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Teen Blog

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

Month: July 2008

Muggles, Voldemort, and Full-Frontal Cruciatas

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been released. Interestingly, Harry doesn’t make much of an appearance, though if you’ve read the book you will understand why. It will be released in early December. You can watch it here, or check it out – and the official plot summary – below.

(Since we’re talking about teen novels that have been turned into films, you may want to check out Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, which is due for release on the 18th of September.)

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What rhymes with ‘purple’?

Write Rhymes is a site 
to help you with your plight;
when lost for a word
and you need to be spurred –
your poem will rhyme just right.

Do you like my limerick?
It only took two minutes.
Something something realpolitik,
Nothing rhymes with ‘minutes’

Gran of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables turns one hundred this year, and to celebrate an extensive website has been put together. It has an introduction to Anne, a list of Anne books (and there are lots), and an Anne quiz. If you’re new to the Anne of Green Gables books you will want to read from the beginning, which the library – believe it or not – has for you. If you don’t want to read it, you can always watch the television series (and two sequels).

An Anne book was written and published this year; Before Green Gables, a prequel to the original book.

Anne is also very popular in Japan.

For more links and news, check out Blogging Anne of Green Gables.

One weekly winner wins

All the entries for this week’s SubText08 draw were crammed in a very well-made (if I do say so myself) box and drawn by Children and Young Person Specialist and fashion icon, Ella, and special guest star, Zac Efron. The winner is Melissa, who has won a $40 book voucher.

Congratulations!

Olympic sports you may not know about

There are 302 events scheduled for this year’s Olympic games. If you had to list them all you would struggle to come up with a tenth of the entire list. Some are variations of a sport, like running, rowing, or swimming. But some are delightfully different from the rest, and many people don’t realise they’re Olympic sports at all.

So here’s a list (we like lists).

Modern pentathlon – this is a series of five (hence the ‘penta-‘ prefix) events; shooting, with an air pistol; fencing (sword-fighting); swimming; horse riding; and finally running. These were chosen by the founder of the modern Olympics in 1912 as the five things a 19th-century infantryman would need to do behind enemy lines. Which makes it a very cool sport indeed.

Synchonised swimming – also known as ‘water ballet’, this sport comes from Canada. Think of it as dancing to music in a pool. New Zealand has a duet competing this year.

Tug of war – to be fair, this was only an Olympic sport between 1900 to 1920. But what a sport! Unfortunately New Zealand never entered a team – we would have cleaned up the medals.

Wushu – at each Olympics a ‘demonstration sport’ is chosen, usually by the host country, to promote the sport and to add a little flavour to the games. At the Beijing Olympics Wushu is to be on display (though not officially as a demonstration sport). Wushu (武術) was created in China in 1949 in an effort to nationalise the various martial arts. Sparring one another is part of the sport, and performing a routine, like gymnastics, is also a large part of it – instead of throwing a ribbon and ball about, competitors perform 720 degree jump kicks and backflips while wielding a sword. Awesome.

Trampolining – Competitors bounce and do flips and so on (but without swords). The last time I used a trampoline – at high school – I dislocated a toe, ending any Olympic dreams I had.

Handball – this sport was first in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, as Hitler was a fan. It was re-introduced in the 70s. Handball is a bit like football, but competitors can only use their hands. Sort of like volley ball or netball, I guess. But without nets. Well, sure, there are nets, but like hockey goals. I hope that explains it to you.

 

Te Reo for beginners

Here are some online activities and resources relating to Māori Language week.

Try this quiz – you might not know any Māori but you may be surprised.
Learn some new words and phrases with these interactive conversations.
Discover which 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know.
Learn Māori at home with maorilanguage.net. This site has video, interactive lessons, and more.

SubText08 Quiz #1 – Graphic Novels

The first of the SubText08 quizzes is available here. The theme is Graphic Novels. You have until the 29th of August to complete it, so don’t hurry – some of the questions are quite tough and may require a little research! Please make sure you’ve registered before you submit your answers.

New CDs and DVDs

Usually, there can be few things more enjoyable than holding a nice, new CD or DVD in your hand. The perfectly mass-manufactured case can contain your new favourite music or film, carefully pressed into the disc’s polycarbonic plastic from a glass master that has been cut with lasers. Yes – lasers.

Here are the latest CDs.

» Simple Plan – Simple Plan. Canadian pop punk band’s latest album. This is the limited edition copy, and comes with a DVD.
» Randy Jackson’s Music Club : Volume One – Various. All the songs on this album were produced by Randy Jackson, who is perhaps best known as one of the judges on that Pop Idol programme. As a compilation it covers a range of musical genres.
» The Age of the Understatement – The Last Shadow Puppets. Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner is one half of The Last Shadow Puppets. This album shot to number one in the UK, and it’s very, very good.
» The Radical Bad Attack – Coco Solid. A grand-concept album from Auckland artist, Coco Solid.
» Punk Goes Crunk – Various.  Punk bands cover popular hip hop songs.

Latest DVDs!

» Balls of Fury – this ‘hilarious, action-packed comedy’ (about extreme table tennis) gets an appalling 23% on Rotten Tomatoes.
» Aqua Teen Hunger Force : Colon Movie Film For Theatres – If you’re a fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force you may like this film, according to critics.
» 27 Dresses – After being a bridesmaid for 27 brides, will Jane’s 28th dress be a wedding dress? Most likely.

SubText08 …. again

Don’t forget that registration for SubText08 is open! You will need to have registered to win prizes – these are drawn weekly once it begins.

Also! The Get off Yer Art! competition at Kilbirnie library is already taking entries. You’re on holiday now and it’s cold outside; what better time to explore your inner artiste?

More details about SubText08 are available at this here.

New Books

Time for our ‘weekly’ look at the new books we’ve purchased for the teens section.

Circle the Truth, by Pat Schmatz (188 pages) – A spiral staircase replaces the usual stairs, and Rith discovers another world. This is a book about truth, God, and identity, and reviews are very favourable. And the library’s copy is signed by the author!

Child of Dandelions, by Shenaaz Nanji (214 pages) – In 1972, the Ugandan president, Idi Amin, ordered all Indians in the country to leave. This book is about an Indian girl and her family, whose Ugandan citizenship was no protection from Idi Amin’s ruthless prosecution of ethnic groups.

Dinotopia : Journey to Chandara, by James Gurney (158 pages) – This is the fourth Dinotopia book. Dinotopia is a lost island where dinosaurs and humans co-exist; this particular book is presented as a nineteenth-century explorer’s journal. The illustrations (and it is full of paintings) are absolutely stunning, and the world this book depicts truly comes to life.

Doppelganger : The Bloodwater Mysteries, by Pete Hautman (159 pages) – What would you do if you discovered yourself on a missing-children website? It happened to Brian – and now his adopted parents aren’t talking. This mystery will keep you guessing, unless you flip to the end like I did.

Lamplighter : Book II of the Monster Blood Tattoo series, by D. M. Cornish (707 pages) – Rossamünd lives in the Half-Continent, a kind of magic-infused Victorian England, and is a prentice-lighter for the Imperial Lamplighters. This book is massive and finely illustrated.

The Stone Crown, by Malcolm Walker (509 pages) – King Arthur (“not the noble king of legend“) and his men threaten 21st-century Scotland.

Sovay, by Celia Rees (403 pages) – Sovay is a highway robber in England, 1794. She is also … well, a she. One day she lifts the wallet belonging to one of the most powerful and dangerous men in England, and soon Sovay is drawn into the perilous world of international intrigue.

Gool, by Maurice Gee (209 pages) – This is a sequel to Maurice Gee’s highly-acclaimed Salt. It is set sixteen years later; “Xantee and Lo embark on a quest through jungles, mountains, and ruined cities to defeat the evil gool. Set in a post-apocalyptic world of monsters and tyranny.”

The Classic Novel List

The Classic Book list (written in Haiku) has been transferred from the old Teen webpages, and will soon be updated. We enjoy writing Haiku, and we enjoy reading classic novels – it only made good sense to combine our two interests.

Classic novels is one of the SubText genres this year, so if you want to enter the draw to win a spot-prize and get an extra shot at the main prize, then read and review one of these.

New Audio-Visual items

Here’s a wee look at the new YA DVDs and CDs in this week. First, some DVDs – not many new ones (a couple are very retro).

  • » Under The Mountain – This is an old NZ television show that first screened in 1981. It is based on the Maurice Gee classic and the screenplay was written by Ken Catran, interestingly. Billy T. James is in the third episode!
  • » Eerie Indiana : The Complete Series – Another old television series (1991), this also has a cult following. It was an X-Files for teens, and all the episodes are in this five-disc set.
  • » Hair High – This is an animated feature. The cover describes it as a ‘gothic high school comedy with a ‘Carrie’ like story‘.
  • » The Best of Bubba’s Freak Circus – Something to do with motorcycles. ‘Never before seen – double backflip on a minibike!‘, says the cover. Fancy.

And loads of CDs!

  • » Elemeno P – Elemeno P. The latest album from the very successful NZ rock band. 
  • » VYP  (Voice of the Young People) – Lil Mama.  With a single titled ‘Lip Gloss’ you might flip past this album, but it does get a fairly respectable 71% on Metacritic.
  • » Lessons to be Learnt – Gabiella Cilmi. This is Cilmi’s first studio album. She is Australian, and her voice has been compared to Amy Winehouse.
  • » E=MC2 – Mariah Carey. She is able to sing in the ‘whistle register‘.
  • » Live in Phoenix – Fall Out Boy. A recording of Fall Out Boy in concert.
  • » White Sunday 2 : The Book of Mark – Mareko. This is Auckland rapper Mareko’s third studio album. White Sunday is a holiday in Samoa, falling on the second Sunday in October.
  • » Steppa’s Delight – Various. This is a compilation of dubstep tracks. Dubstep – a genre of electronic music from the UK – is an offshoot from drum and bass.
  • » Kelis : The Hits – Kelis. Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.
  • » Dev2.0 – Dev2.0. This is a Disney-backed quintet of child actors covering Devo songs. It comes with a bonus DVD with clips, interviews, and so on.
  • » Here I Stand – Usher. His new album. Usher was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee – two words that sound great spoken out load. Try it. Chattanooga Tennessee.

SUBTEXT08 – Kilbirnie

Here’s the information about Kilbirnie’s SubText08. Start working on your entry now!

GET OFF YER ART

Be a ‘darling’ of the art world for a night! Ruth Gotlieb Library, Kilbirnie, is staging its very own art competition with a grand gallery opening on Friday 22nd Aug 2008, 6-8pm.

There’s no theme for the art and your work can be in any media; painting, sketching, photography, sculpture or textiles…let your imagination run wild. Or if you’ve got a piece already that you’re extremely proud of, enter that!

Don’t forget to invite friends and family, this is about showing off how talented you are and basking in the glory! There will be live music and refreshments not to mention master classes and demonstrations by local guest artists ranging from fashion sketching to life drawing…Come and be inspired!

The boring but essential small print: This competition is open to teens aged 13-17 (registered Subtext entrants or not). Artwork should be delivered to Kilbirnie Library at any point between 1st July and 18th August, with your name, contact phone number and age attached. Winners will be announced on the evening of the gallery opening and there will be one overall winner to whom will be awarded an awesome mystery prize. Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh, it’s a bird.

An ‘MMO’ is a Massive Multiplayer Online game. These are, as the name suggests, computer games that utilise persistent worlds whose inhabitants can interact with one another in any number of ways. Here are a couple of new MMOs – so new that they’re not even launched. You can sign up for the beta testing!

Kiwi Heroes is ‘complete with character advancement, special powers and abilities, extensive social and community features, and a world full of dynamic solo and group-based adventures and wondrous places to explore’ – and who could say no to playing a kiwi?

Wizard101 is set in a school for wizards (a la Hogwarts); you can level your character, choose a school of magic and cast spells, duel other wizards, explore far-off worlds, collect magic cards, and so on – it looks very cool. Wizard101 is currently in open beta too.