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

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New books

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsDon’t stop thinking about tomorrow, Siobhan Curham

Fourteen-year-old Stevie lives in Lewes with her beloved vinyl collection, her mum … and her mum’s depression. When Stevie’s mum’s disability benefits are cut, Stevie and her mother are plunged into a life of poverty. But irrepressible Stevie is determined not to be beaten and she takes inspiration from the lyrics of her father’s 1980s record collection and dreams of a life as a musician. Then she meets Hafiz, a talented footballer and a Syrian refugee. Hafiz’s parents gave their life savings to buy Hafiz a safe passage to Europe; his journey has been anything but easy. Then he meets Stevie… As Stevie and Hafiz’s friendship grows, they encourage each other to believe in themselves and follow their dreams. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe 48, Donna Hosie

Twins Charlie and Alex Douglas are the newest time travelers recruited to the Forty-Eight, a clandestine military group in charge of manipulating history. The brothers are tasked with preventing Henry VIII from marrying Jane Seymour and arrive in 1536 feeling confident, but the Tudor court is not all banquets and merriment: it is a deep well of treachery, torture, lust, intrigue, and suspicion. That makes it especially dangerous for young people who refuse to “know their place”–young women who might, say, want to marry for love instead of status, or young men who would feel free to love each other, if it weren’t forbidden. Told in alternating perspectives among Charlie, Alex, and sixteen-year-old Lady Margaret, a ladies’ maid to Queen Anne Boleyn, The 48 captures the sights, smells, sounds, and hazards of an unhinged Henry VIII’s court from the viewpoint of one person who lived that history–and two teens who have been sent to turn it upside down. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe buried ark, James Bradley

Callie risked everything to get her little sister Gracie to the safety of the Zone. But Matt, the boy she loves, has been killed by Quarantine and Gracie has been absorbed into the Change. Now Callie must learn to survive in the alien landscape of the Zone, a place where the Change is everywhere, and nothing is what it seems. That is, until she stumbles on a secret from her past that may hold the key to defeating the Change. Hunted and alone, she finds refuge in the most unexpected of places. Only to find she is in more danger than ever. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe second life of Ava Rivers, Faith Gardner

Before was hot Junes and ice cream trucks, dancing in sprinklers, loud Christmas mornings and pancakes on Saturdays. The after is everything else: police officers, investigators, tips, theories, leads, but never any answers. The case made headlines, shocked Vera’s Northern California community, and turned her family into tragic celebrities. Now, at eighteen, Vera is counting down the days until she starts her new life at college in Portland, Oregon, far away from the dark cloud she and her family have lived under for twelve years. But all that changes when a girl shows up at the local hospital. Her name is Ava Rivers and she wants to go home. Ava’s return begins to mend the fractures in the Rivers family. Vera and Ava’s estranged older brother returns. Vera reconnects with Max, the sweet, artistic boy from her childhood. Their parents smile again. But the questions remain: Where was Ava all these years? And who is she now?
(Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsProject Prometheus : an Assassin Fall novel, Aden Polydoros

The Academy stole everything from Hades, their perfect assassin. Angry and leaving bodies in his wake, he finds two other ex-assassins doing the exact same thing.Tyler and Shannon once killed for The Academy and its now-defunct Project Pandora. Now they’re tracking and hunting down its scientists. So why is The Academy only after Hades? Shannon wants to flee and never look back. She knows that can’t happen, though, not with The Academy hot on their trail. Shannon will do whatever it takes to protect Tyler, even if it means teaming up with a former rival. While Shannon seeks answers to her past, Tyler wants to learn the truth about the mysterious white room, which no one has ever seen, except him. As for Hades? He simply wants revenge.They all seek answers, even if it means returning to the organization where it all started. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThat’s not what happened, Kody Keplinger

In the three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre, a story has grown up around one of the victims, Sarah McHale, that says she died proclaiming her Christian faith–but Leanne Bauer was there, and knows what happened, and she has a choice: stay silent and let people believe in Sarah’s martyrdom, or tell the truth. (Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsMirage, Somaiya Daud

In a world dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated home. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty–and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection…because one wrong move could lead to her death.(Publisher summary)

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsAre we all lemmings and snowflakes? Holly Bourne

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at “normality” for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for her new friends, who are all dealing with their own battles. But as Olive settles in, she starts to wonder – maybe it’s this messed up world that needs fixing, and not them. And so she comes up with a plan. Because together, snowflakes can form avalanches . . . A trailblazing and painfully honest novel about mental health, friendship and making this crazy world a kinder place.(Publisher summary)

Winging Your Way Through The Weekend, 8-9 June

What up! Another weekend looms and here’s some sweet stuff to do with it.

No doubt you’ve heard about The Great Gatsby (a lot) by now, it feels like they’ve been building hype for eternity. It’s finally here and it looks pretty suave! (Rated M)

But did you know it was a book first? Sure was, it’s an American Classic by one great F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also, it’s not The GG’s first dance across the silver screen.

Matariki 2013 celebrations start up in Poneke with the arrival of waka Te Matau a Maui. There’s a calender load of events to keep you busy over the next few weeks of the Maori new year celebration.

Sporty peepz!  The Championship Tournament of the Woman’s Basketball League is at Te Rauparaha Arena over at neighb’s Porirua. Maori ball game Ki o Rahi will have a Matariki special in Waitangi Park from 6pm Friday night (brought to you by body R2R).

The other big thing this weekend is our (Wellington’s) Jazz Festival. Before you scoff take note, Jazz is the original bad boy of music. You can thank it for paving the way to all our modern jams and the term “hipster”. Appreciate. There is a caps worthy TONNE of events going down for it. One pretty special looking one is the pop up jams planned for the city streets Friday and Saturday – keep your eyes peeled.

Shakespeare fans beware this Globe On Screen viewing at Lighthouse Cinema (a nice follow up to the recent Sheila Winn festivities).

Feeling exhausted yet?

Here’s a diddy for the weekend playlist. Lorde’s most recent ‘Tennis Court’. Peace!
Tennis Court by LordeMusic

From the random news desk

Some quick random headlines to distract you from work:

The World Cup in Book Form
You will be pleased to read that New Zealand publishers are working overtime to produce books commemorating the epic victory. The NZ Booksellers site reports that the first books may be available from as early as tomorrow, which is also an epic effort, but doesn’t get a cup or a medal unfortunately.

Hunger Games Movie Poster Teasers
This week Hunger Games movie posters have been popping up on different sites all over the world wide web: see here for a summary of opinions. As for the posters: here are a few links:

Chaos at the Movies
Fans of the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness will be pleased to read that this is also going to be made into a movie(s)! The films are being made by the Hunger Games movie people, so they’ll appear in a couple of years. Go Manchee.

Today in History
And finally, because today’s news is tomorrow’s history: today and yet 121 years ago the first Labour Day was celebrated: read about it.

Good luck with your exam study! (Although you won’t need any luck, you’ll be amazing.)

Guess Who Competition

While the Rugby World Cup is in action Wellington City Libraries have a competition running that gives you the chance to win an official RWC rugby ball, shirt, scarf, pins & keyring (RRP $200) kindly donated by the Wellington City Council. What do I have to do to win all that sweet swag you say? Well, have a look at the silhouettes of the eight famous number tens below…

silhouettes-8
Do you recognise any of them? Yes, no, maybe? You can take a guess and enter here (the names are listed, so even if you’re not a rugby scholar like me you still have a good shot). You have to be 14 and over to enter and the winner will be announced on the 30th of October so get your entries in before then, ok?

Terms & Conditions of entry:

  1. Contestants must be over the age of 14 years
  2. Contestants must be current members of Wellington City Libraries
  3. Only one entry from each library card holder will be accepted
  4. Wellington City Libraries and their families are not permitted to enter
  5. The Prizewinner gives his/her permission to Wellington City Libraries to display photos and/or publish his/her name.

Please note: the judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Kick Off!

The Rugby World Cup begins tonight (as if you weren’t already aware), these links will help set the mood.

Google has been rugby-fied
Do you like fantasy sports? Play fantasy World Cup here
Stuff are doing a live blog
The library News Blog has a Cup Diary
The official youtube channel will keep you informed and entertained

There, now you are ready to settle in with some tasty snacks and catch the action. Who do you think will win? Who do you think will be the player of the tournament? Will the fact that I drew England in our office sweepstake cause me internal conflict?

It will be a fun six weeks.

New Non-Fiction, Sports

The Central Library has recently expanded its’ YA non-fiction collection – just today actually – but because it has expanded so much I cannot possibly cover all of the new material in a single post. So for now, here are the newest sport titles.

manaMana by James Kerr, photographs by Nick Danziger. This features page after page of black and white photos of the All Blacks playing, practicing the haka, listening quietly in meetings, relaxing (they seem pretty like pretty chill bros in these ones), eating, working out and showing off their sweet tats. Kind of “a day in the life” deal. Also there are photos of kids playing rugby, just like the real All Blacks, but smaller!

golden girlsGolden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand’s six female Olympic gold medalists by Margot Butcher. The title of this book sparked quite some debate at Teen Blog HQ, is it “medallist” or “medalist”? Spellcheck, the Oxford Dictionary and we say “medalist”, but this book and the MacMillan UK Dictionary say “medallist”. All confusion aside, you can expect six stories about six champion female athletes.

dan carterDan Carter: A tribute to the All Black’s perfect 10 by John Matheson. Like a biography, but in coffee table book form and with more photos. Follow his story from precocious youngster to the hyperbolic quote generating machine (eg. “… is the ‘Koh-i-Noor’ diamond of his time”) he is today. Not sure if it mentions his clothing chain or not.

all white feverAll White Fever: New Zealand’s road to the World Cup by John Matheson. Remember that time the All Whites made it to the Football World Cup in South Africa? It was pretty sweet. If you’ve forgotten some of the glorious details (tsk) or just want to relive it in text with photos form, now you can. It still makes me feel proud to see a photo of Tim Brown tackling Cesc Fabregas.

wwe encyclopediaWWE Encyclopedia: The definitive guide to World Wrestling Entertainment by Brian Shields and Kevin Sullivan. All the information you could possibly fit into a coffee table sized book on wrestling! From Abe “knuckleball” Schwartz to Zeus and all the Honkytonk Men and Ric Flairs in between. Pro wrestling in the 1980’s was hi-larious btw.

fightFight by Eugene S. Robinson. Covers pretty much everything you could think of about fighting. From the greatest boxing matches to knife techniques, there is even mention of my favourite ‘so terrible it’s fantastic’ martial arts movie, Gymkata. If that isn’t exhaustive enough, then I don’t know what to tell you.

If these new titles prove popular (and really, why wouldn’t they?) there will be more YA non-fiction popping up at branches too. Fashion and arts coming tomorrow.

More New Books

Rose Sees Red, Cecil Castellucci (197 pages) – It is 1982 in New York and Rose is a ballet dancer who attends the High School of Performing Arts. Yrena is Rose’s neighbour, a visiting Russian dancer who, due to the Cold War between USSR and the United States, is all but a prisoner in her apartment. One night Yrena, intent on experiencing New York life, escapes through Rose’s apartment window, and the two hit the town for a wild night of adventure.

First sentence: I was black inside so I took everything black.

The Children of the Lost, David Whitley (357 pages) – the second book in the Agora trilogy that began with The Midnight Charter. Mark and Lily are exiled from the city of Agora, and find refuge in a small nearby village. Lily is happy, but Mark longs to return to Agora to take revenge and find answers.

First sentence: Gradually, Lily became aware that she was being watched.

Kick, Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman (197 pages) – Ross Workman wrote to Walter Dean Myers saying he was a fan of his books and Walter Dean Myers replied saying let’s write a book together, so they did. True story. Kick is about a troubled boy who’s an excellent football (soccer) player, on his way to the state cup final, until he ends up in jail. Can he and his mentor, a policeman called Sergeant Brown, turn his life around?

First sentence: Bill Kelly and I had been friends since we played high school basketball together.

I Was Jane Austen’s Best Friend, Cora Harrison (342 pages) – Jenny Cooper is Jane’s cousin, and goes to live with the Austens, which is an education in the world of balls, beautiful dresses, turns about the room, gossip, and other such things. When she (Jenny) falls in love, Jane is there to help her out.

First sentence: It’s a terrible thing to write: Jane looks like she could die – but it’s even worse to have the thought jumping into your mind every few minutes.

Pathfinder, Orson Scott Card (657 pages) – Rigg is able to see into people’s paths, a secret he shares only with his father. When his father dies, Rigg learns that he’s been keeping a whole lot of other secrets, about Rigg and his family. Rigg has other powers…

First sentence: Rigg and Father usually set the traps together, because it was Rigg who had the knack of seeing the paths that the animals they wanted were still using.

Firespell, Chloe Neill (278 pages) – Lily is a new girl at an exclusive academy and she doesn’t fit in and has no friends apart from her roommate Scout. When she discovers that Scout has magical powers and protects the city from supernatural monsters, Lily is keen to help, but can she, if she has no powers of her own?

First sentence: They were gathered around a conference table in a high-rise, eight men and women, no one under the age of sixty-five, all of them wealthy beyond measure.

The Body at the Tower, Y S Lee (344 pages) – the second book in the Agency Victorian detective series (the first is A Spy in the House). Mary Quinn, under cover, investigates the mysterious scandals surrounding the building of the Houses of Parliament, but there are distractions (suspicious workmates, past secrets, and the return of James Easton).

First sentence: A sobbing man huddles on a narrow ledge, clawing at his eyes to shield them from the horror far below.

The Doomsday Box, Herbie Brennan (328 pages) – a Shadow Project book. Time travel is possible, trouble is someone (secret codename Cobra) has used it to transport the black plague into the 21st Century. The supernatural teen spies of the Shadow Project must avert disaster, while also averting their own disaster, on the run from the KGB in Moscow in the 1960s.

First sentence: Opal fastened the strap around her ankle and stood up to admire her new shoes.

Zora and Me, Victoria Bond and T R Simon (170 pages) – based on events in the life of author Zora Neale Hurston. When a young man’s body is found on train tracks in a small Florida town Zora thinks she knows who did it, so she and her friends set out to prove her theory and search for the truth. Narrated by Zora’s best friend Carrie, hence the title.

First sentence: It’s funny how you can be in a story but not realise until the end that you were in one.

The False Princess, Eilis O’Neal (319 pages) – Nalia believes herself to be princess of Thorvaldor, but discovers she’s actually a stand in. She’s cast out, called Sinda, and sent to live with her unwelcoming aunt in a village where she (Sinda) learns she has magic, which is Sinda’s ticket out, albeit a dangerous ticket. This one is called “A dazzling first novel” and “an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance”, which sounds great.

First sentence: The day they came to tell me, I was in one of the gardens with Kiernan, trying to decipher a three-hundred-year-old map of the palace grounds.

Fallout, Ellen Hopkins (663 pages) – the companion to Crank and Glass. About Kristina’s three oldest children, who must climb out from under their mother’s meth addiction and the hold it has over the family. Novel in verse form.

First sentence: That life was good / before she / met / the monster, / but those page flips / went down before / our collective / cognition.

Accomplice, Eireann  Corrigan (259 pages) – Two friends stage a kidnapping as a joke and in order to gain notoreity. Of course this is going to be a very bad idea indeed.

First sentence: The picture they usually use is one from the Activities spread of the yearbook.

Pride, Robin Wasserman (231 pages) – one in the Seven Deadly Sins series, and we have the complete set.

Animals, Sport and Music

Some new documentaries on DVD!

Best of Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr

“Reptile agent Dr. Brady Barr has spent his entire career studying some of the world’s most amazing and deadliest animals. In the hit series Dangerous Encounters, Barr travels around the globe on a series of death-defying, hair-raising expeditions to study reptiles and other wildlife in their native habitats. His main goal is to study these animals before their habitat is destroyed to better understand what they need to survive in the wild. Best of Dangerous Encounters features Barr’s most dangerous moments with some of the planet’s most unapproachable animals, including his headline-making bite from a 12-foot reticulated python” (cover)

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : The Final, Netherlands vs Spain

“Every four years the world stops to watch football’s best of the best. Over a billion people tuned in to see if the Netherlands or Spain would be the 2010 FIFA World Cup Champions. Neither country had ever won the cup, so it would be a first for one of them. Here is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final from start to finish including the presentations – an unforgettable souvenir for every fan of the beautiful game” (cover) 

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : The Highlights

“Here are the highlights of the 2010 FIFA World Cup including all the action from each group – A through to H, Round 16, the quarter finals, semi-finals, and the final itself. The goals, the drama, interviews and excitement – all the highlights are here, followed by the final summary from SBS special commentators Les Murray and Craig Foster” (cover)

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : New Zealand

Features all three matches played by the New Zealand team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. I don’t want to ruin the ending, but the All Whites ended the tournament as the only undefeated team. Relive the magic.

Crusty Demons, the 7th Mission

A group of men, set out on their seventh motorbike adventure together. Then they jump all their bikes of big cliffs and things and they crash, breaking bones and causing fleshwounds while Papa Roach, Powerman 5000, White Zombie etc. shout things. Mission accomplished?

Nirvana : Unplugged in New York

An acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993 for the television series MTV Unplugged. Features two songs not originally broadcast plus five previously unreleased rehearsal performances.

Awesome; I… Shot That!

“On October 9, 2004, at a sold-out performance in New York’s Madison Square Garden, longtime rap superstars the Beastie Boys revolutionized the formula for concert films by distributing cameras to fifty audience members and encouraging them to shoot their own footage of the musical performance. Capturing the event in a completely fresh and prismatic way, these fifty filmmakers used their diverse points-of-view to bring to life the total experience of a Beastie Boys concert, from the stage to the back rows, from the performers to the adoring fans.” (cover)

Parkour

It’s  been an age since we linked to some parkour/freerunning videos. So we must remedy that! Watch this video and marvel as gravity is defied.

Do you like this? Go to the NZ Parkour Association website!

ETA: some more on parkour, here’s a summary of Chase Armitage (professional free runner (which you can be)) and his talents.

The window is the best bit.

John Green on the All Whites on Twitter

John Green, co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Web 2.0 enthusiast had this to say about the All Whites’ effort against Italy at the World Cup (so we thought it was worth a mention): “A heroic, relentless performance by #NZL. Just unbelievable. I am kind of in tears to be honest.” (In context here. He’s set up a special world cup Twitter account @johnsworldcup, plus his regular Twitter account is @realjohngreen, complete with a million + followers.) Needless to say, we like John Green.

Speaking of Twitter, Wellington City Libraries is on Twitter too (@wcl_library). You can follow us for updates on recently acquired interesting library items, what’s going on at the moment, and notifications of new blog posts, like on this here blog, for example.

This post was brought to you by Library Serf, in the absence of regular football reporter, Roberto B, who is recovering.

(Thanks to Kym for info too.)

Go To The World Cup! Sort Of

The Football World Cup kicks off tomorrow morning, most of us won’t be in attendance because South Africa is a long way away. But thanks to technology you can travel to the stadiums the games will be played in from the comfort of your own home by following this link. Sure, you could just watch the games on TV, but these virtual tours are in 3D thanks to Google Earth and therefore cooler.

Watch Football For Free!

wellington_phoenix_jpg_4ad4721e8fFor the Wellington Phoenix’s next home game, tomorrow Friday 12th Feb, under 16s can get in for free. Free! Just turn up with an adult and three of you can keep your wallets in your pockets as you walk through the turnstiles. Money saved at the gate can be spent on delicious (?) stadium hotdogs. If you’re older but still studying it’s only $20 anyway. Still a bargain then.

Read These New Books

Once again, here’s a large selection of new books, from fairies to vampires to werewolves to survivalists to society’s elite (pirates and witches).

Rapture of the Deep, L A Meyer (454 pages) – for lovers of the Bloody Jack adventures, here’s the next. Jacky thinks she’s getting married, but actually she’s being kidnapped by British Naval Intelligence and made to dive for treasure near Havana, which isn’t necessarily such a terrible thing when you’re the piratical spy type.

First sentence: “Ah, and it’s a bonny, bonny bride ye shall be, Jacky.”
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Re-Gifters, Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel (graphic novel) – Dixie is a soon-to-be maybe champion of hapkido (a martial art), but her life gets complicated when she meets and falls for surfery boy Adam. Winning her championship and also Adam could be tricky: there are lessons to be learned for Dixie.

Tallow, Karen Brooks (404 pages) – The Curse of the Bond Riders Book 1. Tallow is rescued as a child by a candlemaker. As he grows up, his mysterious and deadly talents are revealed, and all manner of ominous people – both enemies and allies – become interested in him. A fantasy story based on historical Italy with excellent reviews!

First sentence: “I know you’re out there.”
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Splendor, Anna Godbersen (394 pages) – the last of the Luxe novels, or at least I think it is. Will Diana and Henry find a way to be together without having Manhattan’s society up in arms?

First sentence: Fifty years ago every American girl wanted to be a European princess.
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Battleground, Chris Ryan (305 pages) – the SAS supremo writer is back again, this time with the story of 14 year old Ben who finds himself kidnapped in Afghanistan. Which sounds bad, but worse is the fact that he discovers they’ve got a nuclear weapon on them.

First sentence: “Ambush!”
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X Isle, Steve Augarde (477 pages) – see what he’s doing with the title? X Isle is the only way out after the floods come and devastate the globe. Sounds like a grim disaster novel (Adrienne might like it!).

First sentence: The steady chug of the diesel engine drew closer, and eventually the salvage boat emerged from the mist, a blank grey shape steering a middle course between the ghostly lines of chimney stacks that rose from the water.
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Destiny’s Path, Frewin Jones (329 pages) – book two in the Warrior Princess series, good news if you’ve already read the first one. Branwen is still uncomfortable with the idea of being the Chosen One, but then she’s shown a vision of life if she abandons her destiny, and it’s pretty bleak.

First sentence: Branwen Ap Griffith pulled back on the reins and her weary horse gradually came to a halt, snorting softly and shaking its mane.
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Ash, Malinda Lo (264 pages) – A fairy tale; Ash, recovering from the death of her father, dreams that the fairies will “steal her away” then meets Sidhean (a fairy). Because stories need a complication to work (truly they do), she also meets Kaisa (not a fairy) who teaches her to hunt and with whom she becomes friends. The result? A literary tug of war.

First sentence: Aisling’s mother died at midsummer.
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We Were Here, Matt de la Pena (356 pages) – Miguel is sent to juvi, then escapes with Rondell and Mong (great names, together), hoofing it to Mexico where he hopes he’ll have a chance to start over. A story of self-discovery and learning to forgive yourself (among other things).

First sentence: Here’s the thing: I was probably gonna write a book when I got older anyways.
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Taken, Nora McClintock (165 pages) – stress extreme. As mentioned in this post, Stephanie is captured by a serial killer then escapes (good for her) and must survive in the middle of nowhere (bad for her).

First sentence: My stomach clenched as the bus rumbled across the county line.
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Once a Witch, Carolyn MacCullough (292 pages) – Tamsin pretends to be her talented witchy older sister, which might seem like a good idea at the time, but one thing leads to another… this book contains it all; fantasy, romance, witchcraft and time travel.

First sentence: I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper thin adn when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it.
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Ghost Town, Richard Jennings (165 pages) – I’ve filched this from the catalogue because it’s way to complex for me to explain: “Thirteen-year-old Spencer Honesty and his imaginary friend, an Indian called Chief Leopard Frog, improbably achieve fame and riches in the abandoned town of Paisley, Kansas, when Spencer begins taking photographs with his deceased father’s ancient camera and Chief Leopard Frog has his poems published by a shady businessman in the Cayman Islands.”

First sentence: “Well, I guess that makes it official,” I said to Chief Leopard Frog.
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Destroy All Cars, Blake Nelson (205 pages, plus appendices) – James Hoff is into the environment – he wants to, as the title suggests, destroy all cars. His ex-girlfriend, Sadie, is also into the environment, but James thinks she’s soft, merely wanting to build cycleways. Naturally there’s going to be some sort of romantic showdown that may well be a bit messy.

First sentence (sort of): We stand at the edge.
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Suicide Notes, Michael Thomas Ford (295 pages) – Jeff’s in a psychiatric ward, recovering from a suicide attempt, and learning valuable lessons from the “crazies” around him. “Compelling, witty and refreshingly real.”

First sentence: I read somewhere that when astronauts come back to Earth after floating around in space they get sick to their stomachs because of the air here smells like rotting meat to them.
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My Vicksburg, Ann Rinaldi (149 pages) – set during the American civil war. Claire Louise is forced to make a difficult choice between saving a friend’s life and being loyal to family (and state).

First sentence: The only reason we came back to town, and stayed during that terrible nightmare of a time, those forty-seven days of confusion and heartbreak that made up the siege of Vicksburg, was because of Sammy the cat.
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I Lost My Mobile at the Mall: Teenager on the Edge of  Technological Breakdown, Wendy Harmer (319 pages) – the mobile in question even has a photo of Elly’s friend standing next to Hugh Jackman, no less, so it really is a big deal!

First sentences: My name is Elly Pickering. I’ve lost my mobile phone at the mall and am now facing certain death.
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Changeling: Dark Moon, Steve Feasey (325 pages) – Trey Laporte is back, which is just as well since Lucien is lying in a coma and Trey can save him. The back of the book says it so much better: “… to succeed he must face his biggest challenge yet: a portal to the Netherworld, an Icelandic zombie, an evil sorceress, and Trey’s nemesis, the dark vampire Caliban.” All zombies should be Icelandic.

First sentence: The vampire Lucien Charron lay motionless on a high-sided bed in his Docklands apartment.
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Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magical (199 pages plus a small graphic short story) – Some famous YA authors contribute to this collection, including Annette Curtis Klause (Blood and Chocolate), Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels), David Almond (Skellig) and Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize).

First sentence (Aimee Bender): Mom bought me the razor when I was thirteen.
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Nothing Like You, Lauren Strasnick (209 pages) – update: now that I’ve had a read I can summarise. Holly is nearly finished high school and gets herself into really messy relationship issues. This is a well-written book about figuring out the important things in life, learning from mistakes, and love (kind of reminds me a little bit of Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr). A good example of a realistic, non-romantic first person narrator.

Very briefly:

Avalon High: Coronation: Volume 3: Hunter’s Moon, Meg Cabot (graphic novel)

Caught Football Fever?

wellington_phoenix_jpg_4ad4721e8fWas watching the All Whites big win on the weekend so exciting that you can’t possibly wait until the World Cup in South Africa to get your football fix? If the answer is “yes” here is a suggestion; go to a Phoenix game.

There are six current All Whites in the squad (including Teen Blog fave Leo Bertos), passionate and vocal fans, and the handsomest uniforms in the A-League. What better way is there to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than watching some quality football and shouting loudly? And it’s cheap too, tickets start at $17 for students.

Also, keep up to date with the happenings in the world of football with the libraries’ magazine selection here.

They’re New and They’re Books

Just for something to do, this week I’ve subcategorised these. Some subcategories only have one – actually the maximum is two anyway – but there you go.

Vampires

The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales (416 pages) – Mwah. Embrassez moi, je suis un vampire. Short stories on the vampire theme by such supernatural stalwarts as Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder and many more.

First sentence (courtesy of Karen Mahoney): Theo was late.
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Blood Promise (a Vampire Academy novel), by Richelle Mead (503 pages) – Will Rose protect Lissa or hunt down the irresistible Dimitri and keep her promise to him (i.e. kill him, like, dead)?

First sentence: Once when I was in ninth grade, I had to write a paper on a poem.
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As featured in an earlier blog post

Once was lost, by Sara Zarr (217 pages) – go here for a quick summary.

First sentence: The whole world is wilting.
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Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (480 pages) – again, here‘s a blurb.

First sentence: The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.
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Series

Forest Born (The Books of Bayern), by Shannon Hale (389 pages) – the fourth in the series. Rin is uncomfortable in the Forest, so she accompanies her brother Raz to the city and things progressively get more threatening and dangerous: someone wants the Fire Sisters dead.

First sentence: Ma had six sons.
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The Pale Assassin (Pimpernelles), by Patricia Elliot (424 pages) – cleverly, the title of the series suggests something to do with the French revolution, unlikely heroes (or heroines, to be precise) and spies and the blurb backs this up (who’d have thought you could express so much in one word?). Eugénie de Boncoeur is caught up in the revolution and must rescue her brother Armand from death (at the hands of the “murderous spymaster” I think, but I could be wrong) and save her own life. A tall order.

First sentence: One summer evening outside Paris, a coach drawn by four black horses was creaking and swaying through the soft country twilight.
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Comedy and Romance and Music and-

Blue Noise, by Debra Oswald (271 pages) – Charlie forms a band (Blue Noise), but bands never work, the back cover says (but, you know, don’t judge a book by its cover). “Blue” is a reference to the blues, which is a nice change from rock and roll and all.

First sentence: Ash Corrigan was in Guitar Heaven.
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Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, by Bill Condon (218 pages) – I thought this would be funny if it were a rebuttal of one of those Georgia Nicholson books but no. In 1967 the world is tumultuous, and Neil Bridges is at a Catholic boys’ school toughing it (life) out, but his life is about to get quite complicated and possibly quite dangerous (murder is mentioned). YA writers seem to be doing the Vietnam War at the moment (here and here as well for example).

First sentence: One huge shiver trudging on to the oval, that’s us.
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Uh oh, something bad’s happening here

Candor, by Pam Bachorz (249 pages) – Candor is one of those “perfect” towns you just know is not in any way perfect. People are controlled by subliminal messages. Oscar, the son of the town’s founder, is doing a roaring trade smuggling kids out of Candor, and then Nia arrives.

First sentence: Ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk.
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The Ghosts of 2012, by Graham Hurley (95 pages) – a quick read. Joe’s preparing for the 2012 Olympics in a military-run UK, but he’s okay with that (he’s preparing for the Olympics after all) until his ex-girlfriend goes missing.

First sentence: Sometimes in your life you get moments that stick out… you remember them forever.
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More Parkour (on wheels)

As readers of this blog know, I really like parkour/free-running. (Previous posts.) And you should too. After the ‘more’ there’s an incredible Youtube clip of someone riding a bike up, down, and over all things urban. (It’s really called freestyle BMX.) Enjoy, and don’t try any stunts yourself

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Top 10: pushing play

This isn’t really a Top 10 list as such, since I know zero about sports fiction and have no idea what’s top and what’s not; this is more a selection of young adult fiction that has sporting themes of different sorts. See what you think anyway. Let me know if you’ve read a good sports book recently too (I refrained from putting my favourite book here, Life at these Speeds, but, oh no, there I go, I’ve mentioned it anyway (athletics)).

  1. book coverAmazing Grace, Megan Shull (tennis)
  2. Ironman, Chris Crutcher (triathlon)
  3. Hero, Perry Moore. This is sport but with superheroes. It’s good.
  4. Rash, Pete Hautman. Reading Rants (which is a great review website, by the way) suggests this is futuristic, dystopian and involves football.
  5. Soccer Chick Rules, Dawn Fitzgerald (football)
  6. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Chris Crutcher (swimming)
  7. book coverBall Don’t Lie, Matt de la Pena (basketball)
  8. How to Ditch Your Fairy, by Justine Larbalestier. When I first saw this book I thought “Nooooo!”. I mean, it seems very silly, but everyone actually likes it. Charlie is a freshman at a sports school and has the misfortune of having a personal parking fairy (as opposed to, for example, an “all the boys think you’re wonderful” type fairy) – you can see why I had doubts.
  9. book coverDairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. This is football of the American variety, and the main character is female, which seems refreshing. People like this book (I haven’t read it yet), and its sequel The Off Season.
  10. Alex, Tessa Duder. The great New Zealand literary swimming sensation.

City Safari

If you liked the Almost Amazing Race (or wanted to do it) check out the City Safari, which will take place on the 17th of May. It’s an all-day orienteering competition around Wellington that utilises public transport. School teams may enter. Take a look at the website for more information.

Ninjas, robots, fast cars

The Superbowl is the championship game for the NFL, which means it’s a bit like the U.S. version of the Rugby World Cup. But with American football, not rugby. It is screened on the telly and about two-thirds of all Americans watch it; it is incredibly popular. Which means that advertisement time is sold at a premium, and many new films show their movie trailers for the first time.

We’re not as interested in the Superbowl (sorry) as we are in the film trailers that premiered on Monday, during Superbowl XLIII. While we can’t embed any of them – they’re not officially on Youtube (I did try!) – they are all available from Quicktime, and include Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G. I. Joe, Land of the Lost, Star Trek, and The Fast and the Furious 4, among others. Enjoy.

Can’t wait for G. I. Joe, as it has ninjas. <3

Other film trailers to look out for are Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Astroboy, and Dragonball Z: Evolution (in French, but it’s official!)

Streetball

Young Wellingtonians will be able to shoot hoops with basketball legend Kenny McFadden when the Push Play Summer Streetball Series takes place on courts around the city this summer.

[The] series is a casual six-week programme giving young people the chance to develop their ‘game’ … [more]

Streetball is like basketball, only with fewer players and half the court is used. The series was very popular last year and can only be more popular this year. It’s free as well.

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