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  • Books, Library Serf, News

    Jack Lasenby Wins an Award

    17.05.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Wellington writer Jack Lasenby has won the Young Adult category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards, announced last night.

    Calling the Gods is a futuristicky, action-packed story of survival: “Banishment is the cruellest punishment, and Selene is being driven out unjustly by her own people. A story of violence, love and courage, of leadership and betrayal, a tale of a young woman’s heroic persistence against impossible odds.” (catalogue)

    Read a review of Calling the Gods at the National Library’s Create Readers Blog.

    The Bridge by Jane Higgins received the Honour Award.

    Congratulations to everyone!


  • Books, Library Serf, News

    New Zealand Post Book Awards Finalists

    01.03.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    The finalists for the young adult category of this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards have been announced! Congratulations to the authors! Take one (or more) out and read it today! Then you can vote for your favourite and go into the draw to win $500 of book tokens for yourself and $500 for your school.

    The Bridge, Jane Higgins – “The city is at war. Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation. They’re hungry to cross the river. Cityside, ISIS is in charge, the brains behind the war. Its job—keep the hostiles at bay. ISIS only recruits the best for its elite command. Nik is smart. Very smart. So why does ISIS reject him? Before he can find out, his school is bombed. The hostiles take the bridges, and they’ve kidnapped Fyffe’s brother Sol. Now Nik is on the run. And Fyffe is going with him. Across the bridge.” (author’s website)

    Calling the Gods, Jack Lasenby – “Banishment is the cruellest punishment, and Selene is being driven out unjustly by her own people. A story of violence, love and courage, of leadership and betrayal, a tale of a young woman’s heroic persistence against impossible odds. First person recount.” (catalogue)

    Dirt Bomb, Fleur Beale – “Jake’s life is sweet and he wouldn’t change a thing. He’s got no money and doesn’t have a mobile, but he’s got two best mates; Buzz and Robbie. Buzz is generous and doesn’t mind buying stuff for his mates. Robbie has the idea of rescuing an old wreck from a ditch and making it into a paddock basher. Buzz, however, puts a spanner in the works by saying he’s not paying for it all, it’s even stevens or no deal. Robbie gets a job, but Jake refuses. It’s just not his style to work for a boss. But he desperately wants to drive that car, and the others are going to go ahead without him.” (catalogue)

    Sacrifice, Joanna Orwin – “Several generations after volcanic eruptions and tsunamis caused the onset of the Dark, descendants of the few survivors struggle to maintain their communities in the swamplands at the far north of New Zealand. Every five years, youths are selected to venture south to search for any remaining food sources. Taka is determined to be one of those chosen, but he is unaware of the daunting new challenges and the sacrifices which may be required of this group of Travellers if their people are to survive.” (catalogue)

    Yes, Deborah Burnside – “Marty knows that when his mate Luke attempts to involve him in another crazy venture, it’s futile to resist. This time it’s the Young Enterprise Scheme. Luke believes it will make them rich and popular, and along the way will capture the heart of his elusive love. Reluctantly Marty says yes. And what comes next is a whole lot bigger and weirder than he could ever have imagined.” (catalogue)


  • Grimm, News

    Super Sleuths

    14.02.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Edgar Awards are given annually for excellent pieces of fiction in the mystery genre. There’s a young adult category! So, if you like a good mystery, Edgar says these are top in 2012*:

    Shelter, Harlan Coben

    The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson

    The Silence of Murder, Dandi Daley Mackall

    The Girl is Murder, Kathryn Miller Haines

    Kill You Last, Todd Strasser

    * winners will be announced in April.


  • Books, Library Serf

    Award Winners!

    25.01.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Each year at approximately this time the American Library Association announces the winners of its prestigious book awards, generating much excitement. Here’s a quick summary of the deserved winners this year:

    Newbery Medal Winner

    The Newbery Medal is one of the most prestigious awards for writers of children’s fiction (and sometimes teen-type books win it also).

    Printz Award Winner

    The Printz Award is given for excellence in young adult literature.

    • Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley

    Printz Honour Books

    Alex Awards

    The Alex Awards are for the best books that appeal to a young adult audience. There are 10 Alex Award winners (we have some in the general fiction collection):

    1. Big Girl Small, by Rachel DeWoskin
    2. In Zanesville, by Jo Ann Beard
    3. The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan
    4. The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens, by Brooke Hauser
    5. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
    6. Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline
    7. Robopocalypse: A Novel, by Daniel H. Wilson
    8. Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
    9. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures, by Caroline Preston
    10. The Talk-Funny Girl, by Roland Merullo

    If you’re interested in reading award winning books, have a look at these previous posts.


  • Books, Library Serf

    Blood Red Road Wins an Award

    05.01.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Blood Red Road by Moira Young has won this year’s Costa Children’s Book Award. Which is a slightly more exciting bouquet than the librarian’s choice sticker we bestowed upon it, but we do what we can.

    The book trailer is here:

    Other posts about book awards are here.


  • Library Serf, News

    Terry Pratchett Wins Andre Norton Award

    24.05.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    Terry Pratchett has won the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy writing for I Shall Wear Midnight. I Shall Wear Midnight is the fourth book featuring Tiffany Aching, the others being The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith.

    Here’s more information about the Andre Norton Award, including past winners, and here’s the official site. Here’s our post including the full list of nominees (Inception won the script award).


  • Books, Fantasy, Grimm

    Andre Norton Award Nominees

    30.03.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Andre Norton Award is part of the Nebula Awards, held annually and organised by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. As the name suggests, the awards are for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing, plus there is an award for film. Award winners will be announced on May 21.

    This year’s Andre Norton nominees (books published in 2010) are:

    The Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Presentation also has some interesting nominees:


  • Competition, Library Serf

    And Another Global Competition

    19.01.11 | Permalink | 2 Comments

    The 90 Second Newbery Film Festival is a worldwide competition in which entrants get the chance to condense a classic Newbery medal winning (or honour) book (see here for a list) into a 90 second dramatisastion.

    It’s a (very little) bit like writing a haiku of an epic classic, but involving more effort and equipment, and the chance that your offering will be shown at a glitzy event at the New York Public Library. Deadline: 15 September 2011.

    The first entry, for A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle is here.

    Thanks to the people at the National Library (NZ) for pointing this one out.


  • Books, Grimm

    And the Printz Goes To

    11.01.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi. It’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story in which Nailer looks for copper among ship wrecks in order to scrape together an existence, and in one of these wrecks stumbles across a girl who promises him a comfortable, “swank” life of luxury (but is she just trying to save her neck?).

    The Printz honour books (= also excellent) were:

    Nothing, Janne Teller. Pierre says life has no meaning, so his classmates set out to prove him wrong, and it is in the proving that things slowly turn sinister-ly very wrong. The School Library Journal (since we’re doing the SLJ in this post) suggests (as do others) this is an updated Lord of the Flies (William Golding). Actual WCL librarians (Lucy L) have read (and recommend) this too.

    Revolver, Marcus Sedgwick. A thriller set in the Arctic circle where Sig is held captive in a log cabin with the body of his father and Gunther Wolff (his captor, with a rather awesome name you wouldn’t mess with). The revolver in question is his father’s, which he could potentially use to rescue the situation, if he could. just. get. it. The School Library Journal said this has a sort of Jack London (Call of the Wild, White Fang) feel about it (in its arctic-ness).

    Stolen, Lucy Christopher. Gemma is kidnapped on her way from England to Vietnam and ends up in the Australian outback. The School Library Journal suggests this is a good counterpoint to Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.

    Please Ignore Vera Dietz, A S King. We don’t have this in the library yet (she did say please ignore her) but will soon. For older teens: a love triangle, an untimely death, angst. More tough realistic fiction! [ETA: you can now reserve this one.]

    It’s all a box of fluffy ducks this year! Enjoy them for their good writing, suspense, horror and grit, if not their cheery good humour and happiness.

    What’s the Printz Award? Have a look here.


  • Internet, Library Serf

    If you like voting, vote here

    13.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?

    While New Zealand is getting all excited about voting for mayors and whatnot (if you’re 18 or over then don’t forget to vote by October 9!), here are a couple of places you can exercise your right by voting in the following competitions/vote offs/popularity contests:

    1) Until the 17th (was a bit slow out of the blocks) you can vote on the ALA (American Library Association) Teen Choice Teens Top 10 2010 List. Voting is for the best books of the previous year, so titles include such gems as Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and much more.

    2) And again, if you vote, like, today (sorry!), there are the Teen Reads Awards. These are Canadian, and they’re a bit like the Teen Choice awards you see on TV. Categories include Best Hottie, Best Villain and Best Lip Lock, see.

    We might check back in later with results, in case you’re interested.


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