Of Districts and Hobbits...

Good news for film fans!

A couple of weeks ago saw the release of the new Hunger Games film, based on the uber-successful trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins. Katniss is back, albeit more reluctantly than ever, as she realises that her victory during the previous edition of the Hunger Games did not make her life any better. Even worst, the evil President believes that her success gave rise to pockets of resistance fighters. He therefore concocts a new plan to get Katniss out of the way.

More fantasy, less dystopia, as on the Middle Earth front, Bilbo and friends continue their trek towards the usurped city of the Dwarfs. Its riches and its legacy are jealously guarded by the dragon Smaug. Peter Jackson's fifth foray into J R R Tolkien's fantasy world looks like it's going to be one rollicking adventure, as exciting as the other films.

Here are the trailers for the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:

Even better than all this, all three books of The Hunger Games Series and The Hobbit are available from the library!!!

The House of Hades

Today marks the release of popular children's author Rick Riordan's return to the world of Greek mythology. The House of Hades is the latest installment in the Heroes of Olympus series, adventures that feature some characters from the Percy Jackson books as they embark on a whole new set of adventures.

The House of Hades is the fourth book of the series. Annabeth and Percy end up in a pit that leads straight to the Underworld. They need to fight their way through Gaea's forces, find the Doors of Death and seal them both ways in order to prevent the giants from raising the Goddess. One problem: if The Doors are sealed, how will Annabeth and Percy get out?

The other books in this series are the following:

The Lost Hero
The Son of Neptune
The Mark of Athena
The Blood of Olympus (to be released in October 2014)

READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE HOUSE OF HADES HERE!!!!
HEROES OF OLYMPUS OFFICIAL SITE.

This year also marks the release of Percy Jackson's second film adaptation: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Trailer below!

The Haunted House

I had just turned eight when my parents decided to build a new house in Rabat, with a huge garden for me and my sisters to play in. A short while later we started building. The new house was ready in no time at all. Me and my sisters were eager to have our own bedroom.

A few days later our parents said that we could move into our new house. I was speechless. I ran up to my room and I looked out of the window at the huge garden.

Night fell and I went to sleep. I dreamt about the day ahead of me but I woke up soon after. I was hearing creepy and spooky sounds coming from outside. I looked and I saw skeletons, zombies and werewolves wandering about in the garden. It seemed impossible. Was it a dream? I rubbed my tired eyes but when I opened them again, the monsters were still there. Why were they there?

The next morning I went to explore the garden. I strolled along but my foot got stuck on something and I nearly lost my balance. It was a trap door covered in leaves. I called my father so that he would check it out. We opened it and found many stairs. We went down. There were catacombs and beyond, a dead end. I rested against the wall to tie my shoe laces but it gave way and I ended up in a bigger room. My father and I noticed that there were picture stories on the walls, and zombies and werewolves lying on the ground. A beam of light shone through the ceiling. An inscription said that every night, the monsters come alive and party in the garden.

Now I got used to them. They are very friendly and sometimes I stay with them for a bit. They are not half as bad as they look.

Gianni Farrugia

Grade 7

Ċetta Bumunqar u l-Mawra sa Kemmuna

Kien il-Ħadd filgħodu u Ċetta, flimkien ma' Gerit u xi ġirien oħra, kienu fil-pjazza tar-raħal jistennew ix-xarabank li kellha twassalhom iċ-Ċirkewwa biex minn hemm jaqbdu dgħajsa għal Kemmuna. Magħhom kien hemm ukoll Dun Feliċ, il-kappillan tar-raħal. Wara ftit ix-xarabank waslet u kollha kemm huma, rikbu u telqu lejn iċ-Ċirkewwa.

Ma damux biex waslu iżda kellhom joqogħdu jistennew lil Ċetta tniżżel il-basktijiet tal-ikel li kienet ġabet magħha. L-akbar biża' ta' Ċetta kien li tispiċċa bil-ġuħ. Kienet mara ħoxna u qasira, dejjem għarqana xraba u b'nifisha maqtugħ.

Telgħu fuq id-dgħajsa li kienet qiegħda tistennihom. Il-barklor kellu jinżel jgħin lil Ċetta ttella' l-basktijiet. Meta fl-aħħar tellgħu il-basktijiet kollha, indunaw li d-dgħajsa kienet qed tegħleb għal fuq in-naħa ta' fejn kienet Ċetta u l-affarijiet tagħha! Spiċċaw b'Ċetta u l-basktijiet fuq naħa waħda u l-kumplament tal-grupp fuq in-naħa l-oħra, fost it-tgergir ta' kulħadd.

Fl-aħħar waslu Kemmuna. Imma wara li ħareġ kulħadd barra Ċetta, id-dgħajsa reġgħet bdiet tegħleb! "Aqbeż, Ċett!" għajtet Gerit b'kemm kellha saħħa. Ċetta qabżet bil-basktijiet f'idha u ġiet fix-xifer tal-moll. U li kieku ma kienx għall-barklor u l-kappillan li żammewha, Ċetta kienet tispiċċa ġol-baħar!

Sabu roqgħa ramel u ntefgħu hemm jixxemxu. Ċetta mill-ewwel bdiet toħroġ l-ikel: ftajjar biż-żejt, termosijiet bil-kafe' u t-te', ħobż bil-ġbejniet u z-zalzett Malti, pakketti tal-gallettini, galletti u bigilla u ħafna affarijiet oħra. Sfortunatament, bis-sħana li kienet, il-kunserva ta' mal-ħobż kienet diġa' qraset u l-ħalib li ġabet għal mal-kafe' u t-te' kien sar krema. Ċetta xejn ma tat każ. Poġġiet bilqiegħda, ħarġet ftira u ferrgħet tazza te' u ntefgħet tiekol u tixrob u tpaċpaċ ma' Gerit.

Wara li kielet, neħħiet il-ħwejjeġ ta' fuq u kixfet il-malja; imbagħad intelqet tgħum. Wara xi siegħa iddejqet u ħarġet mill-ilma. Iżda ma setgħetx issib il-ħwejjeġ! Qajmet paniku sħiħ u kulħadd beda jfittex l-imberkin ħwejjeġ ta' Ċetta. Sa fl-aħħar, Dun Feliċ sabhom wara blata.

Imma issa kien sar il-ħin u Dun Feliċ beda jiġbor in-nies madwaru biex imorru lura Malta. Imma nesa jgħid lil Ċetta! Kienet rieqda raqda nobis fuq ir-ramel u ħadd ma ftakar fiha sakemm kienu kollha fuq id-dgħajsa lesti biex jitilqu. Il-barklor kien għoddu telaq imma Gerit ftakret fl-aħħar minuta. Marret tiġri tqajjimha u reġgħu telgħu fuq id-dgħajsa.

Sa fl-aħħar kulħadd wasal lura d-dar u mar jorqod fil-fond. L-aktar il-kappillan.

Catriona Roanna Cutajar

Grade 7

A Life You Don't Want

This story is about a boy called Amit who lived in Iran. When he was twelve years old his father was given a promotion and so he had to move to Sweden to make enough money and keep his family alive. They were very poor.

Sweden was very far from Iran so they had to travel on a plane for a whole day. Amit was an adventurous boy and he didn't mind traveling one little bit. Back home he would explore the wilderness, looking for wild animals in tall grass. His brother, on the other hand, preferred to stay inside and read some of their father's old books.

Amit's father was a doctor but he didn't like his job because he wasn't paid enough. As a result of this, Amit's mum had to work in the fields!

One day, as they were having dinner, they received a letter from hospital. The letter said that Amit's father was offered a job in Sweden. The family didn't know what to do but after a couple of weeks they decided to take the offer.

Amit and his brother were not happy about the decision and they ran away. A week later they came back. They were very sorry for what they did and agreed to go to Sweden. They couldn't leave all of them at once and so Amit and his brother had to travel alone.

It was Amit's first time on a plane and he was very nervous. He couldn't sleep. At the stroke of midnight Amit heard a noise from outside the plane. He looked out of a window and saw something flapping in the wind. It was the wing of the plane!

Terrified, Amit woke his brother up and showed him the wing of the plane. Amit's brother was really scared. The two brothers went to tell the pilot what was going on. The pilot checked the back of the plane and grabbed a parachute. The pilot was a coward: he jumped off the plane to safety.

The plane was falling apart quickly. Amit and his brother took a parachute each and jumped. Amit's parachute worked fine but his brother's didn't open! Luckily they were over the sea and Amit's brother was safe. The plane's wing had fallen into the sea as well and the two brothers held on to it like a raft.

After one week adrift, a huge storm took the two brothers on an island made of animals' bones. On the island there were creatures that Amit had never seen before. Amit was hungry and went hunting. He ate anything he caught, sharing with his brother.

At sundown the two boys were getting scared because the bones that made up the island were glowing red and vibrating. When Amit touched the ground he felt it very hot. After a while lava came out from among the bones. The island was a volcano! The two boys climbed on the broken plane wing and floated away from the island.

The following morning they found themselves on a beach with golden sand. Amit looked around and saw a hut at the top of a mountain. He decided to climb the mountain but he did not know how. When he went near it he found an umbrella with no material and a rope. Amit tied the string to the umbrella and threw it up high. It got stuck between two rocks and Amit used the rope to climb up without injuries.

He found the hut at the top of the mountain and knocked on the door. A man came out and took Amit inside the hut. He gave him a hot chocolate and the newspaper to read. The man told him that they were in Hawaii. Amit went to look for his brother and took him to the hut. The two brothers used the man's phone to call their parents.

One month passed and Amit's parents finally came to pick them up. They went to Sweden where they started off a new life.

Sean

Grade 7

Horrid Henry and the Boomerang

Henry was a nine year-old spoilt brat. He lived with his grandmother in a big mansion in the country. He had no one to play with because he had no brothers or sisters. He spent his time running after cats and pelting them with stones. When he got fed up making the cats scream, he threw stones at birds.

One day he met a little frog who said to Henry: "Why are you so naughty? Henry told the frog how ugly he was, picked him up and threw him towards the pond. But this frog was really a magic fairy so when Henry threw the frog up in the air, the frog turned into a boomerang and came straight back at him, hitting him on the nose.

"Ouch!" said Henry, rubbing his sore nose. The fairy told Henry that if he kept on hurting animals he would make sure that the boomerang would follow him everywhere. Every time he hurt a poor animal, the boomerang would hit him across the head.

Henry learned his lesson. He became a very good boy and everybody loved him.

Chanelle

Grade 4

Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter

For once, Horrid Henry was being good. He was sitting on the sofa with a book. On the other hand, Perfect Peter was pinching, hitting and kicking Henry. It was very unusual for Peter to be doing such a thing. It was Henry who was normally naughty.

That got them into a fight. Henry shouted: "Mum! Dad! Peter is being mean to me! I wasn't being mean to him! It's not fair. You always tell me off when I am mean to him."

"I'm coming," shouted dad. "I do not believe you."

"How did this start?" asked mum. "I said: how did it start?"

Well, I don't know what would have happened if dad hadn't come in shouting "Supper!" After supper, everything was forgotten.

But I do think that the names in this story should have been swapped.

Maisie

Grade 4

Horrid Henry and the Red-Headed Queen

Horrid Henry was in a bad mood. He had been awake from early morning because he was going to London for the day with his mummy and Perfect Peter, his goody-two-shoes little brother

When they arrived they all went to Trafalgar Square but Horrid Henry was not allowed on the lions because Perfect Peter was too scared to go on them. His mummy said that Horrid Henry should take care of his little brother and so they ended up feeding the pigeons instead. But Perfect Peter was scared of those too! Outside the National Gallery there were people dressed up in weird costumes and looking like a giant monkey, a zombie and an ogre. Horrid Henry wanted to take a photo with the zombie but Perfect Peter was once again too scared. He started screaming to the death!

Horrid Henry was annoyed. He really wanted to visit the Natural History Museum and the Tower of London but Perfect Peter was too scared to even walk near them! Even worse, his mummy wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery to see the portrait of Princess Kate. How boring!!

Horrid Henry was sick and tired of it all.  At least he was in charge of finding the portrait of Princess Kate but his brother managed to find it first. Perfect Peter got really close to Kate's portrait. Horrid Henry couldn't help it. He pushed the pest just a little bit and then it didn't look like Perfect Peter was so perfect anymore. He bumped into the painting and dropped it!

"Ha ha!" thought Horrid Henry. "Now he will get into big trouble." But his mummy thought it wasn't Perfect Peter's fault so Horrid Henry ran away before his mum pulled his ear.

He ran up to another floor and found a dark room. It had a sign that said: DO NOT ENTER. So Henry went in. It was full of pictures of Kings and Queens in funny clothes. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. He saw a little lady with a white face, funny red hair, a golden dress, a ball and a stick, and a big crown on her head. He jumped! There was no one in the room before. Was it a ghost?

The lady asked him: "Who are you, young man? I am Queen Elizabeth I and don't mistake me for Elizabeth II." Horrid Henry opened his mouth but nothing came out. "I'm glad I jumped out of that painting. I really needed a walk," she said. "Why are you in a bad mood?"

"Emmmmm. My little brother is a pest. I wanted to go to the Tower of London but mummy says he is too young to go and anyway he is too scared," said Horrid Henry.

"There's no problem with the Tower of London because I lived there once," she said. "I'll tell you what the the problem is: the museum is not on my map."

"Why don't we use a GPS, Queenie?"

"What in the world is a GPS?" she asked, really confused. "Oh, and by the way, please call me Lizzie."

Henry felt that he knew something a Queen didn't know. "A GPS is like an electric compass," he said.

"Ok a compass I know," Lizzie said. "But what is electricity?"

"It's like a candle with a switch," Horrid Henry said.

"Emmm?" Lizzie was confused! Horrid Henry gave up. They walked about and ended up in front of the giant dinosaur model in the main hall of the Natural History Museum. "Wow!" said Horrid Henry.

"Aaaaah!" screamed Lizzie. "How did that happen. Is it a real monster?"


Horrid Henry wanted to show her that it was not real, so he went right up to it and shook it. It shook and wobbled and fell in one big pile! They escaped up the big stairs which, mysteriously, led to the Tower of London!

Henry was shocked. Lizzie showed him a Palace Room with a big big bed, a chapel and lots of coats of arms with lions on them. She even showed him animals which lived in the Tower when it was a zoo! But then Lizzie took him to the prisons where he saw names carved on the wall. Even worse, he saw the place where naughty people lost their heads. Horrid Henry was really scared. Was he going to lose his head? He was a naughty boy!

Suddenly he thought he was being poked by a spear! But it was a raven who bit his behind! Lizzie laughed and laughed and then he was back in the room with the DO NOT ENTER sign and the Queen was back in the picture. At least Lizzie had given him a jewel from her crown so he could use it to go in and out from the picture!

When he saw his mum running up to him he was going to jump inside the picture but she reached him first and pulled his ear. "Thank you mum! At least you didn't chop off my head!" said Horrid Henry. He was so happy that he kept his head on at the Tower of London! He became a good boy... for... one hour!

Mary

Grade 4

Weird Creature Competition - Winners

Emilja - Grade 5

 

 

 

Steffi - Grade 5

 

Travis - Grade 5

Weird Creature Competition - Runners-up

I Wonder

Sometimes I wonder how the world began

Sometimes I wonder how it feels to be my friend

I never wondered how it feels to be a bee

And I never wondered if I would ever see a shark.

But sometimes I wonder: will I be an author or will I just be me.

Ylenia

Grade 6

The Funny Old Van

There was once an old man

who lived in a van

and ate out of a can

and kept cool under a fan

until he felt so uncomfortable that he ran and ran

never to return to his funny van again.

Martina

Grade 6

My Dream Holiday

I cannot wait for the month of July

Because at that time I am going to fly

To a place where I can dream

That one day I'll be a Princess and then a Queen.

This place is full of magic

And there is nothing tragic

About a place where we can have fun

Running around in the sun.

This place is called Disneyland

When I can sing along with the band

Take photos with Disney characters

And play games with different letters.

I can't wait for this trip

To see the big castle and the ship

To go on the rides

And follow the tides.

This holiday was given to me by my favourite aunty

Her name is Mariella

And she looks like Cinderella.

Emma

Grade 6

World Book Week 2013 - Author Visits

 

As has now become customary, a number of local authors visited San Anton School during World Book Week. First in line was Clare Azzopardi, one of the best Maltese authors, who last November launched her very first YA (Young Adult) novel, Frejp. As the title states, the story revolves around two girls who steal their former friend's mobile phone and use it to hack into her Facebook account, with devastating consequences. It is a book that speaks volumes about the value of friendship and how hard, but ultimately rewarding, it is to build a true and honest rapport with someone.

Rita Antoinette Borġ also brought her latest book with her even though her audience was much younger. Meg is the titular hero of Meg the Egg, a book that tells the tale of a little chick who finds the outside world overwhelming and doesn't want to hatch. However, when the nefarious Howl steals mother hen, Meg has no choice but to become the hero that she truly is.

Brian Abela, the author of Ponds of Wonder, entertained his audience, the Grade 5s, with numerous anecdotes about how he became an author. You could hear a pin drop as he recalled the short story he had to write for a class credit and which got his teacher's praise and eventually encouraged Mr Abela to put finger to keyboard.

Finally, Rachel Balzan Demajo came over to meet the Grade 7s and to present to them her very first literary endeavor. The book, called The Golden Lizard,  tells the tale of Billie who finds herself stranded on a mesmerising island in Moorea. The children were dazzled by Ms Balzan Demajo's delivery, peppered with the genial interventions of her friend the lizard.

It was a great week, with lots of exciting activities and guest authors. As always, the students enjoyed every minute of it and they can't wait for next year's World Book Week!

Nothing left, but a memory

His graceful paws

Hit the forest floor

crunching the dry leaves

in an everlasting night

running so swiftly,

faster

then faster still

moments full of grace

with nothing

but the moonlight

stroking his gleaming fur.

But then they came,

with iron titans,

crushing and burning

the great oak giants,

he ran,

faster

to get away,

from the burning nightmare,

once his home

gone forever.

He then returned

to see what had been done,

nothing was left

of all he had loved,

but only boxes

which had swallowed his grey world.

Running away,

faster

then faster

then, he was gone.

Nothing left, but a memory.

Ariane Bezzina

The Mighty Dragon

The mighty Dragon sat in his lair
Pondering on his throne-like chair
Waiting for the Knight's arrival
As it was foretold in the Dragon's Bible.

One stormy night the Knight finally came.
He was wearing the same
Armour that in the Book glowed and blazed,
And he thrust and stabbed and slashed.

The Dragon retaliated by breathing fire,
the Knight's armour deteriorated, his quest became dire;
The Dragon clawed and crunched and roared,
The Knight parried, overwhelmed and distraught.

The battle was over and the Dragon won;
The Knight was demolished, his destruction done.
Everyone was glad but at what cost?
What if the Dragon was evil and humanity was lost?...

Curtis Dipple