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

Tag: Best of 2009

Best Of 2009: Top Albums

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

5. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

4. Paramore – Brand New Eyes

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

– Jess

3. Rihanna – Rated R

2. Glee : The Music Volume 1

1. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster

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

Best of 2009 (Movie) Review: Star Trek

Star Trek: the movie

Having grown up with the original series on TV but not really a Trekkie, I wondered if I would like this new movie. The answer is a resounding Yes! It is great. Lots of action, romance, aliens and the never to be forgotten 3rd man on the mission who never comes back (what was his name again?).

~ Raewyn

Best of 2009 Review: The Reformed Vampire Support Group

The Reformed Vampire Support Group, by Catherine Jinks

“Zadia Bloodstone stood over her victim. Tall, lithe, beautiful and ready to kill! A magnificent vampire, fighting evil in the world. And my creation, my alter ego if you will. Hi, my name is Nina and I am nothing like the Zadia I write about in my books, except that I too am a vampire. A sick looking, skinny being, who got infected back in 1973 after drinking too much at a party and wandering off on my own to puke, only to be found by Casimir, an ancient European vampire. I still live with my mum and the only time I get to go out is every Tuesday night when Father Ramon picks me up and takes me to a meeting of the Reformed Vampire Support Group. We live on guinea pig blood, take supplements and totally zonk out between dawn and dusk every day – not the glamorous life you thought huh! But one of our group is missing, so maybe I will have to use some of my Zadia-side afterall, find the answer and save the rest of us from foul play!” If you like vampires, badies and werewolves this is a fun read with a twist.

~ Raewyn

Best of 2009 Review: Ghost Medicine

Ghost Medicine, by Andrew Smith

The first sentence of Ghost Medicine reads I can see myself lying in the dirt, on my back, on a warm, starry night, with my feet up on those rocks, ringing a swirling and noisy fire, listening, laughing, seeing the sparks that corkscrew, spinning above me into the black like dying stars, fading, disappearing, becoming something else; my hat back on my head so I can just see my friends from the corners of my eyes, which says a lot about the book (so I don’t have to, but might anyway).

This is quite different from a lot of other Young Adult literature: the writing is intense, poetic, slooow, at times brutal, and nearly always completely excellent. The story is simple; an idyllic summer (hard work on the farm, horse riding, nights outside by the fire, good friends, rather a lot of tobacco chewing) turns tumultuous and dangerous after a series of encounters with the local bully boy (who is unfortunately also the sherif’s son). The characters are a well drawn, the detail is great (especially the horsey stuff), and their predicaments are believable. Read this book if you like things slow and chilled out, but don’t if you don’t.

I also liked:

Front and Center, Catherine Gilbert Murdock & Perfect Fifths, Megan McCafferty – because they were DJ and Jessica Darling’s last hurrahs.

Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater – because it was so darn sweet.

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins – because it was much better than I thought it was going to be, and I really want to read the last in the series now.

Fragile Eternity, Melissa Marr – although I actually thought Ink Exchange was better (but that was last year). You can read the prologue for Radiant Shadows (another bad title!) here.

Solace of the Road, Siobhan Dowd – a classic road trip story, where Holly/Solace starts out in search of one thing and finds something else entirely better. I think this is the last of Siobhan Dowd’s books to be published, which is sad.

What They Always Tell Us, Martin Wilson – a well-written, down-beat story of two brothers working through very different stuff.

Fire, Kristin Cashore – this was good, although I didn’t think it deserved its rave reviews. Nice to see Leck a bit more (the prologue is creepy!), but I thought that someone who could control people’s minds should have been a bit more dangerous.

The Bride’s Farewell, Meg Rosoff – because while it’s no How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff is still a brilliant writer of stories about girls who know how to look after themselves in harsh circumstances.

And that makes 10, so that’s like my Top 10 Books of 2009.

~ Grimm

Best of 2009 Review: From Somalia with Love

From Somalia With Love by Na’ima B Roberts.

This is a lovely story about a young Somalian refugee girl who lives in East London with her Mum and brothers and extended family. It is about her adapting to the Western lifestyle and trying to keep her Muslim identity. Things change for them all when her father is found and is coming to London to be with them. There is conflict between the two cultures. It is a story about being a teenager with two different cultures and trying to find out who you are. It is also about growing up. A good story for the cultural story part of NCEA writing logs.

~ Brigid

Best of 2009: Stephanie’s Picks

Stephanie, being busy buying books (lucky for some!), has offered up these two thought-provoking titles as her favourites of the year (plot summaries included from the catalogue):

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend’s death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Hate List, by Jennifer Brown

Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.