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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Aug 27

Book review: 'The Scream of the Whistle' by Emily Randall-Jones - a spooky one for autumn! 🎃🚂👻 @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/08/27/t...

‘The Scream of the Whistle’ by Emily Randall-Jones

When 12-year-old Ruby’s parents split up, she moves into her Grandma’s house in a creepy abandoned railway village called Melbridge with her mum and brother. Ruby is sure if she can jus…

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Aug 23

Happy Caturday from Majestic Merlin & Maeby the Menace…

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jul 4

Just finished this wonderfully warm, inclusive and captivating story of friendship and reconciliation, exploring historical events not often covered in British children’s fiction - highly recommended! @janeenhayat.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jul 2

Today we welcomed our new Year 7 pupils to school for Transition Day and transported the library to the Catacombs of Paris to introduce our Summer Reading Challenge... @piudg.bsky.social @nosycrow.bsky.social @thekingstonacademy.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jun 27

TKA Library played host to the @sparkbookaward.bsky.social Final Award Ceremony yesterday, which was broadcast live on YouTube to 170 schools. Some of our pupils attended as the live studio audience and supplied some excellent drum rolls and applause! @thekingstonacademy.org

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 27

It is such a huge privilege to chair the shortlisting panel for the teen category of the @sparkbookaward.bsky.social. I loved all of the books in our shortlist but so pleased that the pupils voted for Nate Lessore & his important message of kindness & combating toxic masculinity. 🙌👏🏆

Spark! School Book Award @sparkbookaward.bsky.social · Jun 26

Our 11+ Category winner was shortlisted last year in the same category, but came out with the crown this year for 'King of Nothing', published by @hotkeybooks.bsky.social Congratulations Nathanael Lessore! ✨📚🏆

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

Spark! School Book Award @sparkbookaward.bsky.social · Jun 27

The Spark team are still recovering from the excitement of yesterday...here are some behind-the-scenes shots of our ceremony. (Yes, we ate the cupcakes as soon as the ceremony was finished!)

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

Spark! School Book Award @sparkbookaward.bsky.social · Jun 26

Here they are in all their glory! Congratulations to all the 2025 Spark! Book Award Winners and a huge thank you to all the children and young people who read the books, entered the competitions, came to the author visits and voted for our winners! ✨📚🏆

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jun 25

Year 7 & 8 enjoyed a brilliant author visit from @ravenaguron.bsky.social on Monday. She spoke about her journey to becoming a writer via law school, her obsession with Agatha Christie, and she gave us some practical insight into the publishing industry. Thanks for a fascinating talk!

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 20

Book Review: Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key by @clareharlow.bsky.social Just as uncanny, atmospheric & captivating as the first one. Bravo! 🙌

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/06/20/t...

‘Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ by Clare Harlow

‘Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ is the sequel to ‘The Many Faces of Ista Flit’. In the first book Ista used her tide-blessing, the ability to adopt other people’s appearances and gifts, to save …

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 19

And ‘Shongololo’ - a familiar sight to any South Africans out there!

dirigibleballoon.org/poem/Shongol...

Dirigible Balloon - Poetry for Children

dirigibleballoon.org

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 19

Thanks to @northernjim.bsky.social at The Dirigible Balloon for publishing two of my children’s poems:
‘My Velociraptor Thinks She’s a Cat’… 🎈

dirigibleballoon.org/poem/My-Velo...

Dirigible Balloon - Poetry for Children

dirigibleballoon.org

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 19

Book Review: ‘Circle of Liars’ by Kate Francis. And Then There Were None meets Five Survive…I really enjoyed this pacy thriller!

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/06/13/c...

‘Circle of Liars’ by Kate Francis

Seven teenagers are trapped in an isolated motel, with no WiFi and no transport, by an anonymous vigilante. A year ago three students at their school died in a tragic fire and their captor knows th…

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

Spark! School Book Award @sparkbookaward.bsky.social · Jun 6

You've read the books. You've spoken to the authors. You've responded with incredible artwork, creative writing & multimedia projects. Now it's time to vote for the winners of the Spark! School Book Awards 2025! Find voting details on your latest email, deadline - 20 June.📚🏆✨

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jun 6

Fern Hill Book of the Week: 'Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It?' by @bardymum.bsky.social. Brains are weird! But this poetry collection also demonstrates that brains are amazing in the way they can experiment with language. A playful, profound and authentic collection of poems - perfect for primary!

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · Jun 4

Merlin proves even less cooperative on camera than Magnus…😂

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jun 4

Introducing Merlin - the library apprentice… 📚🐈‍⬛ 🧙‍♂️

(He’s grown so much in the last few weeks he doesn’t even look like his cardboard cutout anymore!)

Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · Jun 2

Happy Pride Month! Here are just a few of the fantastic LGBTQ+ books available in our library… 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌈 @thekingstonacademy.org

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 20

Competitive bunch… 😂

Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 20

It was so lovely to meet @clairelinney.bsky.social today, thanks for a brilliant talk!

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · May 20

Thanks to ‪‪Claire Linney for a fascinating talk at Fern Hill about Black Tudors, as featured in her time-travel adventure 'Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief', to enhance our Year 5 Tudor topic. @clairelinney.bsky.social

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 8

Book review: 'I Dare You' by @tamsinwinterauthor.bsky.social. A thought-provoking and frighteningly plausible read from the Queen of teen fiction.

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/05/07/i...

‘I Dare You’ by Tamsin Winter

Willow & Alma are thirteen-year-old best friends and joint owners of the ‘Wilma’ TikTok account where they video each other doing dares and challenges in the hopes of going viral an…

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Reposted by Rebecca Rouillard

TKA Library @tkalibrary.bsky.social · May 7

The final @sparkbookaward.bsky.social event took place last week with Ashley Hickson-Lovence, author of the powerful verse novel 'Wild East'. Ashley spoke about how the book was based on his own experience & how we can use our lives to inspire our writing. Thank you for a fantastic event, Ashley!

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 5

Book Review: 'A Forgery of Fate' by Elizabeth Lim @hodderscape.bsky.social A charming, lyrical and romantic story, filled with strange creatures, vibrant landscapes and captivating characters...
swimminginbooks.blog/2025/05/05/a...

‘A Forgery of Fate’ by Elizabeth Lim

I absolutely loved ‘Six Crimson Cranes’ and the ‘Spin the Dawn’ duology so I was looking forward to another one of Elizabeth Lim’s Far Eastern-inspired fairytale retel…

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 5

Book Review: 'Mission: Manta Ray' by Philip Kavvadias
@chickenhousebooks.bsky.social Another non-stop, madcap adventure featuring intrepid children, thrilling action, wildly imaginative technology, and witty banter...
swimminginbooks.blog/2025/05/05/m...

‘Mission: Manta Ray’ by Philip Kavvadias

In Finn & Milo’s second adventure, they find themselves skydiving on to a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (along with Arti the microraptor) for a special mission to investigate st…

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 5

Book review: 'The Notorious Virtues' by Alwyn Hamilton. A dazzlingly original fantasy thriller - loved it!

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/05/05/t...

‘The Notorious Virtues’ by Alwyn Hamilton

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but the book cover design was particularly enticing and I loved the ‘Rebel of the Sands’ trilogy. Once again, Alwyn Hamilton has created…

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Rebecca Rouillard @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social · May 5

Book Review: 'The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy' by Brigitte Knightley (Dearly Beloathed #1) Loved this witty, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy romp...

swimminginbooks.blog/2025/05/05/t...

‘The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy’ by Brigitte Knightley (Dearly Beloathed #1)

Osric is an assassin and member of the Fyren order, but when he discovers that his magic is failing, the only person who might possibly be able to help him is Aurienne, member of an enemy order &#8…

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