There’s a surprising amount of music-themed literature in the library; here is but a small sample.
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn – He wrote Nick, she wrote Norah, which is really the only way I can imagine writing a novel properly with someone else.
Pop Princess, by Rachel Cohn – With a name like Wonder Blake it’s only a matter of time before she becomes one (a pop princess) by way of a music competition.
Fat Kid Rules the World, by K. L. Going – Curt is a skinny punk genius and Troy is an overweight social leper, together they make a fabulous music odd couple and a cool story about turning your life around.
Beige, by Cecil Castellucci – Katy (who is nicknamed “Beige” by her friend who thinks she, well, lacks a bit of colour) goes to live with her father, an “aging punk rock legend”. There’s a soundtrack that goes along, or rather a “suggested listening list”, so it’s a multi-sensory experience.
Duet, by David Hill – classical and popular music do mix, with awkward, life-long ramifications, in this New Zealand romance.
Gangsta Rap, by Benjamin Zephaniah – Ray, Prem and Tyronne form a rap group in London and they’re a hit, but rap and violence often go together.
Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen – Owen’s mix CDs, one mysteriously called “Just Listen” help pull Annabel out of her shell and face her demons.
Rock Star, Superstar, by Blake Nelson – Being in a popular rock band sounds ideal, but it tests Pete’s relationship with his girlfriend, Margaret.
The Last Days, by Scott Westerfeld – The sequel to Peeps; here the chapter titles are all band names, and the evil beneath New York is back (with the rats).
The Commitments, Roddy Doyle (thanks to Reading Rants – I forgot about this one) – Both the book and the movie were a huge smash hit in the very early 1990s. Ride, Sally, ride.
The Urban Survival Series is happening during July and August. Visit the page to find out what’s on when. Also, if you sign up for alerts in July or August (this year) you go into the draw to win a $20.00 library money voucher (just for kicks). You can sign up here.
Eagle Day, by Robert Muchamore (405 pages) - The much-awaited latest book in the Henderson’s Boys series. Charles Henderson is a British spy, who leads some kids in actions against the Germans during WWII (it’s not set in the present, obviously). There’s an official website with all kinds of interesting content and downloads.
First line: ‘It was eleven at night, but the port of Bordeaux crackled with life.’
Goldstrike, by Matt Whyman (265 pages) - Teen hacker Carl is being pursued by a bounty hunter and an al-Queda assassin. His only recourse is to hide out in a warehouse guarded by Cleo, a hyper-super-computer that doesn’t like intruders …
First line: ‘In black suits and dark glasses, the three men stand out among the throng.‘
Stolen, by Vivian Vande Velde (158 pages) - On the same day that a child-stealing witch is supposedly immolated in a house-fire, a girl appears in the forest with no memory of where she’s from. Could she have been taken by the witch six years earlier?
First line: ‘The old witch saw that she had gone too far.‘
Eternal, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (307 pages) - Miranda’s life is saved by her guardian angel, Zachary, but she’s consequently converted into a vampire. She is adopted by the King of the Mantle of Dracul, and Zachary pretends to be her assistant in an effort to save her soul. Has werewolves and romance also.
First line: ‘I may be heaven-sent, but I’m not perfect.‘
The Bower Bird, by Ann Kelley (196 pages) - Twelve-year-old Gussie has many plans; she wants to be a photographer, loves animals, and needs to cope with her parents’ divorce. Alas! She also needs a heart and lung transplant, and time isn’t on her side.
First lines: ‘We’ve been here for two weeks. I’m still not well enought to start at the local school.‘
Plague of the Undead : Chronicles of Blood, by Gary Cross (300 pages) - It’s 1650, and Lucius’ father - a newly-made vampire - has just killed his family. Lucius survived, and joins an elite band of vampire hunters, tracking down the master vampire who wants to turn the world into a vampire race. Written by a NZer!
First line: ‘The boy knew his father was going to kill him.‘
Fat Hoochie Prom Queen, by Nico Medina (290 pages) - Margarita “Madge” Diaz is ‘fat, foxy, and fabulous’; she and her rival, student-body president Bridget Benson, decide to compete with one another be named prom queen. The loser will back off, for good. Both will do whatever it takes to win.
First line: ‘I hate Bridget Benson.‘
Saving Rafael, by Leslie Wilson (410 pages) - Jenny and Raf are in love, but they live in Nazi-ruled Berlin - and Raf is Jewish. They join with others who must try to stay alive and eventually flee from immense danger.
First line: ‘We were in a cow byre, ten of us, cleaning out the stalls in our thin striped calico skirts and jackets.‘
Blood Sun, by David Gilman (400 pages) - This is the third in the Danger Zone series of books about eco-hero teen Max Gordon. Official website here!
First lines: ‘Darkness devoured him. Eyes wide with terror, he saw only the gaping void, heard his desperate breathing hammering through his skull as the rasping one-eyed monster pursued him.‘
Raven Rise : Pendragon Book Nine, by D. J. Machale (544 pages) - book nine is the second to last in the series and finds Bobby Pendragon trapped and the final battle for Halla about to begin. Can he save the world? The book cover says this is The Lord of the Rings for the Alex Rider generation. Discuss.
First sentence(s): “Ibara!” The tunnel remained silent.
Ghost Medicine, by Andrew Smith (357 pages) - After the death of his mother, Troy just wants to spend the summer hanging out with his friends and being sort of invisible, but life gets in the way with complex, dangerous twists and turns.
First sentence: I can see myself lying in the dirt, on my back, on a warm, starry night, with my feet up on those rocks, ringing a swirling and noisy fire, listening, laughing, seeing the sparks that corkscrew, spinning above me into the black like dying stars, fading, disappearing, becoming something else; my hat back on my head so I can just see my friends from the corners of my eyes.
Half Way to Good, by Kirsten Murphy (320 pages) - from the back cover: “A funny and moving novel about dealing with love, death and everything in between.”
First sentence: Waiting wasn’t anyone’s idea of fun.
The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim C. Hines (344 pages) - Cinderella (real name Danielle) is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte shortly after her (Cinderella, that is) marries Prince Armand. Martial arts expert and fairy-blessed Talia - or Sleeping Beauty - comes to the rescue, but not before Armand is taken to the Realm of the Fairies. Talia, and Snow White, both part of the Queen’s Secret Service, join with Danielle to get Armand back.
First line: ‘Danielle Whiteshore, formerly Danielle de Glas, would never be a proper princess.‘
The Poison Garden, by Sarah Singleton (284 pages) - Thomas’ recently deceased grandmother leaves him a magic box that enables him to enter a mysterious garden. He encounters her ghost there, where she reveals that she belonged to arcane guild of chemists. She was poisoned during a struggle for power, and now Thomas must find the murderer before he himself becomes a victim.
First line: ‘High in the tower the bell tolled, counting out eleven hours.‘
Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, by Narinder Dhami (247 pages) - A gunman is rumoured to be somewhere in Mia’s school, and the place is being evacuated. Mia has a dreadful feeling that the gunman is her brother, Jamie, who has been acting very weird lately. Can she get to him in time? This book has a terrific twist at the end that’s right I read the end first
First line: ‘The scene is normal: a family at breakfast on Monday morning before the kids go off to school.‘
In brief:
Brown Skin Blue, by Belinda Jeffrey (211 pages) Butterfly, by Sonya Hartnett (214 pages) Lunch with Lenin and Other Stories, by Deborah Ellis (169 pages) - a collection of short stories about teens whose lives are affected by the drug trade.
We’ve scrounged out some stuff that’s going on in the holidays that you might be interested in…
1. School of Rock Holiday Programme
4 Days of intensive rock training in downtown Wellington for 11-17 year olds.
Get tips from pro rockers. Prepare for rock competitions. Team up with other teen rockers. Polish your practice and rehearsal skills. Take to the stage and rev it up!
Vocals! Guitar! Bass! Keyboards! Drums! Orchestral! Its on at ZEAL- 18 Garrett Street, Wgn CBD. Email them to sign up.
2. Wellington School of Rock and ZEAL present… Holiday Splash! Featuring The Philosphers & The Tangle.
These guys are going to be hitting the stage at ZEAL (18 Garret St, Wgn CBD)tomorrow night July 3rd at 7.30pm. Also there- The Tommy Guns, Urban Legends, Rock ‘n’ Roll Camelot and Road Kill Inc. Best yet- It’s only $5! Get there! Visit the zeal site for more info.
Most wanted, least received, we should add: “What has happened to the official guide to the Twilight saga?” you ask. Well, it’s not just us who don’t have it. It seems to be on a very slow boat out of the publisher’s printing press. Patience is needed if you’re one of the 60+ people who have reserved it.
New this month is Eagle Day, the next in the Henderson’s Boys series by Robert Muchamore. Spies + World War II = winning formula.
Other popular titles: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (due September), Adored (an It Girl novel), Max (James Patterson), and Wicked by Sara Shepard to name just a handful.
This is probably part 1 for this week’s new YA titles.
What World is Left, by Monique Polak (215 pages) - Anneke and her family are removed from Holland to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Anneke manages to survive through the darkest horrors by doing whatever it takes.
First line: ‘My bed is warm and cozy.‘
Sharp Beats : A Mickey Sharp Novel, by Dominic Barker (235 pages) - Mickey Sharp is a private eye for teenagers, but this time he may have bitten off more than he can chew. This is the latest in a series.
First lines: ‘Dum. Da da dum. Da da dum. Da da dum.‘
Envy : A Luxe Novel, by Anna Godbersen (403 pages) - This is the third Luxe novel, which are essentially ‘Gossip Girl set in the 19th century’. In Envy Miss Diana Holland, whose family’s fall from grace two months previously so shocked New York’s corset and crinoline-clad elite, has begun again to stir the waters of Victorian prudery.
First line: ‘“Surely a girl as lovely as you, a girl who personifies loveliness itself, should not be hidden away on a night like this, on a night when everyone wants to see a fine figure and starry eyes, and where yours are the starriest of all.”‘
Intensely Alice, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (269 pages) - It’s summer and Alice McKinley has a lot planned - she volunteers at a soup kitchen, does something wild and wonders about her visit to Chicago to see her boyfriend, Patrick. This is - I think! - the 24th Alice book.
First line: ‘“We’ve got to do something wild this summer.”‘
Along For The Ride, by Sarah Dessen (383 pages) - From the library catalogue’s description: ‘When Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents’ divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike and dating.’
First line: ‘The e-mails always began the same way. “Hi Auden!!!”‘
Dope Sick, by Walter Dean Myers (186 pages) - From the library catalogue’s description again (sometimes it’s easier to copy & paste) - ‘Seeing no way out of his difficult life in Harlem, seventeen-year-old Jeremy “Lil J” Dance flees into a house after a drug deal goes awry and meets a weird man who shows different turning points in Lil J’s life when he could have made better choices. ‘
First lines: ‘My arm was hurting bad. Real bad.‘
Dido, by Adele Geras (259 pages) - This is a retelling of a classical story, about a queen and a servant who both fall in love with the same chap. Adele Geras has written two other, similar retellings; Troy and Ithaka.
First line: ‘You knew that you were in a dream when the edges of everything you gazed at were blurred and when figures bent and blended into the background and arrived and disappeared magically, moving in a way that wouldn’t be possible in normal life.‘
Siggy and Amber, by Doug MacLeod (226 pages) Taking The Plunge, by Helen Bailey (297 pages) - The fourth book about Electra Brown.
Grimm embedded the trailer to the Avatar film (The Last Airbender) last week, and as I liked it I decided to get out the award-winning and highly-rated Avatar : The Legend of Aang DVDs to watch a couple of episodes. I ended up watching sixteen episodes over two days - it’s that good. So very, very good. If you like Studio Ghibli films you will like Avatar (obviously inspired by Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and so on). There are three series in total, but only the first series is available on DVD; the final two have only been released in the US, unfortunately, so it will be a while before we can watch them.
In the meantime you can visit the official website, which has games, clips, weekly comics, and so forth. The UK site has some similar content, but some of it is different. There’s an Avatar wiki. There is a browser-based MMO called Avatar : Legends of the Arena that is free-to-play.
The film, The Last Airbender, has a fansite (the official site is here).
YA Central is the name of Penguin publishing’s online content for teens and readers of YA fiction. They have interviews with authors (videos, no less) such as Laurie Halse Anderson (and here), John Green, and Lauren Myracle. Access to other author interview videos, book trailers and behind-the-scene footage is promised. It’s part of The Publisher’s Office, Penguin’s online periodical, which is full of all kinds of stuff - web 2.0 at its most literary.
This story tells the tale of the unlikely friendship of two boys. It is set in Germany during the war and gives an insight into the circumstances of the holocaust. Bruno’s father is one of Hitler’s high ranking officials, but Bruno is unaware of exactly what his father’s job entails. He accidentally comes across a prisoner of war compound and befriends a Jewish boy. Eventually he makes a plan to sneak in under the fence to help his new friend look for his father, who seems to have mysteriously disappeared somewhere within the ‘camp’. During the course of his search Bruno and his friend find themselves herded into a giant shed along with hundreds of other people. The big steel doors clang shut. Outside, Bruno’s parents discover he is missing. They see the plumes of smoke rise from the tall chimneys at the compound and the terrible realisation of what has happened hits them…
Fans of the Avatar DVDs will be very pleased to hear about the movie The Last Airbender, directed by M Night Shyamalan (who sees dead people, for example, in The Sixth Sense). The cast has many interesting people, for example Dev Patel (Skins, Slumdog Millionnaire), Jackson Rathbone (he of the pained-looking Jasper in Twilight), and the great Cliff Curtis. The official site is here, the IMDB page here, and then here’s the trailer:
Speaking of Twilight, as with Twilight and Twilight, there’s going to be a new New Moon book cover to tie in with the Twilight: New Moon movie. It’ll make Team Jacob happy - here’s a link.
More on Cassandra Clare and web2.0-ness: her publisher is promoting City of Glass with the aid of a widget that you can grab from their site (here) and stick on your blog and share for example (from thebookseller.com).
Shaun Tan fan? Have a look at this interview in the School Library Journal. [Shaun Tan and Pixar? I thought. Well, he was a concept artist on Wall-E. Fun.]
Louise Rennison, author of the Georgia Nicholson books, was interviewed on Nat Radio’s Nine to Noon programme this morning. She’s a comedian as well as an author and is very entertaining to listen to. She discusses the recent film adaption of Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging (we have the DVD and all ten books in the series).
Listen to the .mp3 here, or else browse RNZ’s podcasts here.
Think you know how to cook? Or are you just keen to give it a go and get creative? Create a sumptuous recipe for us and the best entry will win Sam Stern’s cookbook Cooking up a Storm: The teen survival cookbook.
Entries close 5pm on July 22 2009 (you must be aged between 13 and 18 and have a Wellington City Libraries card to enter).
Instructions
Create a recipe! Choose 5 ingredients of your own and at least 2 ingredients from our pantry (you can use as many pantry ingredients as you like, but it might not taste great if you include them all!)
Give your recipe a name (if it’s impressive that might make your food taste better)
Tell us how you’re going to throw it all together in the method box
Fill in your personal details and send!
Pantry Contents (Remember to use at least two of these)
Salt, Pepper, Sugar, Cooking oil, Butter, Flour, Water, Soup Mix, Weetbix, Marmite, Lemon juice, A can with no label (with food in it), Sultanas, Curry powder, Chilli flakes, Maple syrup
Entries close 5pm, July 22nd 2009
To be eligible for the prizes, entrants must be:
- Aged 13-18 years
- A member of Wellington City Libraries (Not a member? Go to your local library to join up!)
The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Acceptance of prize gives permission to Wellington City Libraries to display winner’s details in the libraries or any media. No payment will be made in any such case.
Your information will be kept confidential by Wellington City Council and not disclosed or sold to any other party.
Want to discover how to cook something tasty and perhaps even stylish (that doesn’t cost the earth) and other important food-related things? Check out Food Glorious Food on July 23rd 4-5pm, the first seminar in the Urban Survival Series at the Wellington Central Library. Find out about the rest next week! Oh look, the pig.
Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed) is an incredibly well-done and amusing mashup of Twilight and Buffy : The Vampire Slayer to form an ‘example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior’. Which is another way to say, “Edward’s a bit stalkerish, isn’t he?”
12 new CDs this week, so here is a marathon post and a marathon playlist. Phew.
If you’re a fan of MGMT and their work, have a listen to Empire Of The Sun’s really ace Walking On A Dream. Also they wear really silly costumes, which is always a nice bonus.
The Rakes’ third album Klang is here. If you enjoy Interpol, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and all that sort of thing, then The Rakes are right up your alley.
Punk Popsters Plain White T’s Big Bad Worldhas arrived. I think they have a new one coming shortly, so get caught up with this beforehand… If you want to that is.
Released in 1973 Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moonis one of those albums that always pops up in top 100 all time lists. Come get it from here if you can’t find it amongst your parents collection.
The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield may be losing his grip on the kids, suggests the New York Times in this here article. Apparently his primary concerns - about phoniness and so on - have dated and aren’t quite as relevant to teens as they once were.
Wicked : A Pretty Little Liars Novel, by Sara Shepard (310 pages) - This is the fifth in the Pretty Little Liars series of books. See the official website for more information, or look for it on central library’s revamped series shelves in the YA area.
First line: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what people are thinking?‘
Reality Check, by Peter Abrahams (330 pages) - College football star, Cody, has everything. An injury puts an end to the season’s sport and his girlfriend, who has gone to boarding school across the country, disappears. Cody then discovers his inner detective when he attempts to find her.
First line: ‘Except for football fridays, Cody Laredo’s favourite day of the school year was always the last.‘
Adored : An It Girl Novel, created by Cecily von Ziegesar (224 pages) - This is the eight It Girl novel, and having not read any of them I can not even begin to summarise it. But! Don’t hesitate to look for them in the Central library’s wonderful new series area!
First line: ‘Jenny Humphrey leaned against a dark oak window frame in Dumbarton 303 on the Tuesday evening after Thanksgiving break.‘
Some Kind of Wonderful : An Inside Girl Novel, by J. Minter (242 pages) - Fran Flood, fabulous Manhattan socialite, heads to the beach to work for the summer at a resort. He ex-best friend is also going, unfortunately. Stink! See the new YA series area at the central library for the others in the series etc. etc.
First line: ‘Like it or not, my life changes fast.‘
The Phoenix Files : Arrival, by Chris Morphew (295 pages) - The first book in a ‘thrilling new series’. Luke moves to a town called Phoenix, where there are no cars, phones, or Internet. He discovers that someone is planning to wipe out the human race in 100 days … and Phoenix is the safest place in the world.
First line: ‘The end of the world is one of those things that you never really expect to end up being your problem.‘
The Awakening : Book 2 of The Darkest Power, by Kelley Armstrong (360 pages) - Chloe is able to see and raise the dead, thanks to being genetically altered by some sinister scientists at birth. She’s on the run now with three similarly gifted teens; a sorcerer, a witch, and a werewolf.
First line: ‘When the door to my cell clicked open, the first thought that flitted through my doped-up braind was that Liz had changed her mind and come back.‘
Carter Finally Gets It, by Brent Crawford (300 pages) - From the catalogue: ‘Awkward freshman Will Carter endures many painful moments during his first year of high school before realizing that nothing good comes easily, focus is everything, and the payoff is usually incredible.’
First line: ‘In the back room of the Pizza Barn, with only two weeks before the start of high school, my boys and I are at the Freshman Mixer.‘
Love is Hell, by Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfield, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin, and Laurie Faria Stolarz (263 pages) - A collection of short stories about love - with a touch of the supernatural. Everything is Fine, by Ann Dee Ellis (154 pages)
Have you ever wondered what you might look like with Jennifer Garner’s hairstyle? Or lipstick? Or something? Now you can find out with a Hollywood makeover. At last, the Internet is complete.
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn – He wrote Nick, she wrote Norah, which is really the only way I can imagine writing a novel properly with someone else.
Fat Kid Rules the World, by K. L. Going – Curt is a skinny punk genius and Troy is an overweight social leper, together they make a fabulous music odd couple and a cool story about turning your life around.
nicknamed “Beige” by her friend who thinks she, well, lacks a bit of colour) goes to live with her father, an “aging punk rock legend”. There’s a soundtrack that goes along, or rather a “suggested listening list”, so it’s a multi-sensory experience.
Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen – Owen’s mix CDs, one mysteriously called “Just Listen” help pull Annabel out of her shell and face her demons.
The Last Days, by Scott Westerfeld – The sequel to Peeps; here the chapter titles are all band names, and the evil beneath New York is back (with the rats).
The Urban Survival Series is happening during July and August. 
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