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

Tag: indigenous

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)

Big Library Read 2022: A Snake Falls to Earth

The Big Library Read is now underway!

Big Library Read is like a worldwide digital version of a book club! Big Library Read is an opportunity for library users around the whole world to read the same ebook at the same time without any wait lists or holds.

This year, from 2 until 16th November, the selected title is A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger.

A Snake Falls To Earth Libby button

Click here to go straight to this book on Libby!

Over 2022, in Wellington, our copies of A Snake Falls to Earth on Libby have been really popular! Big Library Read is your chance to get hold of this book straight away without having to wait in a reserve queue!

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.

Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.

And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

– Blurb

Just like a book club, you can contribute to discussion here: https://biglibraryread.com/join-the-discussion/

Keep a look out for a letter with the author, and a discussion guide, coming soon to Big Library Read’s current title page.

If you haven’t already, you can always download Libby on your smartphone as your one-stop-shop eLibrary! eLibrary Help – Getting started (wcl.govt.nz)

Happy reading folks!

Rotuman Language Week 2021

Noaʻia ʻe mḁuri gagaj ʻatakoa! Hey everyone!

Last week was Rotuman Language Week! Gasav Ne Fäeag Rotuạm Ta!

Ministry for Pacific Peoples poster for Rotuman language week

New Zealand is the only country in the world where the languages and culture of our Pasifika cousins are celebrated. Fäeag Rotuạm, the Rotuman language, is the first of nine Pasifika language weeks this year, and it ran from the 9th May – 15th May 2021. Rotuma Day itself as on the 13th of May, and we marked the occasion with a beautiful display and a special family storytime sharing legends from the isle of Rotuma at Johnsonville Library.

Where is Rotuma you ask? Well the main island of Rotuma is about 13km by 4km and is  about 580km from Fiji’s capital, Suva. Rotuma is a dependency of Fiji, so Rotumans will usually speak Fijian and English too! There are about 2000 Rotumans living on the island, and 10,000 living in mainland Fiji and globally.

This year’s theme for Gasav Ne Fäeag Rotuạm Ta is Tutur häk ne måür lelei – the four pillars of life and wellbeing:

  1. Måür Fak’ata = represents our spiritual pillar – a place of solace that gives meaning to life.
  2. Måür Fakforo = represents our physical pillar – living life in all its fullness
  3. ‘Os A’häe = represents our psychological pillar- steers our presence and place in life
  4. Hạikạinagaga = represents our social pillar – our connection with people

Tutur häk ne måür lelei, is very similar to the Whare tapa whā model in te ao Māori, where reverence is given to the four sides of our holistic wellbeing: whānau, tinana, hinengaro and wairua. The theme of Tutur häk ne måür lelei acknowledges the strength and resilience of our Pasifika communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So how do you speak Rotuman? [Row-too-man] Well, Rotumans roll their ‘R’s and pronounce ‘G’ with a smooth ‘ing’ sound, similar to how Māori pronounce ‘ng’.

Here are some key phrases in Rotuman.

  • Noa’ia [Noah-e-yah]= Hello, greetings.
  • Ka ‘äe tapen? [Car eh tar-pen] = How are you?
  • Gou lelei fḁiåksia [Ngou leh-lay for-yak-see-yah] = I am well thank you.
  • Figalelei [Fee-nga-leh-lay] = Please
  • Fḁiåksia [Foyak-see-yah] = Thank you
  • Hanis ma röt’åk [Hah-niece mah röt-ack] = Sorry
  • La’ ma ḁlalum [Lah mah aw-lah-loom] = Goodbye (only to those leaving)
  • Fu’ ma ḁlalum [Foo mah aw-lah-loom] = Goodbye (only to those staying)

The Ministry for Pacific Peoples, provides great resources and information about our Pasifika languages and cultural events. Visit the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ website for more information about Rotuman Language Week 2021!