The Book Nut

Trisha Buckley (2012 QLD judge) and I (2012 WA judge) discuss the shortlist for the 2012 CBCA Book of the Year Awards for the Older Readers category. The winners of the Awards are announced in Book Week later this month!

We talk about the six shortlisted books on the Older Readers list, with our usual digressions into other areas. The books are:

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The Book Nut, Episode Three

Hosted by Tehani Wessely

Guest Trisha Buckley

Recorded Monday 1 November 2011

43 minutes

Trisha and I discussed urban fantasy and paranormal books for teens. What exactly is the genre? What books do we love? What should librarians be wary of?

Books and authors we talked about

Cherub series by Robert Muchamore (not the genre!)

Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eager

Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Cirque du Freak series (also the graphic novels) and Demonata series by Darren Shan

I am not a serial killer by Dan Wells

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Generation Dead series by Daniel Waters

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

Burnt Snow by Van Badham

The Shattering and Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

This is Shyness by Leanne Hall

Thyla by Kate Gordon

Solace and Grief by Foz Meadows

The Wilful Eye (edited by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab)

Killer Unicorns series by Diana Peterfreund

Curse Workers series by Holly Black

The Mediator series by Meg Cabot

Abandon trilogy by Meg Cabot

Mercy series by Rebecca Lim

Halo series by Alexandra Adornetto

The Violet Eden Chapters by Jessica Shirvington

Hush, hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick

Fallen series by Lauren Kate

Immortals series by Alyson Noel

The Demon’s Lexicon trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan

Christopher Pike

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer (also the graphic novels)

Good Neighbours graphic novels by Holly Black

We also mentioned the Laurell K Hamilton books as a cautionary tale (not suitable for school libraries).

Tehani very much likes the idea put forward by Garth Nix that YA is a subset of adult fiction rather than children’s fiction and should have an entry reading age rather than an age range.

And if you’re interested in defining the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal, Keri Arthur has a good examination of the topic here.

And we mentioned in passing…

Isobelle Carmody

Brandon Sanderson

Patrick Rothfuss

Trent Jamieson

Keri Arthur

Tansy Rayner Roberts

Will Elliott

Marcus Zusak (The Book Thief)

Melina Marchetta (Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son)

Craig Silvey (Jasper Jones)

Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Tehani semi-regularly updates her page of recommendations of spec fic for school libraries, which might be of interest.

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The Book Nut, Episode Two

Hosted by Tehani Wessely

Guest Tansy Rayner Roberts

Recorded Monday 3 October 2011

Feedback from Thoraiya Dyer

In this episode, Tansy and I discussed spec fic for children and young adults and why we think SF is a good addition to any library or family collection.

Tansy wrote a blog post for the Locus Round Table on science fiction for children – well worth reading!

Books and authors we talked about:

Tiny Titans comics

L Frank Baum

E Nesbit

Edward Eager – Half Magic

Diana Wynne Jones

Troubletwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix

Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree books

Through the Looking Glass, and what Alice found there by Lewis Carroll

Runaways (Marvel Comics)

The Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)

The Shattering by Karen Healey

Red Glove (and White Cat) by Holly Black

The Demon’s Lexicon trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Gillian Rubenstein’s books, such as Space Demons and Beyond the Labyrinth

And a new duology we’re rather excited about: Team Human, forthcoming from Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier.

Tehani semi-regularly updates her page of recommendations of spec fic for school libraries, which might be of interest.

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The Book Nut, Episode One

Hosted by Tehani Wessely

Guest Alex Pierce

Recorded Monday 12 September 2011

Alex’s favourites

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (studied with Year 10)

The Outsiders by SE Hinton (studied with Year 8 )

(she also sneaks in a reference to her Pirates of the Caribbean unit – for more information on that, check out the Swancon EduStream page!

Books Alex would love to teach

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

Liar by Justine Larbalestier – Tehani would love to do this one too! Warning, if you plan to read this one, just do it – don’t find out ANYTHING about it first!

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Tehani’s favourites

Tomorrow when the war began by John Marsden (studied with Years 9 and 10)

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (studied with Year 10)

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare (studied with Year 10) – Alex dislikes it!

Books Tehani would love to teach

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

The Two Pearls of Wisdom by Alison Goodman

The Changeling by Sean Williams

Pearl versus the World by Sally Murphy (illustrated by Heather Potter)

Other books mentioned

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne/p>

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Pagan’s Crusade by Catherine Jinks

Riddle of the Trumalar by Judy Bernard-Waite

Troubletwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Mister Monday, (Keys to the Kingdom series) by Garth Nix

Tehani semi-regularly updates her page of recommendations of spec fic for school libraries, which might be of interest.

Listen Now:

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Welcome to the home of The Book Nut, semi-regular Australian podcast discussing children’s and YA books, for libraries and parents and anyone interested! The Book Nut is hosted by Tehani Wessely and each episode features a different guest, who will come from a wide variety of backgrounds, discussing fiction for children and young adults.

You can stream each episode from this website, or subscribe through iTunes.

If you have feedback, feel free to email Tehani at fablecroft [at] gmail [dot] com

You can also "like" our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Book-Nut/194044493997733?sk=info

Hope you enjoy the show!

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