The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield may be losing his grip on the kids, suggests the New York Times in this here article. Apparently his primary concerns – about phoniness and so on – have dated and aren’t quite as relevant to teens as they once were.
(Read a related post here.)
What’s making the news in the book world at the moment?
Twilight’s very big in France. So much so that French teenagers are also discovering Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (spurred on by Bella’s keen interest). This Guardian article made me laugh – especially the bit where the reader complains that Wuthering Heights is “written in the language of my great grandmother.” Well, yes. Edward’s looking very dapper in the photo too. Haven’t read Wuthering Heights yet? Perhaps you should (warning, book may contain the language of your great great great great grandmother).
If you’re a fan of the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast check out this article on their latest book, Hunted (which we currently don’t have but will soon). You can also listen to the second chapter, courtesy of MacMillan Young Listeners.
Hot on the heels of Charlie Higson’s popular, specially commissioned Young Bond series (about James Bond when he was studying at Eaton and shortly after), there’s going to be a Young Sherlock Holmes series too (the Guardian again). I’m guessing he won’t be smoking his pipe, but the hat’s actually quite voguish now, and a younger Watson might have a few more clues. Haven’t read The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes yet? Perhaps you should.
(For more classic books in the YA collection don’t forget to visit our classic books book list, complete with plot summaries in haiku.)
A new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book – the sixth – has been commissioned by the estate of its author. There are already five in the series (which began as a trilogy). If you’re not familiar with the books you may have seen the film, which was pretty good, in my opinion. The new book will be written by Eoin Colfer, who wrote the Artemis Fowl series. The original author of the Hitchhiker’s books, Douglas Adams, died in 2001.
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas, translated by Lord SudleyContrary to the title of this classic, the main character, d’Artagnan, is not a Musketeer himself. He goes to Paris to seek his fortune, where he befriends three musketeers, and begins a life of romance and adventure.
When Dumas wrote this in the 1800s (Lord Sudley notes in the introduction) he was using “modern language”, rather than that of the 1600s (the era in which the tale is set). Still, it’s sometimes hard to understand!
Although daring, The Three Musketeers is lacking in emotion. Still, the fact that it’s harder to relate to doesn’t make it any less appealing.
~ Mereana (13)
Anne of Green Gables turns one hundred this year, and to celebrate an extensive website has been put together. It has an introduction to Anne, a list of Anne books (and there are lots), and an Anne quiz. If you’re new to the Anne of Green Gables books you will want to read from the beginning, which the library – believe it or not – has for you. If you don’t want to read it, you can always watch the television series (and two sequels).
An Anne book was written and published this year; Before Green Gables, a prequel to the original book.
Anne is also very popular in Japan.
For more links and news, check out Blogging Anne of Green Gables.
Monday (yes, I know I’m two days late) was Bastille Day. Celebrating the storming of the Bastille (a prison in Paris used by the unpopular monarchy to lock dissidents up) in 1789 , effectively kicking off the French Revolution and the beginning of modern France, Bastille Day is a pretty big celebration.
The French Revolution is, like many historical events, a great setting for a story. Read about Marie Antoinette’s journey to France in Marie Antoinette : Princess of Versailles, or watch the recent film, Marie Antoinette. (Neither depict her demise, happily.) Dip into the classics with The Scarlet Pimpernel, heroic rescuer of hunted aristocrats;and A Tale of Two Cities, about a heroic rescuer of another hunted aristocrat. Cat Royal larks it up in revolutionary France in Den of Thieves; a young English highwaywoman finds herself in revolutionary France in Sovay; and in The Red Necklace, the hunted daughter of an aristocrat is heroically rescued.
Au revoir, les enfants.
The Classic Book list (written in Haiku) has been transferred from the old Teen webpages, and will soon be updated. We enjoy writing Haiku, and we enjoy reading classic novels – it only made good sense to combine our two interests.
Classic novels is one of the SubText genres this year, so if you want to enter the draw to win a spot-prize and get an extra shot at the main prize, then read and review one of these.
Recently a film called The Seeker : The Dark is Rising was released. It is based on The Dark is Rising, the first second book in a series written by Susan Cooper in the 1960s and 1970s. We have two reviews of the DVD; one is by someone who had read the books before seeing the film, and the other is by someone who has never read the books. Read more…
It has been said that if William Shakespeare were alive today he would be a screenwriter, not a playwright. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s certainly true that his plays translate well to the big screen. If you’re studying Shakespeare at school, often the best place to start with his work is to watch the film adaption; reading them is great but can take some time, and watching them performed isn’t always an option.
We have loads of Shakespeare-related DVDs for young adults in the library – here is a full list. Some are very close adaptions (Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, for instance), others are films loosely based on Shakespeare’s plays (10 Things I Hate About You, She’s The Man), and others are documentaries about Shakespeare (The In Search of Shakespeare series). You can study Shakespeare and watch a movie at the same time! Though beware: So wise so young, they say do never live long.
The population of the world’s deadliest creature – the box jellyfish – is increasing. These are very different to the jellyfish we find washed up on the beach; these things have four brains, 24 eyes, and 8 foot long tentacles of death. And they swim around in massive packs. Packs of death.
If you like the idea of oceanic horrors, you may like the classic stories of H. P. Lovecraft, whose Cthulhu tales have been influencing popular culture for decades (Hellboy, for example, or maybe Cloverfield). They were written in the early part of last century but still frighten.
Each week we will publish one of the reviews from last year’s SUBTXT reading programme. We received many, many excellent reviews – so many that we can post one weekly for several years to come!
Sense And Sensibility
Jane Austen
373 pages
Theme: It’s basically a classic, old version of what they call ‘chick lit’, so it’s based around romance and scandal. The story starts when the Dashwood family are left wothout money when Mr. Dashwood, their husband and father, dies and leaves the entire family estate to his son from his first marriage who, influenced by his wife, takes basically all of it for himself. The Dashwood family move to a cottage on another relative’s property … Read more…
Madeleine L’Engle wrote many books for children and teens. A Wrinkle in Time (library copy) is perhaps her most famous book; it won many awards, including the Newbery medal, and is 22nd on the list of Most Frequently Challenged Books. It is a very, very good book, and although it came out a long time ago, it and its sequels are well worth reading. Many of L’Engle’s other books are still popular with readers, of all ages.
L’Engle died on Thursday at the age of 88.
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