Hooked on NZ Books: a place for young readers to join the critical conversation

Pile of books

Melissa Wastney, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura,
introduces school libraries to Hooked on NZ Books He Ao Ano, an online platform and literary community for readers aged 12-19.

The looks hook people in, but the blurb brings it home (literally, I always leave bookshops with a lot of books.)

This book deserves all of the praise it receives; it is a beautifully told, undeniably raw, and extremely emotional read…

Once I had read this I was able to understand that although New Zealand claims to be diverse and accepting, racism affects our day to day lives, whether you are able to see it or not…

– Quotes from some recent Hooked on Books reviews.

At Read NZ Te Pou Muramura we want to encourage all of us to read more, and at the same time acknowledge the social aspects of literature; how books bring us closer to each other.

In the words of American writer Patricia Hampl, ‘’If nobody talks about books, if they are not discussed or somehow contended with, literature ceases to be a conversation, ceases to be dynamic. Most of all, it ceases to be intimate. Reviewing makes of reading a participant sport, not a spectator sport.’’

Building a community of readers who discuss books, and growing the next generation of critics is what Hooked on NZ Books He Ao Ano is all about.

Established four years ago by Peppercorn Press to complement their print journal NZ Review of Books, Hooked on Books is an online platform and literary community for readers aged 12-19.

Read NZ adopted the programme in 2020 and would love your help to find enthusiastic young readers to review the latest New Zealand books for us.

How does it work?

First, we match readers with new books: mostly novels, but also non-fiction, poetry and essays. Our reviewers live everywhere from Invercargill to Kaitaia.

We ask for the reviews to be emailed back within a month, and the reader gets to keep the book.

Our editor works with the reviewer to edit the piece so it’s the best it can be. This can sometimes involve a week of revisions and emails but is always an encouraging and supportive process.

We publish the final version of the review on the Hooked on NZ Books website, and share it with our wider community. The best review from each month is published on the official Read NZ website.

Read NZ CEO Juliet Blyth says the purpose of Hooked on NZ Books is to grow the audience for home-grown literature, to provide another space for young writers to be published and to nurture the next generation of critical readers in Aotearoa.

“Our reviewers have the opportunity to respond personally and critically to the latest reads while together building an online resource about NZ books and a genuine platform for their voice.

“Anyone can say that they loved or loathed a book, but it’s much harder to say why. Reviewing is important because well-argued reviews can influence what gets published and what gets read,” she says.

We at Read NZ would love your help to identify young readers and writers aged around 13 – 19 to participate.

We welcome enquiries from school librarians and teachers, but we’re also happy to work directly with young readers.

Interested reviewers can sign up on the Hooked on Books website, or contact Read NZ to get involved.

www.hookedonbooks.org.nz
www.read-nz.org

Hooked on NZ Books logo

Book review sites ANZ

SCIS has catalogued these book review websites recommended by colleagues in Australia and New Zealand. They are a great selection tool for library staff.  The SCIS number for each site is listed, which you can paste into the SCIS Orders page. Otherwise, simply click here to download records for a selection of these sites.

Just So Stories by Sue Warren (SCIS No. 1664473)

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe
Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottom shelf  by Barbara Braxton (SCIS No. 1641811)

The bottom shelf of the bookcase is the one that the little people in my life always go to. There they find the books they love to read and share - the familiars and the favourites, and often some first-reads that have been added since their last visit.
The bottom shelf of the bookcase is the one that the little people in my life always go to. There they find the books they love to read and share – the familiars and the favourites, and often some first-reads that have been added since their last visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Children’s Daily by Megan Daley (SCIS No. 1702039)

Did you know that the single most important person in your child’s reading development is YOU?  A LOVE of reading, that most important factor in becoming a lifelong reader, begins at home with powerful children’s books and a house full of words.
Did you know that the single most important person in your child’s reading development is YOU?
A LOVE of reading, that most important factor in becoming a lifelong reader, begins at home with powerful children’s books and a house full of words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book chook by Susan Stephenson (SCIS No. 1664473)

Book reviews, resources, tips for parents and teachers from an Australian writer who is passionate about children literacy, learning and literature

Book reviews, resources, tips for parents and teachers from an Australian writer who is passionate about children literacy, learning and literature

 

 

 

Senga White from New Zealand recommends the following sites from New Zealand

Bobs Books Blog by Bob Docherty (SCIS No. 1702486)

I offer my knowledge and passion for Children’s Literature to promote reading and literacy in your school using your own library resources plus new books sent to me by authors and publishers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beattie’s Book Blog by Graham Beattie (SCIS No. 1702490)

Beatties Book Blog
Judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn’t, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reading doctor    by Kate de Goldi (SCIS No. 1702492)

Author Kate de Goldi has a regular Reading Doctor segment in Bootnotes, the online magazine from Book Council of NZ
Author Kate de Goldi has a regular Reading Doctor segment in Bootnotes, the online magazine from Book Council of NZ

 

Enhanced content in SCIS catalogue

The SCIS Catalogue is a valuable starting point for school staff looking to identify books, digital resources and websites to support the curriculum, and subscribers are encouraged to use it as a selection aid for locating resources that are required for a particular purpose in a school. While providing catalogue records is core business, SCIS recognises the value of enhancing the catalogue record where possible with any information that may help school staff discover and review resources of interest.

In July 2011 SCIS added enhanced content services from Syndetics Solutions and LibraryThing for Libraries to the SCIS Catalogue, via a subscription with Thorpe-Bowker. The bibliographic records in SCIS OPAC are enhanced to display additional detail about resources, including plot summaries, author notes, awards and reviews. This content is delivered to SCIS by linked data based on ISBN.

Consider the subject headings and notes if using SCIS Catalogue as a selection tool
Figure 1: If using SCIS Catalogue as a selection tool, consider using the Subject Headings and notes

The SCIS Catalogue bibliographic record display provides a link to Google Books. The Google books link/s (if any) will appear at the bottom of the display.
There are three possible links:

  • Entire book is viewable
  • A portion of the book is viewable
  • “About This Book” information is available.

These links will enrich search results with lists of relevant books, journal articles, web page citations and links to related works and full text when available.

Google Books link in SCIS Catalogue record
Figure 2: Google Books link in SCIS Catalogue record

 

Social bookmarks links in SCIS Catalogue
Individual records from SCIS Catalogue can be saved directly to selected social media services as bookmarks. The persistent website address (URL) for these records will be in the format http://opac.scis.curriculum.edu.au/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1411770 where the bibID is the SCIS number for that record.
Note that you will need a subscription to the social bookmarking service you wish to use, and anyone accessing these SCIS records from your bookmarking service will need to be a SCIS subscriber.
The social bookmarking services currently supported include delicious.com, diigo.com, facebook.com, google.com and StumbleUpon.com.

Social bookmarks links in SCIS Catalogue full record screen
Figure 3. Social bookmarks links in SCIS Catalogue full record screen

 

Images linked to Google Books are not available for download from SCIS. The book cover image from Thorpe Bowker located within the catalogue data (if available) can be downloaded into your library management system from our orders page or via your system’s z39.50 connection. Subscriber schools may also display the images on the school website including blogs, wikis, online newsletters and the school intranet.

Syndetics content in SCIS Catalogue
Through the subscription service Syndetics, SCIS offers additional descriptive and evaluative information where available including:

  • summaries and annotations
  • fiction and biography profiles
  • summaries and annotations
  • fiction and biography profiles
  • author notes
  • awards
  • books in a series

Syndetics reviews
Syndetics delivers edited reviews from authoritative reviewing sources including:

  • Bookseller & Publisher reviews
  • New York Times reviews
  • School Library Journal reviews
  • Publishers Weekly reviews
  • The Horn Book reviews
  • Kirkus reviews

SCIS and Scan

Scan is a quarterly, professional refereed journal produced by the NSW Department of Education and Communities. It focuses on the interaction between information in a digital age and effective student learning.

What’s in Scan?

Articles and school stories plus resources reviewed from a curriculum perspective, plus research and research-based articles.

Contact the Scan Editor for further information or visit the School Libraries and Information Literacy website for a subscription form.

Connect to a taster of articles from Scan this year.

Research columns
Dr James E. Herring presents the findings of a study which explored the views of Year 7 students on information literacy practices and discusses the implications for teacher librarians and teachers.

In the second research article, Mal Lee considers what it means for schools to be networked communities. The practical implications and potentials are illustrated with reference to Broulee Public School.

Reviews

Scan resource icons

Each issue of Scan includes 80+ e-resource and website reviews as well as picture books, fiction, professional and information resources reviews and more. Reviews for e-resources, including e-books and apps, indicate fees, registration or devices as needed. Icons (see table) are used for quick reference.

SCIS and Scan

SCIS record numbers and barcodes are provided with Scan reviews to facilitate creating orders in SCISWeb.

SCIS records for resources reviewed in Scan are also available for download in bulk as SCIS Special Order files [SCISWeb log in required].

Syndetic Solutions

Through the subscription service Syndetics, SCIS offers additional descriptive and evaluative information for its catalogue records where available. Syndetic logo
Features include:

  • author notes
  • awards
  • books in a series
  • fiction and biography profiles
  • summaries and annotations.

Syndetics reviews

Syndetics delivers edited reviews from authoritative reviewing sources including:

Awards for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling
Awards for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling

Continue reading Syndetic Solutions

LibraryThing for Libraries

SCIS is now a member of LibraryThing for Libraries, an enhancement service that delivers information created and shared by members of the LibraryThing social networking service into library catalogues.

LTFL logoCommunity generated content from LibraryThing for Libraries includes a range of features that provide additional descriptive information about resources in the SCIS catalogue.

Recommendations point to other ‘similar’ titles available within the catalogue.

Similar books to Queen of sorcery / David Eddings
Similar books to Queen of sorcery by David Eddings All rights in images of books or other publications are reserved by the original copyright owners

Links to other editions and translations are provided where applicable.

Tag-based discovery provides tag clouds for resources and tag-based search, drawn from the 75 million tags added to resources by LibraryThing members.

LibraryThing reviews are sourced from the LibraryThing customer base around the world – a diverse community of readers, taggers and reviewers.

Individuals or libraries registered with LibraryThing will be able to add their own reviews through the SCIS OPAC interface and share these for the benefit of all SCIS and LibraryThing users.

A short introduction to LibraryThing provides useful information to individuals interested in joining the LibraryThing community.

Please note: LibraryThing’s terms of use exclude children under 13 from joining. Children over 13 years of age require parent/guardian permission.