Teen Librarian

A visit to Walker Books

2008-11-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough to be invited to have lunch(Burritos) at Walker Books and discuss their forthcoming Graphic Novel and Manga line with Fiona MacDonald and a colleague (whose name escapes me at the moment).

The meal was excellent as I am a Burrito fan (picked that habit up from watching too much Invader Zim - but that is another tale altogether). What really made me excited was the books that they hav lined up for release starting next year. The first book we looked at was Skim a graphic novel written and drawn by Canadian cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. This book has been nominated for a number of literary awards in the USA and Canada and has just been nominated for the Canadian Governor-General's Award which has sparked some controversy, for more details on that click here and here.

The other titles lined up for release include Glister by Andi Watson, Vermonia - a manga series by Studio YoYo. Vermonia will also contain hidden clues within the illustrations to enable readers to take part in an online game. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz is also undergoing the Graphic Novel treatment, Salem Brownstone: All along the Watchtowers a gothic graphic novel by John Dunning and Nikhil Singh and finally (for now anyway) The Legend of Robin Hood.

For more details on Walker Books Graphic Novels click this link

Dr Mel - Comics

2008-11-05T05:50:00.001-08:00

Dr Mel Comics

2008-11-05T05:44:00.001-08:00

Dr Mel - Comics

2008-11-05T05:27:00.001-08:00

November is NaNoWriMo

2008-11-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. (taken from http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano)

This writing project is a good way of encouraging young writers to attempt to write a novel.

Find out more here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Hallowe'en Idea

2008-10-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

This evening at my Library I ran my Hallowe'en Teen BOO!k Group. So as not to offend the religious sensibilities of the parents of the attendees the book discussion was fairly generic focusing on scary books they have read or are reading. I also provided some Halloween sweets in the shape of body parts (candy teeth and gums were the most popular) and sherbert in a skull.

At the September TARGET (TeenAge Reading Group EdmonTon) meeting a couple of the group members asked me to make them a Librarian mask each, so instead of making them individual masks I photographed my face,

and made a mask template and photocopied it for all the attendees.

This event was one of the most popular book sessions I have run this year and it really creeped out some of the library staff when they saw several mini-mes running around the Library.

New author website

2008-09-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Rachel Wright author of You've got Blackmail and Get your Paws Off has joined the ranks of the online brigade. Visit her website here: www.rachelwright.me

Mary Hoffman

2008-07-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

On wednesday 23rd July I was one of a fortunate group of Librarians to be invited to the offices of Bloomsbury Publishers to meet Mary Hoffman (the author of the fantastic Stravaganza series as well as The Falconer's Knot and many other fabulous books).

We all sat round a table and discussed the Stravaganza series with Mary - how the inspiration for the stories struck, her love for all things Italian and heard her read an extract from the latest book Stravaganza - City of Secrets. We were also fortuante to hear er read the prologue from her latest (as yet unpublished) book set during the time of the Albigensian Crusade - the title escapes me at present but I will add it as soon as I recall it. We were also shown the talismans from each book that she acquired during the writing and used as foci to keep her mind in the project. Mary was also barraged with questions about her books, plans for future titles in the series and Italy. I was interested to discover that her family was close to one of my favourite authors when I was growing up the late Douglas Hill author of Blade of the Poisoner - the first fantasy novel I can recall reading and the Galactic Warlord series starring the last Legionnaire Keill Randor.

Malorie Blackman awarded OBE

2008-06-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Malorie Blackman who is to be awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthdays Honours List.

Malorie says of the honour:

“I have been a professional writer for almost two decades now, so I am thrilled and honoured to receive an OBE for services to children's literature.”

Malorie Blackman is one of the country’s most well loved and acclaimed authors for young adults. She worked as a Database Manager and Systems Programmer before becoming a full-time writer. After receiving 82 rejection letters for her first eight to ten books, her first book, Not So Stupid! was published in 1990 and was a selected title for the 1991 Feminist Book Fortnight, and Malorie participated in the first BBC TV Black Women’s Screenwriting Workshop in 1991. She has written a number of books for young readers which have been dramatised successfully for children’s television including the Whizziwig series and has worked on other TV projects such as Byker Grove and Pig Heart Boy which won a BAFTA for best children’s drama 2000.

Malorie’s titles for Random House Children’s Books include Cloud Busting (selected for the first Booked Up Scheme in 2007), Hacker, Thief and Pig Heart Boy. For older readers her name has become famed for the Noughts & Crosses sequence, where set ideas of race, heritage, belief, power, money and love are challenged – the first book was recently adapted for the stage and directed by Dominic Cooke for the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing to critical acclaim in the Winter Season 2007/8, in Stratford upon Avon and on tour around the UK. A fourth book is to be published in November 2008, moving on the story in Double Cross, which is set to be one of the most highly anticipated books of the year.

Malorie’s reputation has steadily grown and she has been awarded a number of prizes, and has been involved in countless projects enabling children and young adults to access her work, and get interested in reading. She lives in Kent with her husband and daughter – and a collection of around 15,000 books!

(taken from Randon House Press Release

No to Age Banding

2008-06-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

No To Age Banding

I believe that this should be supported (the campaign against age banding that is). There has been quite a lot of movement in the blogosphere and in national press about this - both for and against. Some links follow below:

Pop Goes the Library

The Guardian

Adele Geras - Guardian Blogs

Forbidden Planet Blog

The Bookseller

CBBC News

Anne Fine - Scotsman News

Teen Librarian Monthly News

2008-05-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

As of this month (May) TLM will be released at the end of the month, rather than mid-month. The May edition will be come out on the 30th.

For any Libraries in the London area that have manga groups:

2008-04-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

EXCLUSIVE SIGNING & MANGA ART COMPETITION, 26TH APRIL, 1PM

Date: April 26th 2008
Time: 1pm
Location: Orbital Manga
Address: 4c Orion House, Upper St Martins Lane, London WC2H 9NY
Tel. 0207 2405577
Email: manga@orbitalcomics.com

Manga Fans this is your chance to meet the artists from the new manga graphic novel Demon Prince: Children of Gaia.

Don't miss this opportunity to see the artist from Dimensional Manga in action sketching on some pretty big peices of board!

You'll also be able to pick up some pre-release volumes of the manga book 1-5 exclusively and limited edition A1 sized posters @ Orbital Manga on the day of the signing.

The first 10 customers to buy vol.1 and a poster will recieve signed copies and a FREE manga art illustration drawn in front of them!

Manga Art Competition!!

To be in with a chance of winning some cool prizes courtesy of Dimensional Manga all you have to do is draw some cool art and post / hand it in to Orbital Manga with your name, email and contact number on the back.

Deadline: 26th April by 2pm (bring your art with you on the day of the signing)

Here's what you could win -

*GRAND PRIZE*
If you're supertalented - there's a chance of a possible position within Dimensional Manga!!

*1st PRIZE*
Demon Prince: Children of Gaia volumes 1-5 signed, 3 posters and a special limited edition hand drawn manga art (That's around £80 worth of goodies!)

*2nd PRIZE*
Demon Prince - Children of Gaia volume 1-2 signed

*3rd PRIZE*
Demon Prince - Children of Gaia volume 1 signed

Orbital Manga recommends London Graphic Center as a great stockist for materials needed to prepare any art for the competition

Books to look out for

2008-04-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

I received two excellent books by Lisa Clark recently for review purposes and while I am the wrong gender I think they are worth having in a library collection. The covers of the books are below:

I have passed them on to a colleague of mine for a review from a female perspective.

You can get to Lisa's website by folliwing this link: Pink World

Chicklish - an excellent review site

2008-03-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

YLG London AGM at Faber & Faber

2008-03-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 19th March the AGM for the Youth Libraries Group: London was held at the Faber & Faber Offices in Queen Square. The AGM went smoothly and quickly; then with official business having been taken care of, this left the evening clear for the main draw of the evening - A talk with four of Faber's Teen/YA authors.

These were:

Steve Voake

Alexander Gordon Smith (and his brother Jamie's head)

Rachel Wright

and

Alex Milway and his rats.

All attendees were introduced to the F&F youth punlishingteam and then the floor was left open to the authors.

Steve Voake discussed his books The Dreamwalkers Child, The Web of Fire and The Starlight Conspiracy.

Alexander Gordon Smith (so named he said to prevent him having the nickname 'GAS' in school) - call him Gordon, spoke about his series The Inventors that he co-writes with his younger brother Jamie.

Rachel Wright spoke about her book You've got Blackmail and the heroine Lozzie Cracknell (described as Kelly Osbourne without the drag queen make up).

Alex Milway introduced his book The Mousehunter and showcased some mice (lovingly made by his mum) as well as speaking about workshops he has run on mouse creation and stories.

After the authors had spoken they fielded questions from the audience and then everyone had a chance to get their books signed and chat to the authors (as well as getting photos taken).

A close up of three of the mice from The Mousehunter - The Golden Mouse, The Howling Moon Mouse and (I think) the Moose Mouse.

A close up of one of AGS's tattoos - worn that night in honour of the Librarians he was speaking to

It was an excellent evening that left all attendees feeling good and is a sign of the high-quality YA books currently being published in the UK.

Dimensional Manga

2008-03-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dimensional Manga is a publishing company registered under the company name Fifth Dimension Limited. It specialises in producing manga (comic format) graphic novels. Its main titles include Demon Prince: Children of Gaia scheduled release February 2008. Titles to follow in the future include Origins: Energy Pattern Disruption, Discoveries: Fifth Dimensional LayerShift, Ghost Battle: Imprisoned by Progression, Incomplete: Detached, Hero Complex, Winning Tactics F.C and Monsters& Samurais.

Dimensional Manga believes in providing fans with a top quality experience through stunning storylines captured in amazing manga graphic novels. Dimensional Manga's ultimate aim is to push the barriers within the comic books arena and introduce never before seen concepts and content encapsulated in a perfect balance of action, comedy and excitement guaranteed to amaze.

Dimensional Manga was founded by Dil. He had been intrigued by the comic format especially manga for over 10 years and was captivated by this art form since. This art style inspired him to begin writing his own stories and creating original character designs. In 2006 Dimensional Manga was established. The aim of this was to promote manga and the comic format in the west and to release an original unique story that would entertain the masses. To do this Dimensional Manga needed to contract professional comic artists from all over the world inlcuding Canada, Malaysia, Philipines and UK. Manga and the comic format is a unique way to express ideas. Dil prefers this medium over conventional books/novels because of the combination of visuals and written text. As a result Dil was inspired by the comic format resulting in his decision to adopt this this style for his stories.

Dil is responsible for writing the story, the script, co-ordinating the story board and instructing the artists on how to create each frame. The goal was to ‘create’, not borrow, change or visually alter established concepts, but to make a fresh start. His ultimate aim is to show that there are always new possibilities still available, no matter what achievements have been accomplished. And his hope is that this message will inspire others to do the same.

Author Profiles Section

2008-03-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

A new author profile section has just been set up on the Teen Librarian site. The first author to be featured is Jenny Downham

View her blog site http://www.beforeidiebook.blogspot.com/

What young people have a right to expect from their library

2008-03-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

Young people should expect from their library:

Participation in shaping the future of library services
Volunteering opportunities with younger or older library users
A place to develop citizenship skills and community engagement
Free, safe and welcoming spaces in the local community
Formal and informal learning support for educational attainment
Inspiring books and reading materials supported by positive activities
Information on education, training and careers opportunities

Click here for more information.

Gary Gygax 1938-2008

2008-03-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

Those of us that run role-playing games in Libraries (specifically any editions of Dungeons & Dragons) may be interested (and saddened) to hear that one of the creators of the original D&D boardgame passed away yesterday.

For more information follow this link Trolllord Games.

Blog integrated into Teen Librarian UK

2008-02-20T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have integrated a blog into the website as I am hoping to be updating the site more regularly than I have been.

2008-02-14T04:17:00.000-08:00

I received copies of the Graphic Novel Macbeth in the post today. Three editions - in the original text, modern english and simplified text. The art, format and feel of the books is fantastic. I will post a fuller impression of the books once I have had a chance to read them but at first glance they visually stunning and a joy to behold.

RSS Video

2007-06-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

Found a brilliant short video from Common Sense Media that explains RSS:

Click To Play

The week that was

2007-05-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

I received two interesting e-mails this past week (more than two actually - but these were the only two that will be of interest to Librarians and blog readers - hopefully) - the first was about a library activity called 'Library Trolley Dash' it will be run with a group of young offenders. It sounds really cool (I can never rember if one is still allowed to use that word as it amy be uncool) and I can't wait to hear how it went. The how-to follows below:

- Library trolley dash -

Find as many books as you can from this list.

Write the title and Dewey number underneath:

A true story of a sports person’s life written by a biographer

An award-winning story

A book you read at primary school or at home

A guide on a sport of your choice

A 2006 Dance CD

A DVD you would recommend

A guide to speaking a European language

An autobiography of a famous person of your choice

The group will be divided into two teams. The winner will have the most books and Dewey numbers on their sheet and will receive a small prize.

The second e-mail concerned the creation of a new discussion list that has been created for the discussion of Graphic Novels in UK Libraries - it is based upon the GNLIB list in the USA but will have a UK bias.

To join the list go to: GNLIBUK - it will be an invaluable resource as so much of what is available has an American bias, it would be good to get an idea of the state of GN reading in UK Libraries.

Carnegie Shortlist

2007-05-07T11:52:00.001-07:00

On the right I have added the list of Carnegie Award books for 2007.

First post....

2007-05-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to start a blog for the website just to keep track of what I am doing with the system for worldwide Teen Librarian domination.

Big news is that the newsletter (Teen Librarian Monthly) is a year old this month. I had hoped to redesign the title header but that will have to wait.