Nowadays you can’t swing a cat around in a library without hitting a student either studying, chatting up someone they find attractive or copying something from the internet, or a book/magazine (but usually the internet).

The COpyright Licencing Agency as put together a two page sheet called the Students Guide to Copyright that can be downloaded here

Today is Thorsday – now I am cursed on thorsday I was supposed to have a revieof a Thor graphic novel butw  noooooooooooo!  Work and stuff got in the way – so next week Thorsday will launch and I will try and keep it as oriented on Aesir and Vikings as possible!

I would tell the Thor joke but it is not actually that funny

You know yhe one that ends:

I am Thor I am Thor!  

You are thor? I’m tho thor…

Thorsday will be here same time next week!

I promise!

Today marks the fifth anniversary of Teen Librarian.It was on the 15th May 2006 that the first edition of Teen Librarian Monthly was sent out to 12 librarians. I ma pretty sure that most of them still subscribe.

The first issue is still readable here

If you are interested in writing for TLM please e-mail me at editor(at)teenlibrarian.co.uk

Pirates, by nature, aren’t terribly literate. As a consequence, no book can hope to fully prepare the pampered, modern-day layabout for the lusty life of a pirate.

This book, however, will put you on the right path – the path to adventure, treasure, glory, mystery, and, every so often, the bottom of a barrel of rum.

Just in time for the première of On Stranger Tides comes The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook: a Swashbuckler’s Guide from Pirates of the Caribbean.

A handy guides for lovers of the piratical arts this book gives you the hows and wherefores of becoming a scurvy dog of the high seas.

For instance it will educate you in the different types of pirate, no longer when asked “What are Buccaneers?” will you answer “The things you listen through on the sides of your Buccan’head!” There are also corsairs, freebooters and privateers – just so you know!

Not only a shameless tie in to the popular Disney franchise it is also an entertaining and educational tome written with tongue firmly in cheek. It is a good idea to take heed of the warning on the copyright page.

This book is a fine guide for any lubber wishing to become a swaggering Pirate captain in the vein of Jack Sparrow – the finest brigand to sail with the Brethren Court.

You may be thinking that this book will only have relevance whenever a Pirates of the Caribbean  film is released – but you would be wrong.  There is also International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th September. Preparation for Halloween, and any other event you can hang a piratical hat on – remember rum is good any time of year!

This book is rated Aarg!

In the beginning there was me and mum and dad and the twins.
And good luck was upon us and things were great and talk about happy families, we were bountiful.
But it came to pass that I started doin gsins. And lo, that’s when all our problems began…
So begins Grace by Morris Gleitzman. A family epic of biblical proportions, about religion, love, separation, loss and religious persecution as seen through the eyes of a child.
Never has life in a fundamental Christian community seemed so funny and tragic at the same time, Morris Gleitzman handles a topic that, if told through the eyes of an adult, would be tragic and heartbreaking, with his usual style and humour. Grace is a precocious child, with an open and questioning outlook on life that draws the ire of her Grandpop and other elders of their community as she is branded sinful and mocking of the Lord.
Being sinful is confusing to Grace as she has never before considered herself to be a sinner. Throughout the book her best friend Delilah forms a one-child Greek chorus pronouncing damnation and sinfulness upon her “What if an ungodly sinner neighbour wants to borrow your lawnmower?” The pronouncements and dununciations that would be crushing and hurtful from a grown up take on a humour that is both mirth-inducing and heartbreaking.
Things come to a head when her family is split up by the community and her dad is excommunicated, from then on there is a dark undercurrent of fear and tension that runs alongside the humour of Grace’s view of what is happening. Although the style of writing is fairly biblical from Grace’s internal monologues, the foreshadowing of children playing Daniel in the Lion’s (and penguin’s) Den and the parable of the Good Samaritan this is not a story is not about Christianity, it is a novel of love, acceptance, family and belief in yourself and others.

Grace is a brief novel, easily read in one sitting, but it is beautifully written and will stay with the reader long after it has been put down!

I loved it!

Q1   What influenced your decision to write for Teenagers?

Other than the time travel series of which Tomorrow’s Guardian is the first, I also have written the first of a historical fiction series ‘The Amber Treasure’ which although I believed I was writing for adults does seem popular with some older teens. There is also a historical Fantasy ‘The Last Seal’ set in the Great Fire of London and also written for Young Adults.

I generally set out to write books I would like to read. I enjoy reading a lot of Young Adult Fiction such as Garth Nix – Keys to the Kingdom – as well as Harry Potter of course, Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard book, Darren Shan and so forth. Since quite a lot of what I enjoy reading falls into YA/ teen fiction I guess I tend to write in that style. To me a lot of the best books (and for that matter TV and film) is aimed at a crossover audience and accessible by 8 to 80 year olds. For this audience you need a strong story and good characters and a fast pace to the book.

Q2 How do you get into the heads of your characters?

Before I write a book I sit down with a notepad and try to sketch out each main character. I ask myself what is their main strength and weakness and what motivates them. What do they want and what will they do to make that happen? Then I find that as I write the book I KNOW how a character should act to any situation.

Q3    Do you know instinctively what will appeal to Teens or is it more a hit or miss process?

Well I am a pretty new writer of course and although I have had some good reviews and interest in Tomorrow’s Guardian and other books I am not arrogant enough to believe I am an expert. Far from that at this stage. So I usually work on the basis that if I enjoy a passage and so do some readers and my editor that I am getting it right. If I give someone a passage to read and they tell me they don’t understand a bit, or it was dull or confusing then it needs a revision. So I believe I am learning how to write for this audience, expect to learn more and I hope I will get better.

Q4    What is the most satisfying part of the writing process for you?

When I plot out a book I start with only a spark of an idea. I mull it over – quite often for weeks. Then as I try to sketch out a plot I get little moments when something about a character inspires an idea that you can work into the story. So I may be struggling with a section and not sure how to make it work when that spark comes along and it can be a bit of a eureka moment when you realise you have cracked it. Another fun part of writing is when you have the first draft done and you are going through the book working on dialogue and descriptions. I have  a lot of fun with descriptions of historical locations.

Q5    Do you ever read the works of other Teen/YA authors?  If yes what can you recommend?

I have covered quite a few of these in Q1. Everyone has heard of Harry Potter so that hardly needs a recommendation from me but I still take my hat off to Rowling’s genius in inventing such a rich believable world. However I would say that Garth Nix and his Keys to the Kingdom series is excellent and rivals Harry Potter for detail and depth.

Q6    Are any of your novels based on personal experiences?

Well I am a GP in the ‘day job’ and not a Saxon Warrior, Time Traveller or sorcerer. So it is not so much personal experience so much as tapping into 40+ years of reading, TV and Films. These have been heavily Sci Fi and Fantasy orientated such as Terry Pratchett’s amazing Disk World books, David Eddings and Raymond Feist’s writing as well as the Young Adult fiction which I have mentioned. There is also a lot of historical fantasy including Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series and others. I was 11 when I saw the first Star Wars Movie (Number IV now) and around then the first Indiana Jones came out. I grew up with the classic series of Dr Who including the superb John Pertwee and Tom Baker era. I am also very fond of historical sites and have toured many battlefields such as Agincourt, Crecy, Normandy and Waterloo and visited a vast array of ancient and medieval buildings. I went to school in sight – it was literally just out the window – of Warwick Castle. Gradually all that soaks in and went into the pot from which I draw when I write.

Q7   Are you working on anything new at the moment or do you have anything planned?

My editor and I are just tidying up Yesterday’s Treasures – the sequel to Tomorrow’s Guardian. I hope that will be published in the late Spring. I am also working on the sequel to The Amber Treasure and have plans for a sequel to The Last Seal. So I hope to bring out some new books in the next 12 months.

Q8 Do you ever do Library visits to Teen Reading Groups? If yes, what is the best way to get into contact with you or your agent about it?

I would be happy to do visits to a Library. For this purpose, the best way to contact me is via my website and my email address r.denning (at) btinternet.com
I have a talk/workshop designed to be entertaining and thought provoking for children of ages 10 to 14 – Years 5 to 9.
It is intended to fit into World Book Day and other activities.
Duration – can be adjusted but will be circa 60 minutes. Event consists of talks, readings and activities: Time travel sounds like fun until you try it!
 
The fascination of time travel and why it could be more dangerous than you think!
There is  a pdf on my website about the talk:
http://www.richarddenning.co.uk/Richard_Denning_School_Talk.pdf