Wanting to be famous

Two points of view.  Author Andrew O'Hagan, interviewed on the Book Show here, sees the wish of teenagers to be 'famous' as a signal of moral decay and likely to lead to disappointed adults.

Author Justine Larbalestier, in her blog entry here, sees this wish as evidence of an answer that conceals uncertainty, and not necessarily anything to do with moral decay.

Apart from the interesting variations in viewpoint, also possibly a resource for debating or writing involving the discussion of different perspectives on the one issue.

Twilight fanfiction

The internet has facilitated the sharing of fanfiction to an extraordinary degree.  What is fanfic?  Stories that use the characters and world of an existing story - a book, film, game - and embellish and develop it in the fan's particular ways.  Harry Potter is just one example of a book that has generated lots of fanfic (over 370,000 stories).  Check out the list here of fanfic inspired by particular books.

The Twilight section on fanfiction.net has nearly 1500 pages of stories by a vast multiplicity of authors, 15 stories per page (quick maths: that adds up to A Lot! - but nowhere near the Harry number), with different endings to existing books, stories that take place within the time frame of a book, utterly different character stories, you name it.  There are RSS feeds, so updates/additions to stories can be tracked.  One example a Twilight fan here is enjoying has Bella as Aro's daughter - she looks eagerly for the next instalment of Volturi Secrets. 

The quality of fanfic is, as you would expect, highly variable.  In the classroom, some students engage with creative writing exercises by writing fanfic; although you need to watch that they don't let the world and its rules constrain their writing (or spend all their time reading for research, to avoid writing...).  The volume and popularity of fanfic also attests to the affection in which the original works are held; and shows that young people are writing (not just texting!).
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The 200th post

Just thought I'd note that this blog has reached 200 posts with over 6000 visits and 10000 page views.   And not just by mentioning Twilight (oops, I did it again!), she grins.

Thanks for visiting!  Come again!  I keep finding the useful stuff and keep posting it here, so I can remember and you can enjoy.

Cheers!

ms b

PS We thought up a GREAT school library Christmas decoration idea.  When we've got it refined, we'll share it.  And you still haven't seen the fabulous foyer, either....

Things a teacher librarian can't do: No. 2

Bring forward the release date of the Twilight film in Australia to match its US release. 12 December isn't so far away, is it??? The anticipation is positively feverish. Hmmmm. I don't want to know when the first little enthusiast finds an illegal online source of a pirated copy of it...

Twilight film - advance screening in Australia on 3 December

The Twilight film's Australian release date is 11 December, but Hoyts has advance screenings on 3 December at some cinemas, including some in Sydney, for members of its club (you cansee which cinemas, and join on the site).  Other cinema chains (Greater Union, Reading) may have similar offers - check their sites.

I've had some kids already tell me they've booked for 11 December, and Gold Class, so they have the best possible experience.  Aaaaah.  I hope they do!

After the A-mazing initial cover (you've forgotten?  Let me remind you:

OK.  Breathe deeply.  The worst is over.

Entertainment Weekly is featuring three 'collector' covers on an upcoming issue.  Rather better, at least if this is anything to go by (sourced from stepheniemeyer.com):

Head over to Stephenie Meyer's site for more news, if you're not full to bursting yet.

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Fiction Friday: Temeraire

This is one of the best books I've read in ages, adult or YA. It had grazed my consciousness, sorta kinda, and then something brought it to my attention again. Hmmm. Think we do have a copy of that in the library. I fished it out a couple of weeks ago, and devoured it in short order, before promptly ordering the rest of the series for the school library. What's the gist? Historical fantasy: the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and France, from the point of view of the British. Oh, and the military includes an aerial corps. With dragons. Excellent dragons.

It's terrific writing, great imagination, a sense of history, good storytelling. I put it in the hands of several of my keenest fantasy readers, and they've all read it fast, asked for more and are evangelising about it independently. One of them, who'd been at the top of the list, hopping from foot to foot for months waiting for Brisingr, and enjoyed that, said this was the best book he'd read in ages and ages (and where's the next one, miss?). Well done Naomi Novik.

Temeraire is the first book (also published as His Majesty's Dragon), and then follow Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles. The last only in hardback until February next year. Peter Jackson has the film rights (director of The Lord of the Rings series. Yes, him. Should be good! - but probably not for a couple of years). Naomi Novik's website is here .

The cover on the copy I had in the library is a more painterly thing, less graphic - I like these striking covers, and the kids do too. As you would have gathered, we have a building list of reservations, and they're turning over fast.

The object lesson for me - and I've made a conscious effort to read more of the YA fiction this year than last - I've always read it, of course, but this year even more - is that a) I'll make happy discoveries for myself and b) never underestimate a good book, well-recommended. I know my enthusiasm meant more than if I'd just said, what about this? without having read it myself.

Oh, and will I admit to adding these to my personal library at home?

Image source: The Book Depository .

PLR/ELR: Australian books in libraries

The 2007-8 Public Lending Right/ Educational Lending Right Annual Report might not be on the top of your to-read pile, but it's an intriguing look at what's popular in school and public libraries in Australia. It relates to books written by Australian authors, fiction and nonfiction, and on the general lists included, children's literature rates highly. The Appendixes cover popular books over the last year and over a longer time span.

Here's the top twelve from the last year (ELR):

1 Fox, Mem: Possum Magic
2 Vaughan, Marcia K.: Wombat Stew
3 Rodda, Emily: Rowan of Rin
4 Klein, Robin: Hating Alison Ashley
5 Baker, Jeannie: Where the Forest Meets the Sea
6 Rodda, Emily: The Forests of Silence
7 Jennings, Paul: Unbearable: More Bizarre Stories
8 Gleitzman, Morris: Two Weeks With the Queen
9 Jennings, Paul: Unreal! Eight Surprising Stories
10 Marsden, John: Tomorrow, When the War Began
11 Park, Ruth: Playing Beatie Bow
12 Jennings, Paul: Round the Twist

I don't know offhand the publication date of any of these, but my guess is that they're all at least five years old, if not more, which is interesting to note too.