Anne of Green Gables is your School Library’s 2022 Y.A. Lit Tournament Champion!
The Championship Final was another extremely close match-up that went right down to the final votes. Fans of The Hate U Give gave all the love they had for that powerful novel, but in the end the Canadian classic from Lucy Maud Montgomery took the victory, the crown, the trophy, the belt, and the everlasting glory that comes from winning the very first Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library Young Adult Literature Tournament Championship!
Congratulations to all the fans of the Canadian classic. More importantly, a huge thanks goes out to everyone who participated in the tournament by casting your ballots.
Anne of Green Gables may take home the silverware, but the real winner today is you, the READER! When you can, take some time to revisit some of the 64 nominated titles from this wonderful tournament.
The PRIZE DRAW will take place on Monday, April 11, so check back then.
Your School Library’s March Madness YA Lit Tournament has reached the final round. 64 books started out with hopes of glory, but now there are only two left standing. Which book will earn the ultimate prize?
It is Anne of Green Gables v The Hate U Give in the Championship Final.
We are down to the Final Four. 64 YA and Teen Novels have battled it out and now there are only 4 left standing. John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars takes on The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas. Meanwhile, the Canadian classic, Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, takes on JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.
The Elite Eight promised some compelling and hard fought contests, although several matchups weren’t as close as anticipated. Harry Potter was dominant in a win over The Hunger Games, as was The Hate U Give as it rolled over Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. The victory was a bit harder to come by for Anne of Green Gables as it defeated The Book Thief. Meanwhile, the one nail biter of the round saw The Fault in Our Stars eke out a last second win over The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Semi-Final voting runs April 5th and 6th, closing afterschool Wednesday. Voting in the Championship Final will run April 7th and 8th.
Updates from the March Madness YA Lit Tournament “Round of 32”
The Round of 32 is in the books. The number of voters was down, but that was expected over the March Break. Regardless, the results were still very compelling!
In the Popular YA regional, the higher seeds all advanced. The Perks of Being a Wallflower will move on to face Stargirl, which won a nail biter over Th1rteen R3asons Why. Meanwhile, it will be an all-John Green match-up as both The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska won their 2nd round games.
The Current Issues regional gave us one big upset, as #12 seed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shocked #4 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Firekeeper’s Daughter advances, as does The Hate You Give, with a unanimous shutout over If You Could Be Mine. The closest battle saw Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe narrowly squeak by Long Way Down.
There were a few more shutouts in the Classic regional. Both Little Women and Anne of Green Gables crushed their opponents by unanimous decisions. The Book Thief cruised to a comfortable win over The Catcher in the Rye, while The Giver upset that book still found in English classrooms all over North America, The Outsiders.
The Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Supernatural regional also featured some shutouts. Top seeds Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both earned flawless victories. The Maze Runner handled Divergent, while in an upset unimaginable a decade ago, #6 Percy Jackson defeated #3 Twilight.
While this is always an important week on the calendar, this year it seems more vital than ever that we understand and celebrate our freedom to read. South of the border books are being banned at an alarming rate. Throughout the world, the freedom of journalists continues to be threatened. As authoritarian and fascist movements rise around the globe, they attack such things as libraries, a free press, and other cornerstones of democracy and human rights.
Look for more to come on this vital topic, as we prepare for Freedom to Read Week.
SafeTeen is a powerful program for teens that covers a variety of topics including empowerment, conflict resolution, healthy relationships, bullying, self defense, sexual health and more.
Once again we are very pleased to host SafeTeen seminars in the school library. Grade 10 boys will be attending SafeTeen seminars on December 7, 9 & 10. As such, the room will be closed to all drop-in and study block students, as well as to all female staff.
SafeTeen is a powerful program for teens that covers a variety of topics including empowerment, conflict resolution, healthy relationships, bullying, self defense, sexual health and more.
Once again we are very pleased to host SafeTeen seminars in the school library. Grade 10 boys will be attending SafeTeen seminars on December 7, 9 & 10. As such, the room will be closed to all drop-in and study block students, as well as to all female staff.
SafeTeen is a tremendous program that covers a variety of topics including empowerment, conflict resolution, healthy relationships, bullying, self defense, sexual health and more.
Once again we are very pleased to host SafeTeen seminars in the school library. Grade 9 girls will be attending SafeTeen seminars on November 25, 26 and 29. As such, the room will be closed to all drop-in and study block students, as well as to all male staff.
International Games Week @ Your Library was back at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary after a two year hiatus. While Covid protocols forced us to hold a smaller event than in past years, it was still so very wonderful to bring students into the library to celebrate the fun and educational power of games. Thanks to all the teachers who brought their classes, and to all the student who participated with joy!
*Good OR sick OR groovy OR bussin’ OR rad OR lit OR awesome OR wicked OR choice OR brilliant OR fye OR gnarly OR capital OR fire OR neat OR magic OR cool OR jolly good OR da bomb OR swell OR whatever the latest word for good is. Take your pick.
International Games Week is on at YOUR School Library. Here are a few of our favourite games. How many of these have you tried?
Catan
The original was introduced to the world as “The Settlers of Catan.” This game proved to be so popular it spawned many new versions and expansions, including Seafarers of Catan, Cities and Knights, and much much more. The rise of Catan was part of a resurgence in interest in board games after a decline in the video game era.
Monopoly
Monopoly is often the first game mentioned when people talk about board games. Monopoly was arguably the most dominant board game of the 20th Century and remains a cultural phenomenon that transcends the board game industry. While many modern game enthusiasts are rightly critical of many of the mechanics of Monopoly, the most common criticism, that the game takes far too long to play, is almost always because people don’t follow the official rules. In particular, “house rules” such as the collection of all taxes and penalties to a pot, which has been already seeded with $500, for those that land on Free Parking, serves to keep enough money in the game that it becomes incredibly difficult to bankrupt anyone, making the game go on for hours at a time. If you follow the rules and keep play moving, a good game of Monopoly should be about an hour.
Chess
Unlike most other board games, chess has no elements of chance or “luck,” unless you consider it luck if your mistakes are left unpunished by worse mistakes from your opponent! With no dice rolls, card flips or other random elements, chess is considered to be the most pure game of skill amongst all board games. Chess requires concentration, strategic thinking, time management, pattern recognition, patience, spatial awareness and many other thinking skills and qualities.
Here are some more games of note. How many have you tried?
International Games Week @ Your Library is back at the LT School Library. “International Games Weekis an initiative run by volunteers from around the world to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games.” (games.ala.org) Join us as we celebrate the power of games with thousands of people in thousands of libraries all over the world.
Yes there will be adjustments for health and safety concerns. However, as best we can, with such measures as smaller groups, players more spread out, and all students and staff masked up, we are bringing back this awesome event this week in the school library.
Board games, table games, social games, party games– games live and in person!
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 