By Esther Kristel | Posted: Thursday November 3, 2022
Think before you speak. Read before you think. Fran Lebowitz
Another year, another Reading Challenge..but No! Wait! It’s not so! Every year a new group of Year 10 students are presented with what is by now our much-loved Year 10 Reading Challenge, and with each group arrives a different way of partaking.
This year the Year 10 classes were presented with a Reading Response task based on the NCEA Level 1 Independent Reading standard, but with a wider license in how they might present their responses. Each student covered a very similar reading breadth and each class decided on what they would focus on for the prize pool. What ensued was an extremely creative and diverse range of reading as well as final presentations.
Some of the texts students read during the challenge this year include: Dawn Raid, by Pauline Smith; Charles Dickens a Life, by Claire Tomalin; Terry Pratchett and the writing of his life, by Rob Wilkins; Little Women, by Greta Gerwig; The Cold Equations, by Tom Godwin; Vincent Van Gogh, Encyclopaedia Britannica; The invisible life of Addie LaRue, by V. E. Schwab; The 10 types of human, by Dexter Dias; The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank; The Secret History, by Donna Tartt; The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Topak Shakur; Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now, by Matthew Olzmann; I Am Not Esther, by Fleur Beale; Rabbit-Proof Fence, by Phillip Noyce; The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves, by Fleur Beale; Catch Me When You Fall, by Eilleen Merriman; She's a Killer, by Kirsten McDougal; The Nightingale and the Rose, by Oscar Wilde;Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Süskind; and Farm Boy, by Michael Morpurgo.
We remain deeply grateful to the Gaffney family, who continue to support us in our endeavours to encourage and ignite the love of reading at LPHS. Through the wonder of reading and the holding of books, we hope not only to mitigate some of the effects of the screen machine, but also to do what reading books has always done; helped us grow.
Congratulations to all the Year 10 Reading Challengers and to all, enjoy your holiday reading (lots to choose from in our school library)!
“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall.”
Roald Dahl
The Year 10 Reading Challenge Place-Getters
10J
Best Classic Book - Tyne Grant
Best Book Cover - Miseki Honjo
Longest Book - Gus Winneke
Most Books Read - Elise Summerfield & Aidan Dixon
10L
Best Reading Response - Sophia McLennan
Range of Texts - Nicole Mahongchai
Most Challenging Series - Geordie Stephenson
Classic Choice - Poppy Jacobson
Thinking Beyond the Text - Felix Pettigrew
10Z
Best Written Responses - Harry Holmes
Difficulty in Text Choices - Neve Curtis
Overall Clarity and Presentation - Susan Begg
Best Range of Texts - Matai Franzbowden
Well Written Responses - Daniel Blakeley
10Y
Intellectual Oomph! - Isaac Simons
Subtlety Plus - Felix Robinson
Most stunning Static Images - Lilyan Son
Overall consistent Excellence - Nell Bosshard
Eye for Detail - Huia Parker
Best Presented - Story Boraman-Ritchie
10S
Reads a variety of texts at a very good level - Jakota McRae
Enjoys reading and happy to chat about books -Marley Dickens
Seeks and explores new texts -Otto Dxion
10R
Best Reading Responses - Harry Watters
Best Manga - George Stenbeck-Morse
Best Novel from Aotearoa - Aaron Clarke
Best Non-Fiction - Harry Dunford-Baser
Best Horror - Samara Stewart