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Brooms, Break-Ups and Bizarre Murders: New Teen Books in the Collection

It’s February and we’ve got another fine selection of new books in the Young Adult collection.  And what a diverse lot!  From alternative fiction about broom racing and bigotry, to help with finding your voice in a difficult and changing world, and a wild new story about a serial killer with a menstrual obsession, there’s a lot to explore.  Check out this selection of just some of the titles that have hit our shelves this month…

Comics

Brooms / Walls, Jasmine
“It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills… it’s there to be found. Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Guardians of the Galaxy. Vol. 1, Grootfall / Kelly, Collin
“One year ago, the Guardians of the Galaxy were torn apart – their optimistic future shattered by the betrayal of one of their own. Now they ride the space lanes of a lawless corner of the galaxy, trying to outrun their tragedy. Caught in the middle of a civil war, those who were once Guardians face a battle that was lost from the start. Because they’re about to find themselves face-to-face with their old ally Groot – and he’s not the friend they remember! Where Groot goes, Rocket won’t be far behind – but he’s not happy to see the Guardians!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

If you’ll have me / Eunnie
“Momo Gardner is the kind of friend who’s always ready to lend a helping hand. She’s introverted, sensitive, and maybe a little too trusting, but she likes to believe the best in people. PG, on the other hand, is a bit of a lone wolf, despite her reputation for being a flirt and a player. An unexpected meet-cute brings the two together, kicking off the beginning of an awkward yet endearing courtship–but with their drastically different personalities, Momo’s overprotective friend, and PG’s past coming back to haunt her, Momo and PG’s romance is put to the test.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Static : up all night / Giles, Lamar
“After Virgil Hawkins reveals his secret identity as Static to his girlfriend, Daisy, she breaks up with him, leaving him free to go to a big music festival with his best friend Richie Foley (also known as superhero Gear), but they soon run into girls who each have secret identities of their own.” (Catalogue)

Fiction

Thin air / Parker, Kellie M.
“Seventeen-year-old boarding school student Emily Walters is selected for an opportunity of a lifetime–she’ll compete abroad for a cash prize that will cover not only tuition to the college of her choice, but will lift her mother and her out of poverty. But almost from the moment she and 11 other contestants board a private jet to Europe, Emily realizes somebody is willing to do anything to win. As loyalties shift and secrets are revealed, Emily must figure out who to trust, and who’s trying to kill them all, before she becomes the next victim.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Murtagh / Paolini, Christopher
“The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Murder on a school night / Weston, Kate
“All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, her BFF Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth-form party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school. On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather’s second in command – suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer… period.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Gwen & Art are not in love / Croucher, Lex
“Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom’s only female knight), they become reluctant allies. By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen’s infuriatingly serious, bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight” (Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Louder! : a guide to finding your voice and changing the world / Asquith, Kate
“”If you want to use words to change the world, keep reading. This book is your guide to making a difference, explore the power (and pitfalls) of language, investigate media bias, spot fake news, and discover different types of activism.” (Catalogue)

Mental health and me / Maldonado, Salvador
“Mental Health and Me brings together seven stories of teenage struggles, from body image issues to drug abuse, as experienced by real-life teenagers. This book will help young people to better understand mental health issues, empathise with those who are struggling and possibly even see their own experiences reflected, making them feel more supported and less alone.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

What the fact / Yasmin, Seema
“Tracing the spread of misinformation and disinformation through our fast-moving media landscape, a journalist, scientist, medical professional, and professor gives readers the skills to identify and counter poorly sourced clickbait and misleading headlines.” (Catalogue)

Fever knights : role-playing game / Ellis, Adam
“You were once a normal, everyday teenager on the verge of adulthood. But after a mystical experience, you developed unusual powers and became something far greater—a protector of humanity and guardian against evil—a Fever Knight! Fever Knights Role-Playing Game transports you into a retro world that never was. This is a place where the 90’s vibes are still alive: from latchkey kids to Super Nintendo gaming, to cassette players and Saturday morning cartoons, and from urban legends to adventures in the woods. Designed for first-time and veteran gamers, this book contains a lightweight ruleset.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new books in the collection, go to: What’s new / February 2024 (wcl.govt.nz)

Draconic Tales for ‘Appreciate A Dragon Day’! Looking at Real Life “Dragons”!

Here be Dragons…

Photo 106371248, (c) wild_wind, licensed under CC-BY 4.0 DEED

Everybody loves dragons.

All around the world there are countless iterations on the idea of the dragon, oftentimes created independently of each other. Almost every culture has a dragon. That or translators and folklorists are a bit over eager to stamp the title of dragon on anything vaguely scaley. Regardless, you have to admit they are cool.

Besides the part where they don’t exist, that bit kinda sucks. It’d also be super dangerous if they did. But let’s be honest, if dragons did exist, knowing humans and our treatment of large fauna *cough*moa/mammoths/haast-eagle*cough*, we’d probably have killed them off already. Either way, probably for the best.

It is true that we have some “dragons” which are mostly glorified lizards (still adorable though) and other miscellanea.

Today is Appreciate a Dragon Day. I have thoughtfully provided a list of dragons for you to pick from all au naturale. And because you lot have been such well-behaved little gremlins, I’ll even share some fun facts on each of these fierce beasties.

A Flying Dragon – Genus Draco

 Photo 339511077, (c) Martin Walsh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)

Because reality is often disappointing, flying dragons, on top of not being dragons, don’t actually fly. What they do is they glide. That said, those wings of theirs are pretty neat expansions of their ribs and can at least pretend to fly. Do your ribs allow you to pretend to fly? Didn’t think so.

Dehling JM (2017) How lizards fly: A novel type of wing in animals. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189573. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189573

Central Bearded Dragon

Photo 341430640, (c) Owen Gale, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The only dragon commonly kept as a pet! Even in New Zealand, the buzzkill that won’t let me have a precious snake as a pet. Some cute behaviour they have is waving their hand to show submission, mostly to show other bearded dragons that they’re chill and not gonna mess with their turf.


via GIPHY

Due to them being pets, you can find plentiful adorable images and videos on the internet, so that’s something you can do to fill an afternoon!

Komodo Dragon

Photo 341814950, (c) robert_thibault, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

So there’s something weird with the Komodo’s bite. When komodos attack big prey, like say a buffalo, if they don’t manage to kill the prey the first time, it’ll stalk the prey which eventually dies of infection. The thing is it’s not clear whether this is a purposeful evolutionary thing, because komodo dragons do have venom, or at least something like venom, but scientists don’t know what it really does. Give the topic some research if you want, it’s super interesting.

Boyd’s Forest Dragon

Photo 188207878, (c) Samuel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Boyd’s Forest Dragons are great, they spend the majority of their lives just hanging out on tree trunks. Unlike most lizards, they don’t sunbathe, instead letting the air heat them, so they can just stay on their tree trunks. If you bug them by coming close, they will just move to the opposite side of the tree and return to their vibing.

What a mood.

Read More

How do you do, fellow kids? – Books written by actual teenagers!

Given that this is the Teen Blog, I am making the assumption that you, reading this, are a teenager. And I’m also making the assumption that you like books. This is a library blog after all. AND, third assumption here, I’m assuming that you will find it cool or interesting to find out about books that were written by people the same age as you!

Rather than, you know, someone who was a teenager last century writing about what they think you’ll like.
*sweats in millennial*

via GIPHY

Will this post act as inspiration for you to start/continue writing your masterwork? Perhaps. Will it give you a new and exciting list of books to go ahead and read (and of course log for the Summer Reading Adventure)? Hopefully. Will it at least be an enjoyable short read to take up a few minutes of your long summer’s day? Er, maybe?

So here, in no particular order, is my list of books that were written by people your age or thereabouts.

Eragon / Paolini, Christopher / eAudiobook / eBook /
The first manuscript for Eragon was written when Paolini was 15, and his family self-published the book when he was 17. THEN Random House sniffed him out and offered to publish Eragon, which they did when he was 19. And yes, he did create the maps and a WHOLE LANGUAGE, forge his own knives and swords, and make his own bow and arrows and chainmail as part of writing Eragon.
They even made a movie (of rather dubious quality) back in 2007.
A fifth book set in the world of the Inheritance Cycle has just been released this year. We have copies of Murtagh on order (in print and audiobook form!) so you can jump over to our catalogue and add yourself to the hold queue if you’re interested.

Solitaire / Oseman, Alice / eBook
Have you been avidly watching Heartstopper, or rapidly devouring Volume 5 that came out this year?
Solitaire is Oseman’s first book – written when they were 17 and published when they were 19. It’s a bit more serious than Heartstopper so Oseman does recommend checking out the content warnings on her site before reading. And yes, that is Charlie’s sister you’re following there in Solitaire. And no, you don’t have to read Heartstopper before you read this. Or read this before you read Heartstopper.

Cover image used with permission from Denika Mead.

The death-hunters / Mead, Denika
Denika Mead was 15 when this, her first book (which is full of world-hopping adventure and exhilaration), was published. That was in 2019, which means that as I write this, and given my maths is correct, she is still a teenager! Mead has already published five books in the Royal Orchid series and one in the Agents of TIME series. AND she runs writing workshops and writes for The Sapling and lives in Lower Hutt.
Mead is known for her faced-paced narratives, and for readers who devour her books due to their not-put-down-able nature.

Tūhono. a journal of poetry by Wellington teens 
Yes, of course I’m sneaking Tūhono in here. We’ve got to have some self-promotion, right? All the poets published in Tūhono are local Wellington writers and, well, that’s the only criteria! If you have a read-through, you may come across someone you know. Or you may not realise you’re reading something written by a friend since there are a few pseudonyms/pen-names used in there.

The extraordinary and unusual adventures of Horatio Lyle / Webb, Catherine
Webb wrote her first book, Mirror dreams, when she was 14 and it was published two years later. Unfortunately, we don’t have copies of any of her first four books in our libraries, but we do have a copy of her fifth book, which I actually like a whole lot better so it’s like the universe has aligned so that I can feature my preferred book. Think Sherlock Holmes, but more likeable and likely to accidentally blow things up, and also there are supernatural beings about.
This one was published when Webb was 19, which means that she had five books published before the age of 20! That is one less than local author Denika Mead though…

These violent delights / Gong, Chloe
This one was written when Gong was 19 while she was on a uni break (as in, she wrote the whole thing in a month!) but it wasn’t actually published till she was 21. It still fits into the scope of this post though, as she was a teenager while she was writing it. Gong was born in Shanghai but grew up in Auckland from the age of 2 (then did skedaddle off to the US for university) so we are DEFINITELY claiming her as an NZ writer.
These violent delights features 1920s Shanghai, rival gangs, mysterious deaths, was a hit on BookTok, and was also featured in a previous BookTok blog! Go us.

Echo / Kelly, Arlo
Were you keeping an eye out on the New Zealand Book Awards for children and Young Adults this year? Well, I’m sure you were and I’m sure you saw Echo, which was a finalist for the NZSA Best First Book Award. Arlo Kelly was the youngest finalist, at 16 years old! He lives over in the Kāpiti Coast and the inspiration for Echo came from a walk along Makorori Beach with his sister, which has led to this thoughtful and emotive story that centres around a whale and a boy with Low Vision. Another local and very talented writer!

Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft / eAudiobook / eBook
I couldn’t not mention Frankenstein. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was 19 when she wrote this, the first example of science fiction. How many 19-year olds create a whole new genre? She had passed the double-decade milestone by the time it was published, but not by much!
Frankenstein has inspired many adaptations and reprints and editions. And it all came from this 19-year-old coming up with a ghost story to tell her husband and that Lord Byron guy!


If you’re getting to the end of this list feeling like you’re running out of time to produce your masterwork, please don’t despair! To change direction completely, here are a few FAMOUS authors who weren’t published, or didn’t even start writing, until much later in life. So you’ve still got plenty of time.

J.R.R. Tolkien, famous name, creator of Middle Earth and Elvish and Hobbits and the One Ring and all that, had his first work of fiction, The hobbit, published when he was 45. When his publisher requested a sequel, The fellowship of the ring followed a mere seventeen years later.

You must have read something by Dick King-Smith when you were younger. He wrote many many children’s books, including all those books about Sophie and also The sheep-pig (which became the film Babe). He was 54 when he sat down to write his first book, The fox busters, and he was 56 when it was published. And he still went on to write over a hundred books!

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote all those Little house books that you can find spread across our libraries. Her first book, Little house in the big woods, was published in 1932 when she was 65! And her books are still in print today.

Love, Libraries and Lives Lost – New Teen Books in the Collection

Do you need something fresh to read over the school holidays?  We’ve got a great selection of new books rolling into our collection this month as always.  We’ve selected a handful below to get you started!

Comics

Mall Goth / Leth, Kate
“Liv Holme is not exactly thrilled to be moving to a new town with her mother. After all, high school can be brutal, even more so when you’re a fifteen-year-old, bisexual goth. But Liv is determined to be who she is, bullies or not. Thankfully, she’s found the perfect escape: the mall. Under its fluorescent lights, Liv feels far away from her parents’ strained marriage and the peers who don’t understand her. Amid the bright storefronts, food court smell, and anonymous shoppers, Liv is safely one of the crowd and can enjoy the feeling of calling the shots in her own life for once.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The infinity particle / Xu, Wendy
“Clementine Chang moves from Earth to Mars for a new start and is lucky enough to land her dream job with Dr. Marcella Lin, an Artificial Intelligence pioneer. On her first day of work, Clem meets Dr. Lin’s assistant, a humanoid AI named Kye. Clem is no stranger to robots–she built herself a cute moth-shaped companion named SENA. Still, there’s something about Kye that feels almost too human. When Clem and Kye begin to collaborate, their chemistry sets off sparks. The only downside? Dr. Lin is enraged by Kye’s growing independence and won’t allow him more freedom. Plus, their relationship throws into question everything Clem thought she knew about AI. After all, if Kye is sentient enough to have feelings, shouldn’t he be able to control his own actions? Where is the line between AI and human?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass : the graphic novel / Vargas, Mel Valentine
“It’s the beginning of sophomore year, and Piedad “Piddy” Sanchez is having a hard time adjusting to her new high school. Things don’t get any easier when Piddy learns that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off from those who care about her – or running away? (Adapted from Catalogue)

Fiction

Divine rivals : a novel / Ross, Rebecca
“After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again… All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms. Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?” (Catalogue)

Also available as an eAudiobook, and an eBook on both Libby and Borrowbox.

Ryan and Avery / Levithan, David
“When Ryan and Avery met at a queer prom, they felt an instant connection. This is the story of their first 10 dates: the tender hopes, the skittish fears, the difficulty of introducing someone into your pre-existing life. There is always the possibility of heartbreak– and the chance that maybe, just maybe, you’ve found the right person to love.” (Catalogue)

Where he can’t find you / Coates, Darcy
“Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they’re found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer . . . or something far darker? She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe–which is why it’s such a shock when Hope is taken. With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

What stalks among us / Hollowell, Sarah
“The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. But with a whole day of playing hooky unspooling before them, they make their second mistake. Or perhaps their third? Maybe even their fourth. Because Sadie and Logan have definitely entered this maze before. And again before that. They quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The space between here & now / Suk, Sarah
“Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life. Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The library of broken worlds / Johnson, Alaya Dawn
“In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great celestial peacekeeper of the three systems, a terrible secret lies buried. The daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library’s ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. When she meets Joshua, a mortal boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a Disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to break ranks with the gods and help them. To do so she will have to venture deeper into the Library– and she discovers the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.” (Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Lads : a guide to respect and consent – step up, speak out and create positive change / Bissett, Alan
“In a world full of negative influences, LADS is a toolkit for teenage boys on respect and consent, helping them call out bad behaviour and giving them the confidence to be their best selves. Have you ever been in a situation where there’s a loud guy making dodgy comments, cracking jokes that only he thinks are funny or leering at the girls in the room? You can feel the tension, right? That Guy is the worst, but no one is saying anything, because the whole situation is intimidating and awkward. This toolkit will help you call out bad behaviour and understand the serious issues facing girls today. And it will make you feel confident navigating relationships, so that everyone feels happy, heard and respected, while being the best version of yourself.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new books in the catalogue, go to: What’s new / December 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

Memoirs, Mysteries, Memes and Murder: New Books for Teens in the Collection

Those summer holidays are going to be here soon, and it’s the perfect time to get stuck into some new books.  I mean, have you considered the Summer Reading Adventure yet?  We have a fresh crop of new books to add to your reading list, whether your into comics, fiction or non-fiction… or maybe all three?

Comics

Mexikid : a graphic memoir / Martin, Pedro
“Pedro Martin’s grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir.” (Catalogue)

The Calvin and Hobbes portable compendium. Book 1 / Watterson, Bill
“Calvin and Hobbes is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger first appeared in 1985 and could be read in more than 2,400 newspapers when Bill Watterson retired on January 1, 1996.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

All the lovely bad ones : a ghost story graphic novel / Peterson, Scott
“Travis and his sister, Corey, can’t resist a good trick. When they learn that their grandmother’s quiet Vermont inn, where they’re spending the summer, has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little ‘haunting’ of their own. Before long, their supernatural pranks have tourists flocking to Fox Hill Inn, and business booms. But Travis and Corey soon find out that theirs aren’t the only ghosts at Fox Hill. Their thoughtless games have awakened something dangerous, something that should have stayed asleep. Can these siblings lay to rest the troubled spirits they’ve disturbed?” (Catalogue)

Fiction

Broken hearts and zombie parts / Hussey, William
“A savagely funny gay YA romance about body image, self-acceptance and falling in love. Jesse Spark has a broken heart and in a few short weeks he’ll require major surgery to repair it – which means he only has a month to accomplish two almost-impossible tasks. 1) Shoot his epic zombie movie on a shoestring budget if he has any hope of getting into film school. 2) Fall in love before this surgery lands him with a huge scar – because how will anyone ever fancy him after that?” (Catalogue)

How to find a missing girl / Wlosok, Victoria
“Seventeen-year-old amateur sleuth Iris and her sapphic detective agency investigate the disappearance of Iris’s cheerleader ex-girlfriend, who also happens to be the creator of a notorious true-crime podcast about Iris’s missing older sister.” (Catalogue)

The scarlet veil / Mahurin, Shelby
“Six months have passed since Célie took her sacred vows and joined the ranks of the Chasseurs as their first huntswoman. With her fiancé, Jean Luc, as captain, she is determined to find her foothold in her new role and help protect Belterra. But whispers from her past still haunt her, and a new evil is rising–one that Célie herself must vanquish, unless she falls prey to the darkness.” (Catalogue)

09If you tell anyone, you’re next / Heath, Jack
“Jayden Jones is missing. Everyone thinks he ran away. His best friend, Zoe Ross, knows they’re wrong. Zoe’s search leads her to the 17-a secret group chat, used by anonymous teens to blackmail the powerless. To join, you have to put on a mask and record yourself completing a challenge. The challenges are always illegal. Sometimes dangerous. Maybe deadly. Who are the 17? What have they done to Jayden? And what will they do to silence Zoe?” (Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Accountable : the true story of a racist social media account and the teenagers whose lives it changed / Slater, Dashka
“When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults–educators and parents–whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse. In the end, no one was laughing. And everyone was left asking: Where does accountability end for online speech that harms? And what does accountability even mean?” (Catalogue)

Video game of the year : a year-by-year guide to the best, boldest, and most bizarre games from every year since 1977 / Minor, Jordan
“For each of the 40 years of video game history, there is a defining game, a game that captured the zeitgeist and left a legacy for all games that followed. Through a series of entertaining, informative, and opinionated critical essays, author and tech journalist Jordan Minor investigates, in chronological order, the innovative, genre-bending, and earth-shattering games from 1977 through 2022. Minor explores development stories, critical reception, and legacy, and also looks at how gaming intersects with and eventually influences society at large while reveling in how uniquely and delightfully bizarre even the most famous games tend to be”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

For more new books for teens in the collection, go to: https://wcl.govt.nz/whatsnew/#teens

Get Your Greek On! The Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV Show is Out Soon!

18 years after the release of The Lightning Thief, the Percy Jackson series is finally getting a proper adaptation into live action for the first time!

For the first time!

The FIRST time!

You cannot convince me otherwise.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, why not get our Greek on by reading stories about their oh so wonderful mythology?

Now, where else to start our Greek Mythology bonanza than where it all began. No, not with those old geezers from Greece but Percy Jackson! Why not give the old Lightning Thief a reread for the millionth time (or gods forbid, the first time). How else are you going to be able to go through every new episode of the show knowing exactly what minute detail they miss or change? We’ve got to get our smugness supply somewhere. Here at the library, we have all the Percy Jacksons you could ever want. Obviously we have the book, but that’s not all we got! We got the eBook, the audiobook (on CD (which are those old person things used in cars)), the audiobook again (but this time digital), the terrible movie that does not exist, and the graphic novel! So many options, so many books.

The lightning thief / Riordan, Rick
“After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.” (Catalogue)


But why stop there?

One of the great parts of Percy Jackson is how he takes these millennia-year-old stories (back when the world was still in black and white) and modernises them, retelling them for newer generations. The Lightning Thief is a delightful hodgepodge of various different myths and legends. However, Mr Riordan wasn’t the first person, nor the last, to do this to Greek myth. So lets have a look at other people’s takes on the monsters, deities, heroes, and tales told in The Lightning Thief.

Super minor spoilers for that book ahead.

That time some spooky grandmas knitted a sock ominously

Threads that bind / Hatzopoulou, Kika
“Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante. But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen—and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they’ve even met. But the investigation turns personal when Io’s estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city’s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city’s most powerful players—before destruction comes to her own doorstep.” (Catalogue)

Sometimes people are just really stubborn about things… Bull-headed, if you will

Bull : a novel / Elliott, David
“A modern twist on the Theseus and Minotaur myth, told in verse. Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have readers re-evaluating one of history’s most infamous monsters. — Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

The Gods really need to get better at holding on to their stuff

Daughter of Sparta / Andrews, Claire
“Seventeen-year-old Daphne has spent her entire life honing her body and mind into that of a warrior, hoping to be accepted by the unyielding people of ancient Sparta. But an unexpected encounter with the goddess Artemis—who holds Daphne’s brother’s fate in her hands—upends the life she’s worked so hard to build. Nine mysterious items have been stolen from Mount Olympus and if Daphne cannot find them, the gods’ waning powers will fade away, the mortal world will descend into chaos, and her brother’s life will be forfeit. Guided by Artemis’s twin—the handsome and entirely-too-self-assured god Apollo—Daphne’s journey will take her from the labyrinth of the Minotaur to the riddle-spinning Sphinx of Thebes, team her up with mythological legends such as Theseus and Hippolyta of the Amazons, and pit her against the gods themselves.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


To be honest, I’m actually quite fond of snakes, I don’t know what all this fuss is about

Medusa / Burton, Jessie
“Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love, betrayal … and destiny itself.” (Catalogue)


The Goddess of Love is a nosey busybody and more trouble than she’s worth

Lovely war / Berry, Julie
“In the perilous days of World Wars I and II, the gods hold the fates — and the hearts — of four mortals in their hands. They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it’s no match for the transcendent power of Love.” (Catalogue)


Going to the underworld? Pshh, what could be so hard about that?

The shadow thieves / Ursu, Anne
“Something extraordinary is about to happen to Charlotte Mielswetzski. It’s not the very cute kitten that appears out of nowhere. It’s not the arrival of her cousin Zee, who believes he’s the cause of a mysterious sickness that has struck his friends back in England. And it’s not the white-faced, yellow-eyed men in tuxedos who follow Charlotte everywhere. What’s so extraordinary is not any one of these things. It’s all of them. Then Charlotte’s friends start to get sick, Charlotte and Zee set out to find a cure. Their quest leads them to a not-so-mythical Underworld, where they face Harpies that love to rhyme, gods with personnel problems, and ghosts with a thirst for blood. Charlotte and Zee learn that in a world overrun by Nightmares, Pain, and Death, the really dangerous character is a guy named Phil. And then they discover that the fate of every person — living and dead — is in their hands.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Daughter of darkness / Corr, Katharine
“Enter the Underworld in an epic new fantasy, where the Gods of ancient Greece rule everything but fate. Deina is trapped. As one of the Soul Severers serving the god Hades on earth, her future is tied to the task of shepherding the dying on from the mortal world unless she can earn or steal enough to buy her way out. Then the tyrant ruler Orpheus offers both fortune and freedom to whoever can retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld. Deina jumps at the chance. But to win, she must enter an uneasy alliance with a group of fellow Severers she neither likes nor trusts. So begins their perilous journey into the realm of Hades. The prize of freedom is before her but what will it take to reach it?” (Catalogue)


Even! More! Myths!

Mythos / Fry, Stephen
“The Greek myths are amongst the best stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney. They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. You’ll fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia’s revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis. Spellbinding, informative and moving, Stephen Fry’s Mythos perfectly captures these stories for the modern age – in all their rich and deeply human relevance.” (Catalogue)


Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods / Riordan, Rick
“Who could tell the stories of the gods of Olympus better than a modern-day demigod? In this whirlwind tour of Greek mythology, Percy Jackson gives his personal take on the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece, and reveals the truth about how they came to rule the world.” (Catalogue)


Percy Jackson and the Greek heroes / Riordan, Rick
“If you like poisonings, betrayals, mutilations, murders and flesh-eating farmyard animals, keep reading…In this gripping follow-up to Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, demigod Percy Jackson tells the stories of twelve of the original Greek heroes in all their gory, bloodthirsty glory. Want to know who cut off Medusa’s head? Which hero was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus, the winged horse? Percy has all the answers…” (Adapted from Catalogue)


The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… One Piece

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character or series. This post is all about the story of a kid who wants to be King of the Pirates and sets out find the world’s greatest treasure: One Piece!

The Straw Hats’ ship, the Thousand Sunny, sails off into the horizon (via GIPHY)


What is One Piece?

Luffy (centre) and the Straw Hats (clockwise from top left) Nami, Zoro, Brook, Franky, Usopp, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper (via GIPHY)

One Piece is a weekly manga published by the anthology manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. Written and drawn by mangaka (manga artist) Eiichirō Oda, it’s the longest-running manga in the magazine’s history, running for over 26 years, and has been adapted into movies, video games, a long-running anime, and a live-action TV series on Netflix.

The story of One Piece takes place following the capture of notorious pirate Gol D. Roger, who proclaims before his execution that he hid a fabulous treasure named ‘The One Piece’ at the end of the world’s most perilous ocean, the Grand Line. This inspires a generation of pirates to seek out the treasure, including Monkey D. Luffy, a boy with the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit, which allows him to stretch his body like rubber at the cost of being able to swim.

Luffy gathers a loyal crew (named the ‘Straw Hat Pirates’ after his signature lid) including ace swordsman Zoro, sassy cat burglar Nami, cowardly sharpshooter Usopp, and chivalrous chef Sanji, and they set off to find the One Piece, battling rival pirates, crime lords, sea monsters, corrupt governments, and despotic rulers, while gathering new crew members along the way.


How do I start reading One Piece?

Start at Volume 1! You can reserve it here or start reading here on our eLibrary app Libby. We have the first four volumes on the eLibrary, and the first 99 volumes of the series in tankōbon (manga collection). In fact, the most recent tankōbon in our collection has the series milestone 1000th chapter in it, which sets up the series’ final arc. So now has never been a better time to get caught up!

That’s the how explained, but the more important question is why should you start reading One Piece? A series this long is a big commitment, but as someone who is currently up to date with the manga (all 1091 chapters as of this writing), I can tell you from experience that it is well worth the journey. Come aboard, and let us count the ways…

Luffy and the Straw Hats in the order they joined the crew (via GIPHY)


The Story

Come aboard and bring along all your hopes and dreams! (via GIPHY)

While One Piece‘s overall story is literally just the world’s biggest treasure hunt, it’s the journey that matters, as the Straw Hat crew travel from island to island encountering rivals and obstacles to their quest. The series is divided into discrete arcs, which vary in length and build in complexity as more characters are introduced and the world gets further fleshed out.

My personal favourite One Piece arcs are:

Baroque Works (vol 13-24) – The Straw Hats help a princess disguised as a bounty hunter save her desert kingdom of Arabasta from Crocodile, a crime lord with the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit. The first major arc of the series which sets the template for the rest of One Piece’s storylines.

Skypiea (vol 25-33) – Arguably the most imaginative setting in One Piece, here the crew ascends up a giant geyser to a civilization in the sky, where ships can sail on clouds and an indigenous population protects their land from the ‘Sky People’ and the self-proclaimed lightning god Eneru.

Enies Lobby (vol 39-45) – After fighting through a train that rides over the ocean, the Straw Hats must rescue a member of the crew from a government stronghold guarded by highly trained secret agents. This arc sees the crew come face-to-face with the oppressive World Government, the major governing body of the One Piece world that silences or imprisons anyone who threatens their power.

Impel Down (vol 55-57) – To save his brother Ace from execution, Luffy teams up with a number of the series’ previous villains to break him out of the titular prison island, which is inspired by the circles of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. This story also sets up the Marineford arc, a major turning point in the One Piece narrative and the halfway point of the manga’s overall story.

Whole Cake Island (80-90) – Luffy and half of the Straw Hat crew venture to a chain of fairy tale-inspired islands to save Sanji from an arranged marriage. Despite the island’s (literally) sugar-coated surface, the lands of Whole Cake are ruled with an iron fist by the villainous ‘Big Mom’, a giantess pirate and member of the series most powerful villains, the Four Emperors.


The Fights

Luffy performs his Gum-Gum Jet Gatling attack (via GIPHY)

It wouldn’t be a shōnen manga if the fights weren’t top-notch, and in that respect One Piece does not disappoint. In addition to a litany of sword-wielders, martial artists, cyborgs, and mythical creatures like giants and fishmen that inhabit the Grand Line, we have the signature superpowers of One Piece that come from the mysterious Devil Fruits. When eaten, these fruits grant their user supernatural abilities, ranging from ‘growing extra limbs at will’ to ‘turning into a dinosaur’ to ‘being able to manipulate biscuits’, making the fights incredibly imaginative depending on each character’s particular skillset.

Nico Robin has the Flower-Flower Fruit, allowing her to grow copies of her limbs onto anything or anyone (via GIPHY)

Every One Piece arc has an act dedicated just to Luffy and the Straw Hats going mano-a-mano with the antagonists of that storyline. Over the course of the series, we’ve seen such hits as:

  • The Crew Fights a Pirate Circus, Led by a Clown Who Can Split His Body into Pieces!
  • Who Can Sword More: The Crew’s Swordsman, or A Literal Man Made of Swords?
  • Usopp and Chopper Fight a Mole-Woman and a Guy Whose Dog is a Bazooka!
  • Zoro and Usopp Fight a Sword-Wielding Giraffe-Man… While Handcuffed Together!
  • How Many Biscuit Soldiers Can Luffy Eat in One Battle? The Answer May Surprise You!
  • Sanji Abandons His Noodle Stand and Embraces His Power Ranger Heritage to Beat Up a Spinosaurus-Man!

While those all sound ridiculous, every fight is written with an emphasis on showing growth through conflict, and drawn to showcase action and exaggerate the impact of each blow (it helps when your main character can squash and stretch like a Looney Tune). Some of the best moments in One Piece are when a character overcomes a limitation or sees their motivation in a new light while mid-conflict. It’s classic shōnen manga stuff, but filtered through One Piece‘s signature brand of wackiness, it’ll make you laugh and cheer (and sometimes cry).

Zoro always gets the final cut (via GIPHY)


The Art

The art style of One Piece is unlike a lot of other manga, which in the 90s tended to favour sharper designs and large, expressive eyes. Though Oda was inspired by earlier Japanese mangaka like Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball), his style also takes influence from Western comics and animation, giving his characters a more noodley, ‘cartoonish’ quality.

When your characters are mostly leg, they gotta know how to use them (via GIPHY)

In contrast, every background in One Piece is drawn with the utmost attention to detail, thanks to Oda and his team of tireless art assistants that maintain the manga’s quality week after week. Because of this unique blend of dense worldbuilding and cartoony characters, the series can shift tones from goofy to serious on a dime, but still never break your immersion in the story.

Yes, the joke is Chopper doesn’t know how to hide, but can we take a second to notice someone had to draw ALL those bricks? (via GIPHY)

Oda is a notorious fiend for research and he puts all on the One Piece page, pulling inspiration from mythology, animation, history (including, naturally, the Golden Age of Piracy), architecture, cinema, even professional wrestling. It keeps the Grand Line interesting, and it only gets better as Oda keeps adding new ideas to the story and grows more confident in his draftsmanship, cramming immense amounts of detail into each page.

Over the course of the series, the Straw Hat crew have visited such imaginative locales as:

  • Baratie, a giant floating restaurant for pirates in the middle of the ocean (I do not envy who had to draw all those floorboards…)
  • Skypiea, a civilization in the clouds built on floating islands, full of dense jungles and ancient temples
  • Water Seven, a massive canal city that puts Venice to shame, with multi-tiered, interconnected river roads
  • Fishman Island, a colourful kingdom of fishmen located deep under the ocean, which can only be accessed by covering your ship in an airtight bubble of a special tree sap and sinking straight down
  • Zou, a society of humanoid animals called ‘Minks’ that live on the back of a colossal, centuries-old talking elephant who walks through the ocean
  • Thriller Bark, a Tim Burton-inspired island full of zombies and Frankensteined animals that’s basically just ‘The Straw Hats go to Nightmare Before Christmas

Five minutes in Thriller Bark and Luffy is already sick of it (via GIPHY)

Oda clearly never wants the series to grow stagnant by staying in one setting for too long, and that promise of novelty is what keeps every One Piece fan coming back to the series week after week.


The Writing

One Piece Quote Analysis #1 | Anime Amino

‘Warlord of the Sea’ Doflamingo explains the ‘justice’ of the Grand Line (GIF via Anime Amino)

A world as dense and diverse as the Grand Line needs to be populated with characters that believably inhabit that world. Every character in One Piece, from the Straw Hat crew to the villains to the incidental villagers, have motivations, habits, beliefs, even specific laughs. But where the manga really shines in terms of character writing is when you get to see how a character became the way they are, and some of One Piece‘s most affecting moments are when a character’s ambition comes into harsh conflict with the unfair world around them.

This comes to a head in the series’ halfway point, the Summit War, a massive battle between the authoritarian World Government and a united army of pirates. The tension in the story comes from not from who will win, but how the winning side will determine what justice in the world gets to be. Pirates are defined against the laws and norms of their society, branded as criminals by the governmental and economic powers of their era. This makes One Piece uniquely suited to explore themes of justice, inequality, and resistance against entrenched power structures. English teachers, take note!

Storylines like Arlong Park and Fishman Island not only examine systemic racism experienced by the series’ unique aquatic peoples, but also their disagreements on how they respond to their oppression. Characters like Nico Robin and Luffy’s brother Ace are targeted for their ties to historical events that the World Government has tried to cover up, touching on ideas of “history being written by the victors” and whether any one person is a criminal simply for existing.

The people of Skypeia fly into battle (via GIPHY)

And in my opinion, the Skypiea arc is one of the best fictional interpretations I’ve seen of indigenous resistance to colonisation, written in a way that is both broad yet specific, and one that immediately made me think of Aotearoa’s own history. Probably helped by the fact that it literally takes place on a land of long white cloud.


The Journey

15 Best anime quotes images | Anime, One piece quotes, Dbz memes

Will Monkey D. Luffy be the one to challenge the world? (via Pinterest)

At over 1000 chapters and counting, One Piece is a truly monumental feat of serialised storytelling for any medium. Unlike American comics, where writers and artists change hands on a title regularly, Eiichirō Oda has been the sole creator of One Piece since it began in July 1997, which gives the series a consistent level of quality. It’s exceedingly rare to read something still being published today that is written and drawn by the same person, where everything that excites, fascinates, and concerns them has been filtered into one work of art over two and a half decades.

With recent buzz that the manga is heading into its finale, all eyes are on One Piece to stick the landing, especially as it’s grown more popular worldwide in recent years. But it would go against the series’ goals to recommend it solely on how it might end. After all, it’s the journey that matters.

Recommending One Piece is like talking about your best overseas trip: you can explain all the specifics of what you did, who you met or how you got there, but you really just have to experience it for yourself. And the more people you can share that experience with, the better it becomes.

Set sail for One Piece! (via GIPHY)

M is for Monster: New Young Adult Books in the Collection

August is here and with it yet another bunch of awesome new books in the collection.  We’ve got comics based on Frankenstein and from the perspective of a survivor of a school shooting; novels with dark mystery and swoon-worthy romance; and even a fantastic cookbook for teens, and so much more.  Take a look at the titles below and then click on through to the rest of the new items to explore more.


Comics

M is for monster / Dutton, Talia
“When Doctor Frances Ai’s younger sister Maura died in a tragic accident six months ago, Frances swore she would bring her back to life. However, the creature that rises from the slab is clearly not Maura. This girl, who chooses the name M, doesn’t remember anything about Maura’s life and just wants to be her own person. However, Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on – applying to college to become a scientist – and continue the plans she and Maura shared. In order to face the future, both Frances and M need to learn to listen and let go of Maura once and for all.” (Adapted fromCatalogue)

Welcome to St. Hell : my trans teen misadventure / Hancox, Lewis
“Lewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she’s confused about who to snog. He knows she’s really a he and will ultimately realize this. But she’s going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this … but she can’t quite hear him yet.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Knee deep. Book one / Flood, Joe
“Two hundred years in the future, refugees from an environmental cataclysm have fled underground. They are sewerfolk, their home, the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed. Life is hard enough, but an overzealous mining company, PERCH wants to get their claws on this new underground frontier and they don’t mind bulldozing any sewerfolk that get in their way. Caught in the middle is a young girl, Cricket. She’s in a desperate search to find her family that fled underground.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Numb to this : memoir of a mass shooting / Neely, Kindra
“Kindra Neely never expected it to happen to her. No one does. Over the span of a few minutes, on October 1, 2015, eight students and a professor lost their lives. And suddenly, Kindra became a survivor. This empathetic and ultimately hopeful graphic memoir recounts Kindra’s journey forward from those few minutes that changed everything. It wasn’t easy. Every time Kindra took a step toward peace and wholeness, a new mass shooting devastated her again. Las Vegas. Parkland. She was hopeless at times, feeling as if no one was listening. Not even at the worldwide demonstration March for Our Lives. But finally, Kindra learned that – for her – the path toward hope wound through art, helping others, and sharing her story.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Family style : memories of an American from Vietnam / Pham, Thien
“Thien’s first memory isn’t a sight or a sound. It’s the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It’s the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don’t get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search… for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Fiction

Someone is always watching / Armstrong, Kelley
“When their friend Gabrielle is found covered in blood in front of their dead principal, with no recollection of what happened, Blythe, Tucker, and Tanya soon discover their lives are a lie as the walls built around their real memories come crashing down.” (Catalogue)

Girl, goddess, queen / Fitzgerald, Bea
“Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying. The real story is much more interesting. Persephone wasn’t taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her. Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld’s annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core. But consequences can be deadly, especially when you’re already in hell . . .” (Catalogue)

We Didn’t Think It Through / Lonesborough, Gary
“The justice system characterises Jamie Langton as a ‘danger to society’, but he’s just an Aboriginal kid, trying to find his way through adolescence. He spends his downtime hanging out with his mates, Dally and Lenny. Mark Cassidy and his white mates – the Footy Heads – take every opportunity they can to bully Jamie and his friends. On Lenny’s last night in town before moving to Sydney, after another episode of racist harassment, Jamie, Dally and Lenny decide to retaliate by vandalising Mark Cassidy’s car. And when they discover the keys are in the ignition… Dally changes the plan. But it’s a bad plan. And as a consequence, Jamie ends up in the youth justice system where he must find a way to mend his relationships with himself, his friends, his family and his future.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Painted devils / Owen, Margaret
“When misfortune strikes, the ‘reformed’ jewel thief Vanja manipulates a remote village for help and in turn, accidentally starts a cult around a Low God, the Scarlet Maiden. Soon after, her nemesis-turned-suitor Emeric and a supervising prefect arrive to investigate the claim of godhood, and she realizes how in over her head she must be. But the Scarlet Maiden does reveal herself…only to claim Emeric as her virgin sacrifice. With vengeful apparitions, supernatural fraud, and ravenous hellhounds, readers will not be able to put down this Bavarian-themed YA fantasy, the thrilling sequel to Little Thieves.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lose you to find me / Brown, Erik J
“Tommy Dees is in the weeds–restaurant speak for beyond overwhelmed. He’s been working as a server at Sunset Estates retirement community to get the experience he needs to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world. And to make his application shine, he also needs a letter of recommendation from his sadistic manager. But in exchange for the letter, Tommy has to meet three conditions–including training the new hire. What he doesn’t expect is for the newbie to be an old crush: Gabe, with the dimples and kind heart, who Tommy fell for during summer camp at age ten and then never saw again.  The training proves distracting as old feelings resurface, and the universe seems to be conspiring against them. With the application deadline looming and Gabe on his mind, Tommy is determined to keep it all together–but what if life isn’t meant to follow a recipe?” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Non-Fiction

Fantastic vegan recipes for the teen cook : 60 incredible recipes you need to try for good health and a better planet / Skiadas, Elaine
“Elaine’s recipes help the modern teen cook be more environmentally-conscious and develop healthy habits while also proving that easy vegan cooking doesn’t need to be bland or boring. With just a few simple techniques and a handful of quality ingredients, it’s easy as can be to whip up a restaurant-quality meal for your family and friends.” (Catalogue)


For more new YA books in the collection, go to:  What’s new / August 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

Wit and Whimsy! Celebrating National Limerick Day!

There once was a man from library
Who thought that just prose was dreary
He wrote all in verse
But soon did he curse
All this rhyme made him so weary

But he had to conquer his fear
For the day of limerick was near
Give them some books
With whimsical looks
And then all the masses shall cheer

Are they all up to snuff?
I mean they sound good enough
Poetry is hard
I’m hardly a bard
So here’s some whimsical stuff:


Tress of the Emerald Sea / Sanderson, Brandon

On a treacherous green sea of spores
So she can save the boy she adores
A sorceress to beat
On a pirate’s fleet
Through the Midnight Sea she explores


Frogkisser / Nix, Garth

A prince turned to frog by saboteur
Must be saved by his love’s sister,
Wizards, dog astute,
Newt of ill repute,
And now a great quest must occur

The princess bride / Goldman, William

A tale told, only the best parts
There’s adventure, a hero with smarts,
Beasts, miracles, fights
And dangerous plights
A love story to capture our hearts


Six crimson cranes / Lim, Elizabeth

A wicked stepmother casts a curse
Taking her ability to converse
Brothers become cranes
She will take great pains
Finding how to make the spell reverse

The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents / Pratchett, Terry

A cat pulls a pied piper con
A plague of rats to be led on
In comes the “piper”
A wee lil minor
And suddenly all the rats are gone

The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making / Valente, Catherynne M.

A girl from our world so bland
Is transported into fairyland
Through enchanted woods
To get Marquees’ goods
Must return with talisman in hand


Cryptid Club / Andersen, Sarah

The normal lives of the cryptid
Who from humans often will be hid
They are just like us
They don’t like the fuss
Seek this kooky knowledge they forbid


I’ve shared some silly nonsense
So why not join in this madness hence
Make sure you rhyme
Follow beat and time
May your poetry writing commence!

Collectively Hallucinating: A Librarian’s Guide to Dungeons and Dragons!

Mother dearest has kicked you out of your room, off your phone, off your games, off the books. Apparently you have to “be social”, “touch grass”, and “go outside”. But you know that’s hogwash. The real world is boring. You want magic, adventure, excitement. You want to delve into stories, tales of great heroes, of great villains, of the epic fights between good and evil. But alas, parental figures are to be obeyed. So what is one to do? Interact with people?

Why yes! But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom!

Behold! I present to you Dungeons and Dragons! You may have heard of it, it is getting mildly popular with you young’uns on your ‘interwebs’.

But what is this D and D? Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game where a group of people play-act through adventures in (what is usually) a fantasy world. Players play characters of their own creation, heroes or villains together in a team to journey on quests of magic and wonder. One player, known as the Dungeon Master, or DM, plays as the everything else besides the players’ main characters. The DM makes the stories and world and characters for the players to interact with. With your friends you can spin your own epic tales, express your imaginations, and have plain old fun!

“Well,” you may be asking, “that’s all well and good great and amazing J’Shuall, but doesn’t that game require very expensive books? I hear they sell for like $70 a pop! And there’s like a million of them! That sounds expensive.”

You see, incredibly accurate strawman reader, that is where the Library comes in! For I, J’Shuall of Jackanapery, Librarian Supreme, come baring the gift of knowledge! The Library contains many of these D&D books, available for free! So, dear reader, both players new and old, let me explain our collection!

Editor’s note: Interested in playing D&D, but not sure where to begin? A number of our branches host campaigns for beginners. Check out our event calendar to find your nearest session.

The Basics!

There are a lot of books released for Dungeons and Dragons, so it can be difficult to know where to start, but that is where I come in! The most important book for you to begin is the Player’s Handbook, which details the rules of the game and how to make characters. While it may seem a lot, the book clearly explains things to you, and a lot of the content is various options for you to play. This is the only book you really “need” if you are starting out.

Player’s handbook
“An essential reference for every Dungeons & Dragons roleplayer, this text contains rules for character creation and advancement, backgrounds and skills, exploration and combat, equipment, spells, and much more.” (Catalogue)

Dungeon Mastering!

If you are lucky, you may already have friends who play DnD, and may be able to join an existing game or be roped into a friend’s new one, where you can create your player character (PC) and begin playing.

But sometimes you have to be the one to start things, to create the group.

To be the Dungeon Master.

But how do you do it? What do you need? Easy, two books: The Dungeon Master’s Guide and The Monster Manual.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide is what it says on the tin, a resource for people wanting to be DMs. It has a bunch of helpful information about running games and is a great resource for making content for them. However it’s also important to read the Player’s Handbook so you have a good understanding of the rules.

Dungeon master’s guide                   “This book contains tools a Dungeon Master needs to provide stories and game play. A resource for new and existing Dungeons Masters to engage in both adventure and world creation, with rules, guidelines, and advice from the game’s experts. Created as part of a massive public playtest involving more than 170,000 fans of the game.” (Catalogue)

The Monster Manual is another kinda self-explanatory book. It’s where all the statblocks for monsters are. With the Player’s Handbook you have the heroes, with the Dungeon Master’s Guide you have the story and world, but the Monster Manual gives you the monsters to be defeated. What’s great about the Monster Manual is that it gives you information and pretty art on each of the monsters, which makes it great fun to flick through. Luckily you don’t have to read the entire thing, often you’ll only need the pages that have the monsters you want. It’s a great tool for sparking the imagination of DMs and it even tells you how to make your own beasties!

Monster manual
“The Monster Manual presents a horde of Dungeons & Dragons creatures, including dragons, giants, mind flayers, and beholders — a monstrous feast for Dungeon Masters ready to challenge their players and populate their adventures. The monsters contained herein are culled from the D&D game’s history, with game statistics and stories. This book details all manner of creatures that characters might encounter over the course of their adventures.” (Catalogue)

Stories!

You’ve manage to drag your friends into a group together, everyone has read the rules and knows how to play. But as you think of what game you want to make as a Dungeon Master your brain freezes. Nothing clicks. You know how to set up a game, but you don’t know what to do. If only you had a story idea…

But wait!

There’s a solution!

Not only are there DnD books explaining how to play the game, but they also have campaigns, stories you, as the DM, can run! But wait, there’s more! These campaign books are available for free at the library! These stories give the DM everything they could want to run a story: people for the players to interact with, plothooks for them to follow, dungeons to explore! There are a wide variety of different campaigns to choose from, so I have gathered a select few for inspiration.

Happy Adventuring!


Curse of Strahd
“Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came — all according to his plan. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.” (Catalogue)


Hoard of the dragon queen / Baur, Wolfgang
“In an audacious bid for power the Cult of the Dragon, along with its dragon allies and the Red Wizards of Thay, seek to bring Tiamat from her prison in the Nine Hells to Faerun. To this end, they are sweeping from town to town, laying waste to all those who oppose them and gathering a hoard of riches for their dread queen. The threat of annihilation has become so dire that groups as disparate as the Harpers and Zhentarim are banding together in the fight against the cult. Never before has the need for heroes been so desperate.” (Catalogue)


Icewind Dale : rime of the frostmaiden / Perkins, Christopher
“Beneath the unyielding night sky, you stand before a towering glacier and recite an ancient rhyme, causing a crack to form in the great wall of ice. Beyond this yawning fissure, the Caves of Hunger await. And past this icy dungeon is a secret so old and terrifying that few dare speak of it. The mad wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood long to possess that which the god of winter’s wrath has so coldly preserved–as do you! What fantastic secrets and treasures are entombed in the sunless heart of the glacier, and what will their discovery mean for the denizens of Icewind Dale? Can you save Ten-Towns from the Frostmaiden’s everlasting night?” — back cover.” (Catalogue)


Baldur’s Gate : descent into Avernus
“This heroic adventure book takes players from levels 1 to 13 as they journey through Baldur’s Gate and into Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. The text introduces the infernal war machines to fifth edition D&D–battle-ready vehicles”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Have Some Fantasy Escapism For the Looming Return of School!

Ah, sweet sweet education. We at the library endorse education, it is what makes us a library. Yay, learning things. Yay expanding our brain. Yes, education is indeed good.

Okay, I think that got them off my scent. This is terrible, we have to go back to schooool and wooork and uniiii and it is the worst. February is coming, which means our precious holiday time is swiftly coming to an end. For some strange reason, time does have to move forward and we do have to return to our normal lives, being productive members of society and whatnot.

But all is not lost.

The library, which yes is a source of knowledge and words and facts, has multiple facets. We’ve discovered this fantastic way to escape reality: stories. But I do not come to you bearing the moral teaching boring stories you are forced to study for school, no! I give you fantasy! What better way to deal with the crushing truths of the so called “real world” when we can engage in the amazing imaginative stories of impossible things.

So do not weep at your looming fate, simply ignore it, and focus on the cool dragons and magic and stuff. That will make everything better.


The assassination of Brangwain Spurge / Anderson, M. T
“Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom — from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them — and war for their nations. Witty mixed media illustrations show Brangwain’s furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel’s determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story.” (Catalogue)


Alanna : the first adventure / Pierce, Tamora
“Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, a learning many hard lessons along her path to high adventure.” (Catalogue)

 


Dreamhunter / Knox, Elizabeth
“A fantasy set in a Victorianesque society where a select few people have the ability to travel into The Place. The Place is a parallel world where dreams can be caught and brought back to the real world, where they are ‘performed’ for audiences. Some dreams can heal, some entertain and others are more sinister. At the centre of the story are fifteen-year-old cousins Laura and Rose, both children of famous dreamhunters, who are expected to follow in their parents’ footsteps. Suggested level: secondary.” (Catalogue)


A winter’s promise / Dabos, Christelle
“Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what’s more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan. Ophelia must leave all she knows behind and follow her fiancé to Citaceleste, the capital of a cold, icy ark known as the Pole, where danger lurks around every corner and nobody can be trusted. There, in the presence of her inscrutable future husband, Ophelia slowly realizes that she is a pawn in a political game that will have far-reaching ramifications not only for her but for her entire world.” (Catalogue)


Blood scion / Falaye, Deborah
“Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will; she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. But under the brutal rule of the Lucis, her identity means her death. Her mother knew as much. She disappeared trying to hide Sloane’s truth. Sloane, too, has hidden her abilities, but on her fifteenth birthday, she is conscripted into the Lucis army. Once taken, Sloane must not only conceal her power but overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training. But if she can infiltrate the Lucis, she could destroy her enemies … Sloane rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely and becoming the very monster she abhors.” (Catalogue)


Spellslinger / De Castell, Sebastien
“How do you survive a mage’s duel without magic? Kellen’s about to risk everything: His family, his home, even his own life….When you’re a Jan’Tep initiate approaching your sixteenth birthday, you’d better be ready to prove your worth as a mage. Either that or have a miracle on the way. And Kellen isn’t counting on either. He knows he’ll need a few tricks up his sleeve to avoid disgracing his family and becoming a Sha’Tep servant. So when a sassy, straight-talking traveller arrives in town, Kellen is all ears. Ferius Parfax is jaded but worldly, an exile who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She can’t teach him to spark his bands and access the seven magics, but with the hand that Kellen’s been dealt, he knows he needs all the help he can get.” (Catalogue)


The novice / Matharu, Taran
“Fletcher was nothing more than a humble blacksmith’s apprentice, when a chance encounter leads to the discovery that he has the ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, he must travel with his demon to the Vocans Academy, where the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. […] Fletcher will find himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with nothing but his demon Ignatius to help him. As the pieces on the board manoeuvre for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands …” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Falling into Rarohenga / Matuku, Stephanie
“It seems like an ordinary day when Tui and Kae, sixteen-year-old twins, get home from school — until they find their mother, Maia, has disappeared and a swirling vortex has opened up in her room. They are sucked into this portal and dragged down to Rarohenga, the Māori Underworld, a place of infinite levels, changing landscapes and some untrustworthy characters. Maia has been kidnapped by their estranged father, Tema, enchanted to forget who she really is and hidden somewhere here. Tui and Kae have to find a way through this maze, outwit the characters they meet, break the spell on their mother, and escape to the World of Light before the Goddess of Shadows or Tema holds them in the underworld forever.” (Catalogue)


Seraphina / Hartman, Rachel
“In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.” (Catalogue)

 


The last dragon / Yolen, Jane
“Two hundred years after humans drove the dragons from the islands of May, the last wyrm rises anew to wreak havoc, with only a healer’s daughter and a kite-flying, reluctant hero standing in its way.” (Catalogue)


Frogkisser / Nix, Garth
“Talking dogs. Mischievous wizards. An evil stepstepfather. Loads and loads of toads. Such is the life of a Frogkisser…Princess Anya needs to see a wizard about a frog. It’s not her frog, it’s her sister’s. And it’s not a frog, it’s actually a prince. A prince who was once in love with Anya’s sister, but has now been turned into a frog by their evil stepstepfather. And Anya has made a ‘sister promise’ that she will find a way to return Prince Denholm to human form…..So begins an exciting, hilarious, irreverent quest through the Kingdom of Trallonia and out the other side, in a fantastical tale for all ages, full of laughs and danger, surprises and delights, and an immense population of frogs…” (Catalogue)


The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents / Pratchett, Terry
“A talking cat, intelligent rats, and a strange boy cooperate in a Pied Piper scam until they try to con the wrong town and are confronted by a deadly evil rat king.” (Catalogue)


A curse so dark and lonely / Kemmerer, Brigid
“Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, was cursed to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year; he could only be saved if a girl fell for him. But at the end of each autumn he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction… and destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. Washington, D.C. native Harper Lacy’s father is long gone, her mother is dying, and her brother constantly underestimates her because of her cerebral palsy. When she is sucked into Rhen’s cursed world, Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. As Rhen regains hope, they learn it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.” (Catalogue)


Wicked lovely / Marr, Melissa
“Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, who has the rare ability to see faeries, is drawn against her will into a centuries-old battle between the Summer King and Winter Queen, and the survival of her life, her love, and summer all hang in the balance.” (Catalogue)


A wizard of Earthsea / Le Guin, Ursula K.
“Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.” (Catalogue)


The rithmatist / Sanderson, Brandon
“More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings – merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing; kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery – one that will change Rithmatics, and their world, forever.” (Catalogue)

Summer Reading Adventure: The Palace Treasury Prize

Welcome, Adventurer

Gazing into the orb of the future foretold, we have been able to reveal a preview of The Palace Treasury, one of three grand prizes that readers could win by taking part in the Summer Reading Adventure – Teens (13-18).

The Palace Treasury Grand Prize

This prize pack contains:

– A selection of high-quality artistic stationery

– A day pass for a HIVE Makerspace VIP experience at the Waitohi Hub, including free 3D printing (PLA only), laser cutting, design consultation with our Makerspace specialists, and free access to the recording studio and any art/creation supplies available in the HIVE.

– This pass can be exchanged for equivalent value in free 3D printing and lasercutting at the HIVE at your convenience.

– A selection of locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Here’s a small showcase of a few items created in the HIVE!

Lasercut llama

Vlad the Inhaler

 

 

 


Dungeon Master screen cover

Check out some of our favourite 3D prints over here:

Watch | Facebook – sasuage roll 3D printing

Watch | Facebook – creating a 3D kererū statue


How to Play

Leucistic axolotl made in the HIVE

From 1 December 2022 — 31 January 2023, you are invited to take part in an adventure — a Summer Reading Adventure, to be precise. In this year’s Summer Reading Adventure, teens aged 13-18 will be able to embark on the journey of a lifetime by reading books; writing, drawing or filming reviews; and completing quests to unlock an epic narrative that you are the protagonist of, one step at a time.

All Adventurers, seasoned or otherwise, need somewhere to start. Your first port of call will be to visit your local library to pick up a copy of the Adventurer’s Guide (or you could download it here):

Then, head over to our Summer Reading Adventure website to get started. You can take part in the Adventure in three different ways, depending on how far you’re willing to take your newfound powers:

  1. Log your reading — tell us how many books you’ve read and you’ll earn mysterious tickets that you can cash in to get a chance to win the Grand Prize of your choosing!
  2. Write, draw or film book reviews — get creative and tell us what you thought about the books you’ve read, and you’ll go in the draw to win fabulous spot prizes as you do.
  3. Complete quests — choose your own adventure and complete up to three unique questlines, earning XP and achievements along the way.

The Story Begins…

Each time you reach a milestone in any of the above categories, you’ll unlock a fragment of a grander story — a story in which you are the protagonist — a story which begins with a call to adventure, a creaky door, a mysterious figure, and a fire in the hearth:

The heavy wooden door groans on its hinges as you step into the darkened room, squinting as your eyes adjust to the light. Someone — a sorcerer of some kind? — stands at a desk in front of you, scrolls covered in cryptic symbols and cracked leather tomes spilling from the shelves on either side.

In a dirty hearth to the rear of the room, a hearty fire casts a warm glow on the surroundings. Looking around the room, you see illuminated by the firelight other hopeful initiates huddled around scarred oaken tables, perched on benches, pacing anxiously between the stacks.

The stooped Magus in front of you clears their throat suddenly, and silence falls as dozens of ears strain to hear the fated words, words that so many have travelled so far in the hope of hearing. —Welcome— the being intones, —to the Library of Souls.— At no point does their mouth move, the words projected by some arcane method directly into your mind. —You’ve made it just in time. Now, your Adventure may begin.—

Reaping Your Reward

As with all good Adventures, these quests come with the tantalising promise of reward for your Herculean (or perhaps Sisyphean) efforts. Each quest chain you complete, or reading milestone you meet, will earn you collectible badges, digital achievements, and the chance to win awesome spot prizes, as well as tickets towards one of our three Grand Prize packs.

Prizes for this year’s Summer Reading Adventure have been generously sponsored by our friends at Ben & Jerry’s, Experience Wellington, Circa Theatre, Cerberus Games, OfficeMax NZ, Wellington Zoo, and Light House Cinema.

Check out some of our badge designs below — which ones will you collect?

 

 

 

Myth & Legend in YA Novels!

Throughout history, myths and legends have had a way of cropping up in the literature of the age. One of the biggest, juiciest examples of this these days is the Percy Jackson series, however have you heard of Kiersten White’s The Guinevere Deception? Or David Elliot’s Bull? Rachel Smythe’s Lore Olympus?

These and other myths have reappeared in literature and film for untold generations, and they do so for a reason: because they are relatable, laughable, or just entertainingly chaotic. Myths, legends, and folklore are particularly enduring because each time an ancient tale is retold, it is shaped and coloured by the context of its retelling – how cool is that??

So today seems like a perfect day for me to introduce you to some of the Arthurian, Anient Greek myth, and fairytale inspired gems in our collection (and yes, this post may have been inspired by a binge-watch of Marvel’s Moonknight over the weekend).


Arthurian Legend

Hopefully, most of you will be familiar with the legends surrounding King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table, but if you’re not, then here’s the gist of it! Good ol’ Arthur pulled a sword named Excalibur from a stone and was crowned the King of Albion (ye olde Great Britain). Alongside Queen Guinevere, he went on to establish the Order of the Round Table (a group of knights founded on the ideals of chivalry, justice, and equality). However, woe struck Camelot when Guinevere and Lancelot du Lac (one of Arthur’s finest and most trusted knights) fell in love. Things went downhill from there. Also, there was a wizard!

The wide cast of monarchs, monsters, and knights featured in the Arthurian canon means that authors have had no shortage of inspiration. Books in our collection shine a spotlight on everyone from Guinevere and Arthur themselves, to the wizard (Merlin), to the Lady of Shalott and the many knights of the round table:

The Guinevere deception / White, Kiersten
“Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. The catch? Guinevere’s real name– and her true identity– is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free. But when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself? — adapted from jacket” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Here lies Arthur / Reeve, Philip
“Gwyna is just a small girl when she is bound in service to Myrddin the bard – a traveller and spinner of tales. Without Gwyna, Myrddin will not be able to work the most glorious transformation of all – and turn the leader of a raggle-taggle war-band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time.” (Catalogue)
Avalon High / Cabot, Meg
“Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellie enrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur and his court.” (Catalogue)
The seeing stone / Crossley-Holland, Kevin
“In late twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels to his own.” (Catalogue)

Ancient Greek Mythology

Have any of you ever seen Disney’s Hercules (1997)? It’s a wholesome story; the gods are sparkly and functional and family-oriented, Hercules is a kind-hearted himbo, and all is right with the world.

Dear reader, you have never heard such a LIE.

If you want to get closer to the core of Ancient Greek mythology, think Disney’s Hercules meets George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, but with a good deal more witch-vibes and homoeroticism.

As you can imagine, this means a WEALTH of inspiration, so here are a few of the top picks from our collection:


Starcrossed / Angelini, Josephine
“When shy sixteen-year-old Helen Hamilton starts having vivid dreams about three ancient, hideous women and suddenly tries to kill a new student at her Nantucket high school, she discovers that she is playing out some version of an old tale involving Helen of Troy, the Three Furies, and a mythic battle.” (Catalogue)
Bull : a novel / Elliott, David
“New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have readers re-evaluating one of history’s most infamous monsters. — Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Lore / Bracken, Alexandra
“Every seven years there is a hunt offering mortal descendants of gods the opportunity to claim their divinity by killing any of nine immortals made mortal for one night. Lore Perseous has no desire to participate in the Agon, embittered because her family was killed by a rival who then ascended to godhood. When a childhood friend asks her to help, and a wounded god offers an alliance, Lore overlooks the steep cost of this decision in exchange for vengeance.” (Catalogue)

Fairytales

Characters like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have been fan-favourites since long before Disney got their greedy little paws on them, with the oldest stories dating back to the 6th century BC. While these tales were often more gruesome or disturbing than their glossy animated counterparts, there were a few lighter retellings – special mention to the story of Rhodopis, a courtesan in Ancient Egypt whose shoe is stolen by an eagle. The eagle then conveniently plops the shoe down on the lap of the Egyptian king, who – entranced by the shoe and the opportunity for a truly original meet-cute – searches until he finds Rhodopis. Marriage ensues. Should Tinder fail, I’m sure there’s a pigeon bored enough to steal one of your shoes and deliver it to your one true love.

All the great fairytales have been through countless iterations since their invention, but allow me to introduce you to the tip of the retellings iceberg:


Cinder / Meyer, Marissa
“A forbidden romance. A deadly plague. Earth’s fate hinges on one girl …CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She’s reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen – and a dangerous temptation. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The wrath & the dawn / Ahdieh, Renée
“In this reimagining of The Arabian Nights, Shahrzad plans to avenge the death of her dearest friend by volunteering to marry the murderous boy-king of Khorasan, but discovers not all is as it seems within the palace.” (Catalogue)
A spindle splintered / Harrow, Alix E
“When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
To kill a kingdom / Christo, Alexandra
“Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. When a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own, the Sea Queen transforms Lira a human as punishment. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever. Hunting sirens is Prince Elian’s calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good– but can he trust her?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Cool Books from Booktok

Kia ora koutou!

I don’t know about you all, but during lockdown I spent a lot of hours on Tiktok. Specifically, I found myself taking a deep-dive into Booktok, the side of Tiktok where people share what books they’re reading. I am someone who always has about 20 books on reserve, a Goodreads list so long that it has probably developed its own personal anxiety disorder and an indecent amount of books TAKING UP ANY FREE SPACE IN MY ROOM THAT I CAN FIND. The last thing a person like me needs is a limitless supply of MORE RECOMMENDATIONS. Will I continue to create an irresponsibly long to-read list? Yes. Will I encourage you to do the same? Of course. 

.

Real footage of me every time I have to move houses and I discover just how many books I have.

If you have found yourself on Booktok, and want to read some trending books, check out this list! Here are some Booktok favs that we have at Wellington City Libraries!

Remember, reserves are free and you can request a book to be sent to any of our branches. Comment below with more books we should add to this list!

Blood heir / Zhao, Amélie Wen
“A fugitive princess with a deadly Affinity and a charismatic crime lord forge an unlikely alliance in order to save themselves, each other, and the kingdom.” (Catalogue)

A good girl’s guide to murder / Jackson, Holly
“The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final-year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

House of salt and sorrows / Craig, Erin A
“In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last…and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

One of us is lying / McManus, Karen M.
“When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students, all four become suspects. It’s up to them to solve the case” (Catalogue)

We were liars / Lockhart, E
“Each summer the wealthy, seemingly perfect Sinclair family meets on their private island. Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are a unit, especially during “summer 15,” marking their fifteenth year on Beechwood– the summer that Cady and Gat fall in love. Cady became involved in a mysterious accident, in which she sustained a blow to the head, and now suffers from debilitating migraines and memory loss. When she returns to Beechwood during summer 17 issues of guilt and blame, love and truth all come into play.” (Catalogue)

They both die at the end / Silvera, Adam
“In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day.” (Catalogue)

These violent delights / Gong, Chloe
“In 1926 Shanghai, eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, heir of the Scarlet Gang, and her first love-turned-rival Roma Montagov, leader of the White Flowers, must work together when mysterious deaths threaten their city.” (Catalogue)

The Selection / Cass, Kiera
“Sixteen-year-old America Singer is living in the caste-divided nation of Illea, which formed after the war that destroyed the United States. America is chosen to compete in the Selection–a contest to see which girl can win the heart of Illea’s prince–but all she really wants is a chance for a future with her secret love, Aspen, who is a caste below her”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Home is not a country: new YA fiction

Nothing is better than the smell of new books in the morning, and we have new YA books coming to our libraries every day. We thought we’d share with you some of our favourite recent arrivals — there’s something here for everyone, so get placing those reserves and send ’em where you want ’em! Here they are, in no particular order (actually that’s a lie, of course we had to put it in alphabetical order by author surname) — we’ve got fantasy, sci-fi, adventures, rom coms, and a host of awesome diverse reads, featuring LGBTQ+ authors and titles as well as books from Sudanese, Bangladeshi, Asian-American, and British Jamaican authors.

Kate in waiting / Albertalli, Becky
“Best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker share a love of theater and crushes on the same guys, but when one of their long-distance crushes shows up at their school, real feelings might end their friendship.” (Catalogue)

Counting down with you / Bhuiyan, Tashie
“Karina Ahmed’s parents have a lot of rules, and for her it is worth it to follow those rules instead of her dreams. With her parents in Bangladesh for a month, she expects to relax those rules a bit, but when the guy she’s tutoring says she’s his girlfriend to cover up the fact that he’s getting help with his schoolwork, that breaks a major rule in a major way that she’s sure will end in disaster. A strict deadline — twenty-eight days — and payment in dozens of books changes her mind about the farce, but can Ace Clyde’s bad-boy charm end up changing her heart?” (Catalogue)

Way of the Argosi / De Castell, Sebastien
“Ten year old Ferius Parfax has a simple plan: kill every last inhabitant of the spell-gifted nation that destroyed her people, starting with the man who murdered her parents. Killing mages is a difficult business, of course, so Ferius undertakes to study the ways of the Argosi: the loosely-knit tribe of tricksters known for getting the better of even the most powerful of spellcasters. But the Argosi have a price for their teachings, and by the time Ferius learns what it is, it may be too late.” (Catalogue)

Home is not a country / Elhillo, Safia
“Nima doesn’t feel understood. By her mother, who grew up far away in a different land. By her suburban town, which makes her feel too much like an outsider to fit in and not enough like an outsider to feel like that she belongs somewhere else. At least she has her childhood friend Haitham, with whom she can let her guard down and be herself. Until she doesn’t. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen, the name her parents didn’t give her at birth: Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might just be more real than Nima knows. And more hungry. And the life Nima has, the one she keeps wishing were someone else’s…she might have to fight for it with a fierceness she never knew she had.” (Catalogue)

The ones we’re meant to find / He, Joan
“It’s been three years since Cee woke up on the shore of an abandoned island, with no memories of life prior, or how she got there. All she knows is she has a sister– and is determined to find her. A world away, STEM prodigy Kasey is looking to escape from an eco-city– meant to be a sanctuary but now populated by people willing to do anything for refuge. After a series of man-made disasters rock the planet, Kasey must decide if she trusts science to help humanity. (Catalogue)

Tokyo ever after / Jean, Emiko
“It isn’t easy being Japanese American in a small, mostly white, northern California town, being raised by a single mother. When Izumi Tanaka discover her father is the Crown Prince of Japan, it means irreverent Izzy is literally a princess. She travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew– and discovers being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling bodyguard, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight. Back home she was never ‘American’ enough, here she must prove she is ‘Japanese’ enough.” (Catalogue)

The Block / Oliver, Ben
“In the second book of The Loop trilogy, Luka is trapped in a fate worse than death. In the Block, he must toggle between enduring an Energy Harvest for twelve hours of the day and surviving complete immobilization. The only semblance of relief is the Sane Zone, created to keep prisoners from going completely mad. In this virtual reality, the prisoners live out their fantasies of life outside. But for Luka, it’s different. Happy is determined to find out the location of his friends, who disappeared after the Battle of Midway Park. But can Luka battle the descent into madness long enough to stop Happy’s manipulation tactics and keep his friends’ location safe? Another prison break is the only chance to protect the Missing. And as reality becomes increasingly scrambled on the outside, it’ll take an army to stop Galen from carrying out his plans.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Infinity reaper / Silvera, Adam
“Emil and Brighton defied the odds. They beat the Blood Casters and escaped with their lives — or so they thought. When Brighton drank the Reaper’s Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him. In Emil’s race to find an antidote that will not only save his brother but also rid him of his own unwanted phoenix powers, he will have to dig deep into the very past lives he’s trying to outrun. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The outlaws Scarlett & Browne : being an account of their daring exploits and audacious crimes / Stroud, Jonathan
“England has been radically changed by a series of catastrophes, large cities have disappeared and London has been replaced by a lagoon. The surviving population exists in fortified towns where they cling to traditional ways, while strangely evolved beasts prowl the wilderness beyond. Conformity is rigidly enforced and those who fall foul of the rules are persecuted: some are killed, others are driven out into the wilds. Only a few fight back and two of these outlaws, Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne, display an audacity and talent that makes them legends.” (Catalogue)

Cane warriors / Wheatle, Alex
“Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches.” (Catalogue)

The Mad Mage of Merton: A D&D One-Shot for the Holidays

During the upcoming school holidays, on Sunday the 2nd of May, we are incredibly lucky to have the talented, creative and yes, magical, Dungeon Master and podcaster extraordinaire Julz Burgisser join us to run a D&D one-shot for you folks out there who are new to the game. Julz will be running a campaign of her own making, The Mad Mage of Merton, set in the homebrewed World of Isen created by Brad Zimmerman. Find out more about this mage, Julz herself, and our event, below.

Maybe you can play D&D, Will Byers! And if you do it at Johnsonville Library, you won't even be sucked into the Upside Down!

The Mad Mage of Merton

The Mad Mage of Merton’s Terrifying Tower is a well known landmark on the outskirts of the city of Merton, separated from the town by a small forest. Rising into the sky upon the cliff face, it seems impossibly tall and now it seems like the Mad Mage has pierced the heavens themselves. Thunderstorms surround the tower and Merton has been hit with a wave of static electricity that holds the town at a standstill of frizzy hair and an inability to touch anything metal without getting zapped and flying across the room. They’ve called for help to the best and most famous mystery solving adventurers they know, the Wistal Whistles! (*ps. That’s you!) Can you stop the Mad Mage’s latest experiment before he blows up the whole town? You’ll have to play to find out!

Set in the homebrewed World of Isen, created by Brad Zimmerman. Session DM’d by Julz Burgisser who plays Marley Kraff in the D&D 5e actual play podcast ‘Fate of Isen’ available for download on iTunes, Spotify and all good podcasting apps. See www.fateofisen.com for more details on Isen.

The Mad Mage of Merton is a homebrewed one shot basic monster encounter adventure created by Julz, based in The World of Isen created by Brad Zimmerman. The one shot is played over 3 hours, with pre-generated level 4 characters.

What you need to know:

  • This one-shot is for teens aged 14-18 who have not played D&D before. We hope you get hooked!
  • The game is set at Level 4, as the game has been designed to teach about all the different types of problems you may come across in a typical D&D dungeon.
  • You do not need to bring anything along to play. Character sheets, pens and dice will be supplied for the length of the game. However you are welcome to bring your own dice, rollers or trays if you have them.
  • We’ll be playing for a while! So make sure you think about maybe bringing a drink or a snack for your comfort.
  • We keep our players’ safety in mind at all times and run a respectful table with safety tools to keep it that way.
  • Spots at this event are strictly limited. Please email johnsonville.library@wcc.govt.nz to register.

This Dungeons and Dragons One-Shot with Julz Burgisser is part of General Nerdery, our April school holiday programme for kids and teens. Click here to check out the full schedule of events!

Join us for the mayhem and magic of the Mad Mage of Merton!

These Violent Delights and I

Have you ever known something was going to be big before it happens?

That was the feeling I had when reserving These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong months before it came out. While talk about the book online was a consistent hum, for the longest time I was one of only three reserves, and I could not help but wonder who else was in on this not-so-secret secret.

Then late November came along, and These Violent Delights was released – and appeared on the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list. All the local papers wanted to tell everyone who this local success story was. In a matter of days the reserve list doubled, then tripled. One thing quickly became apparent to everyone who had not seen this coming. We needed more than the three copies we originally had!

So what’s the big deal?

Let’s first start with the book. These Violent Delights is a young adult historical fantasy novel that is also a reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. To break it down, it’s Romeo and Juliet + gangs in 1920s Shanghai + monsters = These Violent Delights. Juliet is now Juliette Cai, heir to the Scarlet Gang, while Romeo has become Roma Montagov, heir to rivals the White Flowers.

Who could say no to a book cover like that?

Gong wrote These Violent Delights in May 2018. That’s not a typo: she started and finished her first draft in the same month, while back in Auckland for the summer break of the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to a year’s worth of notes and the eight novels she had previously written throughout her teens Gong was able to do what most NaNoWriMo participants can only dream of doing.

With a completed manuscript in hand, Gong went in search of an agent. She found one. Together they worked on making Gong’s manuscript the best it could be before submitting to publishers. After four months of submissions, the offer came through. And then another. There were enough editors and publishers interested that the book went to auction, where they all competed to be the one that got to publish the book. A sort of Publishing Games, if you will, only much much much less violent.

Long story short, the deal was announced in February 2019 and just over a year and a half later the book hit shelves and number three on the NYT bestseller list. Right between The Hate U Give and Once Of Us Is Lying. At twenty-one, with a book she had written when she was nineteen, Chloe Gong was now one of 2020s youngest bestsellers. Plus it’s the rare example of a book for teens that was written by a teen; a funny thing as when submitting Gong was often told that These Violent Delights was more adult than young adult. It goes to show that if you have a great idea and are willing to put in the hard work as well as take the leap you too can achieve great things.

The author stares enigmatically at the camera, leaning against an ornate wall in a forest setting.

Yes, she is the coolest. Photograph © JON STUDIO

If you’re interested in reading These Violent Delights, make sure you reserve a copy today as the queue is still quite impressive. Don’t forget to mark your calendars as its sequel, Our Violent Ends, is due for release November 16, 2021.

And if you think you think you have got it in you to be the next teen bestseller from New Zealand, check out Chloe Gong’s blog post about being a youth in publishing. Her website is also full of links to articles about and interviews with Gong, while her twitter feed is full of very excellent memes.


These violent delights / Gong, Chloe

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

New Books on a Shelf Near You!

Now that some of our libraries are back open to the world, the new books are flowing back onto the shelves as our cataloguers, hidden away in the deepest recesses of the library, work their way through their backlog. Here are some of my favourite highlights among the recent additions to our YA collections:

19 love songs / Levithan, David
{LGBTQ+, romance, short stories, verse}
A collection of funny, warm and heartfelt stories exploring queer love and identity from award-winning YA author David Levithan. A resentful member of a high school Quiz Bowl team with an unrequited crush. A Valentine’s Day in the life of Every Day‘s protagonist “A.” A return to the characters of Two Boys Kissing. Born from Levithan’s tradition of writing a story for his friends each Valentine’s Day, this collection brings all of them to his readers for the first time. With fiction, nonfiction, and a story in verse, there’s something for every reader here. Witty, romantic, and honest, teens (and adults) will come to this collection not only on Valentine’s Day, but all year round. (Catalogue)

Beware the night / Fleck, Jessika
{dystopian, religion, politics, science fiction}
On the island of Bellona, they worship the sun. Seventeen-year-old Veda understands that keeping the sun content ensures plentiful crops, peace and harmony, and a thriving economy. But as a member of the Basso class, she never reaps those benefits. Life as a Basso is one fraught with back-breaking work and imposing rules. Her close friendship with Nico is Veda’s one saving grace in a cruel world where the division between her people and the ruling Dogio is as wide and winding as the canals that snake through their island. But when Veda’s grandfather is chosen as the next sacrificial offering to keep the sun’s favor, Veda is forced to see the injustice of her world. Turning away from the sun means she must join the night–and an underground revolution she’s been taught to fear all her life. (Catalogue)

The deceivers / Simmons, Kristen
{drama, intrigue, politics, school}
Welcome to Vale Hall, the school for aspiring con artists. When Brynn Hilder is recruited to Vale, it seems like the elite academy is her chance to start over, away from her mom’s loser boyfriend and her rundown neighborhood. But she soon learns that Vale chooses students not so much for their scholastic talent as for their extracurricular activities, such as her time spent conning rich North Shore kids out of their extravagant allowances. At first, Brynn jumps at the chance to help the school in its mission to rid the city of corrupt officials–because what could be better than giving entitled jerks what they deserve? But that’s before she meets her mark–a senator’s son–and before she discovers the school’s headmaster has secrets he’ll stop at nothing to protect. As the lines between right and wrong blur, Brynn begins to realize she’s in way over head. (Catalogue)

The electric heir / Lee, Victoria
{dystopian, LGBTQ+, pandemics, science fiction}
Six months after Noam Álvaro helped overthrow the despotic government of Carolinia, the Atlantians have gained citizenship, and Lehrer is chancellor. But despite Lehrer’s image as a progressive humanitarian leader, Noam has finally remembered the truth that Lehrer forced him to forget — that Lehrer is responsible for the deadly magic infection that ravaged Carolinia. Now that Noam remembers the full extent of Lehrer’s crimes, he’s determined to use his influence with Lehrer to bring him down for good. If Lehrer realizes Noam has evaded his control — and that Noam is plotting against him — Noam’s dead. Meanwhile Dara Shirazi returns to Carolinia, his magic stripped by the same vaccine that saved his life. But Dara’s attempts to ally himself with Noam prove that their methods for defeating Lehrer are violently misaligned. Dara fears Noam has only gotten himself more deeply entangled in Lehrer’s web. Sooner or later, playing double agent might cost Noam his life. (Catalogue)

Every other weekend / Johnson, Abigail
{grief, realistic fiction, romance}
Adam Moynihan’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends and a home life so perfect that it could have been a TV show straight out of the 50s. Then his oldest brother died. Now his fun-loving mom cries constantly, he and his remaining brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired proved himself a coward by moving out when they needed him most. Jolene Timber’s life is nothing like the movies she loves–not the happy ones anyway. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for. Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured soon become the best part of their lives. But when one’s life begins to mend while the other’s spirals out of control, they realize that falling in love while surrounded by its demise means nothing is ever guaranteed (Catalogue)

Harley in the sky / Bowman, Akemi Dawn
{coming-of-age, drama, family}
Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day. After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Myst re. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion, and collaboration. At the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past–and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams. (Catalogue)

Infinity son / Silvera, Adam
{brothers, fantasy, LGBTQ+, superheroes}
Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures. Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day. Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own—one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be. Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed. (Author Summary)

The midnight lie / Rutkoski, Marie
{fantasy, LGBTQ+, romance}
Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences. Nirrim keeps her head down, and a dangerous secret close to her chest. But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away, who whispers rumors that the High Kith possess magic. Sid tempts Nirrim to seek that magic for herself. But to do that, Nirrim must surrender her old life. She must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted. (Catalogue)

Lasers, Feelings, and RPGs

Tabletop roleplaying, such as Dungeons and Dragons, has experienced a revival in recent years, with liveplays and podcasts such as Critical Role and The Adventure Zone gaining large followings of their own. But one of the biggest sides of this is the internet allowing for not only the creation of games and systems, but the permitted sharing and remixing of them as well.

Whether you’re a tabletop veteran or someone just wanting to dip their toes into roleplaying, “micro” or “one-page” RPGs are both an excellent introduction to the hobby and a fun way to spend an afternoon with a group. The games featured here are quick to set up, don’t require massive or complex character sheets, only require six-sided dice, and can be played in the space of a single session.

Hours of nerdy fun are but a roll of the dice away!

While there are dozens of games out there based on this system, here are six to get you started.

Lasers and Feelings
The game on which all these others are based sees the party take on the roles of the crew of the interstellar ship Raptor. Their mission to explore the vast reaches of space is interrupted when their captain is overcome by a strange entity known as Something Else, leaving only the crew to handle what happens next.

Oh, Dang! Bigfoot Stole My Car With My Friend’s Birthday Present Inside
Its premise obvious, Oh, Dang! leads you on a wacky roadtrip in pursuit of a grand theft auto-committing cryptid. Its sequel Ah, Dang! Mothman Won’t Move Out (He Said It Was Just For The Weekend), sees you dealing with even more cryptid problems.

Wits and Chivalry
You are the Knights of the Round Table, sent by the great wizard Merlin to recover the Holy Grail to save an ailing King Arthur. (This is the only game I know of where Monty Python references are not only permitted, but practically mandatory!)

Magic and Mischief
Ever wanted to go to magic school like Mildred Hubble or Harry Potter? Here is your chance. After a Dark Curse befalls the headmistress of the Young Wizards’ School for Arcane Excellence, a distracted staff and student body makes for the perfect time to solve mysteries or cause mischief.

A Dream In The Woods
Inspired by Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, players take on the servants of Titania and Oberon to cause mischief and magic while attempting to please their fickle royals.

Sturdy & Wilde Detective Agency
When the players’ employers go missing it’s up to them to follow the trail and solve the mystery in this steampunk mystery game.

If you enjoyed those and/or want to try something different, there are plenty of other options out there from science fiction to fantasy to horror to mystery. There is even a blank template (appropriately enough named Blanks and Spaces) for you to create your own game. Let us know how it all goes!

Dungeons and Dragons!

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsStranger Things really brought Dungeons and Dragons into the mainstream and in a post-MCU world, can we really say that all things geek aren’t cool? Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, the game’s grown in popularity since then – now we’ve got an amazing collection of D&D books – not just the rules sets- that will help you create amazing fantasy worlds of your own.

There are plenty of versions of the Dungeons and Dragons rulesets – all our books are the 5th edition version, which are the latest edition. If it’s your first time running a game, you might want to use a prewritten adventure. Luckily, we have those too.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsRules and reference:

Dungeon Master’s guide: everything you need to help you run a game.
Player’s Handbook : everything you need to play.
Monster manual: all the monsters you need to know.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsSupplements:

Xanathar’s guide to everything: more monsters, more character classes, more lore.
Dungeons & dragons player’s handbook 2: an expansion on the original setting.

Book cover courtesy of SyndeticsCampaign settings and pre-written adventures:

Waterdeep dragon heist : urban medieval fantasy.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh: adventures on the seas.
Curse of Strahd:square off against an evil vampire.
The Rise of Tiamat : Fight evil dragons.

We also have a graphic novelon Gary Gygax himself.

Have fun and good luck with your dice rolls!

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