Kindles available to borrow from the SMC Library

As all, if not most of you know the SMC Library has kindles. The kindles are now available to borrow (just like a normal book, except only for one week or the whole of the Easter holidays).

The kindles now also have The Hunger Games trilogy on them. If you want more details please see Mr Wright or Mrs Garlick.

The Hunger Games - Film Review

Unless you have been living on Mars for the last month it's been impossible to avoid the ever increasing press coverage of the release of The Hunger Games movie. Based on the best selling book by Suzanne Collins the excitement amongst teenagers (and adults - myself included!) has reached fever pitch in the last week or so. 


And now the wait is finally over! The film goes on general release today, Friday 23rd March.  However I was lucky enough to get a ticket for one of last nights limited preview screenings! Does it live up to the Hype? Does it stay true to the book? Read on to find out...


Book Summary: The Hunger Games was one of the first in the current vogue of dystopian teenage thrillers.  Set in Panem, a near future version of North America destroyed by war, the country is now divided into 12 districts each ruled by the Totalitarian Capitol. Each year the districts are asked to send two tributes to compete in 'The Hunger Games' a reality TV, battle to the death and the Capitol's way of ensuring that the forgiveness they gave each district for the previous civil war and uprising, is never forgotten...


(Please be aware that if you have not read the book this film review may contain spoilers.)


Mr Wright's Review:
It can be a dangerous thing going to see the film of a book you have loved.  We have our own image of the characters, our own interpretation of events and can only hope that these are mirrored in what we see on screen.  Our dilemma becomes even more difficult if the film starts to receive rave reviews and the hype surrounding it reaches fever pitch.  Is it worth the risk of disappointment?  For fans of The Hunger Games the answer to this is a resounding yes!


Lionsgate and director Gary Ross have captured the essence of this book and brought to life one of the most exciting novels of this generation. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are both expertly cast as Katniss and Peeta, with each portraying an uncanny resemblance to how I saw them in the book. Katniss strong and rebellious and Peeta, brooding and deep.  Haymitch, previous  'Hunger Games' winner and mentor to Katniss and Peeta, is played brilliantly by Woody Harrelson whilst Donald Sutherland does a great job as the quietly spoken, yet dangerous President Snow. 


Other characters are equally well cast with  Lenny Kravitz capturing the tenderness of stylist Cinna and Stanley Tucci proving himself to be the expert chatshow host in his role as Caeser Flickerman.  Gale, Katniss' loyal friend back in District 12 and the other tributes also stay close to their book characterisation.  However it is little Rue who almost steals the show by ensuring the whole cinema has a tear in their eye with 'that' scene.


The images of District 12, the Capitol and the Arena itself are just as imagined in the book with the greyness and poverty of District 12 in evidence, just as the colour and greed of the capitol is. In fact at no point during the film was I ever thinking that's not how I thought it would be.  It's clear that Suzanne Collins has been involved with the screenplay as the film has not been hollywidised and stays almost entirely true to the book throughout.


The real strength of the film lies in the fact that Katniss takes us on her adventure without ever saying very much.  It's almost as if we are out hunting with her, quietly watching as our prey stalks around us. This is not to say the film is slow or lacks the intensity or brutality of the book.  This is still very much on show and the collective gasp from the audience when Thresh breaks the neck of a fellow tribute was evidence of this.


So often the film adaption of a book can go wrong and spoil our memories of the story.  The Hunger Games is not one of those films!  Staying true to the book and capturing everything that made the book such an amazing read this is one film that you must go and see.  You will be blown away all over again by the story that Suzanne Collins has created. Happy Hunger Games and May the Odds be Ever in your Favour!


Marks out of 10: 9


Still can't make up your mind whether or not to go and see it?  Watch the awesome trailer for The Hunger Games...

John Betjeman: The Biography by Bevis Hillier's

John Betjeman was the Poet Laureate succeeding C Day Lewis in 1972 and continued in this role until his death in 1984. His life spanned most of the 20th Century but he was in no way a modernist although he was a close acquaintance of W H Auden, T S Eliot and Philip Larkin to whose poetry, his own was most akin. He was a poet of place who captured quintessentially English landscapes, buildings, customs and atmospheres. His poetry looked back to the 19th Century and poets such as Tennyson in its structure and use of rhyme and to earlier 18th Century poets such as Gray and Cowper in its evocation of the rural idyll. As a person Betjeman was an eccentric and much of this book is very funny and endearing in its recounting of this extraordinary personality who, through the medium of television, (he was an early exponent) made poetry popular and something to which the ordinary man and woman in the street would readily turn.

Betjeman’s father was an upholsterer but his son, John Betjeman, mixed with royalty, was a friend of Princess Margaret and deserted his own wife, whom he never divorced, for Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, Princess Margaret’s Lady in Waiting. The book is full of surprises, as Betjeman was, and is full of scandal, as parts of his life were scandalous, even by today’s standards. He was outspoken, outrageous, conservative, sensitive, hedonistic, sensual, melancholic, a brilliant mimic and he mixed with some of the great literary and political figures of the 20th Century. The book is worth reading as much for an insight into the social history of that era as for the poetry of Betjeman himself. Oh and he loved churches – and visited hundreds of them as part of his crusade as a conservationist. Indeed in this respect he was very modern and was largely responsible for our thinking that we should preserve and cherish our environment and the beauty which it contains. If you love culture, and people, you’ll love this book.

This review is by Mr Gray, Principal at SMC.

Keep Calm and Carry On

The Keep Calm and Carry On poster is one of the most iconic of the 21st Century.  But do you know the History behind the poster?  Watch this enchanting video and found out the fascinating history behind the poster...

Teresa Flavin - Author Visit

Review from James:

On Tuesday 6th March, Teresa Flavin came to speak to us about her books, The Blackhope Enigma and The Crimson Shard, her novels are about a pair of children who find a labyrinth that leads to a painting, you can then enter that painting by saying the secret word. She gave us a lot of background work on her subjects and presented it in an interesting and exciting manner.

She has a lot of expertise in what she writes about and from her showing us her inspiration, when we read the book, we will be able to relate to the things that are being talked about. She told us about the art that inspired the painting, the buildings that inspired the buildings and the people that inspired the people. It seems like a very colourful book and Theresa has advertised it very well. She engaged us from start to finish and showed us many interesting pictures of paintings, people and optical illusions which amazed us all. On behalf of S2 I would like to thank Theresa for showing us this excellent presentation.

Review from Aaron:

The Blackhope Enigma sounded extremely gripping and entertaining from the extract we were read, and Teresa also explained the novel very well. She also showed and explained to us her inspirations for the series. She also told us the story of how she started writing The Blackhope Enigma.

We were firmly in Teresa’s grip as she read an extract of her book to us. Everyone enjoyed it and we all really found it interesting and informative.

We would like to thank Teresa and all of the teachers for taking their time to organise and run this event.

Thanks to James Witherspoon of 2E and Aaron Semple of 2G for their reviews of the author visit.

James Killgore - Author Visit

Last Friday, James Kilgore came to talk to us for an hour about his new book, Soldiers Game. It is a novel about a football mad boy in the present and his grandfather who was a soldier in the past. James presented an extremely interesting and engaging Powerpoint about the truthful origins about his book, the story of his book, himself and even included some useful tips for our writing. He started off by telling us about himself and his books, this provided a very interesting insight into his world of writing. He then told us about his book and how he wrote it. It was a good book for a talk because it had a great background story to it which was extremely interesting to listen to. After this, he gave us a very interesting talk on the history of the Heart of Midlothian football team and their involvement in the second world war. To finish off, he gave us a few handy tips for our writing as a whole. Overall, it was a highly engaging and interesting talk and I would like to thank James on behalf of the whole of S2.

Thank you to James Witherspoon of 2E for his review of the visit.  if you would like to read a review of the book Soldiers Game have a look here.

Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography by Chris Waters

Fred Trueman, Fiery Fred as he was known, was the self-proclaimed best fast bowler ever. He was my schoolboy cricketing hero and his achievements were legendary. He was an outspoken rebel who spent much of his career as a cricketer, when not fast bowling, falling out with authority, or claiming that, on account of his working class background, he was unjustly treated. Yet this book is not about cricket. It is rather about character – how the son of a miner, one of seven children from South Yorkshire, regarded even within the mining community with disdain, as the underclass, through a combination of talent and singlemindedness, got to the top of his profession, gained global fame and, somehow, remained a household name until his death in 2006. But the book is also the story of a very human being, who was a mass of contradictions, flaws, virtues, strengths and weaknesses which allow us to identify with him. It’s very funny too. Trueman could talk and joke for England as well as play cricket for them. If you are interested in sport or in people, you’ll enjoy this book.

This review is by Mr Gray, Principal at SMC.

A copy of this book is available in the SMC Library.