Helen Smith the Learning Resources Manager at Eckington School has produced her annual literary television guide for December
British Museum Manga マンガ Exhibition
In accosication with The National Art Center, Tokyo and the Organisation for the Promotion of Manga and Anime; The British Museum is putting on the LARGEST display of Manga to ever take place outside of Japan!
I have been a huge fan of manga (and anime) for years and am also a big fan of the British Museum – they have done some of my favourite exhibitions over the years and the Manga Exhibition looks like it will be amazing!
It is typical that they would wait until I left the country, but even though I will be unable to go – you should really take the time to book tickets and immerse yourself in one of Japan’s best-known exports!
The exhibit will run from 23rd May until 26th August and will introduce the historical roots of manga, including woodblock prints by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), and their influence on anime, games and cosplay.
Among the original manga pieces to be put on display is the late Osamu Tezuka’s Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy), Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, Moto Hagio’s Po no Ichizoku (The Poe Clan) and Akiko Higashimura’s Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish).
For more details follow this link: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/manga.aspx
Crafty Scotsman Activity
An activity for Burns Night or just any time you would like to colour in and dress up a burly Scotsman in a range of exciting outfts.
Library Planet
Founded and edited by Christian Lauersen of Roskilde Libraries and Marie Engberg Eiriksson of Gladsaxe Libraries, Denmark; Library Planet is like a crowdsourced Lonely Planet for libraries of the world, meant to inspire library travelers to open the awesome book that is our world of libraries, cities and countries.
Visit Library Planet here: Library Planet
If you want to share your library or libraries you have loved then you can contribute to Library Planet here: https://libraryplanet.net/contribute/
Event Calendar
Looking for an event to create a display around in your Library? Why not check out the events calendar (below), it is a work in progress so if your favourite day (holy, hedoninstic or just hilarious) is missing pleas let me know so I can add it
The Third Degree with Julie Kagawa
When destiny calls, legends rise.
Every millennium the missing pieces of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers are hunted, for they hold the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one wish.
As a temple burns to the ground Yumeko escapes with its greatest treasure – the first piece of the scroll. And when fate thrusts her into the path of a mysterious samurai she knows he seeks what she has. Kage is under order to kill those who stand in his way but will he be able to complete his mission? Will this be the dawn that sees the dragon wake?
I read Shadow of the Fox in two sittings a couple of weeks ago, so huge thanks to Nina for sending me a copy and giving me the chance to ask Julie Kagawa some questions as part of the blog tour! It is an engrossing read, I particularly liked just how the world was built with all the little details about food and clothes without getting bogged down in descriptions. The two main protagonists are great, I loved the humour in their interactions (even in very unfunny, potentially deadly circumstances) and as new characters were introduced they quickly came to life and fit into the story perfectly. It is a properly epic tale and I’m really looking forward to reading the next instalment of their adventures!
Hi Julie welcome to TeenLibrarian and thank you for giving up your time to undergo the
third degree!
Since publishing your first book, The Iron King, in 2010, not a year has gone by without a new
title and/or the beginnings of a new series. Are they ideas that you have been polishing for
years, or have you simply not slept for the last 10 years?!
I’m constantly getting new ideas. Writing a book takes awhile, and once the excitement and
newness wears off, shiny new story ideas are bound to creep in. But since I can’t stop one story
to go write another, I keep them in a “new ideas” folder on my computer. I’ll type a few short
lines, either on characters, setting or plot, and file it away so it will be safe. That way, not only
will I not forget, I have a whole folder of new stories to be written once I’m done with my
current project.
After tackling fairies (not the cute ones), vampires, and dragons, why did the idea of
shapeshifters appeal next?
I love anime, and I especially love the legend of the kitsune. I actually wrote Shadow of the Fox
before the Iron Fey, but didn’t get it published until this year. The original version was an adult
fantasy, so I rewrote it as YA and the story is very different now. But I always loved that first
idea about a kitsune, so I’m thrilled that Shadow of the Fox is out in the world now.
Shadow of the Fox is the beginning of a new series that brings Japanese mythology to life. Did
you consider bringing it into a contemporary Western setting or was it always going to be in an
ancient land?
It was always going to be set in an ancient, mythological Japan, because the history, culture,
settings and architecture is beautiful and fascinating. I didn’t only want to write about
Japanese mythology, I wanted to write a book set in a land of samurai and ninja. Which is hard
to do in a contemporary Western setting.
How much research went into the customs and clothing you describe so vividly in the book? Are these largely based on reality?
A lot of the research that went into Shadow of the Fox comes from years and years of watching
anime and old samurai movies by Japanese directors. Movies like The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo,
Thirteen Assassins and the like, are very helpful when it comes to clothing, buildings and
terrain. Years of watching anime has taught me a lot about Japanese folklore and legend, as
many mythological creatures like kitsune, oni and tanuki appear in anime a lot. But I’ve also
studied the history of Japan, especially around the Sengoku era, because that point in Japanese
history is where Shadow of the Fox is inspired.
Do you plan in advance how many books in a series? Have you decided what’s coming next?
I usually know how many books beforehand. I tend to like trilogies, so Shadow of the Fox will
have three books in the series. I just finished book two, Soul of the Sword, so now I’m onto
book three.
What are you currently reading and who would you recommend it to?
Right now I’m reading Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, and I’d recommend it to anyone
who loves fantasy, particularly if you like beautiful writing and almost surreal worlds.
Any plans to visit your UK based fans?
Not at the moment, but the year is nearly over, and who knows what the next year will bring?
Thank you so much for giving up your time to answer these questions!
Thanks for having me!
An object lesson on social media use and misuse
This is a good example of the use and misuse of twitter that can be used in a lesson on social media for users of all ages.
Tomi Adeyemi has written a brilliant book called The Children of Blood and Bone
Nora Roberts’ new book is titled Of Blood and Bone
Tomi publicly accused Nora of plagiarism on Twitter due to the similarity of the titles:
This led to the usual mob pile on of fans calling Nora out on multiple platforms; who reached out to Tomi to try and smooth over the trouble that was erupting.
Tomi then tweeted an apology and explanation to calm her fans:
However, she left the original tweet up, which has kept the hate cycle rolling.
Requests from Nora’s side to have the tweet taken down have, so far, remained unanswered.
Nora then wrote this post on her blog: Mob Rule By Social Media
This post gives a brilliant insight to what people under attack online can experience. It can also be used to discuss plagiarism, how the publishing industry works and also (and very importantly) online bullying as well as the importance of having all your facts in order before attacking someone publicly.
Nora and Tomi are both amazing writers, one with 30+ years experience and the other a first-time author, this contretemps seems to have soured views in both fan camps which may lead to many people not experiencing the wonderful work both authors have produced.
Fan is short for fanatic and sometimes the fanaticism comes to the fore and events can occur that damage fandoms, publishing and book lovers are not immune to this, as this event shows.
