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Teen Blog

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

Author: Grimm Page 1 of 16

John Green Fix

There’s been a bit of a John Green drought. We here are all waiting (and waiting) for him to publish something. Happily, in the mean time, there’s Paper Towns, the movie, which is now basically only 2 and a half months away (mid July). In the mean time, a clip of the Ninja eyebrow scene was recently released:

Very good.

Also, read the book between now and then! We’ve got lots of copies and I think we might get more.

The Maze Runner on DVD (and BluRay)

We all agree here that The Maze Runner was a most excellent movie, so we’re very happy that the DVD has arrived in the library! You can reserve it now, since after watching the film, then reading or re-reading the book(s) you might want to re-watch the film, to double-compare.

If you’re feeling a bit richer, we also have it on Blu-Ray ($4.00 for one week). All those enclosed spaces will be specially, extra-defined enclosed.

The sequel, The Scorch Trials, is coming out towards the end of this year (the book, which we have, is here).

Over on the Tumblr: New Mockingjay trailer!

Yes, the first trailer for Mockingjay Part 1 has appeared, guest-starring on the library tumblr. Note also the truly amazing print ads for each district – you can see them on the official Capitol website.

Wellington City Libraries on Tumblr

We are on tumblr! If you’re wasting some time, waste it with us at wellingtoncitylibraries.tumblr.com. There is also useful information.

tumblr!

New Zealand Post Book Awards

The nominees are:

Young Adult Fiction

A Necklace of Souls, by R L Stedman – “In a hidden kingdom a mysterious Guardian protects her people with the help of a magical necklace. But evil forces are also seeking the power of the necklace, and as the Guardian grows weaker these forces threaten to destroy the kingdom. With the help of her best friend, Will, and the enigmatic N’tombe, Dana, the rightful heir, must claim the power of the necklace and save her people. But the necklace takes a terrible toll on whoever wears it – a toll that Dana may not be prepared to face” – Publisher information.

Bugs, by Whiti Hereaka – “Bugs is about the unfolding lives of three young people in their last year of school in small-town New Zealand. Life is slow, and it seems not much happens in town or in Jez and Bugs’s lives. But when Stone Cold arrives, the three come to different conclusions about how to deal with being trapped in a small town and at the bottom of the heap” – Publisher information.

Mortal Fire, by Elizabeth Knox – “When sixteen-year-old Canny of the Pacific island, Southland, sets out on a trip with her stepbrother and his girlfriend, she finds herself drawn into enchanting Zarene Valley where the mysterious but dark seventeen-year-old Ghislain helps her to figure out her origins” – Publisher information.

Speed Freak, by Fleur Beale – “Fifteen-year-old Archie is a top kart driver, aiming to win the Challenge series and its prize of racing in Europe. He loves the speed, the roar of the engine, the tactics and the thrill of driving to the limits. Craig is his main rival, and there’s also Silver, who drives like she’s got a demon inside. Archie knows he’ll need all his skill and focus to win. But sometimes, too, you need plain old luck. Can Archie overcome the odds and win?” – Back cover.

When We Wake, by Karen Healey – In 2027, sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl–playing the guitar, falling in love, and protesting the wrongs of the world with her friends. But then Tegan dies, waking up 100 years in the future as the unknowing first government guinea pig to be cryogenically frozen and successfully revived. Appalling secrets about her new world come to light, and Tegan must choose to either keep her head down or fight for a better future. (catalogue summary)

Congratulations to these fab New Zealand authors, and all the best!

More Divergent countdown trivia

In anticipation of the Divergent movie coming out, there’s also the Divergent soundtrack to look forward to. It’s available a couple of weeks before the movie, and the tracklisting is:

1 ‘Find you’, Zedd, ft. Matthew Koma and Miriam Bryant
2 ‘Beating Heart’, Ellie Goulding
3 ‘Fight for You’, Pia Mia, ft. Chance the Rapper
4 ‘Hanging On’ (I See MONSTAS remix), Ellie Goulding
5 ‘I Won’t Let You Go’, Snow Patrol
6 ‘Run Boy Run’, Woodkid
7 ‘Backwards’, Tame Impala and Kendrick Lamar
8 ‘I need you’, M83
9 ‘In Distress’, A$AP Rocky, ft. Gesaffelstein
10 ‘Lost and Found’ (ODESZA remix), Pretty Lights
11 ‘Stranger’, Skrillex, ft. KillaGraham From Milo & Otis & Sam Dew
12 ‘Dream machines’, Big Deal
13 ‘Dead in the water’, Ellie Goulding

The big winner is Ellie Goulding!

We will be getting this! We have other movie soundtracks in the Young Adult collection also: The Great Gatsby, Catching Fire, City of Bones, Avengers, Glee (lots of Glee, lots and lots of Glee) and much more.

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?

New Zealand Post Book Awards

This week the winners of the New Zealand Post Book Awards were announced, and a YA book took out the main prize. Well done that book!

Winner of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, and the Best Young Adult Fiction Award:

Into the River, Ted Dawe. “When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu to be exacted. Years later, far from the protection of whanau and ancestral land he finds new enemies. This time, with on-one to save him, there is a decision to be made.. he can wait on the bank, or leap forward into the river.” (goodreads.com)

Free Writing Workshop with Mal Peet

Mal Peet, award-winning author of Tamar, Exposure, and Life: An Unexploded Diagram is in Wellington this month, and he’ll be the guest star at a free, one-off workshop at the central library. The details are:

Sunday 16 June, 1 to 4pm
Wellington Central Library
To register, email sarah@bookcouncil.org.nz

“Most of us learn to write by stealing from other writers. This event is an invitation to aspiring writers to do some serious shoplifting.” (Mal Peet)

Catching Fire trailer!

Is out, and it looks gripping!

Don’t forget to read the book: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

So many screen adaptations

YA fiction is very popular with movie makers. In more based-on-the-book movie news:

The Maze Runner (book by James Dashner) is currently being cast, but they’ve not done the big leads (Thomas, really) yet.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (book by Laini Taylor) is going to be a movie! This could take a while to appear on the screen, because they’ve only just announced who’s writing the script.

The Fault in our Stars (book by John Green) is also going to be a movie!! John Green fans will be very happy to hear this. Casting is in the “rumours” phase, so it could be a while before you can buy tickets, but it’s something to look forward to! (Also, how sad will this movie be?)

Delirium (book by Lauren Oliver) is – a little differently – going to be made for TV. I’m not sure if this means series, mini series, or TV movie, but it’s getting a cast, including Daren Kagasoff (from The Secret Life of the American Teenager).

Divergent (book by Veronica Roth) is also being cast, with Kate Winslett, Zoe Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley as Tris. (Shailene Woodley is also in rumours about The Fault in our Stars, busy.) Still no news on the title of the third book in the series (sorry).

On the Jellicoe Road (book by Melina Marchetta) has a script but no cast (we think). Still, this is progress! The author’s blog has occasional news updates, for interested readers. She announced at the end of last year that Saving Francesca is also getting the film treatment. Too much!

It is hard to keep up!

The new and improved Overdrive

Overdrive – the home of many of WCL’s e-audiobooks and all the e-books – has had a makeover. The new site features are explained in this news post here. Included is an introductory tutorial, hosted by a polite and competent Overdrive librarian.

Catching Fire Fashion Extra

We at the teen blog like fiction and fashion, so when you put them together you get a winner. We do love the Catching Fire couture photos that have cropped up recently. Even the chairs are awesome. Finnick looks piratical (<3 the word piratical, any excuse to use it), and we’re not sure whose dress is better, Johanna’s or Katniss’ (which looks like it’s part-weapon). Stuff informs us that Effie is wearing Alexander McQueen. Here’s Perez Hilton on the topic.

Also, make sure you re-read the book while you wait for the first teaser trailer. The movie website (complete with impressive flaming logo) is here.

Recent ebooks

More from the library’s Overdrive ebook collection:

After Obsession, Carrie Jones & Steven E Wedel. “Aimee and Alan have secrets. Both teens have unusual pasts and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other, in a cold Maine town, they can’t stop their secrets from spilling out. Strange things have been happening lately, and they both feel that something-or someone- is haunting them. They’re wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it’s neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. It’s Alan’s cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life-and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney but everything around her.” (goodreads.com)

Beautiful Creatures series (first 3), Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Since the movie’s out, you might like to re-read these – they’re getting popular again. The regular books are here also.

The movie website is here, and FB here.

Dust Girl, Sarah Zettel. A fairy story with an edge. “Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in ‘the golden hills of the west’: California. Along the way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company – there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.” (goodreads.com)

Every You, Every Me, David Levithan. “In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs – some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him… messing with him… threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he’s been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan’s starting to believe it’s Ariel that’s behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself.” (goodreads.com)

Queen of the Night, Leanne Hall. The sequel to This is Shyness. “The dark is dangerous. So is the past. So are your dreams. For six months Nia – Wildgirl – has tried to forget Wolfboy, the mysterious boy she spent one night with in Shyness – the boy who said he’d call but didn’t. Then Wolfboy calls. The things he tells her pull her back to the suburb of Shyness, where the sun doesn’t rise and dreams and reality are difficult to separate. There, Doctor Gregory has seemingly disappeared, the Darkness is changing and Wolfboy’s friend is in trouble. And Nia decides to become Wildgirl once more.” (goodreads.com)

If you want to find out more about library e-books, there’s more information in this post right here.

Mix & Mash 2013

The Great New Zealand Remix and Mashup Competition

“Organised by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand, DigitalNZ and the National Library of New Zealand and enabled by Mix & Mash Sponsors and Partners, Mix & Mash 2013 will promote and celebrate the creative reuse of New Zealand’s common cultural heritage.

“Mix & Mash wants all New Zealanders, young and old, to tell new stories by adapting and remixing Public Domain and Creative Commons licensed content.” (more here)

Mixed and mashed entries on the theme “Stories about the Past” will be showcased in May, and there will be prizes! If you feel virtually crafty and you’re interested, visit the Mix & Mash website for dates, rules, definitions, ideas and sources of (legal-to-use) images, music, video and other data. (Note: work produced for school assessments is accepted!)

School’s back, oh well

The library is here to help! We’ve got information, and trained professionals who know how to use it: libraries are useful places when you’re studying. Here are some helpful things:

  • The teen blog study stop pages – full of useful links and tips.
  • Mygateway.info – if you’ve never visited then you really should, it’s like a virtual reference collection with a huge amount of online databases (many that you can only access with your library card – google won’t help you find these treasures). They’re sorted by subject, a helpful jumping-off point.
  • Anyquestions.co.nz – librarians online to help discover the answers to tricky reference questions, Monday to Friday, 1 to 6pm during school time. If you’re looking out of hours, there’s the manyanswers database which is a good starting point.
  • The teen blog book lists page – for if you’re looking for some fiction to read.

All the best for the school year.

It’s Christmas Whoop Whoop

Teen Blog Towers wishes you a very happy Christmas, or as Scrooge puts it:

“– Here’s the Turkey. Hallo. Whoop. How are you. Merry Christmas.” (A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens)

Two Trailers

As it’s Friday, a diversion is required. First, the trailer for the City of Bones movie (due out in August next year). We were a bit slow out of the starting gates, but here it is in all its splendid glory:

Clary? Simon? Jace? Hopefully you think they are fitting. The official site for the movie is here.

Peter Jackson’s posted an interesting clip about the inner workings of the Hobbit movie making:

If you want to read the book before December 13th, reserve a copy here.

Lawspot

Got a puzzling law question? Lawspot is a Wellington-based website that aims to provide answers to people’s legal queries. So you can find out about the legalities of downloading MP3s from YouTube for example.

While Lawspot isn’t a substitute for personalised, one-to-one legal advice, it’s a great way of finding out general information. If you’re interested in the law in general you can also browse through answers to see what legal concerns people have.

We – Wellington City Libraries – also have a range of useful online law databases, courtesy of mygateway.info.

If you’re interested in studying law (and staying in Wellington while doing so), the Victoria University Law Faculty has all the info, obvs. – including a video that features impressive Wellington buildings and scenery (and two tiny clips of people in lectures).

Book Spine Poems

We at the teen blog salute poetry (especially in haiku form), and we’re good for a poetry challenge, so we love Book Spine Poetry (see here, here and here for some references). It is oddly satisfying (and a particularly good way to waste pass time, as it involves staring at bookshelves in a contemplative fashion).

Here are our first attempts:

bookspinepoetry1

The Drowned Cities Embrace Fierce September

bookspinepoetry2

Pretty Monsters Torment Everything Beautiful in the World

Thank you to Steph for the pinterest link, and to Brooklyn library for the inspiration.

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