We hope that everyone’s spring break and Easter long weekend were relaxing – that you had the opportunity to spend (more 

) time together. Perhaps you had time to do some reading and have a title or two to suggest for the book drive?

We’ve had lots of great titles and topics come in so far – keep them coming! We want to hear from everyone in the Hastings school community – what do you want to read? As a reminder, there are a variety of ways to give us your suggestions:
    1.    The suggestion box in the library – for students and teachers / staff.
    2.    The online poll in the Teams general channel – for students, teachers/staff and parents.
    3.    The online poll – for parents and students.

Here are a few of the fantastic suggestions we’ve received so far:

When Aidan Became a Brother – Kyle Lukoff

When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl’s room and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of his life that didn’t fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announced they’re going to have another baby and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning. But what does “making things right” actually mean?

Trailblazers: The Black Pioneers Who Have Shaped Canada – Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore

Trailblazers is a disruptive children’s book that introduces readers to Canada’s Black history through the under-told stories of over forty incredible Black change makers. With each short story carefully written in poetic form and accompanied by beautiful illustrations, this tribute brings complex topics and historical facts to life.

Can You See Me – Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott

Tally is eleven years old and she’s just like her friends. Well, sometimes she is. If she tries really hard to be. Because there’s something that makes Tally not the same as her friends. Something she can’t cover up, no matter how hard she tries: Tally is autistic. People think that because Tally’s autistic, she doesn’t realise what they’re thinking, but Tally sees and hears – and notices – all of it. And, honestly? That’s not the easiest thing to live with.

In Real Life – Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang

Anda loves CoarseGold Online, the massively-multiplayer role playing game that she spends most of her free time on. It’s a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It’s a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. Gaming is, for Anda, entirely a good thing. But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer – a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behaviour is strictly against the rules in CoarseGold but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person’s real livelihood is at stake.

We’ll keep taking suggestions all through April and send out a weekly update email. A reminder that we are also gathering donations to help get these books in to our library. Again, there are a few ways to donate:
    1.    Visit Iron Dog Books on Hastings St and purchase one of the books already selected by our librarian.
    2.    Contribute to the Hastings Book Drive account at Iron Dog Books.
    3.    Contribute using the School Cash Online donation form (select Hastings PAC as the fund destination and note that it is for the book drive in the message section).

Looking forward to hearing from YOU 

! ️