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Jack, New, Non-fiction
More New Non-Fiction
03.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Here is some more of the new non-fiction, hurrah!

The big book of Top Gear 2010. I am sure you have seen the television show and therefore have a pretty good idea of what to expect. The cover says that this time they are slightly on fire, so there is sure to be at least one dangerous mishap. At least.

What on earth are you wearing? A Michipedia of fashion by Chloe Quigley. Before thumbing through this book I was uncertain as to what exactly a “Michipedia” was. I now see that it is like an encyclopedia, but more fashion-y, water colour illustrated and with a humorous intent. Nothing like some fashion lolz.

Graffiti Planet 2 compiled and introduced by KET. It’s a book of graffiti from all over the planet and is the second volume in its’ particular series. More than a hundred images from a bevy of artists. That’s right, a bevy.

How to rap: The art and science of the hip-hop MC by Paul Edwards. Rappers explaining how they go about their rapping so that you too can be a rapper. Which is nice of them. Tip: pay closer attention to what the likes of Pharoahe Monch and the Wu-Tang kids have to say than Will.I.Am, you’ll be better off.

How to talk to boys by Dianne Todaro and How to talk to girls by Jonathan Toussaint. Two books filled with tips on how to talk to the opposite sex. Then what to do once you’ve used your new-found flirting skills to enter into a meaningful relaish. Also there are authentic real life stories inside.

Even more coming soon!
Jack, New Magazines
New Magazines 26/4/11
26.04.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Entertainment Weekly #1148 #1149 Robert Pattinson has moved beyond Twilight (so he says) and Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in an animated series called The Governator (seriously?!?)
Bart Simpson #42 Bart rides a camel on the cover. Does so inside too we assume.
Simpsons Comics #150 The name of the story inside is How Sweet It Ain’t
Seventeen May 2011 200+ swimsuits, Look hot in a bikini, 859 ways to get pretty for summer. Summer is a long way off, but get ready now, maybe?
Creme May 2011 I have just calculated that 90% of celebrities claim to have been “the biggest geek” in high school, source – this magazine.
XBOX 360 May 2011 There is a cover story about Skyrim. Man, I want Skyrim sooooo bad. Wake me up in November pls.
Graphic Novels, Jack, New
A Long List Of Graphic Novels
01.04.11 | Permalink | Comment?

I can scarcely believe the rate at which new graphic novels are arriving. All of the newest ones are listed beneath this sentence.

Patsy Walker, Hellcat. Like Catwoman, but with a yellow costume and more social responsibility.
X-Statix: Volume 1. They use static electricity to stamp out crime.
X-Statix: Volume 2. See above.
X-Statix: Volume 3, Dead Girl. See above and add a dead girl to the mix.
X-Statix: Volume 4, vs The Avengers. See above and add a duel with The Avengers.
Batman: Hong Kong. Batman goes manga!
Sword of the atom. A very tiny man rides a frog and battles snakes. With a sword.
Essential Dazzler: Volume 1. The first (and most?) essential collection of dazzling adventures.
Essential Dazzler: Volume 2. More of the same, really.
Essential X-Factor: Volume 1. Are these guys friends with the X-Men, or am I mistaken?
Essential X-Factor: Volume 2. Yet another companion piece to an above entry.
Nova: Knowhere. Nova looks pretty sweet. Like half Magneto, half Iron Man.
Nova: Secret Invasion. Nova must thwart secret invaders.
Nova: Annihilation Conquest. Nova must thwart a nasty sounding plan.
Nova: Nova Corps. Nova recruits some other dudes into a sort of army to help out.
Nova: War of Kings. Nova has to resolve a dispute between bickering monarchs.
Captain Britain: Vampire State. He has a Union Jack on his chest.
Captain Britain: Hell comes to Birmingham. I guess they are in a relegation battle.
Captain Britain: Secret Invasion. He should probably ask Nova for advice.
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Volume One. It’s based on a video game.
Formerly known as the Justice League. They must be going through a difficult phase. Like Prince.
X-Factor: Time and a half. Superheroes work on holidays too.
Aztek: The ultimate man. Ultimate man? Does he bring breakfast in bed every morning? Hey-oh!
Graphic Novels, Jack, New
Most. Comic Books. Ever.
30.03.11 | Permalink | Comment?

There are seventeen new YA graphic novels. Seventeen. Titles and brief descriptions to follow.

X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain, mutated heroes 1940s style.
Spiderman Noir: Eyes without a face, mutated hero 1940s style.
Fall of the Hulks: Prelude, the Hulks begin to fall.
Hulk vs X-Force, heroes square off in Marvel-ous battle. See what I did there?
Four Eyes: Volume One, it’s a dragon with four eyes, not a heroic kid with glasses. A shame.
Daredevil: The Devil’s hand, this is a radically different chapter in our hero’s book.
Siege: Dark Avengers, The Avengers are under siege. When are they not?
Clive Barker’s the thief of always, a haunted holiday house that sucks in children. Scary.
Captain America: Two Americas, imagine if there were two Americas? Six Jonas brothers!
The brave and the bold: Milestone, sounds like a daytime soap. But it’s not.
JSA: Strange adventures, the gang goes on unusual jaunts.
Black Panther: Power, Black Panther is a girl now and she kicks butt.
DC Universe: Origins, how the DC heroes came to be, basically.
Deadpool: Suicide Kings, punching, slicing, shooting, etc.
Superman/Batman: Big noise, when these two get together, cover your ears I guess.
Buffy the vampire slayer: Retreat, Buffy was ahead of it’s time with the vampires and werewolves.

As I was writing this post another twenty-three YA graphic novels arrived, making the title of this post almost immediately redundant. Keep your eyes on this blog and the nifty folder attached to the shelf in Central for all the new stuff.
Graphic Novels, Jack, New
Narrative Works Conveyed Using Sequential Art
19.02.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Batman; Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader? By Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert. It appears that Batman is dead! Robin reminisces about the time Batman punched a dinosaur in the face and how cool he was. The Joker has a Jokermobile and it’s all so conceptual. Good stuff from Mr. Coraline.

The Avengers; Red Zone by Olivier Coipel. It’s another pickle for the Avengers! This time Red Skull has infiltrated the American government (which must be particularly galling for Captain America) and he plans to release a biological weapon. Iron Man would probably be ok in his iron suit, but he helps out anyway because he’s just an unselfish and helpful kind of guy.

The Voronov Plot by Yves Sente and Andre Juiliard. Our lads Blake and Mortimer are charged with averting the threat of a biological weapon (yes, another biological weapon) and must also smoke from pipes the entire time (that’s what it looks like anyway). They’d better succeed, as world peace depends on it!

Final Crisis; Revelations by Greg Rucka, Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion. There’s a new god in town, an evil new god! Darkseid instructs his followers in a religion based on crime, which sounds fun for a little bit, until you realise how inconvenient it would be if eveyone just stole things all day long. Spectre, The Question and Batwoman to the rescue then.

Green Lantern; Rage of the Red Lanterns by Geoff Johns. Arriving in time to whet your appetite for the upcoming movie are a few new Green Lantern graphic novels, such as this one. This time the Green Lantern is in hot water with the Red Lanterns and must use every inch of his powers to save his hide.
Graphic Novels, Jack, New
Some New Graphic Novels
05.02.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Zorro. Volume 2, Clashing Blades by Matt Wagner. Our hero, el Zorro, is pursued by some over zealous military officers who hope to impress a girl by capturing him. The girl of course is in love with the ever rascally Zorro, who will of course escape because he is of course a bad, bad man. Action a-plenty. Adapted from the Isabel Allende novel.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk by Damon Lindelof, illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu. A closely matched fight if ever I saw one, worth a few dollars on pay-per-view for sure. Rather than ruin the ending (you’ll have to read it to find out), here are some interesting facts; the author is a co-creator of TV series Lost and Wolverine also finds time to fight a panda (really, a panda).

The List by Brian Michael Bendis. Fresh off their deathmatch from one paragraph ago, Wolverine and the Hulk are now fighting on the same side against the evil Norman Osborn. They are joined by Spiderman, The Punisher, Captain America, Daredevil and seemingly every other Marvel superhero in excistence. This Norman Osborn chap is quite the fearsome villain you see.

Superman; New Krypton volume 2. A long lost part of Krypton is miraculously restored on Earth along with its also long lost Kryptonian citizens. Sadly, humankind doesn’t get along so well with the newcomers and there’s all sorts of conflict. Superman gets torn between his old home and his new home which is emotionally draining. Poor old Superman.
Graphic Novels, Jack, New
New Graphic Novels
28.01.11 | Permalink | 1 Comment

Hulk. Volume 3, Hulk no more by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuiness. Hulk and his buddies, Silver Surfer, Dorma and the other guy have all lost their girlfriends to evil, on their wedding days too! To get them back they must fight Red Hulk, a guy called Tigershark (who has Adamantium teeth!) and two other nogoodniks. Spiderman turns up to crack some wise as well.

A Study In Scarlet adapted by Ian Edington from the original text by Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes gets an action-packed graphic novel adaptation. Follow our tweed-clad hero as he investigates a murder, meets Watson for the first time, sleuths up a storm and smokes a curved pipe.

Witch and Wizard battle for Shadowland by James Patterson. Have you always wondered what happened inbetween the first and second “Witch and Wizard” novels by James Patterson? Now you can find out in graphic novel form. Reviews said things like “basically non-stop action” and “action-packed” so, you know, expect action. Also magic, the protagonists are a witch and wizard after all.

Simpsons comic extravaganza by Matt Groening. Lots of Simpson-y adventures collected in one handy volume. On a related note; what is your favourite Simpsons episode? A friend and I discussed this the other day and it was very difficult to decide. It is a worthy debate that could probably spawn a top ten list…

The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds. Books get adapted into graphic novels all the time, epic poems, not so much. Homer’s The Odyssey is one such instance and it’s rather good too, not only does it practically count as studying for Classics, but it’s entertaining at the same time. Your correspondent awaits a similar version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales with baited breath.

Also new this week are Ouran High School Host Club volumes one, two and three. It’s a self-described screwball romantic comedy in which our heroine, Haruhi, must work at a club dressed as a boy in order to repay a sizable debt. Smooth sailing does not follow.
Jack, News, Pencil it in your diaries, Study
NCEA results online today
12.01.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Yes, it’s true, you can find out your NCEA results right now. Teen Blog wishes everyone the best of luck.

For those of you who are now finished with your secondary education, congratulations! Everyone else going back to school later on this year should note that the YA section of your local library has all the relevant study guides and that the Central Library has past exam papers. Note that down in your diaries for the next study period, or get a ridiculously large jump start on it now.
Jack
‘Twas The Mid-Morning Before Christmas…
24.12.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all our readers! Thank you for stopping by this year, hope you’ve enjoyed reading our posts as much as we have enjoyed writing them. Most of us at Teen Blog Towers are going to be away until early next year, so unfortunately there won’t be much new content for a little while =( but the library will be open on these days =) so you won’t be too bored, right? See you next year!
Grimm, Jack, Simon
Teen Blog Hiatus
14.10.10 | Permalink | Comment?

The library’s computer system is getting upgraded over Labour Weekend. After today the library’s blogs will no longer update until the upgrade is complete. It is all to do with computers, somehow. So you won’t be hearing from us for the next ten days or so. In the meantime read lots of books (it’s Teen Read Week 2010 next week after all) and maybe go through our archives and re-read some favourite posts.

Until next time, goodnight from us all at Teen Blog Towers.