Ember Fury by Cathy Brett

August 3, 2009 9:27 pm ,

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If there is one thing Ember knows, it’s that the smallest spark of anger can ignite a whole heap of trouble

Ember is not in a happy place, after being expelled from her latest school and a stay in an institution she is packed off to stay with her (absent) rock star father and overly concerned actress stepmother. Her best friend and seemingly the only voice of sanity she listens to is imaginary (or is he) and being emo in California is not fun, until she gets her hands on a pack of matches.

A wonderful book about tragedy, family, loss, reconciliation and friendship! It is as much a work of art as it is an awesome story.

Ember Fury is the debut novel by Cathy Brett, visit her site here.

Posted in: Books, Reviews

Manga in Libraries

August 2, 2009 4:33 pm ,

Blatant self-promotion time now, earlier this year an article I wrote on Manga was published in the Public Library Journal, the article is now available to view online here

Any and all feedback will be appreciated.

Posted in: Manga

Win a copy of Rachel Riley: Back to Life by Joanna Nadin

July 23, 2009 3:44 pm ,

She’s had enough of ill-advised liaisons and is determined to find the ONE.

Who knows, if she keeps an open mind, perhaps she can even mould someone into her perfect partner – may the ONE is right under her nose . . . or maybe not!

“Carpe diem i.e. seize the day! Which means utter experimenting as far as snogging is concerned. Am never going to find the ONE if just keep having accidental liaisons with Jack or ill-advised flirtations with Justin. The ONE is out there somewhere. Maybe even right under my nose. I just need to be open-minded. And open-armed. And possibly open-mouthed.

Life, as they say, is what you make it. And am definitely, no doubt about it, going to make mine fabulous. Starting now.”

To win a copy of Joanna’s new book, answer this simple question:

Which of these jobs has author Joanna Nadin not had?

a. Speechwriter for the Prime Minister
b. Juggler
c. Coastguard

Find the answer in the
‘About the author’ section of http://www.rachel-riley.com

Send your answer and your address via e-mail to editor(at)teenlibrarian(dot)co(dot)uk with Rachel Riley in the subject line.

The competition will run until 20th August and winners will be chosen at random. The competition is open to everyone.

Posted in: Books, Competition

Teen Librarian Monthly July 2009

July 16, 2009 4:05 pm ,

This month’s edition of TLM is available to download here

Posted in: Teen Librarian Monthly

The Book Smugglers present:

July 14, 2009 9:54 pm ,

Young Adult novels rule, and are currently experiencing something of a boom in the troubled publishing world. And, we Book Smugglers have totally jumped on the increasingly crowded YA bandwagon. It is a genre that we love, and because of that love we are organizing a celebration of the genre: our first ever YA Appreciation Month, from July 19th to August 16th.
For the duration of the month, we will be discussing the merits of the genre, the apparent boom of YA literature, and the crossover appeal of YA novels. Guest authors and bloggers will be talking about their reasons for writing and reading YA and how the genre differs from books written for an adult audience.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson

July 10, 2009 10:45 am ,


Hannah Cheshire is rich and spoiled with servants to wait on her hand and foot, even a handsome young tutor to teach her.

Then it is all taken away. Alone and penniless and starving, Hannah is sentenced to transportation.

Life on the convict ship is hard and brutal, Hannah loses her innocence but comes to understand herself.

Full review will be up soon.

Posted in: Uncategorized

ToshoCON

July 8, 2009 10:12 pm ,

In Japanese the word for ‘Library’ is Toshokan.

In the UK over the past few years interest in manga and anime has grown (and grown and grown). The number of events and conventions around the country, including Kitacon, the MCM Expos in London and the Midlands, Auchinawa, EirtaKon and Fuyucon. This list is not exhaustive but just to illustrate that there are Conventions occurring all over the UK and now is the perfect time for Libraries to start thinking about staging an event or series of events.

Due to the fact that we are dispersed across the country it will be next to impossible to gather us all in one or two locations my idea is for as many libraries as possible to run events over several days and hopefully link up over the internet with videocasting of events and online chats. This can raise the profile of Libraries as places that run events that appeal to young people (and not so young people judging by the wide range of ages I have seen at other conventions).

All ideas welcome via e-mail or comments

Posted in: Activities, Event ideas, Manga, News

July 8, 2009 6:31 pm ,

Posted in: Uncategorized

SelfMadeHero Press Catalogue

July 7, 2009 10:48 am ,

Posted in: book lists, Uncategorized

Manga Jiman 2009 Competition

July 1, 2009 1:36 am ,


The Embassy of Japan is once again launching another major manga-writing competition, MANGA JIMAN 2009, with fantastic prizes. This year the competition is 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 RICOH digital camera.
Runners-up will receive and a selection of manga publications, available in the UK from various UK manga publishers and Japan Centre gift vouchers 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 although entrants are free to choose their own theme, restrictions do apply, and importantly the manga should in some way make reference to the ‘sun’. The closing date for the competition is Friday, 25 September 2009.

You can now view examples of the winning entries from previous years on our Myebook page

How to enter:
The full MANGA JIMAN COMPETITION 2009 RULES & REGULATIONS can be found here. (PDF file)

All entries must be accompanied by an official entry form which can be downloaded here. (Word file)

Please contact manga@jpembassy.org.uk with any queries about the competition.

*Entrants must be fourteen (14) by the time of the competition prizes are awarded (January 2010).
**Terms and conditions apply.

Posted in: Event ideas, Events, Manga, News, Uncategorized