Learning in the Library

On 9 August, the Youth Review Forum was held in the Lecture Theatre, with a group of keen readers from Year 10 joined with students from St Patrick’s College and Meriden to discuss their thoughts on the 2023 CBCA Shortlisted titles with students from Year 9.

SSC was represented at the forum by Kate Fernandez, Cary Yeung, Isabel Marturia, Mehthini De Almaida-John, Grace Benedict, Benedicta Darkwa, Emily Guerreiro and Matilda Stephens. These students were articulate and thoughtful as they shared insights into the reading culture that exists for young adults and reflected on books that had made a particular impact on them.

The Older Readers shortlist for 2023 reflected the growth of graphic novels in Australia, with two graphic novels making the Shortlist. Another interesting inclusion was Ask No Questions, a memoir detailing the author’s journey from Poland to Australia during the Cold War. Completely Normal (and other lies) and The Side of Tomorrow were favourites with the readers this year.

Kate reflected:

Books truly can change your life.

The CBCA Older Readers Youth Review Forum was a fantastic experience where we were able to have an engaging discussion about the 2023 shortlist, talking on things such as what we enjoyed about the nominated books, what we didn’t necessarily like, and ourselves as readers. 

Overall, it was an eye-opening experience to converse with students from other schools, who all had unique and enriching perspectives that we were able to listen to and engage with. 

Kate Fernandez

We would like to thank Ms Melina Marchetta for moderating our discussion and for her insights into YA literature and the value of reading for young people.

Celebrating our inaugural open book afternoon tea – this winter a number of Year 8 mothers and daughters read the same book and enjoyed discussing it together in the College library.

Susan Lombardo
Head of Library 5-12