Stuck for something to get your Year 8 class writing on a stuffy Wednesday afternoon when they’d all rather be anywhere but in a classroom?
Go to http://www.insideadog.com.au/blog/my-life-alphabet for a great assignment for even the most reluctant writer.
Barry Jonsberg is this month’s author in residence at the Centre for Youth Literature’s insideadog website, and he’ll be blogging on the site for the rest of February.
For more fun, visit Barry’s website; http://www.barryjonsberg.com
It’s that time of the year again – that time when teddy bears show up with red pillowy hearts clasped to their chests and red roses triple in price. Valentine’s Day.
In honour of this day – a day in which Christian martyrs were honoured (many centuries past), courtly love was celebrated and now a day for lovers…and chocolate.
Here’s are some lovely reads to keep your heart fluttering.
The Fault in our Stars – John Green (2012)
Can any book compete with the bountiful feelings spilling out of readers for this book? Two cancer stricken teens in love and full of philosophical and snarky conversation? The answer is pretty simple, no.
Green has demonstrated real growth as a writer, as well as a firm handle on his trademark humour.
Liz’s review can be read here.
Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins (2011)
Voted most likely to make you want to pucker up to the nearest charmer with a gap in his teeth, Anna and the French Kiss is a delight. You’ll fall in love with both Anna and the boy as they become friends and get to know each other – no instant love connection here.
Anna and the French Kiss takes the impossibility of an imagined connection and the pain of pining for someone who belongs for another, jumbles then all up and adds a foreign language.
Better yet, it all takes place in Paris.
And there’s macaroons. Delish.
Mandragora – David McRobbie (1994)
While this tale could largely be aligned with history (based on Victoria’s naval history in the Warrnambool area) and paranormal (mandrake before the Potterfication), there is a lovely touch of romance.
While the present day characters of Adam and Catriona are strong, independent and crushing on one another – it’s the couple of the past that makes me a little weepy. The story of Margaret and Jamie is interlinked with the present characters, a shipwreck, mandrake dolls and some possession which makes for a rollicking read.
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Going Too Far – Jennifer Echols (2009)
While tFioS might be the go to in YA cancer stories, this one can loosely link in – any more and I spoil the unfurling of the story.
Meg is a complex, strong, contradictory protagonist with boatloads of humour, snark and moxie. She’s tortured, yet exuberant. All her characteristics, her dialogue, her motivations and her decisions are all clear to understand and as such you are just plain sucked into her interplay with John After.
It’s steamy. But it is also about two people connecting on a personal basis – there are no misunderstandings due to the power of love at first sight. The dialogue moves at a cracking pace and you will love Meg and John.
The Perfect You – Elizabeth Scott
This title has been making the rounds of the CYL office. It’s romantic fluff at its best.
It’s fun and cute and all kinds of lovely. Elizabeth Scott has a varied writing career in that she’s travailed every genre within the YA ranks. But her romance titles (specifically this one and the edgier Love You Hate You Miss You) are the kind of books you want to tuck under your pillow.
Kate’s dad has an illogical fondness for vitamins that ruined her family, her best friend has dumped her in favour of popularity and she cannot stop bickering with infuriating Will. Bless.
Graffiti Moon – Cath Crowley (2010)
One night in Melbourne. Romantic huh? Toss in a combie fan, some unrealistic expectations and a bloody nose and you have Graffiti Moon. Lucy has fallen in love with a graffiti artist, feeling she understands him through his art. If anything this book is a smart exploration of envisioned romance versus the real deal.
A tale with a healthy sense of humour, endearing characters and a rotation of character perspectives, you won’t regret reading this homegrown favourite.
Also, a good piece of advice is to NEVER throw eggs at your girlfriend. Ever.
Good Oil – Laura Buzo (2011)
It’s an universal tale – falling in love with the older, more experienced, mostly unreachable individual that makes your heart thud and your dreams unwieldy. Woolworths may not be the most romantic of backdrops to this insight into first love but it sure is realistic.
The story alternates between Amelia and Chris’ perspectives. There’s a honest connection, many misunderstandings and growth that make this a great read looking at first love and how it is rarely a happily ever after fairytale.
What other YA titles make you warm and fuzzy?
Cinderella goes steampunk. It’s a sexy concept, and from the cover you might expect some kind of femme fatale Cinderella who can punch out baddies in a single blow without missing a step in the waltz. Marissa Meyer’s imagining, however, is far more human.
Cinder is a cyborg in a futuristic Earth where the human race is served by machines and cyborgs are feared and revolted. Cinder is entirely the legal property of her stepmother, Linh Adri. She is also the best mechanic in New Beijing – so much so that Prince Kai, royal heart-throb, seeks her services. As she is drawn further into Prince Kai’s world Cinder is desperate to keep her “deformity” hidden.
Prince Kai’s problems are far greater – he is struggling to maintain peace with the race of Lunars that inhabit the Moon, and to find a cure for letumosis, the plague-like disease ravaging Earth.
Sound complicated? Cinder does feel overloaded with plot at times and sophisticated readers will see, like a cyborg’s parts, the mechanics at work.
What saves Cinder is the strength of its characters. Cinder’s struggle to accept herself and her efforts to carve a space in the world for the people (and androids) she loves is easily relatable. Iko, the WALL-E-esque sidekick, provides heart as well as comic relief. And it’s a pleasure to see Adri given more depth and nuance than most stepmother tropes.
Cinder is an easy and enjoyable read. It’s Meyer’s debut novel and the first in The Lunar Chronicles – with three subsequent titles already slated for release, the future looks promising.
Are you an author seeking to use the vast - and I mean vast – resources of the Sate Library of Victoria in your research?
Current recipients of the Creative Fellowships each received $12,500 for three months of study, and as you can see from the list, their work involves a wide range of topic material.
To see the many famous names who have won fellowships over the years, go to: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/our-community/fellows-scholars/creative-fellowships/past-recipients-creative-fellowships
Neil Gaiman, without my fan girl knowledge, has spent the last decade or so in a legal dispute with Todd McFarlane. Last week they finally came to an amicable arrangement.
The point of contention? royalties from characters in a comic book series. rather large royalties if one can believe rumours.
Cath Crowley features as Amazon’s Best of the Month in Young Adult.
There’s some great behind the scene tid bits for Graffiti Moon fans.
Here’s just a taste:
The first draft was called The Mean Night. It was set in a bleak landscape. Pollution ate stars. Lucy blew glass that shone like love, sure. But mostly she thought about how it could burn a person’s hand right off if they touched it.
3. Censorship.
Oh how I wish it wasn’t so! Tucson have banned a range of books in their Mexican American Studies program for ‘materials repeatedly reference white people as being ‘oppressors.’‘
Oh dear! Thank god there are people are out there fighting with everything they have.
4. To My Old Master.
A rather jovial (and brilliant) response letter from an ex-slave to his master. If ever you find yourself requiring just the right kind of tone and touch to a prickly employer, perhaps take a leaf out of Jourdan Anderson’s book!
5. Top 20 Beautiful Bookstores.
I was thinking the other day that surely if we all band together we could buy our very own beautiful bookstore? I’m willing to put things in motion after a slide show of the top 20!
Aspiring authors (and booksellers) take note: bribery is always in vogue and karma has a point system.
Please join us for the official Victorian launch of the National Year of Reading 2012.
The National Year of Reading will be launched by the Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Ted Baillieu MP. Social commentator, author and demographer Bernard Salt will issue the call for action with a lively presentation on why literacy is vital for society and the state of literacy in Victoria. Reading promotion expert Henk Kraima from the Netherlands will provide inspiration and ideas on building a culture of reading.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 9.30 am – 1.00 pm
Experimedia, State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston St, Melbourne
Free event. Please book online at www.slv.vic.gov.au/nyr-launch. Early bookings are recommended.
REGIONAL FORUMS WITH HENK KRAIMA
Henk Kraima will join local reading advocates at a series of forums in regional Victoria to kickstart great ideas for the National Year of Reading. This is a unique opportunity to meet an international expert in reading promotion and connect with other reading and literacy professionals, including library staff, teachers, booksellers, writers, publishers and community literacy specialists.
Please visit the links below for more information and to book online. Early bookings are recommended.
Geelong, 16 February 2012, 1-4 pm: slv.vic.gov.au/nyr-geelong
Bendigo, 21 February 2012, 1-4 pm: slv.vic.gov.au/nyr-bendigo
Sale, 23 February 2012, 1-4 pm: slv.vic.gov.au/nyr-sale
Fairy tales are pervasive. Across cultures and throughout time fairy tales are retold, reworked, reimagined. So what do the classics look like when they’re placed in a more contemporary setting?
Beastly – Alex Flinn
Beauty and the Beast in modern-day New York City.
Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
A Kiss In Time – Alex Flinn
When Jack went on holidays to Europe, he wasn’t expecting to find Sleeping Beauty…
I couldn’t help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn’t know this would happen. Now I’m stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels. . . . The good news: My parents will freak!
Sisters Red – Jackson Pearce
Scarlett and Rosie March are not your usual Little Red Riding Hoods, and Fenris are no ordinary wolves…
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris—the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.
Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls’ bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett’s only friend—but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they’ve worked for?
Sweetly - Jackson Pearce
In this modern Hansel and Gretel the witch preys on girls each year after the chocolate festival…
When their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They’re invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.
Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past—until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel, who tells her the witch isn’t gone.
The True Story of Hansel & Gretel – Louise Murphy
In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed “Hansel” and “Gretel.” They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called “witch” by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.
Briar Rose – Jane Yolen
Sleeping Beauty reimagined during the time of the Holocaust…
A young American journalist is drawn to Europe and to the past as she investigates the mystery of her grandmother’s life. From her grandmother she inherited a silver ring, a photograph, and the traditional tale of Briar Rose: clues that will ultimately lead her to a distant land and an astonishing revelation of death and rebirth.
The Coming of the Whirlpool is Miles Franklin Award-winning author Andrew McGahan’s first book for YA readers.
Told in a swashbuckling style that that propels the reader along irresistibly, it’s an exciting adventure story of a boy with seafaring blood in his veins, who will do anything to realise his dream of going to sea and exploring dangerous and unchartered waters.
When he makes the decision to leave his forest village behind and try his luck with the fishermen of Stromner, Dow Amber knows he can never go back. But being apprentice to the embittered Nathaniel is enough to put Dow off fishing forever, despite being drawn to the sea. Nathaniel, who lost his son and grandson to a lethal maelstrom ten years ago, wants only to join them in the watery depths of the sea. And if Dow loses his life in the process, that’s alright with him.
When the notorious Ship Kings, whose ruthless control of New Island and its inhabitants has lasted for eighty years, come for their annual tribute, Dow is obsessed by the grandeur of their tall ships. Not only that; he wonders if there’s a way to steal the navigational secrets on board so that his countrymen can compete once again with their conquerors. Caught on one of the ships, he faces punishment by the captain, but a hair-raising journey into the vortex of the maelstrom will change Dow’s life forever.
Over the years I have read — and loved — many books about sailors and the sea and this one is as good as anything I’ve seen. One for fans of Hornblower, Ramage and Patrick O’Brien’s Master and Commander series, but also for fantasy lovers. Anyone who likes C. S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy would love this book!
Best of all, it’s the first of a four-book series.
Lest you missed it, our post about all the great Australian YA receiving recognition.
It’s raining awards here there and everywhere. This time, however, it’s the shortlist for 2012 Australian Independent Bookseller Awards.
The Jewel Fish of Karnak by Graeme Base (Penguin)
The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do & Illus Bruce Whatley (Allen & Unwin)
The Coming of the Whirlpool: Ship Kings 1 by Andrew McGahan (Allen & Unwin)
The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths (Macmillan)
Expect to see a review by Liz for The Coming of the Whirlpool: Ship Kings on Wednesday. She found it a thrilling and delightful read.
And be prepared to hold your breath for the Book of the Year winner announcement on Saturday the 10th of March.
Just another good ole award. You know how it is. The Costa Book Award celebrates UK and Irish based writers in five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Books
First time Children’s Books novelist Moira Young won for her work Blood Red Road.
4. The Book to Movie Road and their Awards.
We all know that there is a flood of Book-to-Movie trend happening at the moment and the words to film website is a great round-up of it all.
Their recent post is about- you guessed it (more awards!)- the Academy Awards nominations and there’s a rather strong link to book adaptions.
Might be a great way to get some of your more TV mad kids to make the crossover connection with books.
5. Teachers and parents; their role in raising children.
An article outlining expectations in the relationships between teachers, parents and children. I was surprised by the statistic ‘HALF of all teachers surveyed have been verbally abused by a parent’. Alas, not so surprised in the statistic ‘THREE in five teachers say students do not show them enough respect’.
6. Pro-Book.
The tradition of the book has always been printed. Is it any wonder that there’s a little controversy (and uncertainty) with all this new e-technology?
Jonathan Franzen believes ‘that e-books, such as Amazon’s Kindle, can never have the magic of the printed page.’
One of the issues he poses (and we all keep coming back to) is the current fluidity to content in e-technology.
While not necessarily behind Franzen’s e-books are damaging society mantra, the ‘openness’ of e-book technology at that moment, does bear to be questioned. What are the rules? Should there be restrictions? Does the idea of ‘restrictions’ defeat the purpose of e-technology? When is a change an improvement? When does it become an encumbrance?
7. ALA 2012, the drama.
The Midwinter ALA conference wasn’t without… a few hiccups this year.
It appears there is a sad trend occurring.
A blogger posts about ‘mob mentality overtaking politeness in my NEED for that book. (There was two instances where I dived in between people toward the floor to get a last copy of book. I shake my head at myself now.)’
I’ll keep my opinions to myself about pushing people aside in a bid to reach a book. However, I’ll direct you to a post in the comments by a publisher:
We love that you love our books. I can’t stress that enough. But we have people back at Book HQ who cater to your needs. Our online marketing people are so happy to send you things. But imagine we let a whole bunch of librarians into Book HQ and let them raid online’s shelves before they had a chance to mail anything out to you. That’s kind of what happened at ALA.
We appreciate what you do, and we’re so willing to send you books. But when you come into a show for Librarians– librarians who are fighting to keep books on the shelf, who half the time are volunteers, who don’t get any credit for what they do, who don’t get paid anything, who work with no budget whatsoever, who constantly have to battle administrators and video games and the internet and whathaveyou– please don’t get upset if we’re not prepared for you. We weren’t expecting you. And we brought these books for the librarians who need them.
There is also this post from a librarian (who also happens to be a blogger) and this post by a blogger who can’t help but see that the behaviour of the few is colouring the perception of many.
Have you got that craft-itch in your fingers and words you want to say? A fondness for folding paper? Do you feel like getting zine-y?
Sticky Institute are running Target 168 - the mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a zine in one week. From 5 February it’s scissors, paper, photocopiers, and staplers a-go-go! You can take part from anywhere in the country, but you do need to register – check out their blog for details.
If you’re lucky enough to live in Melbourne you can also be involved in Sticky’s Festival of the Photocopier (4-18 February), which includes a zine fair at Melbourne Town Hall on 12 February. There’s also a special viewing of the zine collection right here at the State Library of Victoria!
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