Hello, I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and in my absence a large pile of new music has appeared. So here it is, all ready to issue and enjoy!
The first ever winner of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson has defied all expectations in creating a nice little career for herself by making consistently good music. Her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted has just popped out and again it’s a job very well done.
Fans of The Jonas Brothers will enjoy Demi Lovato and her debut Don’t Forget. She of course starred alongside the lads in the movie Camp Rock and they’ve lent a hand by co-writing much of the material and even dueting on the song On The Line.
Away from the pop for a bit and into the indie-rock with The Notwist and The Devil, You + Me. Give it a whirl if Radiohead and Sonic Youth float your boat like they do mine.
Taylor Swift has released two albums and they both came in at once. So now you can take home Fearless and the self-titled Taylor Swift from the acclaimed country-popper.
And lastly Platinum Rock vol.3 is a two disc collection of popular rock tunes from 1999-2007. It includes the likes of The White Stripes, The Killers and our own The D4. Put it on and rock out for an extended period of time.
Apologies for fans of playlists as there shall be none this time due to the ever worrisome ‘technical difficulties’, hope to have it sorted soon.
From Georgie and Waylon in the Council’s Youth Team …
Wellington City Council are proud to announce the details of our annual Youth Forum: ENGAGE. On Friday 1 May 2009: 9.30am – 3.30pm at the council chamber at the Town Hall, Wakefield St.
ENGAGE will give you an opportunity to:
· Learn about Wellington City Council, the draft Long Term Community Council Plan (LTCCP), how the City is planning for the next 10 years and how young people can have their voices heard
· Meet City Councillors, youth advisors and the Wellington Youth Council
· Meet and talk about the city with other young people from Wellington
They would like as many young people to be a part of this forum as possible and are keen to have a diverse range of ethnic, academic, and cultural backgrounds present.
If you are aged 12-24 and want to take part then all you need to do is contact Waylon (waylon.edwards@wcc.govt.nz) or Georgie (georgina.rhoades@wcc.govt.nz) in the Youth Team at Council by 5pm Thursday 23 April. They are totally keen to ensure that as many of you as possible are informed about how you can be involved and have a say on planning for your city. They can even help you get permission to get out of school for the day.
Oh, and food and drinks will be provided. What more do you need?
Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
A great book. The writing technique was not entirely spectacular, but that was made up for by the content. As you are taken through the day-to-day life of Miranda, through the eyes of her personal diary, a gruelling tale emerges. The moon was hit by an asteroid, knocking it ever-so-slightly closer to earth. The effects are revealed as you read through her year.
I was completely captivated, stunned even, by this novel. Keeping me up late at night, I even had to resort to pinching myself so I wouldn’t let my eyelids close. Really, read this book only when you have a clear schedule – you won’t want to be distracted!
The Dead and the Gone, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Although it isn’t as good as Life as We Knew It, I would still recommend reading this book. Life as We Knew It is a tale of isolation, struggle against the harsh world the character lives in. The Dead and the Gone is an entirely different approach. Told in the eyes of a teenage boy leaving hich school, the author uses a diary format, even though it is told in 3rd person. This annoyed me a lot, but it’s worth it. Alex has to look after his sisters… through thick and thin.
~ Hannah
Yes, again with the book reviewing. This may interest you (if not, write a review anyway!): we’ve just landed a few posters of Robert Pattinson (fresh out of that biography we told you about a while ago). They’ve got fold crease thingies, but they’re quite big and apart from being delivered to the Teen Blog box they’ve not been touched at all. So, we thought we’d deliver four of them to four of you.
The catch is: you have to write a well-considered review of a young adult book. You can have liked it or disliked it; we don’t mind as long as you let us know why (don’t just give us a plot summary, for example). The first four publishable book reviews we receive will get a poster (this is only open to Wellington City Libraries card holders… if you’d rather not have a poster we totally understand (believe me) – just let us know and we won’t bother you with it). The review form is here, so go to it.
Have you read a book lately that you think other people should read? Or maybe you’ve read a book that you don’t think anyone would want to read? You can review them here, on our newly created and simple-to-use review form.
We will publish all the good reviews (and good bad reviews) that we get.
Five series have survived the cutthroat first round of Selector. The series walking the plank are:
Drama!, by Paul Ruditis
Fabulous Terrible, by Sophie Talbot
Fashion-Forward Adventures of Imogene, by Lisa Barnham
Divas, by Victoria Murray
Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves, by Amber Kizer
Tis a shame but there can be only one winner!
Those still in the running are nervously awaiting your Round Two votes:
Drama Club, by Peter Lerangis is wondering if it’s a bad sign that another Drama series didn’t make the cut; Vampire Kisses, by Ellen Schrieber is quietly confident, since there’s both vampires and kisses in the title – how could that not be a winner?; Queen Geek Social Club, by Laura Preble would like to remind you that geeks are chic; Morganville Vampires, by Rachel Caine again points out that vampires are hot, hot, hot; and Inside Girl, by J. Minter says it’s a bit different, since the story is about a rich girl going to an average high school.
Those are your choices (fuller descriptions are here), so get voting. You’ve got until next Tuesday, so remember, if you don’t vote your favourite may go south!
There are so many new DVDs! So many. Some new CDs, but Jack can make a playlist when he stops touring the country and comes back to work.
The Rocker (M) – This has that guy from The Office playing an aging rocker, who gets another chance to be the rockstar he always wanted to be. A comedy! Quite funny.
Oliver Twist (M) – This is an adaption of Dickens’ classic story by the BBC. ‘Gritty and good’, says Grimm, who especially liked Tom Hardy’s Bill Sykes (I dunno if anyone can beat Oliver Reed’s Bill Sykes, however).
Alice (PG) – An adaption of Alice in Wonderland by famous Czech animator, Jan Svankmajer.
The Hills (M) – This is the complete third season of this polarising sort-of-reality show.
Planet B-Boy (M) – A “dazzling documentary [that] makes a compelling argument for breakdancing as an art form”; official website.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (PG) – Anime about a girl who can leap back in time from 2006.
The World According to Miley Cyrus (PG) – An “unauthorised” documentary about the teen actress/singer.
Skyland (PG) -A French CGI series set in a future where the Earth has split into millions of inhabitable floating pieces. This collects 13 episodes of the first series.
Avatar: Book 1 Water, Volume 3 (PG)
Avatar: Book 1 Water, Volume 4 (PG)
Avatar: Book 1 Water, Volume 5 (PG) – Each DVD contains four episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series.
Futurama : Into the Wild Green Yonder (PG) – The latest Futurama film. Instead of a regular television series, Futurama films are being produced.
Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot (M) – Directed by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, this documentary is about the top high school basketball players in the US competing against one another.
The Ruby in the Smoke (M)
The Shadow in the North (M) – Both are BBC adaptions of the books by Philip Pullman about intrepid Victorian heroine Sally Lockhart, who can ride a horse, shoot a gun, solve crimes and uncover mysteries with the best of them.
And two audio books that I expect will be very popular:
Eclipse (13 CDs) and New Moon (12 CDs), by Stephenie Meyer – both are read by Ilyana Kadushin (whose name is spectacular, we reckon). Reserve ’em quick, as there aren’t too many holds on them … at the moment.
If you liked the Almost Amazing Race (or wanted to do it) check out the City Safari, which will take place on the 17th of May. It’s an all-day orienteering competition around Wellington that utilises public transport. School teams may enter. Take a look at the website for more information.
It is the 20th birthday of the Internet, which means that it hasn’t been entitled to a YA library card for a couple of years. Also, that for many people (i.e. this blog’s intended audience) there’s not been a time when there wasn’t an Internet, or WWW, or chat, or even online shopping. Can you imagine – a world with no social networking? Truly a dark epoch.
Anyway, here’s an article about the beginnings of the Internet. Pretty complex stuff!
We have a lot of book series in our collection, and many of them are very popular (proving that you can’t have too much of a good thing). So if you like vampires you will thrill to the ongoing Vampire Beach/Vampire Diaries/Buffy the Vampire Slayer series; if you like the rich and fabulous you will delight in the many Gossip Girls-type series; fantasy fans enjoy the Quentaris Chronicles; and action buffs can tremble with anticipation as the latest Alex Rider/CHERUB/etc. book is released.
There are a number of book series written for teens that the Wellington Library doesn’t get, however. Here’s a list of them. The recession means that we can’t get them all, unfortunately, so we’ve decided to make a game of it. A game we have decided to call Selector. We even made a logo an illustration!
The rules are this; read through the list on this page and decide which series you think that the library should get. The four that receive the most votes by April 14th (that’s the Tuesday after Easter) will go into the final. The final four will be voted out, one-by-one, each following week. The one that wins will be purchased, and one lucky person will get to read it before anyone else does.
Once you’ve read through the list, vote in the form below.
Round two has started; vote here.
