Category Archives: News

MANGA JIMAN COMPETITION 2012 – extended

Please Note: The closing date for the submission of entries has been extended. The deadline is now Monday 19 November 2012.

The Embassy of Japan is once again launching the major manga-writing competition, MANGA JIMAN 2012, with fantastic prizes and open to anyone fourteen (14)* years of age or over.
The amazing First Prize is two (2) return air tickets to Japan, courtesy of All Nippon Airways!**
The Second Prize is a fabulous TOSHIBA laptop computer.
Third Prize is a superb digital camera from RICOH UK Ltd
Runners-up will receive and a selection of manga publications, available in the UK from various UK manga publishers amongst others prizes.
The winners’ works will also be displayed in a special MANGA JIMAN EXHIBITION at the Embassy of Japan.

This competition is open to all UK residents. All creations should be original and between six (6) to eight (8) A4-sized pages in length and drawn so that it reads from left to right. The manga should in some way make reference to ‘GANBARE!’.

The closing date for the submission of entries is Thursday, 1 November 2012.

Should you wish to enter, please read the full MANGA JIMAN COMPETITION 2012 RULES & REGULATIONS (pdf) and then carefully fill out and submit the official 2012 APPLICATION FORM (Word doc) along with your entry by post or in person to:

Manga Jiman 2012 Competition
JICC
Embassy of Japan
101-104 Piccadilly
London
W1J 7JT

Please contact manga@LD.mofa.go.jp with any queries about the competition.

* The competition is open to all legal residents of the United Kingdom who are, or will be, over the age of fourteen (14) by 1 January 2013.

**Terms and conditions apply.

Seattle Public Library Teen Summer Reading Programme

Seattle Public Library will be running what looks like it is going to be an amazing summer reading program for their teen readers:

Read and review books, enter to win a Kindle, attend free programs and catch and release books in a citywide scavenger hunt…

More information will become available on 1st June.

Mockingjay Pin Winners

The WINNERS of the Teen Librarian Mockingjay Pin Competition are:

Inez Kinanthi

and

Nicky

Yay congratulations!

Please e-mail me at editor(at)teenlibrarian.co.uk with your address details and I will send out your badges as soon as possible!

Teen Librarian Monthly: 6 Years Old This Month

I find it hard to believe that Teen Librarian Monthly turns six this month – yes on the 15th May 2006 the very first edition was sent out to about 12 subscribers, you can still read it here Newsletter 1.1.

The website is older by a few months – but I do not recall when exactly it first went live. So if anyone is interested my official blog birthday is the 15th May – there will not be cake but there should be a new edition of TLm.

The original site is still floating around the web, I get a couple of referrals to the current site from it every month so I will not take it down (I have also lost the log in details). The original site looked like this:

 

If you have a need to visit the original site you can do so here: http://teenlibraryserviceuk.bravehost.com/

After a year of fiddling around with html, I thought that there had to be a better way and as I had a gmail account I moved on to Blogger:

This one is also still “alive” but only in the sense that it is a zombie site moving blindly through cyberspace, anyway take a look here: http://teenlibrarianuk.blogspot.co.uk/

At some point I migrated onto paid hosting with a dedicated URL and everything and apart from a few cosmetic changes it has remained the same.

Teen Librarian Monthly has come out on a roughly monthly schedule (with a few exceptions usually relating to work, life and the other things that get in the way of a labour of love).

If any librarians or users of the site and newsletter would like to submit an article for publication, please leave a comment on this post and I will get back to you. Articles can be about the work you are doing or have done in libraries with young people, ideas for future events or just what working with young people means to you and why you do it. Article submissions close on the 14th May (latest)

Boy Kills Man by Matt Whyman Reissued, and available for the first time as an ebook


In 2004, I wrote a novel that was very different from anything I had done before. A story about Colombian child assassins, Boy Kills Man paid no heed to happy endings. I didn’t see why I should sugar a very real, raw and shocking reality for kids caught up in gang culture. My editor, who was expecting a follow up to a teen comedy about skateboarding, took a deep breath and got behind it.

Close to publication, a report that an early reader of the book had been left traumatised made the pages of the Times Educational Supplement. This was mostly because I’d been quoted as saying that I was pleased. I felt it was better that the book provoked a reaction rather than be forgotten, and also served as a springboard for a conversation about violence and its impact on young people. Despite a slightly scary start – I worried it would be pulled – the book went on to be shortlisted for the BookTrust Teenage Book Award, and featured on various picks of the year.

I remain very proud of this book. A film is in development from the makers of Kidulthood and Wild Bill, while readers still get in touch with questions and comments.

Now, eight years after first publication, Boy Kills Man is available as an ebook. It’s downloadable from all the usual outlets, as well as a paperback reissue.

~ Matt Whyman

To mark publication, the ebook is priced at 99p for two weeks beginning on Friday 6th April.

Bold, chilling and beautifully written . . . it really left an ache behind.
Melvin Burgess

“Stunning . . . all that is left is a feeling of sadness and loss. . . A fine achievement.”
The Independent

“A powerful, affecting novel about lost youth, and a sharp evocation of one boy’s terrible passage from innocence to experience . . . a book we could all do with reading.”
The Guardian

Shortlisted for the 2007 De Jong Jury (Netherlands)
ALA Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2006 (USA)
Shortlisted for the 2006 Wirral Paperback of the Year
Shortlisted for the 2005 Stockport Schools Book Award
Shortlisted for the 2004 Booktrust Teenage Prize
The Scotsman: Top Ten Teen Novels 2004
The Times: 2004 Picks
The Guardian 2004 Triumphs feature
Time Out: 2004 Critics’ Choice
RTE Rattlebag: Books of the Year 2004
BBC Radio 4 Front Row: Teen Books of the Year

UKYA: A New Blog About British Young Adult Books

http://ukyabooks.wordpress.com/

UK YA, the showcase for the best teen fiction set in the UK.

We want to shout about books which are set in the UK, for the benefit of readers all over the world.

Search our booklists by genre or by setting, from the Highlands of Scotland to the Cornish coast.

Check out our helpful glossary of Brit-speak slang.

And watch out for our special features, new releases, interviews and news.

This site is run and maintained by Keris Stainton, Susie Day and Keren David.

Youth Libraries Group Scotland Spring Conference

A conference for learning professionals and workers interested in innovative approaches to engaging teenagers and young people.

This is a unique opportunity for those working with teenagers and young people, be they library, education, or community workers with a wide cross-section of practitioners and to develop networks.

The programme will include:

  • Librarians v Teenagers; challenging stereotypes
  • Storytelling for Teens workshops run by Bea Ferguson
  • Book Tasting for Teens workshop run by Jane Sandell of YLG Scotland
  • Bali Rai will be engaging us with his writing for teens and young people
  • In addition there will be an exhibition area and a bookshop provided by Scotia books.

    The conference will:

    • Enable us to meet and share good practice with colleagues from different sectors

    • Challenge us to break down the barriers of working with teenagers and young people

    • Inspire us to engage with teenagers and young people in an effective way

    The conference is being held at:

    The Mitchell
    North Street
    Glasgow G3 7DN

    Friday 27th April
    10am to 4pm.

    The cost is £35+ VAT

    No lunch will be provided, however, there will be refreshments available throughout the day

    For further details please contact Jill Reid: jill.reid[at]leisureandculturedundee.com

    Booked Up Withdrawn

    Booked Up was a national programme that ran for five years from 2007 – 2011.

    Booked Up gave every 11-year-old in England the chance to choose a free book during their first term at secondary school. The aim of the programme was to support and encourage reading for pleasure and independent choice. Year 7 students chose their free book from a list of specially selected titles.

    During its five years, Booked Up distributed over 3.25 million books to children across England.

    Booked Up was run by Booktrust, funded by the Department for Education, and generously supported by children’s book publishers.

    When I was a teen & youth services public librarian I was only peripherally involved with the Booked Up programme, setting up displays in my libraries at the time of the book selections and promoting it in conjunction with teachers and school librarians who brought Year 7 classes in to the library.
    Since becoming a secondary school librarian I was able to see what joy receiving a free book brought to students.

    Now it is gone, in its place Booktrust is offering The School Library Packa brand new programme for young people. This will give school libraries fiction and non-fiction titles, and resources to help staff create a reading culture that reaches all pupils, encouraging pupils to discuss what they are reading and join in activities such as reading groups. This offer replaces the Booked Up programme offered in previous years.

    and Bookbuzz:

    From the team that brought you Booked Up, Bookbuzz offers the same great variety of books for your school. Every student will have the chance to choose their own book, from a list of 17 titles suitable for 11-year-olds and selected by a panel of experts. This exciting new programme from Booktrust is purchasable by schools at a greatly subsidised cost. This is thanks to Booktrust’s not for profit status as a charity and the generous support that we receive from a wide range of children’s publishers.

    This fantastic new programme includes:

  • a book and bookmark for every participating student to keep
  • a set of the Bookbuzz books for your school library
  • access to a website packed with a wealth of information and resources.
  • Participating schools will also receive a kit to support reading for pleasure across the school. This indispensible resource will provide you with all you need to embed reading for pleasure at your school, including:

  • an extra staff set of the Bookbuzz books to support teachers as readers
  • a comprehensive guide to whole school reading
  • tried and tested case studies and tips from other schools
  • With the support of children’s book publishers we are able to offer Bookbuzz at a greatly subsidised cost of only £2.50 per child. A school with 50 participating pupils would cost only £125 and would provide resources worth over £450.

    In the short space of time since the closure was announced I have seen a flurry of e-mails on mailing lists about how this will impact schools that have considerably more than 50 Year 7s. My school is a rather small private one and it has over 60 year 7 students, schools that have more will be harder hit. Budgets are being squeezed everywhere and while it is possible that the money could be found it will more than likely be skimmed off the library budget as many librarians acted as Booked Up coordinators.

    What I fear may happen is that many schools will be unable to afford it and will withdraw from the scheme as they will not be able to afford the overall cost or the time fundraising will take and as many librarians are already involved in fund-raising initiatives

    Offering the programme to a limited number of students is not feasible or fair and there will be complaints from students who have been excluded from the scheme.

    Booked Up was a brilliant initiative, much like the Bookstart programme, it puts books directly into the hands of young people that may not have owned a book since they received their Bookstart pack as a baby. Speaking from experience there is nothing like a freebie to excite people young and old as well as disproving the TINSTAAFL (There Is No such Thing As A Free Lunch – or in this case book) concept.

    The loss of Booked Up is a shame and I do not think that the offered replacement services will measure up to what was achieved in the past five years. The support materials will be of great use to librarians just starting out with whole school reading campaigns and those that may need a refresher.

    For everyone though, from Year 6 students to teachers and librarians who were involved in running it the closure of Booked Up is a minor tragedy, one of the many that exist in the current time of cutting expenditure and shuttering non-essential services.

    As librarians and readers we will endure and find other ways of nurturing a love of books and reading. We will still be able to give readers books but we will just have to remind tehm to return them when they have finished reading them!

    Author Siobhan Curham Running Poetry Competition

    To celebrate the launch of her new book Dear Dylan, Siobhan Curham will be running a poetry competition on her website

    Entrants must be age 10 – 17 and the poems should be based on one of the following themes:

    Friendship: Dear Dylan is the story of a friendship that begins online – in fact the whole novel is made up of emails between the two characters as their friendship grows. Perhaps you would like to write a poem about your own experience of friendship and how important your friends are to you.

    Family: The main character in Dear Dylan, Georgie, hasn’t had the easiest family life. Her father died when she was little and she doesn’t get on with her step-dad at all. There is no denying that families can be very complicated. But they can also be full of love and good times. Maybe you would like to write a poem about your own experience of family life – good or bad, happy or sad…

    Dreams: Georgie dreams of being an actress and the book follows her determination to pursue her dream, no matter what obstacles life – or her step-dad – throw at her. Do you have a burning dream or ambition? Would you like to write a poem about your pursuit of this dream, and the importance of never giving up?

    Please send your submissions to: contact[AT]siobhancurham[DOT]co[DOT]uk by Monday 2nd April. And please give your name and age in your covering email.

    The three winning entrants will each receive a signed copy of Dear Dylan and their poems will be published on her blog http://thefadedbookmark.blogspot.com/ in April as part of the official book launch celebrations.

    The Week of Woo!

    The Week of Woo a celebration of all things John Green by Hot Key Press.

    In their own words:

    What is this all about?

    We love John Green’s books.
    At the moment, his latest book The Fault in our Stars is only being imported from the US. We want all his books to be properly looked after by a British publisher who is committed to bringing him over to the UK to meet Nerdfighters on tour.

    So, we have planned this Week of Woo to show him how much we care.

    We’d love other UK Nerdfighters help…

    Please tweet messages to @realjohngreen with #DFTBAintheUK and the link to this page http://bit.ly/ymTUmU

    Got more time? Post a British-themed happy dance video on our YouTube, Twitter or Tumblr, or a vlog with you/ your friends/ large groups of people saying “DFTBAintheUK”.

    STAY TUNED for daily updates, more giggles, punishments and perhaps a contest to come…

    Who are we?

    See our blog…

    See our ‘Why Hot Key Books Doesn’t Suck’ manifesto

    What’s a Nerdfighter? What’s DFTBA?

    The best people to explain this are John and Hank Green!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyQi79aYfxU

    DFTBA stands for what Her Majesty so sagely said: “Don’t Forget to be Awesome”.