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

Month: February 2019

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials – adaptation coming soon!

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe teaser trailer just dropped for the BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials and it’s super exciting! It has an amazing cast. Just waiting to get a glance of the daemons and I’m a happy fan. There’s no release date yet, but in the meantime, we have some “materials” of our own to help with the hype…

There are all of the books in Philip Pullman’s award winning series: Northern Lights (published in the US as The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. We also have other books set in the same universe: Once upon a time in the North, Lyra’s Oxford, and the first part of his “Book of Dust” series, La Belle Sauvage.

We also have audiobook and graphic novel versions.

New books

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe art of losing, Lizzy Mason

On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley’s life changes forever. At a party she discovers her younger sister, Audrey, hooking up with her boyfriend, Mike, who then drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, crashing and leaving Audrey in a coma. Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her ex-boyfriend has a drinking problem. She finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbour and childhood friend. He starts to show Harley a path forward that she never would have believed possible – one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsOnly a breath apart, Katie McGarry

Jesse dreams of working the land that’s been in his family forever. But he’s cursed to lose everything he loves most. Scarlett is desperate to escape her “charmed” life. But leaving a small town is easier said than done. Despite their history of heartbreak, when Jesse sees a way they can work together to each get what they want, Scarlett can’t say no. Each midnight meeting between Jesse and Scarlett will push them to confront their secrets and their feelings for each other.Katie McGarry is an expert at spinning tales of high school love, angst, and class boundaries. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsA sky painted gold, Laura Wood

Growing up in a sleepy Cornish village, Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years. And when the owners arrive for the summer, Lou is swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams. Will she find her feet before the summer ends… or lose her heart? (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsIn Paris with you, Clementine Beauvais (translated by Sam Taylor)

Powerful, feisty, intelligent, set in a Parisian’s version of Paris, this is a love story that you’ll actually believe in! Eugene and Tatiana could have fallen in love. If things had gone differently. But time has found them far apart, leading separate lives. Until they meet once more in Paris…(Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe dead queens club, Hannah Capin

If your school’s homecoming king had a little too much in common with Henry VIII, would you survive with your head still attached? You’d think being the new girl in a tiny town would equal one very boring senior year. But if you’re me–Annie Marck, alias Cleves–and you accidentally transform into teenage royalty by entering Lancaster High on the arm of the king himself? Life becomes the exact opposite of boring. Henry has it all: he’s the jock, the genius and the brooding bad boy all in one. Which sort of explains why he’s on his sixth girlfriend in two years. What it doesn’t explain is why two of them–two of us–are dead. My best friend thinks it’s Henry’s fault, which is obviously ridiculous. My nemesis says we shouldn’t talk about it, which is straight-up sketchy. But as the resident nosy new girl, I’m determined to find out what really happened to Lancaster’s dead queens…ideally before history repeats itself. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsInk, Iron and Glass, Gwendolyn Clare

As a prodigy in the science of scriptology, Elsa can write new worlds into creation. She lives in one such world called Veldana. When her mother is abducted, Elsa follows her trail into the real world, where she must recruit the help of a secret society of fellow “mad” geniuses who are similarly gifted in powers of mechanics and alchemy. Here, she meets Leo, a mechanist with a smart mouth and a tragic past. With Leo’s help, she unveils a political conspiracy with her own family at the center. Her mother’s most valuable and secret creation, a scriptology book with the power to edit the real world, is also missing, and Elsa must find it and her mother before her enemies do. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe similars, Rebecca Hanover

The Similars are all anyone can talk about at the elite Darkwood Academy. Who are these six clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? Who is the madman who broke the law to create them? Emma couldn’t care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and all she can think about is how to get through her junior year without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi–Oliver’s exact DNA replica and one of the Similars. Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, but she keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into their clique, uncovering dark truths about the clones and her prestigious school along the way. But no one can be trusted, not even the boy she is falling for who has Oliver’s face. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsEnchantée, Gita Trelease

Paris is a labyrinth of twisted streets filled with beggars and thieves, revolutionaries and magicians. Camille Durbonne is one of them. She wishes she weren’t… When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Using dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for magic. As she struggles to reconcile her resentment of the rich with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille meets a handsome young inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible. But magic has its costs, and soon Camille loses control of her secrets. And when revolution erupts, Camille must choose–love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality of magic–before Paris burns. (Publisher summary)

Webcomic collections

Webcomics are one of the best (although this may be controversial) things to come out of the internet. Creators has a direct path to new and diverse audiences, without meddling from publishers and often a better understanding of the current social climate than more mainstream titles. It seems that there’s a webcomic for any interest! WCL has to be a bit more…selective in the webcomic collections we acquire, but if the thought of clicking through hundreds of pages doesn’t appeal, we’ve got a decent selection.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsHomestuck has been called the internet’s “Ulysses.” Possibly due to its length, possibly due to its devoted fanbase and its equally vocal detractors. It’s also incredibly hard to describe its plot. It’s also very hard to translate to a book format, as the author notes but he helpfully provides links to the actual pages where the plot is conveyed in gifs and flash animations. And it was created in MS paint, which is quite something. You’ll never read anything like it.

“A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 13th of April, 2009, is this young man’s birthday. Though it was thirteen years ago he was given life, it is only today he will be given a name! What will the name of this young man be?”
-Homestuck, first lines.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsGirl Genius has been running since 2005. It’s still going, and updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. That’s a lot of material. It is based around the adventures of Agatha Clay, who discovers that she has an ancient and mysterious birthright, as well as having the “spark” – a strange group of personality traits, which predisposes the person to acts of mad…genius. It’s one of the preeminent Steampunk works, although the author prefers the term “gaslamp fantasy.” At any rate, it’s a great webcomic but works so well in a printed format – it’s much easier to catch up! Here’s book one.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsYou probably never thought of seeking out a comic written by a five year old and professionally illustrated and you never thought you’d need it in your life but Axe Cop is really something else. It’s silly, anarchic, and really nice to look at; the comedy webcomic holy trinity. It’s really funny as well. The plot is basically the title. An axe-wielding cop fights crime, which consists of whatever a five year old deems as criminal (hint: dinosaurs are heavily involved). As a side note, the writer and the illustrator are brothers, which is adorable.

Other webcomics we have in printed format include Gunnerkrigg Court and Hark: a vagrant.

New books

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe watch that ends the night, Allan Wolf

On Sunday, April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world, is 1,400 miles out to sea. More than two thousand men, women, and children are on board. In the distance, shrouded in darkness, an ancient iceberg lies in wait. In dozens of voices-from the unsinkable Molly Brown to the captain who went down with the ship, from a young boy in search of dragons to a gambler in search of fools with money to lose, from the ship’s rats to the iceberg itself-poet Allen Wolf offers a breathtaking, intimate recreation of that fateful night. (Cover summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsFamous in a small town, Emma Mills

For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends–loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for–she can weather any storm. But when Sophie’s beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it’s her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town’s only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival. The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return.

What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything–along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe truth about lies, Tracy Darnton

Jess has an incredible memory. She can remember every single detail of every single day since she was eleven. But Jess would rather not be remarkable and, after years of testing at the hands of a ruthless research team, she has finally managed to escape. Just when Jess thinks that she’s managing to settle in to living a normal life, everything changes. Her boarding-school roommate dies and the school is thrown into a state of chaos and grief. Then new boy Dan appears and Jess can’t help but find herself drawn to him. But building relationships is hard when you can’t reveal who you really are and Jess is getting hints that someone knows more about her than she would like. Is it time to run again? Will she ever be truly free? (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe anger of angels, Sherryl Jordan

In a world where it is a crime to speak against injustice, a jester dares to perform a play that enrages a powerful tyrant prince. The jester’s daughter, Giovanna, must journey into the heart of danger to turn back the terrible consequences unleashed by her father’s words – and becomes entangled in a treacherous plot to overthrow the prince. She alone holds a secret which, if made public, will overthrow the prince and liberate his oppressed people. Will she have the courage to speak out? (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsNowhere on Earth, Nick Lake

Sixteen-year-old Emily and her little brother Aidan are onboard a plane bound for Anchorage. When the plane crashes, both kids and the pilot barely escape with their lives and are left to fight for survival in the Alaskan wilderness. But there is worse to come – Emily and Aidan are being chased, and their shady, unknown pursuers are closing in. As the kids go on the run, Emily finds herself in greater danger than she could have imagined. Because nothing in her life is what it seems – not even the things she holds dearest of all…(Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsDeadly by design, Carina Axelsson

When a new case lands on Axelle Anderson’s London doorstep, the stylish sleuth can’t resist strapping on the heels and snapping on the shades to track down whoever attacked fashion photographer Gavin. But what’s the deal with the memory stick full of mysterious photos? Can Axelle discover the secret they contain and stop a killer in his tracks? (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsOn the come up, Angie Thomas

This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it–she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe vanishing stair, Maureen Johnson

Stevie Bell seemed to be on the cusp of the decades-old kidnapping and murder of Albert Ellingham’s family. But a classmate’s murder– which Stevie solved– convinced her parents to pull her out of Ellingham Academy. Then politician Edward King arrives at her house to offer a deal: he will bring Stevie back to Ellingham if she will play nice with his son, David, a fellow classmate. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. Stevie knows she can solve the riddles behind the Ellingham murders, but discovers that moving forward will mean hurting someone she cares for. (Book jacket)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsSong of the dead, Sarah Glenn Marsh

Karthia is nothing like it used to be. The kingdom’s borders are open for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and raising the dead has been outlawed. Odessa is determined to explore the world beyond Karthia’s waters, hoping to heal a heart broken in more ways than she can count. But with Meredy joining the ocean voyage, vanquishing her sorrow will be a difficult task. Despite the daily reminder of the history they share, Odessa and Meredy are fascinated when their journey takes them to a land where the Dead rule the night and dragons roam the streets. Odessa can’t help being mesmerized by the new magic–and by the girl at her side. But just as she and Meredy are beginning to explore the new world, a terrifying development in Karthia summons them home at once. Growing political unrest on top of threats from foreign invaders means Odessa and Meredy are thrust back into the lives they tried to leave behind while specters from their past haunt their tenuous relationship. Gathering a force big enough to ward off enemies seems impossible, until one of Queen Valoria’s mages creates a weapon that could make them invincible. As danger continues to mount inside the palace, Odessa fears that without the Dead, even the greatest invention won’t be enough to save their fates. In this enthralling, heartrending sequel to Reign of the Fallen, Odessa faces the fight of her life as the boundaries between the Dead and the living are challenged in a way more gruesome than ever before. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsA curse so dark and lonely, Brigid Kemmerer

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world. Break the curse, save the kingdom. A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall…and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsKing of scars, Leigh Bardugo

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war–and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried–and some wounds aren’t meant to heal. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsMud, Emily Thomas

It’s 1979 and thirteen-year-old Lydia has no idea how she’ll cope when her dad announces that the family has to sell up and move onto a Thames sailing barge in Essex. With his girlfriend and her three kids. Between trying to keep her clothes dry in a leaky cabin, disastrous hair-dye attempts, awkward encounters with local boys, and coping with her suddenly enormous and troublesome family, Lydia fears she’ll sink rather than swim. At turns heartbreaking and uplifting, through Lydia’s innocent and perceptive voice we find out that while the mud may stick, the tide can turn – and in unexpected and joyful ways. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsChaos, Sarah Fine

With Juri in control and everything in absolute chaos, Lela plunges into the depths of hell to free Malachi from creatures that have waited decades to exact their revenge. But the Judge has her own way of doing things, and Lela must work with Ana, the new Captain, who has a very personal mission of her own. Together, they infiltrate the most horrifying realm either has yet encountered in the Shadowlands–the bitter landscape ruled by the Mazikin. The stakes could not be higher, and Lela must accept the help–and love–of people she barely knows or trusts. As alliances and loyalties shift and she realizes the soul she came to save isn’t the only one in need of rescue, can Lela summon the strength to see the fight through to the very end? (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsCircle of shadows, Evelyn Skye

Sora can move as silently as a ghost and hurl throwing stars with lethal accuracy. Her gemina, Daemon, can win any physical fight blindfolded and with an arm tied around his back. They are apprentice warriors of the Society of Taigas–marked by the gods to be trained in magic and the fighting arts to protect the kingdom of Kichona. As their graduation approaches, Sora and Daemon look forward to proving themselves worthy of belonging in the elite group–but in a kingdom free of violence since the Blood Rift Rebellion many years ago, it’s been difficult to make their mark. So when Sora and Daemon encounter a strange camp of mysterious soldiers while on a standard scouting mission, they decide the only thing to do to help their kingdom is to infiltrate the group. Taking this risk will change Sora’s life forever–and lead her on a mission of deception that may fool everyone she’s ever loved. Love, spies, and adventure abound as Sora and Daemon unravel a complex web of magic and secrets that might tear them–and the entire kingdom–apart. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsImprison the sky, A.C Gaughgen

Aspasia, an Elementae who controls air, was stolen from her family as a child. She captains her own trading vessel– and risks it all every time she uses magic to free as many women, children, and Elementae from slavery as she can. Cyrus knows Aspasia is searching for her lost family– and is now searching for them himself. With a war brewing, will Aspasia’s power alone be enough to save her friends, family, and freedom? (Book jacket)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsDear heartbreak: YA authors and teens on the dark side of love, edited by Heather Demetrios

In this powerful collection, well-known YA authors answer real letters from teens all over the world about the dark side of love: cheating, betrayals, break-ups, dating violence, and loneliness. This book contains a raw, no-holds-barred outpouring of the wisdom these authors have culled from mining their own hearts for the fiction they write. Their responses are autobiographical, unflinching, and filled with love and hope for the anonymous teen letter writers. (Book jacket)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsFor everyone, Jason Reynolds

Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds’s rallying cry to the dreamers of the world. For Every One is just that: for every one. For every one person. For every one dream. But especially for every one kid. The kids who dream of being better than they are. Kids who dream of doing more than they almost dare to dream. Kids who are like Jason Reynolds, a self-professed dreamer. Jason does not claim to know how to make dreams come true; he has, in fact, been fighting on the front line of his own battle to make his own dreams a reality. He expected to make it when he was sixteen. Then eighteen. Then twenty-five. Now, some of those expectations have been realized. But others, the most important ones, lay ahead, and a lot of them involve kids, how to inspire them. All the kids who are scared to dream, or don’t know how to dream, or don’t dare to dream because they’ve never seen a dream come true. Jason wants kids to know that dreams take time. They involve countless struggles. But no matter how many times a dreamer gets beat down, the drive and the passion and the hope never fully extinguish–because just having the dream is the start you need, or you won’t get anywhere anyway, and that is when you have to take a leap of faith. (Publisher summary)