The author describes it as ‘Gladiator meets Project Runway’: the dystopian reality-TV spectacle that is the premise of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, along with its sequel Catching Fire. Book Three, The Victors, is due to be published towards the end of 2010.
Australian and UK cover. Copyright rests with the publisher, Scholastic
Dystopia and Science Fiction : Blade Runner, Brazil and Beyond (or, Who’s Dystopia Is It?) (or, Dystopia is in the Eyes of the (frightened) Beholder). Notes from the Digital Cultures Project (University of California, Santa Barbara) with a definition, comments on the cultural and political sources of dystopian fiction and what we can learn from reading it.
Although not an occasion widely celebrated in Australia, Hallowe’en later this week does give the opportunity for the telling of spooky tales. And what spookier, yet what more literary than The Graveyard Book? Since its publication just over a year ago, it has garnered many awards, and Neil Gaiman has become the must-have author at any literary event. Fortunately for us, Australian readers caught him before Gaiman-fever really took off, with Neil being a guest at the 2008 Children’s Book Council of Australia National Conference in Melbourne, All the Wild Wonders. Once seen, once heard, never forgotten. He will be appearing at the Singapore Writers Festival on November 1, talking about graphic novels and fantasy.
The Vulture column at online arts ezine New York Entertainment has collated a slideshow of clips from twelve children’s films that have caused, or could now cause, controversy. They include:
The new kid on the block – Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
David Small’s graphic memoir Stitches has been named as a finalist in the Young People’s Literature category of the 2009 US National Book Awards.
While there has been some debate as to whether this is the right category for his story, there is no doubting the power of it, as the book trailer reveals. You could do worse than to use the simplicity of this trailer as a starting point to analyse how other graphic novels / memoirs are constructed. There is no sign of publication of Stitches in Australia yet, but it looks like one to watch for.
The CMIS database has a list of graphic novels and memoirs here.
With the arrival in cinemas this month of Li Cunxin’s story of peasant to international ballet star, TrailerTuesday this week focuses on Mao’s Last Dancer – the books, the picture book and the film.
Many Australian readers first met Meg Rosoff in person at the 2007 Reading Matters Conference, where her self-deprecating wit was very much in tune with the our own sense of humour. How I Live Now was her first novel and although she was a latecomer to YA writing, each of her subsequent novels are also gems, attested by the number of awards they have collectively garnered. For a debut novel to win or be shortlisted as many awards as it has is remarkable. See the list at the end of this post.
The book trailer featured was a winner of the 2006 Teen Book Video Award hosted by Expanded Books. The world is hungry for YA book trailers. Why not ask your students to try their hand and share the results? Here are some tips.
Initially published in Australia as an adult novel but in the US as a YA title, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief has since been translated into many languages and embraced by readers around the world. It has mentioned in the same context as Diary of a Young Girl, with which it would make a stimulating paired text.
Another Book trailer (winner of the 2006 Teen Book Video Award)
Hour-long radio interview (2006) on American University Radio. Markus reads from the beginning of the book and touches on the nature of YA literature in response to a listener question. (Audio file).
The blogosphere has embraced Nonfiction Monday and Poetry Friday, so let’s trial an alliterative celebration: Trailer Tuesday.
Given the interest in literature promotion through trailers, each week we’ll feature a trailer of a recommended book and add some supporting material. Suggestions are always welcome.
Trailer Tuesday starts with Kristin Cashore’s first novel, Graceling – a book that has found universal praise and a number of coveted awards.
As the last weeks of the school year roll by, you might like to alert your students to a competition that Simmone Howell is running. Her new book, Everything Beautiful, will be released next week and the author of award-winning Notes from the Teenage Underground has made a video trailer:
To check out how to win one of three signed copies of the new book, see Simmone’s blog.
The Fiction Focus Blog is published by Curriculum Materials Information Services (CMIS), Department of Education and Training, Western Australia. It is designed to provide news about current events, resources and research to assist teachers and teacher librarians engage teenagers with books and reading.
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book trailers, literature promotion | Tagged: booktrailers, dystopia, LiteraturePromotion, ScienceFiction, TrailerTuesday | 
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Posted by judij
The blogosphere has embraced 
