Are you SciCurious…? Do you love filmmaking but think science is for geeks?
Think again!
ReelScience is a competition for senior secondary school students (Yr 11 – Yr13) that starts on February 10th. To enter you’ll have to make a 2min short film on any aspect of science. There are cool prizes up for grabs like a Mac and film courses. This here clip tells you all about it (or check out their website).
The Soundtrack to Drew Barrymore’s Ellen Page starring, roller derby themed Whip It (called Whip it : music from the motion picture, of course) features songs from such great artists as Jens Lekman, The Raveonettes and The Ramones, but teasingly it does not include the song Whip It by Devo. Small matters aside, it’s really good. Listen to it as you and your friends beat each other up, whilst rollerblading.
Another new soundtrack we have is (500) Days of summer : music from the motion picture. On it are songs by The Smiths, The Black Lips, Feist and Simon & Garfunkel. Relive all your favourite romantic-drama-comedy moments from the critically acclaimed film. We don’t have the DVD yet, but I’m sure that in due course, we will do.
If you’re addicted to bass and desperately need a bass fix, lest you suffer bass withdrawl symptoms like the bass sweats, I suggest you issue Addicted to bass 2009. It’s yet another three CD Ministry Of Sound compilation with bass heavy hits from The Prodigy, Utah Saints, Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Groove Armada and others. With bass addiction becoming so prevalent, it’s lucky Ministry Of Sound provide a tonic.
Clubbers’ Guide To 2009 is yet another Ministry Of Sound three CD boxed compilation, how on earth they find the time to do anything but compile is beyond me. Anyway, let them guide you through last years biggest club hits, from the likes of The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, P-Money, The Kills and others. Kind of like the Lonely Planet series for clubbing I suppose. (note; this is a different compilation from Clubber’s Guide 2009 despite it’s nearly identical moniker)
For war/history enthusiasts.
This Week’s Magazines is a new regular (perhaps?) Teen Blog feature. Here are this week’s latest arrivals from the Young Adult Periodical Department.
Entertainment Weekly #1086 – ‘Exclusive – The Secrets of Avatar!’ | ‘How Celeb Death Rumors Start’ | Pee Wee Herman’s return | Reviews and whatnot
Australian Mad Magazine #454 – ‘The Dumbest Wii Games Ever!’ | Pop culture gets satirised
Creme March 2010 – ‘Home and Away’s New Hottie Talks!’ | 101 style rules ‘You Have To Know RIGHT NOW’ | The hottest boys for Valentine’s day | Blue is in | ‘How to cope if you and your bestie end up in different classes’
Girlfriend Feb 2010 – Katy Perry interview | Guy-inspired styles | ‘Teen mums on the rise’ | “I have six fingers” | ‘How to be a non-smug couple’
There are not many new books this week. But there are enough to keep you going.
Hunger, by Michael Grant (600 pages) – This weighty tome is the sequel to Gone (we mention it here), and here is its official website. Which will save me writing a synopsis!
First line: ‘Sam Temple was on his board.‘
Hell’s Heroes, by Darren Shan (235 pages) – This here book is the tenth in The Demonata series. It is also the last! Luckily for me it too is a series with its own website. The copy I have here is signed by the author btw.
First lines: ‘“I miss Cal,” Dervish says. “We fought a lot when we were young, like all brothers, but we were always there for one another.”‘
The Uninvited, by Tim Wynne-Jones (351 pages) – Catalogue says: ‘After a disturbing freshman year at New York University, Mimi is happy to get away to her father’s remote Canadian cottage only to discover a stranger living there who has never heard of her or her father and who is convinced that Mimi is responsible for leaving sinister tokens around the property.’ The tokens are are like dead animals and creepy, Blair Witch-like things. Creeeeepy.
First line: ‘Waylin Pitney was gone.‘
Blue Plate Special, by Michelle D. Kwasney (366 pages) – Three girls from different decades (70s, 90s, and the 00s) learn about empathy, forgiveness, and self-respect as their stories weave together.
First line: ‘“Register found is now open with no waiting,” a celing voice booms, interrupting the Stevie Wonder tune playing over the intercom.‘
Nothing But Ghosts, by Beth Kephart (278 pages) – Katie’s mother has died and she is left to live with her genius, art-restoring father in a massive old house. She gets a job at an estate and along with a pair of brothers and a ‘glamorous librarian’ (obviously all librarians are glamorous) she ’soon becomes embroiled in decoding a mystery.’ ‘Heartfelt, lyrical,’ says the blurb.
First line: ‘There are the things that have been and the things that haven’t happened yet.‘
Lips Touch : Three Times, by Laini Taylor (265 pages) – Here is collected three stories (all nicely illustrated, in my opinion!) about romance. There is a strong fairy-tale/supernatural flavour to each story as well.
First line (of the first story): ‘There is a certain kind of girl the goblins crave.‘
Alice in Love & War, by Ann Turnbull (324 pages) – 1644, England, and the Civil War leads an army of Royalists to Alice Newcombe’s uncle’s farm. She falls in love with a soldier, Robin, and leaves the farm to travel with him (well, she travels with the other army women).
First line: ‘Alice was upstairs stripping beds, the windows flung open to sweeten the air, when she heard the drums.‘
Blood Ninja, by Nick Lake (369 pages) – This has ninjas. It also has vampires. It is set in imperial Japan. What more could you possibly want in a book? NOT MUCH. “A fast-paced, gripping book with ninjas. It’s all I ask for, really.” – Conn Iggulden, author of The Dangerous Book for Boys.
First line: ‘This was not a good place to be out at night, all alone.‘
The Mitochondrial Curiosities of Marcels 1-19, by Jocelyn Brown (141 pages)
Black Tuesday, by Susan Colebank (264 pages)
The Kites are Flying, by Michael Morpurgo and Laura Carlin (76 pages)
The 52nd Grammy Awards were held a couple of days ago. If you’d like to hear some of the winners, we have a lot in the YA collection just waiting to be issued. Click on the links below …
Michael Jackson, lifetime achievement.
Kings Of Leon, record of the year for Use Somebody (off the album Only By The Night)
Taylor Swift, album of the year for Fearless
Black Eyed Peas, best pop vocal album for The E.N.D.
Jason Mraz, best male vocal pop performance for Make It Mine
Lady Gaga, best electronic/dance album for The Fame
AC/DC, best rock performance for War Machine
Green Day, best rock album for 21st Century Breakdown
Phoenix, best alternative album for Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Jay-Z, best rap solo performance for D.O.A.
and Beyonce won six for all sorts of things, the record for the most Grammys at a single awards show ever. I Am… Sasha Fierce is the place to look, or rather, listen.
Did you watch the awards? Agree/disagree with the winning choices?
We don’t have copyright for any images from the Grammys, but luckily Capt. Walker de Planck is a big Beyonce fan and he drew an artists rendition of her accepting her awards on his new iPad. Thanks Captain!
Alicia Keys’ fourth, The Element Of Freedom comes our way with a bonus DVD of what the catalogue descibes as “intimate studio performances”. If you’ve ever enjoyed an Alicia Keys album, you’ll be pleased with this one too, easy electronic elegance from a deservedly familiar voice. Includes guest appearances from Jay-Z and Beyonce.
OneRepublic are an American band who gamely attempt to marry the sounds of stadium rock to modern R&B. If those two sounds are the bride and groom, then slickness and polish are the best man and maid of honour, with moody ballads being the eventual offspring. To extend this already extended metaphor I will mention they honeymoon at the upper reaches of the charts. Waking Up is the album.
And finally, the pile of new music wouldn’t be complete without a 3CD compilation put together by Ministry Of Sound. Luckily then, Anthems : electronic 80s is here. Amongst it’s 68 mixed tracks are contributions from Kajagoogoo, Blancmange, A Flock Of Seagulls and other ridiculously named bands. Don’t worry, there’s some cool stuff on there.
Look at this dog. He/she smiles when his/her owner is about to take him/her for a walk. Walksies. So cute!
The Glee thing is bigger than Twilight (maybe)! Cool. Now that’s what we call music.
In the nearly but not quite the most wanted category we also have the following: Lord Sunday by Garth Nix (the final installment); Fame Monster by Lady Gaga; Aliens in the Attic (DVD); Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (the one that Amazon said was the best book of last year); and Push by Sapphire (that the movie Precious is based on).
Recently on the teen blog we highlighted some of the upcoming new books you can expect to see this year. I said I’d be back with catalogue links so that you could place some reserves for your favourites, and, diligently (and hopefully correctly) I’ve put them into the post now. So you can reserve away. More will be ordered in due course.
Good news for Gleeks, Glee : The Music, Volume 2 has arrived amongst our collection. You won’t be able to find it on the shelves though, because lots of you have already reserved it. Jump in the queue and excitedly wait for the most popular music since 1964 – true story, in 2009 the Glee cast had 25 singles in the Billboard hot 100, the most since the Beatles had 31 back then. Just as big really.
Nirvana’s albums are almost all too old to have a Young Adult card now, and Bleach recently turned 20. To celebrate this occasion, Sub Pop has released Bleach (20th Anniversary Edition). More than just the standard reissued, same old album, but with a new booklet and a couple of token bonus tracks, this one has an entire live concert packaged with it. One that could be rightly considered deserving of a stand alone release. Worthy!
Another nicely packaged package is Live from the Royal Albert Hall by The Killers. You get a career spanning concert performance + behind the scenes doco on the DVD side and an 80 minute chunk of said concert performance on the CD side. No matter where you are you can pretend you’re at a concert! All in all it’s a killer collection, haha.
And if you’d like to hear previews of these CDs they’re all on our bebo page.
Wellington City Council is running a photography competition for 10-18 year-olds in March. You can win a camera, and maybe even get paid for your photos to be added to the Council’s collection of stock images. Paid! Win! Two appealing words. All you need to do is take photos that captures your youthperspective of Wellington.
It runs from Saturday, the 13th of February, to Sunday, the 14th of March. There is a free photography workshop on Saturday, the 13th of February , here, at the Central Library, at 1pm.
There is more information to be found here.
Hi! Here are this week’s new books.
Watching Jimmy, by Nancy Hartry (152 pages) – Carolyn’s best friend, Jimmy, is assaulted by his uncle, and is left with brain damage. The uncle tells everyone that Jimmy fell from a swing, but Carolyn knows the truth. She must protect Jimmy from his uncle and also try to raise some funds for Jimmy’s brain surgery.
First line: ‘Uncle Ted said Jimmy bumped his head falling off the swing.‘
Alphas, by Lisi Harrison (261 pages) – This promises to be the first in a series by the author of The Clique. It’s set in the exclusive Alpha Academy on Alpha Island, where one hundred girls – all ‘exceptional dancers, writers, musicians, and inventors’ – live a kind of Survivor-esque lifestyle? I feel inadequate just reading the blurb.
First line: ‘There were five Skye Hamiltons in the Body Alive Dance Studio.‘
The Everafter, by Amy Huntly (144 pages) – Madison is dead, and in a vast & dark space she shares with all the things she lost when she was alive. The items allow her to re-experience and even change moments from her life. She consequently learns truths about her life; and ‘the strength of true love even beyond death.’
First line: ‘I’m dead.‘
Perfect You, by Elizabeth Scott (282 pages) – Kate is forced to work with her dad, who has quit his job to sell vitamins in a mall. Her best friend’s new-found popularity means she now ignores Kate, and she doesn’t know how to react when the gorgeous Will shows an interest in her. SO. She tries to stop caring about anyone or anything, which is never a good idea is it? No.
First line: ‘Vitamins had ruined my life.‘
How to Say Goodbye in Robot, by Natalie Standiford (276 pages) – Bea moves to a new town and makes friends with Jonah, a ‘quiet observer’, rather than one of the ‘very cheery, very friendly, very average’ girls she meets on the first day. Jonah’s and Bea’s friendship is intense to say the least. Also they have a thing for Iceland, my favourite country!
First line: ‘Goebbels materialized on the back patio, right before we moved to Baltimore, and started chewing through the wicker love seat.‘
The Dark Divine, by Bree Despain (372 pages) – A supernatural Christian romance (the first, maybe?) about the daughter of a pastor, Grace Divine, and the apple of her eye, Daniel Kalbi, who comes from a line of demon-hunting werewolves.
First lines: ‘”Grace! You have got to see the new guy.” April bounded up to me in the junior hallway.‘
Captivate, by Carrie Jones (276 pages) – The sequel to Need, which is about pixes and werewolves. Pixes and werewolves! Captivate adds valkyries to the mix. Might also be a supernatural romance?
First line: ‘There are these bizarre people who actually like physical education class.‘
The Museum of Mary Child, by Cassandra Golds (329 pages) – Handily annotated by the catalogue: ‘Heloise finds a mysterious doll and is forced to run away, ending up in an orphanage. But one day, she must return to the house where the devastating secret of her past awaits.‘
First lines: ‘A shaft of moonlight. A barred window. A bed of straw, and a young man, little more than a boy, chained to a wall.‘
Rage : A Love Story, by Mary Anne Peters (293 pages) – From the catalogue again, as it can be difficult to summarise a book just from the blurb! ‘At the end of high school, Johanna finally begins dating the girl she has loved from afar, but Reeve is as much trouble as she claims to be as she and her twin brother damage Johanna’s self-esteem, friendships, and already precarious relationship with her sister.‘
First line: ‘I locate the room on the first floor where Mrs Goins asked me to meet her.‘
Wish You Were Dead, by Todd Strasser (236 pages) – An anonymous blogger wishes the school’s most popularist girl was dead, and the next day she disappears. Her friend, Madison, begins to receive notes that say she’s next; she turns to mysterious new student Tyler for assistance with the mystery.
First line: ‘The red taillights of Tyler Starling’s ugly purple car disappeared into the dark.‘
Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud (389 pages) – Epic fantasy set in an enormous valley, which was once a wild place besieged by bloodthirsty Trows. Now that it’s much calmer, Halli pines for the olden days of legendary heroes. A chance to go on a daring quest unites him with Aud, a girl as headstrong and reckless as he is.
First line: ‘Listen then, and I’ll tell you again of the Battle of the Rock.‘
Fallen, by Lauren Kate (452 pages) – This book has loads of reserves on it! It looks to be a supernatural romance (a la Twilight etc.) about a girl named Luce, who goes to a new school and meets Daniel, to whom she is irrestibly attracted. He is an angel btw and things get complex.
First line: ‘Luce barged into the fluorescent-lit lobby of the Sword & Cross School ten minutes later than she should have.‘
Manstealing for Fat Girls, by Michelle Embree (256 pages)
Once a Princess : Sasharia en Garde! Book 1, by Sherwood Smith (278 pages)
Twice a Prince : Sasharia en Garde! Book 2, by Sherwood Smith (265 pages)
Libba Bray has won the 2010 Michael Printz Award for her book Going Bovine, about Cameron, a sixteen year old with Mad Cow disease and who goes on a road trip with a gaming dwarf. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is such a strange story idea that it’s just begging to be read.
If you want to find out more about award winning books, visit this post.
So many new books, not so much with the new CDs. Because you must be hanging out for some music by now, I, Synthesiser Patel, would like to share with you my new favourite song.
We’ve had loads of new books lately. Here are more!
Shadowland : The Immortals, by Alyson Noel (339 pages) – This is the third book in The Immortals series. Ever and Damen have lived through many past lives to be together, but a curse inteferes with their long-awaited destiny. Damen ends up in the Shadowland, and Ever meets a magickal surfer named Jude.
First lines: ‘“Everything is energy.” Damen’s dark eyes focus on mine, urging me to listen, really listen this time.‘
Suzi Clue : The Prom Queen Curse, by Michelle Kehm (309 pages) – Suzi Clue solves mysteries, is fifteen, ‘fiesty and fabulous’. As the prom queens fall prey to various mishaps, and the prom is threatened with cancellation, Suzi decides the only way to find out what’s happening is by running for prom queen herself.
First line: ‘Kathryn has never been happier in her whole life.‘
VIP Lounge : A Chole Gamble Novel, by Ed Decter and Laura J. Burns (339 pages) – Chloe Gamble is the hottest thing in Hollywood. She’s a film star and a music sensation, and people around her want in on her money and fame, I guess? The second book in a series!
First lines: ‘Hurricane Chloe. That’s what I called Chloe Gamble in the weeks after she landed her first starring role.‘
The Van Alen Legacy : A Blue Bloods Novel, by Melissa de la Cruz (369 pages) – This is the fourth Blue Bloods book, and continues the story of rich Upper East Side vampires.
First line: ‘“It is said that Allegra’s daughter will defeat the Silver Bloods.”‘
The Secret Life of Prince Charming, by Deb Caletti (322 pages) – All the women in Quinn’s life have had their hearts broken at some stage, and after she herself is dumped, she starts to think that there are no good men. When her no-good father turns up she decides to take the bull by its horns and right her father’s numerous wrongs.
First line: ‘When it came to love, my mother’s big advice was that there were WARNING SIGNS.‘
The Real Real : A Novel, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (310 pages) – From the catalogue synopsis – ‘When Hampton High senior Jesse is cast in a reality television show along with five other, more popular students, drama on and off screen reveals that what the audience and producers want is not the same as what Jesse wants.‘
First lines: ‘“Single file! Everyone, line up on the LEFT!” Mrs Gesop shouts to be heard over the din of students crowding into the impractically narrow hallway between the stairwell and the auditorium.‘
Gifted : Better Late Than Never, by Marilyn Kaye (215 pages) and Gifted : Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, also by Marilyn Kaye (213 pages) – Books 2 & 3 in the Gifted series, about nine teenagers who are gifted and can read minds, or see into the future, and so forth.
First lines: ‘Jenna Kelly stood at her bedroom window and gazed outside without really seeing anything.‘ ‘Sometimes Emily wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or having one of her visions.‘
The Treasure Map of Boys : Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon, and me, Ruby Oliver, by E. Lockhart (224 pages)
Congratulations to Bronwyn for winning the 2009 Short Short Story competition with her story ‘A Decision Between Two Hands’. Well done. Bronwyn wins the Cirque du Freak prize pack – enjoy!
Read a children’s book from 1972 (the olden days) which attempted to depict what life would be like in 2010. Which is the year we’re in now, as you are aware! It gets a few thing right, although the robot arm that throws you your toast and the jumpsuits everyone wears are a bit of a stretch.
So many new books!
Everything Sucks : Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool, by Hannah Friedman (256 pages) – Hannah Friedman re-invented herself when she won a scholarship to an exclusive private school, and soon had a millionaire boyfriend, a designer wardrobe, and became super-popular. This is a true story! And these things come with a cost (addictions, eating disorders, etc.)
Hostage, by Karen Tayleur (191 pages) – Tully is abducted and for 24 hours she is a hostage. The blurb says, ‘Or so she says …‘ Was she or wasn’t she? I can not answer that.
First line: ‘The thing I remember, the one thing that is really clear to me, is that the chemist floor had a large black scuff near the counter.‘
Darkwood, by M. E. Breen (273 pages) – Annie Trewitt is an orphan whose uncle has terrible plans for her. So she runs away, into the forest, where the sinister kinderstalk live, and soon discovers they ain’t so bad afterall.
First line: ‘The sun sets so quickly in Howland that the people who live there have no word for evening.‘
The Book of the Maidservant, by Rebecca Barnhouse (232 pages) – Joanna is maidservant to Dame Margery Kempe, who wrote the first autobiography in English in the mid-1400s. She was very religious! Joanna goes with her on a pilgrimage to Rome but is abandoned in a foreign land, and must somehow get to Rome herself.
First line: ‘My mistress says you mustn’t stare into the fire lest the devil look out at you from the flames.‘
Love You Hate You Miss You, by Elizabeth Scott (276 pages) – Amy’s best friend Julia died in a car crash, and now Amy is struggling to cope with the loss. She feels a bit responsible. But maybe things before the accident weren’t as perfect as she thought?
First line: ‘Dear Julia – Get this, I’m supposed to be starting a journal about “my journey.”‘
Beautiful World, by Anastasia Hollings (209 pages) – Amelia has been moved from boarding school to boarding school (her dad’s an untenured professor) and so never quite gets to get in with all the rich & beautiful people she schools with. She’s also a clever liar! So she gets in with an ‘Upper East Side heiress’ who allows Amelia to live like Blair Waldorf. But only through lying! Might be the beginning of a series?
First line: ‘You’ve seen their faces, perfectly tanned all year-round, smiling at you from the society pages and socialite rankings.‘
Bite Me!, by Melissa Francis (296 pages) -A.J. Ashe is seventeen. Her ex-boyfriend is now her step-brother, and she’s being stalked by a former classmate. She’s also a vampire. Also! She has to save the world.
First lines: ‘My mother’s wedding day. I should be thrilled she’s getting hitched to the man of her dreams.‘
The Set-Up : The Medusa Project : Book One, by Sophie McKenzie (293 pages) – Four teenagers develop psychic powers. (When they were babies they were implanted with the ‘Medusa gene’ by a scientist who has since died.) Someone sinister wants the gene, however, and they will do anything to get it.
First line: ‘I’m Nico and what I’m about to tell you is Secret and Dangerous and True.‘
Breathing, by Cheryl Renee Herbsman (265 pages) – Savannah falls in love with Jackson, a boy who she reckons is different from the rest. He follows his mother’s strict dating rules, and when she’s hospitalised with an asthma attack he stays by her side. But he has to help his family and he mightn’t be back.
First line: ‘Strange feelings come over me sometimes, kind of like deja vu, only before it happens.‘
Purge, by Sarah Darer Littman (234 pages) – Janie is sent to a psychiatric hospital to get help for her bulimia. She’s holding some trauma deep inside her, and in order to stop purging she must ‘fish painful memories out of her emotional waters‘.
First line: ‘At least they’ve given me a journal, even if it’s just a cheapo notebook like everyone else’s.‘
Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst (308 pages) – Cassie’s grandmother used to tell her how her mother made a deal with the Polar Bear King, and Arctic castles made of ice. Now older, Cassie is suddenly made aware that fairytales could be true, and makes her own deal with the Polar Bear King,
First line: “Once upon a time, the North Wind said to the Polar Bear King, “Steal me a daughter, and when she grows, she will be your bride.”‘
Love the One You’re With : Gossip Girl – The Carlyles, by Annabelle Vestry (213 pages) – The Carlyle triplets are off to the tropics for Thanksgiving. They are taking their friends, and as a matter of course there are ’sultry poolside encounters’ and a character named ‘Baby.’
First lines: ‘“So, what’s up for Thanksgiving? What does your family usually do?” Avery Carlyle asked her friends Jack Laurent and Jiffy Bennett.‘
After, by Amy Efaw (350 pages)
After, by Sue Lawson (282 pages)
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