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Reading, Wellington, and whatever else – teenblog@wcl.govt.nz

Month: October 2013

Books Into Movies, 2014 Edition

Tomorrow it will be three weeks until the opening of Catching Fire. We can’t wait! On the subject of turning a popular book into a (hopefully popular) movie, here are some in production in Hollywood:

Vampire Academy, book (and series) by Richelle Mead.  The film is set to star Zoey Deutch (Beautiful Creatures) and Sarah Hyland (from Modern Family) in March next year. Movie info is here. The trailer’s here.

Fallen, book by Lauren Kate. Fallen was one of our most borrowed fiction titles back in 2010, so it’s been a while coming! There’s not much info on IMDb yet, but watch this space.

The Giver, book by Lois Lowry. The Giver was first published in 1993, a long time before dystopian novels were the it thing. The series has been growing slowly: Son was published last year. The film stars Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Taylor Swift (yes that Taylor Swift) and Katie Holmes. Slightly more information is here

If I Stay, book by Gayle Forman. What a wrench the movie will be, if the book’s anything to go by!  It stars Chloe Grace Moretz. IMDb info here

These are just the additions to the ones we reported on in March. Other more rumour-ish movies include Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, Heist Society by Ally Carter, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness… the list is very long; we’re wondering if there are any script writers writing from scratch? And are movies ever better than the book?

Halloween Horrors

The spooky season is fast upon us. And to get you in the mood, here are Nicola’s favourite horror and supernatural themed graphic novels. Be warned: some are not for the faint of heart.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsDead High Yearbook

High school can be hell; the old axiom is explored during this often gruesome exploration of the pressures of being a teenager. All these stories are drawn by a different artist, and connected by a single conceit: the dead students of a particular high school tell the stories of how they died. The humour’s black as pitch, so it manages to avoid being too depressing. Although if you’re squeamish, you might want to avoid it, as it gets very graphic in some places.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsDracula, adapted by Nicky Raven

The original vampire story, condensed and beautifully illustrated. The original novel is an epistolary book, told in a series of documents. It’s a read that rewards the persistent, but this version simplifies the story while keeping the essence of thriller that’s at the heart of the story. I can’t stress enough how gorgeous the art in this book is; the individual pictures appear beside the text, but never overwhelm it. I love this adaptation; of all the graphic novel versions of classics, this one is my favourite.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsSalem Brownstone : all along the watchtowers, by John Harris Dunning & Nikhil Singh

A young man is called back to his ancestral pile after the death of his father, only to find that his father wasn’t the man his son thought he was. A nearby circus filled with eccentric characters help him negotiate a strange magical world. The stylised black and white illustrations lend this graphic novel an eerie feel. I’ve never seen a graphic novel quite like it. Absolutely worth a read if you’re looking for horror fantasy that’s utterly unique.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsCourtney Crumrin, Volume 1, The Night Things, written & illustrated by Ted Naifeh

A unique take on the “magical girl” trope, this graphic novel has a bit more darkness than many of the others. Courtney is an anti-social teenager who has moved with her parents into her rich uncle’s house. Unfortunately the Crumrins don’t have the best reputation in the wealthy neighbourhood, and Courtney’s attitude doesn’t make it any easier to fit in. There is some foundation to the dark rumours, however: Uncle Aloysius is a magician, and Courtney borrows some of his magic books. However Courtney misuses them, and gets herself into a world of trouble.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsWoolvs in the Sitee, by Margaret Wild

Something strange has happened. It is never explained what, but the narrator, Ben believes it to be “the woolvs”. Ben explains, in slightly mangled English, that these “woolvs” have chased off everyone and now “nuthing is rite.” Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong, but Ben isn’t the most reliable of narrators…this book is an eerie read, the text adding to the rough depictions of Ben’s world. While the rest of these graphic novels deal with explicit supernatural threats, the nature of this one is never really clear. It’s both fascinating and chilling.

And with that, Happy Halloween!

Fantastical Graphic Novels

Fantasy has never been more popular; these days you can’t turn around without falling over a book about vampires or werewolves or zombies. With these recommendations, though, Nicola was looking for something a little different than your average urban fantasy. Graphic novels are brilliant at bringing such worlds to life; often the true nature of the world depicted is shown in the background of the action. And so without further ado, these are Nicola’s picks for the best fantastical graphic novels:

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsGirl Genius, Kaja Boglio

Girl Genius started life (and continues) as a webcomic. But if flicking through its not inconsiderable archives (it started in 2005) doesn’t appeal, you can take out the books in our collection. Set in an alternate history Steampunk Europe, which is currently under the control of the mighty Wulfenbach Empire. Into this falls Agatha, a teenage girl with almost magical powers of invention and the last scion of a great family. The scale of this world is almost indescribable; one really gets the sense that there’s a massive world beyond the page. This is certainly one of the best developed worlds in fiction.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsCastle Waiting, Linda Medley

At the end of Sleeping Beauty, what happens to the castle? This graphic novel attempts to answer that question; the thorn forest persists, and the castle itself becomes a sanctuary to all sorts of odd people. The world is heavily based on fairytales, but it’s not limited by that. There are hints of darkness beneath the stories of lost princesses and noble woodcutters. Outside the warm and comforting walls of the castle is a real world, one scarred by war and disease. But this graphic novel never loses its gentle tone of optimism and kindness.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsCity in the Desert, Moro Rogers

Many fantasy settings start off with a premise that monsters are real; often those monsters are hidden from everyday life. In City in the Desert, however, monsters are out in the open and hunting them is the only real occupation that pays a decent wage any more. The desert setting seems to be unique, as well, which is always a good thing! Again, the world is fully developed. A nice touch is having the main characters, Irro and Hari, often in conflict with their society; they’re not big heroes, they’re two people who are trying to make their way in an often hostile world.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsTales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan

You could make an argument that this is “urban fantasy”; in fact, it’s there in the title. However, this is a series of oddly realistic tales about the strange things that happen in the ‘burbs. The stories are narrated in a rather matter of fact way, but the subject matter lifts it beyond your average fantasy story; the helpful water buffalo in the long grass in a deserted lot, or a strange man in an old fashioned diving suit. The art is gorgeous. Shaun Tan is Australian, and the art is evocative of that baked-dryness of Australian summers, although perhaps this little book could be set anywhere. It’s not only a unique book in our collection, it’s one of my favourite graphic novels of all time.