Australian Reading Hour 2019 with author Jaclyn Moriarty

Celebrate this year's Australian Reading Hour with Jaclyn Moriarty on Wednesday evening, 18 September at Concord Library. Jaclyn is well-known as the prize-winning, bestselling author of novels for children, young adults (and sometimes for slightly older adults).

A former media and entertainment lawyer, Jaclyn's books include the Ashbury-Brookfield series and the Colours of Madeleine trilogy. The first two books in that trilogy were both awarded the NSW Premier's Literary Award and the Queensland Literary Award. Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, lived in the US, the UK and Canada, and now lives in Sydney again. The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone was shortlisted for the Readings Children's Prize, the Aurealis Award and longlisted for the CBC Book of the Year awards and was the first she has written for younger readers.

On the next day, Thursday, 19 September, we encourage you to stop what you're doing for one hour and pick up a book. We want you to either rediscover or introduce yourself to the benefits of reading. Take the time to learn, escape and relax. In children, reading has been shown to help with identity formation, setting them up for success in the future. In adults, reading has been shown to reduce stress by 68% more than listening to music, going for a walk, or having a cup of tea. (Source: readinghour.org.au)

For more information, email Children's Librarian or phone 9991 6348.