Wellington City Libraries

Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui

Search options

Teen Blog

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

Month: February 2008

Brisingr: inheriting a story too long to tell in one book

Amazon Book CoverIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single trilogy comprises three volumes…

“My dear Mr Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that the Inheritance trilogy by Mr Christopher Paolini is indeed to extend to four volumes?”

Mr Bennet replied that he had not, for he was not at all interested in the peculiarities of fantasy literature and the writers thereof.
                – Apologies to Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.

Anyway: Christopher Paolini has discovered that his Inheritance story – EragonEldest… – isn’t going to squeeze into three volumes. Therefore, Brisingr, which is due to be published at the end of September this year, is not the final instalment you’ve all been waiting for with baited breath… there’s another one to go after that.

So what’s going to happen in Brisingr? Is Saphira going to find a bloke? Will Nasuada remain the leader of the Varden, or will there be uprisings and overthrowings? Is Murtagh really all bad now and what’s with his dragon? How many more dragons are going to appear out of the woodwork?

We’ll give you a heads up when we’ve placed an order for Brisingr, then you can start reserving to your heart’s content.

Grimm.

New CDs & DVDs

More new YA CDs and DVDs have arrived. Since they’re so new and so popular you may need to reserve them, which you can do online. Click on the title!

These are the new DVDs:

New CDs:

YA CDs are free and DVDs cost 50c when issued on a YA or Child’s card. Reserves are free.

Get thee to a library

It has been said that if William Shakespeare were alive today he would be a screenwriter, not a playwright. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s certainly true that his plays translate well to the big screen. If you’re studying Shakespeare at school, often the best place to start with his work is to watch the film adaption; reading them is great but can take some time, and watching them performed isn’t always an option.

We have loads of Shakespeare-related DVDs for young adults in the library – here is a full list. Some are very close adaptions (Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, for instance), others are films loosely based on Shakespeare’s plays (10 Things I Hate About You, She’s The Man), and others are documentaries about Shakespeare (The In Search of Shakespeare series). You can study Shakespeare and watch a movie at the same time! Though beware: So wise so young, they say do never live long.

The Nominees Are …

The finalists for the NZ Bookseller NZ Post book awards were announced today. These annual awards go to the best children’s and young adult’s books published in NZ. The finalists for the young adult’s category are: Salt, by Maurice Gee; The Sea-Wreck Stranger, by Anna McKenzie; Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful, by Brigid Lowry; The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves, by Fleur Beale; and Zillah, by Penelope Todd. (Reserve them quickly as they will leap off the shelves.)

Excitingly, you can vote online for your favourite book and be in to win!

A Slam Dunk? (sorry)

SlamMy friend… let’s call him Mike… really likes Slam by Nick Hornby, so much so that he a) owns a copy and b) started reading bits out to me, nodding to himself as he read. I take it that this is a good sign, since a) Mike’s too busy with his broadband, hard drive recorder and iPod (and his job and life and families and that stuff) to read lots of books, and b) Sam the narrator of Slam (oh, I just got it – Sam… Slam) is 15 and Mike hasn’t been 15 for ages, so he reads even fewer young adult books.

Slam‘s about teenage pregnancy, but from a guy’s perspective, which is a good thing, but it’s also about growing up, skateboarding and having a laugh while reading about serious issues.

Top 10: Literal Biters

Kym, Children and Youth Services and list-making Specialist, has an interest in books about vampires and werewolves. Here’s her Top 10 young adult fiction titles about people who like biting other people:

Read More

Top 10: Fight Scenes

A well-choreographed fight can often make an action film worth watching. It might be the awesome special effects that make it so great, or that the outcome of the battle determines the fate of humanity … or else it just looks cool. Or (usually) it is all those things. Here, then, are some exceptional fight scenes from DVDs held in the Young Adult area:

Read More

Girlosophy

“Real girls make the best role models for real girls” – that’s the philosophy behind the bestselling and award-winning Girlosophy series of books.  Through her travels around the world, author and photographer Anthea Paul has met many young women.  She shares their inspirational stories in the Girlosophy books, and offers practical advice for young women around the world.  The latest Girlosophy installment, The Girlo Travel Survival Kit is essential reading for young women considering overseas travel.  For more information check out the Girlosophy website.

Another Absolutely Awesome Event

Saturday February 16 is going to be a double-whammy day with two amazing, free events.  After checking out the Absolutely Positively Pasefika Festival, why not rock on down to Waitangi Park?  There the best local and international skating talent will compete for US $10,000 in the World Cup sanctioned Bowl-A-Rama.    This is your opportunity to see star skaters including Rune Gilfberg, Omar Hassen and Lance Mountain.   Check out Scoop for further details. 

Top 10: Dystopia

“Dystopian” is the opposite of Utopian, a description derived from Utopia by St Thomas More (he was just a Sir when he wrote it), a book about an island society where everything’s perfect. So if Utopian is perfect or ideal, then dystopian is…

Dystopian themes show up heaps in fiction. We love dystopian novels, since they serve a double purpose: warning about how bad things could get and celebrating the fact that they aren’t… yet. Here are some classic and recent dystopian novels, after the jump:

Read More

The Terror From the Deep

The population of the world’s deadliest creature – the box jellyfish – is increasing. These are very different to the jellyfish we find washed up on the beach; these things have four brains, 24 eyes, and 8 foot long tentacles of death. And they swim around in massive packs. Packs of death.

If you like the idea of oceanic horrors, you may like the classic stories of H. P. Lovecraft, whose Cthulhu tales have been influencing popular culture for decades (Hellboy, for example, or maybe Cloverfield). They were written in the early part of last century but still frighten.

Banned Books

This year the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA/PEN) is joining forces with Wellington City Libraries to devote a week (25th to the 29th of February) to banned children’s books.

What’s on offer?

  • Banned books on display at Johnsonville, Karori, Newtown, Kilbirnie and Central Libraries
  • Class visit discussions about book banning
  • Guest readings of banned books to children after school
  • Celebrity debate: “Not enough children’s books are banned in New Zealand”*

*Monday 25 February, 7.30pm – 9.00pm at the Wellington Arts Centre, 61 Abel Smith Street. Gold coin entry.
For: Rt Hon Rodney Hide, Tony Simpson, Janice Marriott
Against: Rt Hon Judith Tizard, Bernard Beckett, Aimee McNaughton
Adjudicators: members of Wellington College and Sacred Heart College debating teams.

Comics – Kiwi style!

Kiwi comics is your portal to the New Zealand comic scene.   This wiki-style site allows you to keep in contact with creators and comic dealers around the country, find out about comic cons and other events, plus much, much more!