Bec Kavanagh is a talented lady. Writer, reviewer and director of A Thousand Words literature festival for young people, Bec is our young adult literature specialist here at Booked Out. She’s recently written teachers’ notes on No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis for Allen & Unwin, as well as articles on how to encourage young people to read for the Penguin website.

Teachers’ notes on No Safe Place here.

Penguin articles on kids and reading here.

More information on A Thousand Words festival here.

The title of this post is inspired by the latest profile to be added to the Booked Out website, author of Addition and Fall Girl, Toni Jordan.

Booked Outers Bec Kavanagh and Esther Kennedy went along to the Writers at the Convent event in Abbotsford, Melbourne last month to see Toni speaking on a panel with Angela Savage and Meg Mundell. It was a brilliant session. All writers are engaging speakers and hearing about their different approaches to novel writing provoked great discussion about the highs and lows of perfecting a piece of writing, how that manuscript is refined with an editor and then finally ending up with the finished product, a published novel. Angela’s books are crime with an Asian twist. Toni’s romances are funny, charming and feature strong female leads. Meg’s debut Black Glass is speculative fiction with a very human feel.

In the past few weeks we have also added:

Benjamin Law. Brisbane-based frankie contributor and author of hilarious autobiography The Family Law.

Lola Berry. Young and bubbly nutritionist, author of healthy cook bookInspiring Ingredients.

Hanifa Deen. Author of creative non-fiction, often focussing on Australian Muslims, refugees and human rights.

Steph Bowe. Teenage author of Girls Saves Boy and the blog Hey! Teenager of the Year.

Jane Clifton. Author of crime novels Half Past Dead, and A Hand In The Bush. Also renowned for her role in Prisoner, and various other theatrical and musical roles.

Many more new faces and fresh voices to come!

Congratulations to Jon Bauer for winning the Indie award for Best Debut Fiction, as voted by Australian independent booksellers.

Other winners were:

Best Fiction, Bereft By Chris Womersley (Scribe)

Book of the Year and Best Non-Fiction, The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do (Allen & Unwin)

Best Children’s Book, Mirror by Jeannie Baker (Walker Books)

As the Australian Independent Bookseller website reports,‘independent booksellers have a well-earned reputation for being the ones to spot the next-big-thing and The Indie Awards is one to watch. Previous Indie Book of the Year winners are Breath by Tim Winton and Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, which both went on to national and international acclaim.’

Booked Out also has a previous winner in our ranks, Toni Jordan who won Best Debut Fiction in 2008 for Addition.

A little piece of feedback for the talented Mr. Greenberg!

Dear Booked Out,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work that Robert has done at St Columba’s College. He has presented to our Yr 7 students for the past few years and they have found it very entertaining and informative.

Our Rich Task unit on self-discovery and identity through the presentation of digital stories has been a challenging yet rewarding experience for our students. We found that Robert was able to talk to the students about the art of script writing and how to effectively express their ideas and transfer them into film.

Robert presents his ideas in a clear and entertaining way. He is a gifted storyteller and works well with the audience. It was wonderful to see him engage the students and involve them in a role-play, along with showing them footage of scenes that have been shown on TV. The work he has produced for this age group clearly sparked interest in the students and they were eager to ask him questions about his career and also seek his advice.

He has been invaluable in assisting our students with their studies and understanding of digital storytelling. Every time we reflect on his presentations in class, there have only been words of praise. Please pass on our thanks to Robert. We will certainly continue to use his services and strongly recommend him to anyone who has an interest in film, scriptwriting and digital media.

Yours Sincerely,

Stephen Karabatsos Rich Task Coordinator St Columba’s College, Essendon

A little piece of feedback for the talented Mr. Greenberg!

Dear Booked Out,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work that Robert has done at St >Columba’s College. He has presented to our Yr 7 students for the past few years and they have >found it very entertaining and informative.

Our Rich Task unit on self-discovery and identity through the presentation of digital stories >has been a challenging yet rewarding experience for our students. We found that Robert was >able to talk to the students about the art of script writing and how to effectively express their >ideas and transfer them into film.

Robert presents his ideas in a clear and entertaining way. He is a gifted storyteller and works >well with the audience. It was wonderful to see him engage the students and involve them in a >role-play, along with showing them footage of scenes that have been shown on TV. The work >he has produced for this age group clearly sparked interest in the students and they were >eager to ask him questions about his career and also seek his advice.

He has been invaluable in assisting our students with their studies and understanding of digital storytelling. Every time we reflect on his presentations in class, there have only been words of praise. Please pass on our thanks to Robert. We will certainly continue to use his services and strongly recommend him to anyone who has an interest in film, scriptwriting and digital media.

Yours Sincerely,

Stephen Karabatsos Rich Task Coordinator

We have just had the most inspiring week with John Danalis.

John worked with children from 8 years and over, firstly sharing his author’s journey in large groups and then working with small groups of Year 4s in writing workshops.

At lunch break and morning break John worked tirelessly signing books and postcards. He held spontaneous drawing lessons & contests and delighted the children with his gentle and fun approach. Today John held workshops with 2 groups of older (Y8 & 9) learning support children and he even spent a couple of hours at a school for children with special needs.

John also held two adult sessions that were informative, moving and entertaining. He even came to our adult bookclub and spent an evening chatting with us.

Unfortunately, I can’t put any photos with kids faces here, but here are a couple of pics of our “shoe” design competition and of John hard at work.

I would highly recommend John for a wide range of ages and abilities and for his flexibility, his hard work, his ease to spend time with and his enormous talent.

Barbara Philip, Teacher-Librarian, Singapore

Barb’s photo slideshow from John Danalis’ visit, February 2011:

The provisional programme has been released for the event coming up on March 7th in Melbourne. In the final line-up, a new addition is Sydney-based author and media commentator Melinda Hutchings. She is a survivor of anorexia and the author of personal help books for young people, Why Can’t I Look the Way I Want? and It Will Get Better: Finding your way through teen issues.

Final list of workshops (attendees to select two):

• Resourcing Our Girls for the 21st Century. Maggie Hamilton
• Responsible, Ethical & Resilient Digicitizens. Robyn Treyvaud
• Sexuality in the Schoolyard. Emily Maguire
• Body Image and Primary to Middle years students. Melinda Hutchings
• Body Image and Secondary students. Melinda Hutchings
• Developing 6 Simple Bully Blocking Strategies. Evelyn Field

More information on workshops.

Download a registration form. Limited places still available.

Our star pianist Anna Goldsworthy will have a recording of one of her recent performances broadcast on 3MBS 103.5FM on the 27th February.

We are great fans of community radio stations in the office, one of which is 3MBS. When we can convince ourselves to turn of PBS 106.7FM, or take Neil Young or David Bowie off the stereo — we like to mix it up with a little classical.

It’s been known for a long time now that teaching about music develops meta-thinking in children (that is, thinking about thinking, and helping them to better learn across all subject areas). We think it helps those of us in the workforce too!

We represent a number of talented musicians able to visit schools: Anna Goldsworthy, Jeff Raglus, Frank Jones, Mark Carthew (for the young ones); and musical comedians Sammy J and the duo ‘Anyone For Tennis?’.

A showcase of Booked Out speakers will be presenting at a professional learning event focussing on Asian literature, run by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.

Presenters: – Alice Pung – Robert Hillman – Najaf Mazari – Gabrielle Wang – Oliver Phommavanh

Date: 22 February 2011 Venue: National Gallery Victoria (NGV International) Address: 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne Victoria 8004 (School Entrance) Cost: $185 to DEECD and ISV schools; CEO schools are subsidised by the CEO

Registration:Contact Jennifer Brown-Omichi on 9267 0438 or jbrownomichi@ceomelb.catholic.edu.au

This Professional Learning Opportunity will provide hands-on workshops by authors and teachers which will emphasize ways in which schools can include Asia in the English curriculum in primary and secondary classrooms. Students in our classrooms are encouraged to demonstrate an understanding, learn and apply values, employ skills and actively participate in local and global communities. Contemporary texts by Asian-Australian authors and texts set in an Asian context can provide access to a rich, deep understanding of an Asian perspective.