New Zealand Authors Celebrating International Book Giving Day

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February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day. It is also International Book Giving Day — a day dedicated to getting new, used, and borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible.

Well known children’s authors from around the world including Mem Fox, Chris Haughton, Ed Emberley, Ed Vere, Peter H. Reynolds, Sandy Fussell, Priya Kuriyan, Janeen Brian, Barney Saltzberg, Hazel Edwards, and many of our brilliant local authors are giving books to children on February 14th and are encouraging others to do the same.

Here are some of our wonderful New Zealand authors and illustrators who have pledged their support for International Book Giving Day.

To acknowledge their support I think it would be great to buy some of their books to give to children on International Book Giving Day.

For more information about International Book Giving Day and how you can be involved you can read my post all about it.

Win Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan

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Zom-B Underground is the 2nd gore-filled Zom-B series and it takes you deeper inside Darren Shan’s zombie-infested world.  If you know any Darren Shan fans, or anyone who likes zombies or horror in general, the Zom-B series is fantastic.  You can read my review here on the blog (Warning: may contain spoilers).

I’ve got a copy of Zom-B Underground to give away to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Entries close Wednesday 23 January (NZ only).

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International Book Giving Day 2013 Poster

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Check out the gorgeous poster for International Book Giving Day 2013!  This poster was designed by Indian children’s author Priya Kuriyan and does, we think, an excellent job of conveying what International Book Giving Day is all about to those who are learning about International Book Giving Day for the first time.

international book giving day poster by priya kuriyan (pdf)

You can download and print the poster from the International Book Giving Day website.  To find out more about International Book Giving Day and how you can support this fantastic cause, read my Celebrate International Book Giving Day this February 14th post.

Celebrate International Book Giving Day this February 14th!

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February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day. It is also International Book Giving Day — a day dedicated to getting new, used, and borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible.

Well known children’s authors from around the world including Mem Fox, Chris Haughton, Ed Emberley, Ed Vere, Peter H. Reynolds, Sandy Fussell, Priya Kuriyan, Janeen Brian, Barney Saltzberg, Hazel Edwards, and many of our brilliant local authors are giving books to children on February 14th and are encouraging others to do the same.

There are 3 simple ways that you can get involved:

1. Giving a Book to a Friend or Relative.

Is there a child in your life who would enjoy receiving a book on February 14th? In lieu of or in addition to a card or box of chocolates, choose a good book from a bookstore or public library to give to your child, grandchild, friend, or neighbor.

2. Leaving a Book in a Waiting Room or Lobby.

Choose a waiting room where kids are stuck waiting and there are few to no good books available. Purchase a good book, and deposit your book covertly or overtly in your waiting room of choice. The goal here is to spread the love of reading to kids, so choose a fun book, nothing controversial.

3. Donating a Book.

Wrap up a box of children’s books that your kids have outgrown and get them into the hands of children who could really use a book or two. Donate your books to your local second hand store, library, children’s hospital, or nonprofit organization working to ensure that all kids have access to books.

International Book Giving Day is helping to bring books to the children all over the world that need them the most.  Organisations, including Books for Africa, Room to Read and Reach Out and Read, work to get books into the hands of children in need, and every donation counts, whether it is monetary or giving new and used books.

Here in New Zealand we have two wonderful charities that help to get books to the children who need them most – KidsCan and Duffy Books in Homes.  To find out about what they do to help children you can visit their websites:

KidsCan – www.kidscan.org.nz

Duffy Books in Homes – www.booksinhomes.org.nz

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting more information about International Book Giving Day and the ways in which you can support this wonderful cause.

At bookgivingday.com  you can register t0 support International Book Giving Day, download a gorgeous IBGD poster and print book plates to put in the books you give on the day, and find out about some of the authors and illustrators who have already pledged their support.

Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan

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Warning: may contain spoilers.

The first book in Darren Shan’s Zom-B series was an explosive book that introduced us to Darren’s zombie horde.  Like many of Darren’s fans I’ve been eagerly awaiting the second book in the series to find out what happened after the cliff-hanger ending of book one. Zom-B Underground certainly doesn’t disappoint and takes you deeper inside Darren’s zombie-infested world.

Can you hold on to your humanity when you’re a monster?

How do you face the present if you’re haunted by the past?

Where can you turn when you’re trapped in a living nightmare?

For B Smith, death is not the end!

 

One of the things I like the most about Darren Shan’s writing is that he doesn’t waste time.  After a quick recap (which I always find really helpful) we’re thrown right back into the action, with B surrounded by chaos and not knowing where she is.  There are zombies everywhere and what seem to be soldiers with various weapons, including flame-throwers.  Darren’s writing is fast-paced and he certainly keeps you on your toes with lots of twists and turns.

While not as gory as the first book, there is still plenty of skull-cracking and brain-gobbling to make readers cringe. Not since Wobblebottom in Barry Hutchison’s Doc Mortis has a clown freaked me out so much as Mr Dowling.  Darren’s description of this sadistic clown is absolutely terrifying!  He seems to appear out of nowhere and shows up at the worst possible times in the story.  A lot of mystery surrounds Mr Dowling and it’s clear that he plays an important part in the overall story of the series.  Unfortunately, it won’t be the last we’ll see of him as he seems to grace the cover of book three, Zom-B City.

The thing that really stood out for me in Zom-B Underground is the way Darren portrays life as a zombie.  There are so many intricacies of zombie life that I’d never thought about before, like issues with eating and sleeping, and even zombie privates.

Once again Darren leaves you on a cliff-hanger so that you can’t wait to rip your claws and teeth into the next book.  Luckily, we only have to wait a couple of months, as Zom-B City is released in March (with 2 more books coming after this in 2013).

4 out of 5

Darren Shan reads Zom-B Underground

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The second book in Darren Shan’s creepy Zom-B series, Zom-B Underground is out now in NZ.  The first book was gory, super-creepy and absolutely fantastic.  I’m excited, but slightly scared, to find out what happens in this next book.  Zom-B Underground is the first of 4 Zom-B books to be released in 2013 so there are plenty more Shan zombies coming our way this year.

Night School: Legacy Book Trailer

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Night School by C.J. Daugherty was one of those books which took me by surprise last year.  I didn’t know whether would be my cup of tea but I really enjoyed it (you can read my review and my interview with C.J. Daugherty here on the blog).  I’m can’t wait for the sequel, Night School: Legacy which is due out in NZ on 29 January.

2012 Cybils Book Awards Finalists

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I mentioned a couple of months ago about how I had been selected as a round 2 judge for the Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy Category of the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, or the Cybils.  The finalists have been announced today and now my work begins.  Here are the finalists in my category:

The only one I’ve already read (and totally love!) is Every Day by David Levithan, so I’m really looking forward to losing myself in the new worlds of these books over the next month.  The winner of each category will be announced on 14 February.

You can find out about the finalists in each category on the Cybils website, cybils.com.  I was pleased to see some of my other favourite books of 2012 as finalists, including The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (Fantasy and Science Fiction – Middle Grade/Elementary) and Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Middle Grade Fiction).

Have you read any of the YA Fantasy and Science Fiction finalists? What are your favourite finalists?

Shiverton Hall by Emerald Fennell

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Barry Hutchison, Will Hill, Joseph Delaney and Derek Landy are some of my favourite authors because of the way that they can creep me out, but also having me hanging on every word.  I can now add another author to this list, one with possibly the coolest name around – Emerald Fennell.  With a name like that you’re destined to become an author or an actress, and she’s both.  Her debut novel, Shiverton Hall, is a chilling tale set in a boarding school in England.

Arthur Bannister has been unexpectedly accepted into Shiverton Hall, which, as it turns out, is an incredibly spooky school, full of surprises. And it is just as well that Shiverton Hall has made its offer, because Arthur had a horrible time at his previous school, and was desperate to leave. Timely indeed . . .

But Arthur has no time to worry about the strange coincidence. He is too busy trying to make head or tail of Shiverton Hall, dogged as it is by tales of curses and bad fortune. At least there are a few friendly faces: George, who shows him around; also Penny and Jake. But not all the faces are friendly. There are the bullying Forge triplets for starters. And then there is the acid tongue of the headmistress, Professor Long-Pitt, who seems to go out of her way to make Arthur’s life a misery.

Luckily Arthur has his new friends to cheer him up. Although there are some friends that you don’t want to have at all, as Arthur is soon to find out.

I absolutely loved Shiverton Hall!  It brings together elements of my favourite horror series, Barry Hutchison’s Invisible Fiends and Will Hill’s Department 19, mixes it with a touch of Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror stories, and sets it in a kind of sinister Hogwarts.  I don’t want to give too much detail in case I spoil the story, but needless to say, if you love Barry Hutchison’s Invisible Fiends books about sinister invisible friends then you will love this story!  I liken the story to Will Hill’s Department 19 and Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror because Emerald Fennell breaks up the story of the children in the present time with stories about the history of Shiverton Hall.  The grandfather of George (one of the main characters) wrote a book called Accounts of the Supernatural and Preternatural at Shiverton Hall and Its Surrounds, and George tells his friends some of the stories throughout the book, so you find out about what has happened at Shiverton Hall in the past.  These stories of Shiverton Hall’s past are seriously creepy and I was really 0n edge as I was reading them.  Like when you watch a horror movie, I found myself holding my breath, waiting for something to jump out at me.  These historical stories are what made the book so great and I wanted to know even more about the sinister history of Shiverton Hall.

There is plenty of mystery to keep you reading too.  You want to know what is making the students do strange things, why doesn’t the headmistress believe anything they say, and what secret is Arthur keeping hidden?  Emerald keeps you guessing right up to the very end.  Just when you think the worst is over though, she knocks you in the guts and leaves you desperately wanting more.

I sure hope that Emerald is planning to write a sequel as I’m sure Arthur’s story is far from finished.  I’ll be waiting with bated breath.  In the mean time I’ll go and read her Shiverton short story, The Quality Chophouse, for free here.  If you know any young horror fans, Shiverton Hall is a must read, and it’s perfect for primary and secondary school libraries (Year 7 and up).

5 out of 5 stars