48229159-the-girl-the-dog-and-the-writer-in-lucerne?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qqHK48xB5c&rank=1

By Kate DiCamillo
Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie’s picture in the paper and (maybe) come home.
Goodreads. (2019). Raymie Nightingale. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25937866-raymie-nightingale?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=NfzmzIfmX0&rank=1

by Ann M. Martin
The hit series returns to charm and inspire another generation of baby-sitters!
When Kristy Thomas has the great idea to form a baby-sitters club–a chance to earn money and spend time with her friends, all while doing something they each love to do–she has no idea how much the club will change everything.
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18889388-kristy-s-great-idea

by Raina Telgemeier
Three weeks. Two sisters. One car. A True Story
Raina can’t wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren’t quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she’s also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself.
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18225810-sisters?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5ET5XR1lLi&rank=1

by Raina Telgemeier
Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it’s probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she’s dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session.
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42190572-guts?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5evrPK8FkQ&rank=1

By Jane Godwin
A beautiful coming-of-age story about three teenage girls from very different backgrounds who find themselves sharing a hospital ward, for fans of Kate DiCamillo and Fiona Wood
Goodreads. (2019). As happy as here. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45861869-as-happy-as-here?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7nLb1T88HV&rank=1

By RJ Palacio
A Wonder story.
In R. J. Palacio’s collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. This is Grandmère’s story as a young Jewish girl hidden away by a family in Nazi-occupied France during World War II told in graphic novel form.
Goodreads. (2019). White Bird. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42898923-white-bird?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5GUm7CaDmX&rank=1

By Robin Stevens
1934. When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up a secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find a truly exciting mystery to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia’s missing tie. Which they don’t.)
Goodreads. (2019). Murder Most Unladyike. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18070753-murder-most-unladylike?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=UGU7QGKg38&rank=1

By Bren MacDibble
Peony lives with her sister and grandfather on a fruit farm outside the city. In a world where real bees are extinct, the quickest, bravest kids climb the fruit trees and pollinate the flowers by hand.
Goodreads. (2019). How to Bee. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34341687-how-to-bee?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Pt8WeGpOa6&rank=1

By Dominique Valente
Misfit witch Willow Moss holds the fate of the magical world of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands . . . A spellbinding new fantasy series for readers aged 8–12, perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell.
Goodreads. (2019). Willow Moss and the Lot Day. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45449844-willow-moss-the-lost-day?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=HEterWbNPe&rank=1

By Allison Rushby
History and mystery wrapped in a thrilling supernatural plot.
Flossie Birdwhistle is the Turnkey at London’s Highgate Cemetery. As Turnkey, Flossie must ensure all the souls in the cemetery stay at rest. This is a difficult job at the best of times for a twelve-year-old ghost, but it is World War II and each night enemy bombers hammer London.
Goodreads. (2019). The Turnkey. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40934435-the-turnkey-of-highgate-cemetery?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=02BS2p6W4Q&rank=1

By Tristan Banks
A Wonder story.
Sima and her family are pressed to the rough, cold ground among fifty others. They lie next to the tall fence designed to keep them in. The wires are cut one by one.
When they make their escape, a guard raises the alarm. Shouting, smoke bombs, people tackled to the ground. In the chaos Sima loses her parents.
Goodreads. (2019). Detention. Retrieved fromhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45145375-detention?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=FQVQ6tQENi&rank=1

by Gale Galligan and Anne M Martin
Stacey and Mary Anne are baby-sitting for the Pike family for two weeks at the New Jersey shore. Things are great in Sea City: There’s a gorgeous house right on the beach, a boardwalk, plenty of sun and sand… and the cutest boy Stacey has ever seen!
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43319659-boy-crazy-stacey

by Ann M. Martin
The hit series returns to charm and inspire another generation of baby-sitters!
Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey try to be prepared for anything when they baby-sit. So when they hear about the Phantom Caller, a jewel thief who’s been breaking into nearby homes, they come up with a plan to keep their kids
safe.
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18889398-claudia-and-the-phantom-phone-calls

by Raina Telgemeier
Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.
Goodreads. (2019). Boy-Crazy Stacey . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6393631-smile?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=aoOgRcHtST&rank=1
ADDITIONAL McAULEY LIBRARY SUMMER READING RECOMMENDATIONS by Melanie Robinson
As happy as here by Jane Godwin
White Bird by RJ Palacio
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman
‘Murder most unladylike’ series by Robin Stevens
Nice girls don’t play footy by Kathy Helidoniotis
How to bee by Bren MacDibble
‘The keys to the kingdom’ series by Garth Nix
Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day by Dominique Valente
The Little Wave by Pip Harry
The Girl the dog and the writer in Lucerne by Katrina Nannestad
The Turnkey by Allison Rushby
Detention by Tristan Bancks
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Guts by Raina Telgemeier
You must be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Vincent and the grandest hotel on earth by Lisa Nicol
Scoop Mclaren: Detective Editor by Helen Castles
The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The war I finally won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Pie in the sky by Remy Lai
Awful auntie by David Walliams
Dancing the Charleston by Jacqueline
Wilson My life and other weaponised muffins by Tristan Bancks
Word Hunters by Nick Earles
Super Series The 117-story treehouse by Andy Griffiths
Our Australian Girl (various authors)
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann. M. Martin
St Clare’s by Enid Blyton
Kensy and Max by Jacqueline Harvey
Alice Miranda by Jacqueline Harvey
Geek Girls by Alex Miles
Polly and Buster by Sally Rippin
Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables by Tim Harris