The Blueprint 3 is actually Jay-Z’s fourth album in the Blueprint series (there was a confusing 2.1 released at some point) and his first post-unretirement. It continues in the same vein as it’s predecessors, radio hits mixed with more introspective tunes - mix in some guest spots and I guess you could say that’s the blueprint for the Blueprints. Hoho.

This Is It : The Music That Inspired The Movie has arrived upon the catalogue. For Michael Jackson completists it has a bonus disc full (well three out of four tracks) of demo versions of songs, for other people it has a selection of his singles dating back to Jackson 5 days.

Continuing with the music from movies theme; New Moon Soundtrack. A who’s who of indie rock singing about things loosely related to the acting output of a who’s who of people who pretend to be vampires, werewolves and the girls that love them. Grizzly Bear, Thom Yorke, Death Cab For Cutie and more.

The Time Of Our Lives is an EP by Miley Cyrus that was released exclusively at Wal-Mart to help promote her new clothing line. Eight songs including a live one featuring the Jonas Brothers. Well worth a look if Miley makes you smiley.

Mika returns with album number two, it’s called The Boy Who Knew Too Much. This is an ominous title. Who is this boy? What did he know? If I listen will I find out, or merely discover a dancey pop album destined for heavy rotation across the airwaves? Questions, but no answers. I remain suspicious.

Now That’s What I Call Music 31 is another of those collections of songs that someone calls music. Only this time it’s twice as big, because instead of just the one CD, there’s now two. Bonus! Features Beyonce, Ladyhawke, Kelly Clarkson and about a million others.

Gin Wigmore’s Holy Smoke debuted at number one, went gold it’s first week, and went platinum it’s second. Quite the success by anyone’s measure. If you don’t already have this, you can issue it from us. For free.

That’s right, Robert Muchamore is running a competition on his CHERUB website. If you’re quick (you have until the 26th of November) you might find yourself (or your name at least) in one of his books. See the CHERUB news page for more information and to enter.

It’s Best Books of the Year season again! Amazon.com has published it’s best of 2009 list – you can see it here, but I thought I’d provide catalogue links below, so you can reserve and read and see what you think.

1. Beautiful Creatures, Margaret Stohl 
2. Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
3. Going Bovine, Libba Bray
4. Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld
5. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Phillip M Hoose
6. Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco X Stork
7. Fire, Kristin Cashore
8. The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness
9. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
10. If I Stay, Gayle Forman

Exams? What exams?

As with the lovely Taylor Lautner posters, we’ve got another New Moon movie poster that we thought we’d give to the first person who tells us what they thought of New Moon (which we think some of you might have seen already). As usual, the catch is you have to review it in haiku form (explanation here again). Eligible only for WCL YA cardholders. Please add your full name [we won't publish it]. The poster has folds in it again (sorry).

I suppose the other catch for me is I should provide an example review haiku thing, so here goes:

The movie begins…
Love, tragedy, danger, then-
“Put the shirt back on!”

There are many, many new books this week. Here they are!

Oathbreaker : Assassin’s Apprentice, by S. R. Vaught and J. B. Redmond (374 pages) – High fantasy at its highest. Aron is kidnapped and forced to become an assassin in a world of powerful magic and shapeshifters. Should he avenge his family’s death?

First line: ‘Hot winds blew across the Watchline, twisting rusted wires against rotted fence posts.‘

Pastworld, by Ian Beck (353 pages) – It is 2048, and London has been transformed into a giant Victorian-era themepark. Its inhabitants do not know this! Visitors are a bit like time-travellers, and Caleb – one such visitor – finds himself accused of a murder by the local olde constabulary.

First line: ‘It was the cold hour before dawn.’

The Genius Wars, by Catherine Jinks (384 pages) – The conclusion to the Genius Trilogy. Cadel must launch an all-out attack on Prosper English, who is now a fugitive determined to take down all of Cadel’s loved ones.

First line: ‘Two dented lift doors were embedded in a wall of pebblecrete.‘

The Waters and the Wild, by Francesca Lia Block (113 pages) – A new book from one of the best writers in YA fiction. And it’s pretty brief, so perfect for a quick & magical read.

First lines: ‘When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. “You are me,” the girl said. Then she was gone.‘

The Glittering Eye, by L. J. Adlington (309 pages) – Shabti wakes in a field and has no memories. And Amy, daughter of an archaeologist, arrives in Egypt. They are connected! But you won’t guess how …

First line: ‘He woke up in a barley field.‘

Crashed, by Robin Wasserman (440 pages) – Lia died six months ago. She’s now a mech, and has to choose between humanity and the sheer awesomeness of being a machine. The second book in a trilogy! (The first is Skinned.)

First line: ‘When I was alive, I dreamed of flying.‘

The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan (329 pages) – Nick’s mother stole a charm from the most feared of magicians, and his brother, Alan, has been marked by a demon. Which leads to death! Nick must face the magicians, whose powers are sourced from demons, and he must kill them to save his brother.

First line: ‘The pipe under the sink was leaking again.‘

After The Moment, by Garret Freymann-Weyr (328 pages) – There is a summary inside, which I can lazily copy. ‘When seventeen-year-old Leigh changes high schools his senior year to help his stepsister, he finds himself falling in love with her emotionally disturbed friend, although he is still attached to a girl back home.’

First line: ‘Leigh Hunter thought he’d said goodbye to her almost four years ago.‘

The Twilight Saga – New Moon : The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, by Mark Cotta Vaz (141 pages) – Something about vampires and werewolves? Never heard of it myself. I wonder if it will be popular.

Marcelo In The Real World, by Francisco X. Stork (312 pages) – Marcelo Sandoval has a form of autism that leads him to hear music all the time. His father challenges him to work in his law firm’s mailroom, and there Marcelo faces new challenges. ‘Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,‘ says the blurb. 

First lines: ‘“Marcelo, are you already?” I lift up my thumb. It means that I am ready.“

Headlong, by Kathe Koja (195 pages) – Lily attends the private Vaughn School, and has done so since preschool. New girl Hazel - whose background is vastly different to Lily’s privileged upbringing - and Lily become firm friends, and Hazel shows Lily what life has to offer.

First line: ‘A black circle-in-a-circle-in-a-circle, a bull’s-eye, a target: I trimmed it from the symbol sheet, painted on glue, stuck it to the underside of the vestal’s upraised wrist, one of the few blank spaces left on her.‘

In The Path of Falling Objects, by Andrew Smith (323 pages) – Brother Simon and Jonah take a road trip to find their other brother, who is in the army. They get a ride with a crazy man and a strange woman, and it quickly becomes the ride from Hell.

First line: ‘The only shade there is blackens a rectangle in the dirt beneath the overhang of the seller’s open stall.‘

Front and Center, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (254 pages) – Like everyone in her family, D.J.  Schwenk is VERY tall. And she’s wanted by College scouts, town hoops fans, and a couple of fellas. [The one that comes after Dairy Queen and The Off Season - Grimm]

First line: ‘Here are ten words I never thought I’d be saying …‘

Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzgerald (391 pages) – Nora Grey isn’t interested in romance until transfer student Patch appears. He’s dreamy and mysterious and he’s also an angel, I think? If you like Twilight you may appreciate this – reviewers have commented favourably on the character of Nora compared with Bella.

First line: ‘Chauncey was with a farmer’s daughter on the grassy banks of the Loire River when the storm rolled in, and having let his gelding wander in the meadow, was left to his own two feet to carry him back to the chateau.‘

Warrior King, by Sue Purkiss (265 pages) – It is the ninth-century. King Alfred the Great has a plan – a good plan! – to get rid of the Vikings invading Britain (I guess they were bad?), but what will it mean for Fleda, his daughter?

First line: ‘Alfred couldn’t find his mother.‘

Confessions of a First Daughter, by Cassidy Calloway (214 pages) – Morgan’s mum is the president of the US. Morgan’s tendency for ’screwing things up’ means that she often makes the news, always for the wrong reasons. When her mother has to go on a secret mission, Morgan steps in for her; with a little makeup, no one will spot the difference. Maybe.

First line: ‘I wonder if my mother ever feels like throwing up before she delivers an important speech.‘

Unsigned Hype, by Booker T. Mattison (206 pages) – Fifteen-year-old Tory Tyson and his partner Fat Mike enter the Unsigned Hype contest on a radio station. If he makes it his whole life will change. BUT will he win?

First line: ‘Somebody’s banging on my front door and it’s rocking the house harder than the beat I’m laying down in my bedroom.‘

Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund (257 pages) – Aerin and Dane are both new to the most exclusive academy in the whole UNIVERSE. Their secrets will soon unite them in this genre-spanning sci-fi romance mystery.

First line: ‘Aerin tried to ignore the bloodstain on the control panel of the Fugitive.’
(There aren’t enough fishhooks.)

The Center of the Universe : Yep, That Would Be Me, by Anita Liberty (286 pages) – A ‘profound, touching and hilarious’ story of one girl’s junior and senior years at high school. I read parts! It IS hilarious.

First lines: ‘My name is Anita Li … That was stupid. Why am I introducing myself?‘

Chasing the Bear : A Young Spenser Novel, by Robert B. Parker (169 pages) – Robert B. Parker has written a LOT of novels about Spenser, a private eye who solves mysteries. They’re all in the adult fiction collection. This book is for younger readers and is about Spenser’s youth in Wyoming.

First line: ‘I was sitting with the girl of my dreams on a bench in the Boston Public Garden watching the swan boats circle the little lagoon.‘

Would You Rather?, by Chris Higgins (261 pages)

Serendipity Market, by Penny Blubaugh (268 pages)

Rowan the Strange, by Julie Hearn (332 pages)

We asked Adrienne for a list of her favourite disaster novels, and she out did herself. Here’s her list of ten, plus some extra, genre-defining classics.

1 Life as we knew it, Susan Beth Pfeffer. It’s almost the end of Miranda’s sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager. When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town.Her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. The second book in the series is The Dead and the Gone.

2 Little Brother, Cory Doctorow. Not really about the end of the world, but a scary situation anyway. Seventeen-year-old techno-geek “w1n5t0n” (aka Marcus) bypasses the school’s gait-recognition system by placing pebbles in his shoes, chats secretly with friends on his IMParanoid messaging program, and routinely evades school security with his laptop, cell, WifFnder, and ingenuity. While skipping school, Marcus is caught near the site of a terrorist attack on San Francisco and held by the Department of Homeland Security for six days of intensive interrogation. After his release, he vows to use his skills to fight back against an increasingly frightening system of surveillance. Set in the near future, Doctorow’s novel blurs the lines between current and potential technologies, and readers will delight in the details of how Marcus attempts to stage a techno-revolution. You can download this book for free from the authors’ website.

3 H-Bomb Girl, Stephen Baxter. This book is set in Liverpool 1962; a place and time of danger and passion. A thrilling new music is bursting on to the grey streets of the post-war city: a music that electrifies, a music that promises to change everything. But in Cuba, on the other side of the earth, nuclear tensions are at breaking point. The end of the whole world could be just days away. At the heart of it all is fourteen-year-old Laura Mann. She’s on the run, hunted by strange forces fighting over the future of humanity. Laura is the H-Bomb Girl. And Laura is about to discover that her own life is at stake – in ways she could never have imagined. Check out Stephen Baxter’s book Flood. More apocalyptic goodness.

4 Winter of Fire, Sheryl Jordan (NZ author). Elsha is a young girl living in a bleak, cold future where worldwide cloud cover has permanently blocked out the sun. Humans have split into two classes – the Chosen and the Quelled, of which Elsha is the latter. The Quelled are doomed to spend their lives in servitude to the Chosen mining “firestones” – the only means of warmth on the planet. A rebellious girl, Elsha causes trouble for herself – even going so far as being considered for execution – until she is made the unprecedented heir to the Firelord – the leader of the Chosen.

5 Small Minded Giants, Oisin McGann. Beyond the huge domed roof of Ash Harbour, deadly storms and Arctic temperatures have stripped the Earth bare. Sinister bodies reign supreme, and undercover operations are rife. When sixteen-year-old Sol Wheat’s father goes missing and is accused of murder, Sol sets out to find out why, and in doing so uncovers the harsh reality behind the city. Searching through the under-city’s skeletal maze , Sol’s every move is watched by the menacing Clockworkers and the mysterious Dark-Day Fatalists as he tries desperately to find his father. Even more sinister secrets are exposed when it becomes clear that the Machine that keeps the fragile city alive is running out of power…

6 Tomorrow When the War Began (Series), John Marsden. The astonishing adventure begins… Ellie and her friends leave home on a quiet morning, wave goodbye to their parents, and head up into the hills to camp out for a while; seven teenagers filling in time during the school holidays. The world is about to change forever. Their lives will never be the same again. Would you fight? Would you give up everything? Would you sacrifice even life itself?

7 Genesis, Bernard Beckett (NZ Author). In a terrifying and stifling examination environment a young Academy candidate, Anaximander, is put through a gruelling exercise in interpreting the history and origins of her society. Through her answers, we learn that in 2052, New Zealand has been renamed The Republic after a reforming Governor, Plato. It has separated itself from a plague-ridden globe with a gargantuan ring-fence guarded with military outposts. All approaching boats, exploratory air craft or refugees are shot on sight. Society is strictly divided and individuals deviate from their assigned roles at their peril.

8 The City of Ember, Jeanne Du Prau. It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. The only light during the regular twelve hours of “day” comes from floodlamps that cast a yellowish glow over the streets of the city. Beyond are the pitch-black Unknown Regions, which no one has ever explored because an understanding of fire and electricity has been lost, and with it the idea of a Moveable Light. Among the many other things the people of Ember have forgotten is their past and a direction for their future. For 250 years they have lived pleasantly, because there has been plenty of everything in the vast storerooms. But now there are more and more empty shelves–and more and more times when the lights flicker and go out, leaving them in terrifying blackness for long minutes. What will happen when the generator finally fails?

Twelve-year-old Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet seem to be the only people who are worried. They have just been assigned their life jobs–Lina as a messenger, which leads her to knowledge of some unsettling secrets, and Doon as a Pipeworker, repairing the plumbing in the tunnels under the city where a river roars through the darkness. But when Lina finds a very old paper with enigmatic “Instructions for Egress,” they use the advantages of their jobs to begin to puzzle out the frightening and dangerous way out of their city of darkness.

9 The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness. Chased by a madman preacher and possibly the rest of his townsfolk as well, young Todd Hewitt flees his settlement on a planet where war with the natives has killed all the women and infected the men with a germ that broadcasts their thoughts aloud for all to hear. The first of many secrets is revealed when Todd discovers an unsettling hole in the Noise, and quickly realizes that he lives in a much different world than the one he thought he did. Book one in the Chaos Walking trilogy. Grab book two – The Ask and the Answer.

10 The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins. This is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains.

You won’t be able to put this book down; it has been one of the most popular teen novels of 2009. Watch out for the movie coming soon…

Some classics (after the jump) Read more…

Further to this post we did earlier about Facebook and privacy, if you’re wanting to keep your Facebook page between yourself and your friends here’s a helpful tutorial on changing your settings so that the whole world and its dog can’t see who you’re playing Scrabble with:

(Thanks to Magalie for putting this together!)

We announced this year’s Short Short Story Competition (maybe it will be an annual thing!) yesterday. There are some great prizes and here are some photos of them.
These are the books:

And inside them is … Darren Shan’s signature! I want them but I can’t as one of you guys will get to win them.

Only authors are allowed to write in books! And sometimes librarians.

And as well as the books there is a t-shirt and a bunch of movie passes to see Cirque Du Freak : The Vampire’s Assistant when it opens on January 7th 2010.

Here’s a photo of the lot! Thanks, Paramount!

All this could be yours! Only if you enter the competition. All the details are here.

[Ed: some of the bunch of movie passes will go to excellent short stories that weren't the winner but were fabulous anyway]

Was watching the All Whites big win on the weekend so exciting that you can’t possibly wait until the World Cup in South Africa to get your football fix? If the answer is “yes” here is a suggestion; go to a Phoenix game.

There are six current All Whites in the squad (including Teen Blog fave Leo Bertos), passionate and vocal fans, and the handsomest uniforms in the A-League. What better way is there to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than watching some quality football and shouting loudly? And it’s cheap too, tickets start at $17 for students.

Also, keep up to date with the happenings in the world of football with the libraries’ magazine selection here.

Are you aged somewhere between 13 and 18? Can you write a good short story?

It’s back! The 2009 Short Short Story Competition is here: write an excellent short short story and you could win a Cirque du Freak prize pack, including signed copies of the first six books in The Saga of Darren Shan series, a limited edition t-shirt and movie passes (thanks to the people at Paramount). It’s a fantastic prize, and it’s all very simple really.

So what do you have to do? Write a short story, not more than 350 words (it can be as short as you like), that includes each of the following three words (think outside the box: is the word a noun only, or can it be used another way? Can it be added to, for example -ish or -ed?):

1. paramount
2. freak
3. violet

Your story can be about anything. We will be particularly impressed if:

• - the story is well written and grammatically correct
• - the three things listed above are well concealed in the story
• - the story has a clever twist or point of interest.

Send your stories to teenblog@wcl.govt.nz before 5pm on Monday 21 December 2009. Please include your name and your library card number (very important!). The winner will be announced early in the new year.

Small print:
You must be aged between 13 and 18 to enter. You must also be a Wellington City Libraries member. Judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into etc etc., although we do like getting emails and comments. The winning story and any others that are particularly special will be published on the teen blog, so if you send a story in be prepared for it to be published.

Good luck!

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, in cinemas January 7 2010. Go to www.thevampiresassistant.co.nz for movie info.

The Phoenix Files by Chris Morphew is another end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-is-nigh series that kept me guessing. It’s not your usual armageddon story…

Phoenix is a picture-perfect town in the middle of nowhere built by the Shackleton Co-operative to accommodate its employees. The town is brand new, high-tech and immaculate. It seems all too good to be true…

On the first day of school in Phoenix, Luke, Peter and Jordan are drawn together by a series of strange events. Together they uncover the reason behind Phoenix’s existence.

The countdown has started… There are only 100 days left until the entire human race is destroyed, leaving only Phoenix to survive. Luke and his friends must find out what’s going on and stop them before it’s too late.

The first of The Phoenix Files series ‘Arrival’ is in the library, with the sequel ‘Contact’ arriving in Jan/Feb 2010.

Been to any of the following this year?
- Almost Amazing Race
- Urban Survival Series
- Twilight Trivia Night

Read the teen blog?

Have feedback for us, or suggestions for 2010?

We would love to hear from you over some yummy food!

Thursday 3rd of December – Central Library staff room @ 4pm
Text 021 227 8222 or email Ella, ella.martin@wcc.govt.nz, to register (so she knows numbers)

Still going.

Almost Perfect, Brian Katcher (357 pages) – Logan begins a relationship with Sage, sort of, only to discover that she’s a boy (transgender). Obviously this is a major thing for him to work through: will he be able to maintain a friendship with her?

First sentence: Everyone has that one line they swear they’ll never cross, the one thing they say they’ll never do.

Demon Princess: Reign or Shine, Michelle Rowen (284 pages) – Nikki finds out that her absent father is the demon king of Shadowlands, so she follows the bearer of the news there to find out more (the bearer happens to be cute). As you’d expect with hereditary titles, her father’s keen for her to take the throne.

First sentence: “That guy is staring at you.”

Archenemy, Frank Beddor (370 pages) – the gripping conclusion to The Looking Glass Wars. Something strange is happening to Wonderland, and it’s not just Arch declaring himself king. Conundrums of evaporating puddles, shimmering portals, assassins, metamorphoses, action aplenty. The dude on the cover has got the coolest suit of armour and gun thingy ever.

First sentence: Alyss of Wonderland raced up the front walk, using her imagination to unlock the door and turn the latch.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa (200 pages) – First published in Japan in 2003 and described as “the phenomenon that took Japan by storm” which is super cool. Haruhi and Kyon set up an after school club, as you do, all very usual. Unusually, Haruhi has the power to destroy the universe.

First sentence: The question of how long someone believed in Santa Claus is a worthless topic that would never come up in idle conversation.

Punkzilla, Adam Rapp (244 pages) – Jamie, who is Punkzilla, embarks on a road trip to visit his brother who is dying of cancer. Along the way he catalogues, in epistolary fashion (letter writing), the gritty, freakish and interesting people he meets along the way.

First sentence: Hey, I’m finally writing you back.

One Wish, Leigh Brescia (311 pages) – An overweight teenager who determines to do something about this, and is largely successful, learns that the grass is not necessarily greener on the skinny and beautiful side of the fence, particularly when you go to great (dodgy) lengths for your new svelte body.

First sentence: Nobody ever asks you if you want to be popular.

Darke Academy: Secret Lives, Gabriella Poole (267 pages) – The first in a series which I’m going to describe merely by quoting the tagline on the cover (and you can do the rest): “You’ll be dying to join the chosen few.” Good news is the next book, Blood Ties, is less than six months away.

First sentence: “Hey, is that you?”

Tricks, Ellen Hopkins (625 pages) – A novel in verse, interweaving the stories of five different teenagers. Sounds clever, quite serious subject matter.

First sentence: But do they know how / to craft fiction?

Little Black Lies, Tish Cohen (305 pages) – Sara is at a new school in a new town, which seems like the perfect recipe for starting again and leaving behind her difficult past, especially with the help of a few fabrications of truth: popularity awaits. But then a dethroned popular girl starts getting suspicious.

First sentence: “What the…?” Gripping the vinyl passenger seat of the VW bus, I try not to hit the window as my father takes a corner too fast in his rush not to be late for our first day at Boston’s illustrious Anton High School.

That’s it for now. Yet more to come!

The cast of the Twilight films lead the polls (the best actor, best actress, break out actor, best film, and some others) for the 2010 People’s Choice Awards. The People’s Choice awards are voted for by the public (well, the US public), hence their name. They are awards chosen by people, for the people.

I have two posters of the potential 2010 winner of best break out actor (as chosen by some people), Taylor Lautner, to give away! As much as I’d like to have them I simply haven’t the space for any more. If you want one write a haiku (explained here) about Taylor in the comments below. There are only two posters so the first two haiku will get one!  Eligible only for WCL YA cardholders. Please add your full name [we won't publish your name]. The posters have folds in them sorry.

E.g.
Taylor Lautner plays
a werewolf in highschool. So
did Michael J. Fox.

[Click on the image for a larger image]

There are three new YA CDs on the catalogue. What are they? Look below…

Greatest Hits by the Foo Fighters is a one CD, one DVD collection of all of the hits they deem their greatest. Dave Grohl says in the liner notes “…it is a collection of songs that have defined our band’s identity to most people over the years.” A good starting point if you’re new to the Foo, but a nice overview for old fans too.

Twilight doesn’t have anything to do with vampires, rather more to do with drum and bass. It’s a compilation put together by Concord Dawn to showcase the acts housed on the Uprising record label. If drum and bass is the genre you like best, then what are you doing? Come down and issue this right away!

By now Flight Of The Conchords need no introduction, but this is kind of an introduction, so please ignore this needless sentence. I Told You I Was Freaky is the latest album from every Americans second favourite New Zealand-centric pop culture reference (behind Peter Jackson’s hobbit filled films).

There’s a truckload!

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (400 pages) – as anticipated in this post, the collection of geek short stories is here. Fifteen stories in all, interspersed with comics, by some excellent writers.

First sentence (Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci): I awake tangled up in scratchy sheets with my head pounding and the taste of cheap alcohol and Tabasco still in my mouth.

Strange Angels, Lili St. Crow (293 pages) – again, we hinted about this one here. The first book about Dru Anderson, a zombie-killing tough girl whose life is about to become dangerous and complicated.

First sentence: I didn’t tell Dad about Granmama’s white owl.

Pretty Dead, Francesca Lia Block (195 pages) – Charlotte is a vampire. Jared is mortal, and “brooding” and “magnetic” to boot. Francesca Lia Block’s take on the gothic theme. Cassandra Clare says (winningly) on the cover: “An opulent, surreal world of strange beauty, sudden horror, and lush romance.”

First sentence: Teenage girls are powerful creatures.

Sea Change, Aimee Friedman (290 pages) – Miranda leaves New York for an island holiday. But this is Selkie Island, and with a name like that it’s bound to be a weird place, with a strange history, spooky legends. And then there’s Leo.

First sentence: The waiting ferryboat – ivory-coloured and two-tiered – resembled a slice of cake.

Girl in the Arena, Lise Haines (324 pages) – A satire on reality TV type shows – Lyn’s father is a gladiator, the top gladiator in the league, in fact. When he’s killed in competition the Gladiator Sports Association (GSA) decrees that Lyn must marry the gladiator who did it. Being independent-minded, Lyn isn’t going to take this lying down, even if that means having to enter the arena herself.

First sentence: In 1969 there was a young widower named Joseph Byers who lost his only child, Ned, to the war in Vietnam, when Ned tried to dodge the draft.

Counter Clockwise, Jason Cockcroft (202 pages) – “What if time moved counter-clockwise?” the inside cover asks, which is the basic premise of this thriller. Nathan witnesses bizarre and disturbing things happening around him, like his father disappearing through a hole that appears in the bathroom wall. That’d wind you up.

First sentence: When Nathan’s father told him the news, his voice seemed lost in the quiet of the schoolroom - as though it didn’t belong, Nathan thought.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, Jessica Day George (317 pages) – based on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, a Nordic fairy tale. A woodcutter’s daughter agrees to accompany a bear to his castle. She thinks this is a good idea; I think not. Strange and terrible adventures unfold in the quest that ensues.

First sentence: Long ago and far away in the land of ice and snow, there came a time when it seemed that winter would never end.

The Dead House, Anne Cassidy (264 pages) – Lauren moves back to London to study, to a place very close to the house where she used to live. Trouble is, the house where she used to live contains nightmarish memories of her past and her family that she must confront.

First sentence: Lauren went to look at the house late at night.

The Bad Tuesdays: Strange Energy, Benjamin J Myers (330 pages) – the second in the series after Twisted Symmetry. Chess Tuesday and her brothers are enlisted by The Committee to find out what happened to the stolen children. But why?

First sentence:  The razor wire gleamed along the top of the fence.

Well, that is if reports like these two are to be trusted. Word is he’ll be starring in a film called Unbound Captives  alongside Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman that’ll be filmed right here. Regardless of whether or not the Twilight star’s 2010 working holiday will go ahead (it does look likely), the internet and local media seems to be rather lathered up about the prospect. I’m sure many of you will be too, I however can’t understand the excitement, It’s not as if Taylor Lautner is coming is it?

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell. Many of our intended readers will be too young to know about it, but from about the end of WWII to November the 9th, 1989, Berlin was divided by a massive concrete wall. On one side – the East – an authoritarian Communist regime held power, and on the Western side it was democracy as usual. People died trying to cross from the East to the West (no one especially wanted to go West to East (maybe tourists?)). The Berlin Wall’s fall represented to many people the end of the Cold War (and the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation that came with the Cold War).

So! The fall of the Berlin Wall. A good thing! Here are some books we have in the library.

1 The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams. Kyra reads books from the mobile library, which might seem not exactly rebellious, but it is when you’re in a cult and reading books is forbidden.

2 Andromeda Klein, Frank Portman. Andromeda’s life is a quirky mess, but when books start going AWOL from the library she’s onto it, possibly with the help of her dead friend Daisy who may be trying to send her messages. The story of a teenage occultist who finds herself pitted against dark powers, including some “friends of the library”.

Libraries and romance
3 Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, Deb Caletti. Not only does it feature a librarian – Ruby’s mother – but also a bookclub. A book geek full house. Never fear though, it also features lots of romance (historical and current). Deb Caletti is often compared to Sarah Dessen, who’s the next suspect.

4 The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen. Macy chooses between a boring and safe life (involving a job at the organised library) and a more unpredictable and interesting one (involving a job in disorganised catering). The choice also involves two boys.

5 Cupid’s Arrow, Isabelle Merlin. Fleur’s mother inherits a fabulous library from a famous French author. Retrieving this library from Avallon in France brings mystery, romance and, the publisher’s website says, an “interactive web element”.

6 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffeneger. The last word in romantic books featuring librarians. Henry works at the Newberry in Chicago, which is serious library stuff.

Libraries and fantasy
7 The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner. Not giving too much away, but one of the characters who may or may not be Gen lives in the library in Eddis, since his/her close-ish relatives have a history of being vile to him/her, and he/she is probably insufferable back.

8 Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr. The tireless and devoted Seth proves to be a useful researcher and, like a lot of useful researchers, visits the library to find out stuff (and to be harassed by faeries he can’t see).

9 Harry Potter…, J K Rowling. The library is the ultimate solution, according to Hermione. A bit like a cup of tea, but ultimately containing more information.

10 Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, Brandon Sanderson (a children’s book). The evil librarians are trying to take over the world. Because if you’re trying to do that, librarian is the obvious career path (under the radar, see).

Let me know about any more.