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Halloween series: Hauntings

Everyone loves a good ghost story, right? We’ve got so many that it was hard to pick my favourites.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe time of the ghost, Diana Wynne Jones

This was Diana Wynne Jones’ thirteenth book ever published; a Goodreads commenter pondered if this was an accident. Even if it wasn’t, it’s a genuinely creepy story told from a ghost’s perspective, as she tries to work out which of four sisters she is and how to prevent an “accident” she knows is coming. Then there’s a strange malevolent force that the sisters seem to have called up…

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsFrozen charlotte, Alex Bell

A drowning, a fire and a series of mysterious deaths at linked to a closed school; all are connected through a group of mysterious dolls known as Frozen Charlottes. Frozen Charlottes are a real type of doll by the way and their backstory is just as (if not more) morbid than the one in the book.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsLong lankin, Lindsey Barraclough

An ancient evil stirs when two sisters are sent to live with their reclusive Aunt Ida. This book’s a bit of a slow burn; the terror and unease slowly growing as Cora, the elder of the two, discovers more and more about the mysteries of the old family home. This is not only a terrifying story of a ghost, but an interesting look at how a whole community can be haunted by the spectres of the past.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe graveyard book, Neil Gaiman

This is a warm, witty and sometimes outright terrifying retelling of the Jungle Book. The young hero, Nobody Owens, is raised in a graveyard by its mysterious and ghostly denizens. But a mysterious stranger threatens his home and himself, and he must find the courage to fight back. Chris Riddell – one of my favourite artists – provides some amazing illustrations as well.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticssJohnny and the Dead, Terry Pratchett

Johnny, an ordinary guy, meets a bunch of dead people in the cemetery, which is facing destruction at the hands of a local business. They’re not ghosts and get very offended when you suggest that they are, but they’re certainly not keen on being moved from their graves. Johnny decides he has to help. Unlike the others, this is more funny than scary – but well worth reading after if the other titles are keeping you awake…

Nik’s picks : Best of the Bard (retold) edition

Shakespeare is taught in most college classes these days; whether you think this is a bad or good thing depends on you! I’m a fan, but I get tired of the same-old same-old productions and books. So here are a few of my favourite Shakespeare related books, websites and DVDs, to make your experience of the great man that much more interesting. I think this post is going to get a lot of flack from English teachers and Shakespeare purists everywhere, but I’m of the opinion that stuff like this should be enjoyable and accessible. I’m sure the Bard would have wanted it that way.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsTo be or not to be: a chooseable path adventure, by Ryan North, Shakespeare, and you!

This is unquestionably one of my favourite things to come into the YA collection in a while. I have fond memories of choose-your-own adventure books from my childhood, even though I always ended up dying! That’s an option in this book but the great thing is, you can always start again. Especially if you start out as Hamlet Senior…well, that’s not a spoiler. After all, I think the statue of limitations on spoiler warnings runs out after 415 years. Anyway, you can start the game as the aforementioned (deceased) King of Denmark, Ophelia or Hamlet himself. After that, it’s up to you. It’s written more like a YA novel than in prose, and the possible endings get pretty wacky. Added to this are the amazing illustrators; there are too many to namecheck all of them but Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant), Randall Munroe (XKCD) and Faith Erin Hicks (Friends with Boys, Nothing Possibly can go wrong) all contribute. What I find particularly awesome is that this book is the result of a kickstarter campaign: crowd funding for the win! A necessary disclaimer: I wouldn’t recommend using this to write your NCEA essays.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsHamlet: a novel, John Marsden

This book takes a rather more serious look at Hamlet. It keeps fairly close to the original story, but manages to convey the inner emotions of those entangled in the story. Retellings of Hamlet are by far the most popular among YA writers, but I think this one’s the best. The language is fresh and the pace makes the looming disaster all the more tragic. It also doesn’t try to force a happy ending on the characters, which I’ve always find a bit jarring, especially in books that aim to be taken seriously.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsLady Macbeth’s daughter, Lisa Klein

In the text of Macbeth, it is revealed that lady Macbeth has been pregnant before; but this is only mentioned once, and Macbeth’s lack of children plays a central role in the plot of the play. In this novel, Lisa Klein imagines what the life of such a child – a daughter, who is cast out by Macbeth – would be like. The historic Lady Macbeth also had a son, by her first husband, but is Lady Macbeth and Albia, her lost daughter, who tell the story in alternating chapters. The writer says she set out to give “an entirely new perspective on the events of Shakespeare’s play, using a protagonist who is outside the main action but crucial to its unfolding.” She more than succeeds, and manages to incorporate historical facts into the narrative fairly seamlessly, which keeps the book from seeming too fanciful.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe most excellent and lamentable tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare and illustrated by Gareth Hinds

This is the only book included in this blog post which takes its text entirely from the play, although it’s somewhat abridged. What sets it apart from the other graphic adaptations is its attention to detail; the artist, in his postscript, has taken actual features from Verona and uses them in backgrounds in his lavish illustrations. He does admit that he’s moved various places around for aesthetic purposes, but it doesn’t really affect the sense of a real Renaissance city. Gareth Hinds also tries to “fix” parts of the text that are often portrayed incorrectly in the staging.

Shakespeare retold DVD series

There are plenty of “pure” adaptaions out there but sometimes it can be a struggle to get through all that prose. These modern adaptations are a whole lot of fun. They feature some of the best actors England has to offer having a great time chewing the scenery and taking a break from having to memorise 16th century lines. Again, I wouldn’t recommend using these to help write your essay, but I’m a big believer in enjoying Shakespeare because it’s fun, rather than because you have to study it in class. My favourites are Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer night’s dream.

10 things I hate about you

I remember when this film first came out, which, given that this was 15 years ago, is going to date me a bit. I didn’t realise that this was based off Taming of the Shrew until a while later though! It’s considered a classic, and for good reason. Even though the fashion is slightly dated, the movie still holds up: Heath Ledger, in his break-out role, has great chemistry with Julia Stiles, who’s equally impressive as Kat. It’s full of quotable dialogue and great acting, and conveys what it’s like to be young, cynical and in love in college. Well, as far as I can remember, anyway.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead

This is a classic adaptation of an extraordinary play. It concerns the lives of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, two fairly minor characters in Hamlet. There are chunks of the actual play, but for the most part it’s in modern language. It deals with fate, the nature of theatre and performance, and various philosophical problems. It might sound a bit dry, but it’s extremely funny and features some of the best actors working today.

Spotlight on YA Non-Fiction

I’m pretty proud of our non-fiction section. It’s small but concise. It has lots of books that will teach you about all the important things you need to know: from passing algebra to how to cook roast chicken, from surviving high school to how to get dressed in the morning. In this series, I’ll look at one or two books from each dewey section, highlighting my favourites. Some sections will have more books than others, due to size or the variety of topic contained within. If you have any books you’d like to spotlight, please leave them in the comments!

000s – Generalities
Dead StrangeBook cover courtesy of Syndetics

This book is a miscellany of the bizarre unexplained phenomena that puzzle ‘experts’ everywhere; an A-Z of oddness. It’s fairly tongue-in-cheek, and if you’re not convinced you’ll at least be entertained. I’m a bit of a conspiracy theoriest nut (although I find them enjoyable rather than believable) so I had a lot of fun reading this. It’s a fairly exhaustive selection, and it even introduced me to a few I hadn’t heard of before…

100s – Philosophy and Psychology
i.d : stuff that happens to define usBook Cover courtesy of Syndetics
This is a collection of real stories, each illustrated, with an Q and A with the story teller about what happened next. It’s so much more than the sum of its parts, however. Each illustration conveys the emotion of the story being told, whether positive or negative. Each discusses a certain incident; the moment when a teenager learns to stop being negative about her body, or the time an immigrant girl really feels at odds with her mostly white companions. The illustrations themselves are done in a scratchy, naive style, which help to convey the fraught emotions of each of the stories.

200s – Religion
Understanding IslamBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
Islam is in the news a lot these days, but without talking about the context of this religion. It’s a bit simplistic to say that this book will teach you “everything” you need to understand about Islam -an extremely diverse faith- but it’s an extremely good place to start. It looks at the different sects within Islam, some of its cultural traditions (again, it’s an extreme diverse faith!) and its core tenets. It also discusses the history and the contributions Islamic people have made to the world, which are often left out of discussions. It really helped me gain a pretty good, if basic, understanding of Islam and its definitely worth picking up if you follow international events.

300s – Social Sciences
Where children sleepBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
This is a fascinating collection detailing, like it says in the title, the places where children from around the world sleep. A two page-spread consists of the photo of each child, a small description of where they live, their home life and their ambitions, with a full page colour photo of their ‘room’. It’s a simple concept that never comes across as patronising or proselythising; it manages to communicate the massive inequality in different parts of the world, as well as social issues that affect the featured childrens’ lives.

400s – Langauge
Punctuation Book cover courtesy of Syndetics
This book is never going to set the world on fire but your English teacher will thank you for reading it, especially if you’re having trouble writing essays. While studying where and when to use things like commas might seem a bit redundant, this book will help you use them skillfully, which might mean the difference between a merit and an excellence.

500s-Sciences
The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Native treesBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
A great read for the budding botanists (ha ha) out there. It’s a classic, and for good reason; it’s got plenty of pictures showing the distinguishing features of each type of tree. I like to think of these kind of books as ones that will be useful during a zombie apocalypse: telling the difference between rangiora and ongaonga could certainly save you a lot of pain and trouble! Each section on the tree contains pictures of its leaves, fruit or flowers, and stems or trunks. While there’s not a whole lot of written information in this book, it also lists other books that could be helpful.

600s – Technology
After Toast Book cover courtesy of Syndetics
A trend among cookbooks aimed at a YA audience is that they try a bit hard to be ‘trendy’: losts of ‘slang’, lots of references to texting, and criminal overuse of the word “mates.” Luckily, this book skips all those traps, focusing instead on simple, easy recipes that might even be healthy. They’re split into sections by meal, with and index at the back. There’s a handy guide at the beginning, explaining what tools you’ll need, how to tell if certain meats are cooked, and various other ‘how to’ sections that are pretty useful.

Style Me Vintage: make up Book cover courtesy of Syndetics
The verdict every year seems to be that the ‘vintage’ look is ‘in.’ But what do the fashion scribes mean by vintage? Marilyn Monroe-esque fifties glamour or the frivilous flapper look of the twenties? The dewey freshness of the seventies or the enigmatic sleekness of the thirties? Once you’ve worked that out, come and grab this book. It’s got looks for every decade from the twenties to the eighties; by matching the right make up to your outfit, you can be assured of steering clear of fashion anachronism. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from mixing the looks up: a fifties mouth with a twenties eye, for serious glam. It’s also got some great tips and techniques for beginners, like how to put on false eyelashes. Which are apparently essential for a few looks…

700s – Arts and Recreation
Back and Beyond: New Zealand painting for the young and curiousBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
The 700s, with their focus on the arts, often provide the most visually appealing books to be found anywhere in the library. This is a prime example, featuring gorgeous reproductions of amazing paintings from New Zealand artists both traditional and contemporary. Each painting is accompanied by a brief text describling the themes of the piece and the artist’s other work. It’s never dry or boring; it manages to convey both the common themes and the diversity in paintings from New Zealand.

Legends, Icons and Rebels: Music that changed the worldBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
This is a fantastic new book that profiles 27 artists who changed the face of music forever. Again, it’s a lovely looking book, with a beautiful full page depiction of each musician. It contains a brief biograpy of each person, and explains their influence on music. For example, I didn’t know that Little Richard mentored The Beatles AND Jimi Hendrix AND toured with the Rolling Stones. Pretty awesome, if you ask me! It also has a two CDs, each with a famous song from each artist or group.

800s – Literature
Critical Companion to William ShakespeareBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
Shakespeare plays form a pretty much intrinsic part of the English ciruculum. But even the most conscientious English teacher might have trouble helping you to navigate the themes, characters and language of whatever play you’re studying. That’s where this book comes in handy: it has information on all of Shakespeare’s plays, each of them broken down into easy to read sections. There’s a scene by scene synopsis of the play, a commentary on the themes, and then an entry on each character and what motifs they embody. It’s fairly dense (as you might imagine) but never becomes unintelligable.

900s- History and Geography
Diary of a Soviet SchoolgirlBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
The brutal conditions of Soviet Russia are often neglected in the study of history. This diary, written by a teenage girl from 1932-1937, demonstrates just how hard the lives of ordinary people were during this time.  Nina Lugovskaya’s father was arrested for being a “counter-revolutionary” and Nina herself was eventually arrested and sent to a gulag.  What makes this diary especially fascinating is that the passages that were used as evidence against her are underlined, and this has been kept in this reproduction of the diary. It shows just how seemingly minor complaints could be interpreted as showing author was “preparing to kill Stalin.”  It also shows the persistance of other facets of ‘ordinary’ teenage life: Nina talks about about boys, her friends and her disdain for school and her teachers. Unlike the Diary of Anne Frank, this story has a happier coda: Nina survived her time in the gulag, and was eventually pardoned.

Biographies
Lady Gaga: Critical Mass FashionBook cover courtesy of Syndetics
If you’re in the mood for something a bit lighter (and you’re a Gaga fan) then this is perfect for you. Even if you’re not, you can’t fault the book on the aesthetic front: there are some stunning photographs of Lady Gaga’s extreme outfits, which are definitely worth a look.  It’s not a hard-hitting expose of Gaga’s metoric rise, rather a faintly fluffy piece of biography, but it’s a fun palate cleanser about one of the most notorious pop stars of the last 10 years.

Starters by Lissa Price

Set after a war where most adults have been killed by a biologogical weapon, the people remaining are mostly either children or teenagers (Starters) or the elderly (Enders). The Starters are unable to work and if an adult doesn’t claim them they can’t get accommodation, and can be arrested if they are caught. Enders are at the other end of the scale. They have health care to keep them alive until well into their hundreds, near limitless wealth and live in huge mansions.

Callie lives in an abandoned building with her friend Michael and her younger brother Tyler. Tyler is only seven, and unwell but they have no access to any kind of health care and no way of getting help. However, Callie has heard of one way she might be able to earn enough to get them a house and some safety. Prime Destinations run a body bank where Enders can rent the bodies of Starters, be young again, play sports, all that sort of thing. Callie should be asleep while the Ender is having fun being her, but the chip used to control her is defective and she wakes up to find out that the Ender who hired her wasn’t just planning on playing tennis or going dancing – she wants to use Callie’s body to kill someone.

 

Starters is a really good read, highly recommended if you are looking for more dystopia, and especially if you liked Scott Westerfelds Uglies trilogy.

Lissa Price’s blog is here.

An unbecoming review!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

How is it that Mara escaped the totally destroyed building with a sore head and all her friends died? Who bashed in the head of that dog-beating hulk of a man near her school? What strange things are happening to the wildlife in their new home town? So many alligators dead all at once! Could these incidents be related? And why does she have to be attracted to the best looking guy at school who can only mean trouble!

A strange and haunting tale of life with amnesia and self discovery.

~ Raewyn

I’m reading a book!

Candor, by Pam Bachorz

A perfect town, with perfect people. Teenagers who love doing their homework, who never, ever do anything their parents don’t want and always get to class on time. And then they get perfect marks. Except the most perfect person knows why everything is like this. And he has the power to change it. If you liked the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness or Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale then you should put this on your reading list.  Good read, great ending.

Accidental empires, by Robert X Cringley

The story (or one version of it anyway) of how the personal computer, Microsoft, silicon valley etc all got started, nearly didn’t get anywhere and how most of it wasn’t really all that planned. At all. If you like reading non-fiction or enjoyed The Social Network, then this will be a fun read.

The Wish List, by Eoin Colfer

Meg Finn is killed in the middle of helping steal from an old man. But there’s a problem. She’s done some bad things. But then she’s also done some good things as well. So with her perfectly balanced between them Heaven and Hell are both trying to push her over the line to their side. She has one last chance to redeem herself by helping the old man she tried to rob with his wish list. Four wishes, limited time and both Heaven and Hell are breaking the rules. I’d recommend this to younger teens – maybe 13 or so. You’ll probably still enjoy it if you’re older though – I did!

Two Great Reads by David Almond

Syndetics book cover

Clay / David Almond – I have enjoyed David Almond’s books such as Skellig and Kit’s Wilderness because the stories and characters are so gripping and Clay was no exception. The story is told by Davie, a teenage boy. Davie is an altar boy, along with his best mate Geordie, and they make money at funerals and hang out together in their hideout plotting out the next attack on a rival gang of boys.  Apart from the threat of Mouldy, the leader of the rival gang of boys, (a boy as big as a man and often reeking of beer who seems to take their battles too far) theirs seems a comfortable, naive existence.

Then Stephen Rose moves in with his aunt “Crazy Mary”. Stephen Rose was sent away to train as a priest at 11 years old but was thrown out and returned to his parents. Shortly afterwards his mother father died and his mother went mad.

Davie’s mum and the priest encourage him to make friends with this lonely boy who has come to the village in such tragic circumstances. Stephen has a gift for making beautiful creatures out of clay.  He loves clay because it is “alive” –  it’s the material from which God shaped Adam and the silky suppleness of wet clay is malleable like the human skin.

This book, like the others, is grounded in the real world. Because the world and the relationships between the characters and everything is so real it is easy to enter fully and I think it is the whole-hearted acceptance of the world which makes the supernatural events as they emerge (so slowly like a dripping tap) so unsettling.

The story is interesting for the dynamics of the relationships between all the characters and the movement from innocence to terrible knowledge. The book explores ideas of  power of creation, the right of creation, good and evil, revenge …

I would recommend this book to: people who like realism with a bit of the fantastical (but incredibly believable) thrown in and also books like the Robert Cormier’s  The Chocolate War which explore the dynamics of human relationships and power struggles.

The main characters in the book are boys but I think it is suitable for girls as well.

I would also recommend this as something different to try for people who like gritty books like Precious as I think, although it enters into fantasy, it carries the same intensity and delves similarly into human relationships and power struggles. I would also potentially recommend it to vampire book lovers because Stephen Rose definitely has the makings of an undead hero.  I think people who enjoyed Abssynia and The Red Shoes etc. by Ursuala Dubosarsky would enjoy these.

My name is Mina / David Almond – This is a new book by David Almond.  It is a diary by Mina, a strange and creative girl who doesn’t quite fit in with school and other kids. The book has a bold format which is part of the storytelling style.  It was more difficult to just lose myself in this story compared to other books written by David Almond because the character,rather than the narrative, is given central stage. Also perhaps this story is less about relationships between people than it is about what is going inside the head of one central character.  This, however, is just because of my personal preference of how to enjoy a story; I’m not that great at reading graphic novels and I’m not a patient reader so I don’t enjoy picking and piecing out all the bits and pieces of a story. At the same time the story has stuck with me and I keep going back and puzzling over bits I didn’t quite understand.

What I didn’t realize until I read someone else’s review of this book, which is pretty obvious (except I’m no good at remembering character names) that this is Mina from Skellig before she meets Michael (she meets him right at the end of the book, he is the new boy who has moved in next door so this is a prequel to Skellig)

Because this is a very visual book I would recommend this to people who like reading graphic novels (although it plays more with font rather than illustration) and also books like Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. I would also recommend it to people who enjoyed Sophie’s World because of the slightly disjointed way the story is put forward – you sort of need to piece it together – and also the way philosophical thought and ideas are explored in the book.  Maybe also people who enjoy reading diary formats.  Also I think again readers of Ursuala Dubosarsky’s books and particularly people who enjoyed Abyssinia would enjoy this book.

Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant. Books one to five, all written by the Golden God (as he calls himself on his blog) Derek Landy.

Skulduggery PleasantPlaying with FireThe Faceless OnesDark DaysMortal Coil

If you’re looking for them they won’t be in the YA area, they’re actually in with the kids books. But that’s really not a good reason for not reading them. These are, in all honesty, the best series of books that I’ve read recently. They’re about a skeleton detective, and a girl called Stephanie. Lots of magic, crazy action, bad guys, good guys, girls who beat up bad guys and general world saving happens. If you like any kind of fantasy or action books, this is a good choice to pick up next.

Here’s the trailer for the most recent book Mortal Coil:

And, if you are already a fan and like me counting down until the next one comes out, Derek Landy blogs over here. Sometimes there are photos of kittens, if you need any incentive to go visit. Otherwise expect ramblings, fanfic reviews, photos and interviews. Unfortunately the rumour that there will be a movie is still at the one day there may be a movie stage, but the next book should still be out on schedule in August/September this year.

Best Of 2009: Top Albums

Thanks to everyone that voted for their favourite albums of 2009, this is what we ended up with:

5. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

4. Paramore – Brand New Eyes

Basically wonderful. Took me awhile to get into. But the musical talent has improved and they are now more then just a catchy CD. (Although it is VERY catchy) Hayley’s voice as intense as ever. The addition of Taylor was awesome with better guitar and drum beats. Looking forward to the concert.

– Jess

3. Rihanna – Rated R

2. Glee : The Music Volume 1

1. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster

It was a very close run thing between the Glee kids and Lady Gaga, but in the end The Fame Monster came out on top. Go to our bebo page to hear tracks from the top five. Thanks again to the voters, in particular Jess for her review, and congratulations to Lady Gaga for topping a list as prestigious as this one. See you next year!

Review New Moon for us! There’s another poster in it

Exams? What exams?

As with the lovely Taylor Lautner posters, we’ve got another New Moon movie poster that we thought we’d give to the first person who tells us what they thought of New Moon (which we think some of you might have seen already). As usual, the catch is you have to review it in haiku form (explanation here again). Eligible only for WCL YA cardholders. Please add your full name [we won’t publish it]. The poster has folds in it again (sorry).

I suppose the other catch for me is I should provide an example review haiku thing, so here goes:

The movie begins…
Love, tragedy, danger, then-
“Put the shirt back on!”

Review: City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This book is just incredible and fantastic!

It’s about a girl who finds out her mum is a shadowhunter and her dad is a shadowhunter, an evil shadowhunter to put it correctly, and the shadowhunter she loves might turn someone completely different, but still very close.

In the mundane (human) world, the night children (vampires) hunt, werewolves defend their packs, and sexy shadowhunters prowl the streets of New York city. This book I couldn’t put down, and I’m so glad I shared it with you.

 A whopping 5 Stars for this popular book!

Thanks, Elena, for sending us your book review. We appreciate that.

A Book Review

Spoiler alert! If you haven’t read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, or seen the movie then be warned!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne

This story tells the tale of the unlikely friendship of two boys. It is set in Germany during the war and gives an insight into the circumstances of the holocaust. Bruno’s father is one of Hitler’s high ranking officials, but Bruno is unaware of exactly what his father’s job entails. He accidentally comes across a prisoner of war compound and befriends a Jewish boy. Eventually he makes a plan to sneak in under the fence to help his new friend look for his father, who seems to have mysteriously disappeared somewhere within the ‘camp’. During the course of his search Bruno and his friend find themselves herded into a giant shed along with hundreds of other people. The big steel doors clang shut. Outside, Bruno’s parents discover he is missing. They see the plumes of smoke rise from the tall chimneys at the compound and the terrible realisation of what has happened hits them…

~ Lynda

If you’ve read a good book recently you can send us a review.

Festival of Books

This Monday marks the beginning of the NZ Post Book Awards “festival” which culminates in the awards ceremony on the 20th. So what’s going on in the festival then? If you scroll right to the very bottom of this page you’ll see the events on in Wellington – they’re mostly writing and illustrating workshops with such writers and illustrators as Fleur Beale, Ali Teo and Fifi Colston.

In case you’re interested in finding out more about the finalists in the Young Adult fiction category, the good people at Create Readers have a couple of reviews: Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale (review here) and Chronicle of Stone Book 1, Scorched Bone by Vince Ford (here’s the review). We’ll keep you posted with more news as it comes to hand.

Book Review: Twilight

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

book coverI liked the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, for three main reasons. One being the fact it was voyeuristic therefore making it personal and intimate, it makes you see the world through the characters’ eyes and relate your personal experiences and personality to them. Another reason is the way the characters are shown; the fact that they are enigmatic, which makes you want to know more, and realistic, which makes you think you’ve really met them. The last is the theme “love” which is shown in a modern, edgy way, that’s both original and old-school, it really makes you wonder. Overall, I think the books are well-written and different, no wonder they were a big success.

~ Natalia

Book Review: Susan Beth Pfeffer

book coverLife as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

A great book. The writing technique was not entirely spectacular, but that was made up for by the content. As you are taken through the day-to-day life of Miranda, through the eyes of her personal diary, a gruelling tale emerges. The moon was hit by an asteroid, knocking it ever-so-slightly closer to earth. The effects are revealed as you read through her year.

I was completely captivated, stunned even, by this novel. Keeping me up late at night, I even had to resort to pinching myself so I wouldn’t let my eyelids close. Really, read this book only when you have a clear schedule – you won’t want to be distracted! 

The Dead and the Gone, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Although it isn’t as good as Life as We Knew It, I would still recommend reading this book. Life as We Knew It is a tale of isolation, struggle against the harsh world the character lives in. The Dead and the Gone is an entirely different approach. Told in the eyes of a teenage boy leaving hich school, the author uses a diary format, even though it is told in 3rd person. This annoyed me a lot, but it’s worth it. Alex has to look after his sisters… through thick and thin.

~ Hannah

Write a review & grab a poster

Yes, again with the book reviewing. This may interest you (if not, write a review anyway!): we’ve just landed a few posters of Robert Pattinson (fresh out of that biography we told you about a while ago). They’ve got fold crease thingies, but they’re quite big and apart from being delivered to the Teen Blog box they’ve not been touched at all. So, we thought we’d deliver four of them to four of you.

The catch is: you have to write a well-considered review of a young adult book. You can have liked it or disliked it; we don’t mind as long as you let us know why (don’t just give us a plot summary, for example). The first four publishable book reviews we receive will get a poster (this is only open to Wellington City Libraries card holders… if you’d rather not have a poster we totally understand (believe me) – just let us know and we won’t bother you with it). The review form is here, so go to it.

Write our content for us

Have you read a book lately that you think other people should read? Or maybe you’ve read a book that you don’t think anyone would want to read? You can review them here, on our newly created and simple-to-use review form.

We will publish all the good reviews (and good bad reviews) that we get.

Librarian’s Choice Best of 2008: Bridget’s Pick

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart

Book CoverFavourite line: “That’s a lot of chutzpah you’ve got there. Don’t let it weigh you down.”

Frankie’s a fifteen year old girl with a brain and gumption, but the people around her don’t seem to notice this. She’s “Bunny Rabbit” to her family and “adorable” to her boyfriend. Frankie’s not the kind of girl to let that slide and let people take care of her, though. She embarks on an ambitious project to prove herself – to herself as much as anyone else, possibly – with astonishing success, but unfortunately she lands the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds (an exclusive all-male secret society) in some strife in the process, the undoing of which could be the real making of Frankie.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is a great book; thoughtful, philosophical, clever and hilarious. Frankie is the real female hero of 2008 literature.

If you’re into chick lit then you really have to read E. Lockhart. She’s a totally ept writer; reading her books leaves you feeling turbed and gruntled.

~ Bridget

Librarian’s Choice Best of 2008: Adrienne’s Pick

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Book CoverMarcus, whose online name is W1n5t0n, is a high school student in San Francisco. He’s street smart and knows the system inside out. His high school’s security systems are no match for him as he constantly bunks out of school.

But one day, after he’s bunked out of school for the afternoon, he and his friends find themselves caught up in the aftermath of a huge terrorist attack on San Francisco. Marcus and his friends are found to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and are captured by the Department of Homeland Security as suspects. After days in a secret prison, where they have been mercilessly interrogated, they are released into an unrecognisable San Francisco.

His city has now been turned into a police state where everyones’ movements are tracked and everyone is monitored. The innocent often disappear for no apparent reason. Everyone is being treated like a potential terrorist.

Reunited with his friends, Marcus decides that something must be done to protect everyones’ freedoms. He can’t turn to the government and police for help, so he decides that he must take down the Department of Homeland Security himself using his computer programming and hacking skills.

You will not want to put this book down! It’s a very exciting and thought-provoking read.

~ Adrienne

Librarian’s Choice Best of 2008: Raewyn’s Pick

Paper Towns by John Green

Book CoverQuentin Jacobsen is a genius! He hangs out with geniuses and he has a perfect attendance record at high school! NERD you might say, but then one night, Margo Roth Spiegelman, the girl next door he has loved from afar all his life, climbs into his bedroom window dressed for stealth and wanting HIM! Well his driving skills actually, as she sets out on a night of revenge on her ex-boyfriend and others. Think photo of ex running down the street with items of his anatomy hanging out and dead fish under seats of cars! Then the next day she disappears, leaving him clues to follow as to where he might find her. His friends help to try and solve the puzzle but will it end with them finding her alive or dead?

~ Raewyn

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