By: Alyssa Greenhut and Abby Glazer
Every year we have the West Hills Reads program, but 2021 will look different. West Hills Reads is an engaging reading challenge done with the West Bloomfield Public Library to get students interested in new books and explore different genres and authors.
Who is the Author of the Year, and How Will We Meet Her?
The 2021 author of the year is Jennifer Holm. Our librarians chose her because she writes a variety of genres and can be read by a variety of ages. Holms’s newest book that came out this January is called The Lion of Mars. The book is about a kid who was raised on Mars. He learns that he can’t be held back by the fears of the grown-ups around him. Other books she has written are The Fourteenth Goldfish, The Sunny Series (Sunny rolls the dice, Swing it Sunny, Sunny Side Up, etc.)
How Can Students Participate in the Program?
First of all, unlike other years, all students will be invited to the virtual author visit. Each class will have a scheduled time to meet Jennifer Holm. In past years, students had to read a certain amount of books and write reviews about what you read in order to meet the author, but now those are optional. The visit is on March 11, 2021.
Another way to participate is by voting with the bracket. Students can go onto Destiny Discover and vote for what they think should be the book of the year. This will be calculated by a star rating system. Students can rate the books they have read from 1 star (not the best) to 5 stars (great, totally recommend). You can find the books you want to rate by searching up the title in the search bar, clicking on the correct book, and rating it by selecting the stars under the description.
How will this Year’s Bracket Work?
The Voting Bracket is how we choose the book of the year. As the weeks go by, the closer we are to knowing our book of the year. The votes students/staff submit on Destiny are what controls the bracket. This is how the bracket progresses throughout March. Week one will include the top 8 books. The second week will eliminate four more books, leaving only the top four, week three will leave us with the top two books, and lastly, in week four we will announce the book of the year!
How Can I Get Books?
There are multiple ways to get the featured books this year, from audiobooks to ebooks, to physical books. You can use school resources such as Sora, Epic, Destiny discover, and the West Bloomfield Public Library. To check out a physical book there are two places to go.
The first option is using Destiny Discover to check out a book in our school library. To do this, you can just search up the title on the website and choose the book you want to check out. Then you can hold the book by pressing the blue button. Once you do this you can either pick it up by going to the WHMS library, picking it up at the 6-8th grade entry doors, or the book will be delivered to your classroom. The school library is taking many safety/covid precautions. The school staff wipes down the tables constantly, quarantines the books for 5 days after usage, and everyone must sanitize when entering the library.
The next option is picking up a book from the West Bloomfield Public Library. Just like on Destiny Discover. You can go to the Library’s website and search for the book you want, and then sign in with yours, or a parent/guardian’s card (ask for permission first) and add the book to your cart. When you have found all of the books you want, you can drive to the library and they will give your books to you. This is a very safe way to get a book, because there is no human contact or and you do not have to enter a building.
We hope you are now excited and informed on West Hills reads! You should definitely participate in the West Hills Reads Program, 2021! Stay tuned from your librarians and staff for more information. You can also keep track of the bracket by just stopping by the school library! Have fun reading Warriors!
West Hills Press 