What did you like best about the Boys and Blokes events this year?

Maybe it was a writing workshop, or acting out with Ish.

Maybe it was free books, or one of the books you read, or maybe it was the trip to the State Library…

…or maybe it was the pizza.

Tell us your favourite thing to win a prize, but be quick! I’ll be drawing two names at random next Monday (17 December). Just in time for Christmas…

Do you have a nickname?

Australians love to shorten names or add a ‘Y’ to the ending. Anthony Koutafides is ‘Kouta’, Alex Jesalenko is ‘Jezza’. Neil Balme is “Balmey’.

Shane Warney is ‘Warney. Ricky Ponting is ‘Punter’. Michael Hussey is ‘Mr Cricket’.

What’s your nickname? Tell us how you got it. Or, tell us about someone you know if you don’t have one.

There are prizes to be won.

Mike Hussey aka Mr Cricket.

Right now I’m on page 296 of Snakehead, the new Alex Rider novel by Anthony Horowitz. It’s a blast!

Alex has gone undercover to bust a people-smuggling racket from Indonesia to Darwin. And along the way, he has messed with Major Ya, a truly nasty agent from Scorpia. And discovered a massive stolen bomb.

There are some killer scenes. My favourite so far is when Alex survives a Thai kick-boxing fight, only to land in a river where some friendly rats decide it mght be nice to crawl over him. Yeeewwww!!!!

What are you reading? Tell us and you can win prizes.

PS: We will have copies of Snakehead to give away at the Bookgig on 22 and 23 November.

Mitchell, Nathan and Hayden wrote to tell us the best things about their towns.

Mystery prizes are on the way to you!

And Rod Cameron also promised a bonus prize of (from memory) a 1 gigabyte memory stick for everyone who entered. So, Mitchell, Nathan, and Hayden, get on to Rod for your bonus prize.

It’s great to get a picture of the places you live and what you like about it. Thanks for sharing!

(This image is from a blog by architecture student David Teoh who was in Drouin to look at church designs. Visit David’s interesting blog here.)

How did Drouin get its name? Nobody could explain it to. It took Michael to unearth the truth. Michael said:

Drouin got it’s name from a Frenchman named Drouin who invented a new way to extract gold.

Which is true. Drouin is best known for dairy farming (and a couple of handy footballers), but over a hundred years ago, did you know that goldf was mine at the Tarago River directly north of the township.

Way to go, Michael!

George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking and an insideadog t-shirt will be sent to you!

Congratulations to David, who is the winner in the Save One Book competition. David nominated Stax of Maxx by Michael Wagner as the book he would save on a desert island. David wrote:

“Hi I like the book Stax of Maxx (by Michael Wagner) because it is a good book and it is about AFL and I like football.

Stacks of Maxx has eight separate stories, plus drawings by Terry Denton. Huge fun!

So, David, you are now the proud owner of The Dangerous Book for Boys (Australian edition).

Summer Age kids, a daily feature in The Age newspaper over the holidays, is now accepting student design and writing contributions.

You can contribute by:

• sharing your view on these topics: How I’d change my neighbourhood / Someone I admire / My favourite place / Me and my pet or
• redesigning the ‘kids’ logo.

How to contribute

In 50 words or less, email your contribution on one of the following topics:

1. How I’d change my neighbourhood

2. Someone I admire

3. My favourite place

4. Me and my pet.

In 50 words or less, email your comment to summerkids@theage.com.au Include your name, age, address and telephone number and attach a photo. All published entries will receive a prize. Entries close January 11, 2007.

Coming out to schools and libraries in Drouin and Melton this past week has been a blast! All the writers plus Ix have had a great time. The writing, acting, reading and ideas from all the boys has been brilliant. So two thumbs up to you. We’ve even enjoyed meeting the teachers!

Don’t forget to enter the ‘save one book‘ competition. Tell us the one book you would save on a desert island. Entries close Friday26 October at 5pm.

Click here to go the competition. Then write the name of the book and the author/s in the comments box below. This competition is open to everyone. We’ve had some great entries. Check them out in the comments sections.
And there are also two other competitions, for readers in Drouin and in Melton. So get typing to win!

In the meantime, dates for further events are being worked out. Stay tuned.

So. Who knows? How did Drouin get its name?

Nobody could tell me last week. I asked students, I asked teachers, I asked people in the street.

Bunyip and Ripplebrook tell their own story. Or at least gives some strong clues.

But Drouin? What is a drouin? Maybe it’s a ladder, or a soldier, or a mystic. Or maybe it is a person’s name. Who was Drouin? A ship’s captain maybe, or an early settler. What? Who?

To help answer the mystery, in addition to a book* I have an insideadog t-shirt.

Drouin, what’s the story? Answers close 5pm Friday 26 October.

*George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking

Melton in Victoria is named after Melton Mowbray, a town in the English Midlands. Melton Mowbray was well known as a great place for hunting, which is how our Melton got its name. The open paddocks, bush and scrub would have reminded the early settlers of “the old country”.

But the old Melton, the English one, is also famous for two kinds of foods. Tell me what the foods are and win a tasty prize. You have until 6pm this Friday ((19th October) to reply to the comments below and win. Names drawn at random. Be quick!