CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus » booktrailers http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:01:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Trailer Tuesday: One Whole and Perfect Day http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/12/01/trailer-tuesday-one-whole-and-perfect-day/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/12/01/trailer-tuesday-one-whole-and-perfect-day/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:34:24 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=2419 Is Judith Clarke the most reclusive of our Australian authors? She’s a multi-award winner and yet we don’t really know much about her. Nor is she known for appearing at conferences and other literary events. It’s rare to hear her talking about her work, so we are happy to have found her on YouTube telling us about One Whole and Perfect Day (2006), a gem of a novel that has been recognised in awards both here and overseas.

Having struggled to find much supporting material for either Judith Clarke or the book, we are starting to wonder if ‘under-appreciated’ is a relevant descriptor?

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The author

The text

Reviews

Interviews and articles

  • None that we can locate – please let us know of anything you are aware of. Even Trove, a terrific new Australian search tool, failed us.

Awards (ah, that’s better)

* Information from publisher’s website

Read more

Judith Clarke and One Whole and Perfect Day have been on our Trailer Tuesday radar for a while, but the lack of supporting material kept it a low profile project. Having completed the task, however, it now appears that it’s precisely the lack of supporting material that makes it so important to have highlighted this book before it fades away.

This is the last Trailer Tuesday for the year. Next week, a recap.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/12/01/trailer-tuesday-one-whole-and-perfect-day/feed/ 0 Tip Top Trailer http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/2393/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/2393/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:59:10 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=2393 The game has been lifted with book trailers. Check out this professional offering from the New Zealand Book Council for Maurice Gee’s Going West (1993), which just goes to show that a book doesn’t have to be freshly published to get top trailer treatment.

Via twitter and numerous RTs – it came to us from @misrule_au

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/2393/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: American Born Chinese http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/trailer-tuesday-american-born-chinese/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/trailer-tuesday-american-born-chinese/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:30:20 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=2349 American Born Chinese broke new ground when it became the first graphic novel be nominated for the US National Book Award and also the first to win the Michael L. Printz Award in 2007.

It skilfully intertwines the legend of the Monkey King with a story of immigration and cultural heritage, and speaks to all who have struggled with identity and belonging with a relevance far beyond just the US experience. The contribution of colourist Lark Pien to the extrardinary look and feel of this book should not be overlooked.

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The creator

The text

Reviews

Interviews with Gene Yang

Awards

Read More

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/24/trailer-tuesday-american-born-chinese/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: The Hunger Games http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/03/trailer-tuesday-the-hunger-games/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/03/trailer-tuesday-the-hunger-games/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:00:05 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1881 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.

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Australian and UK cover. Copyright rests with the publisher, Scholastic

The author

The text

Reviews

Articles and Interviews

Awards

Dystopian fiction

The film

Read more dystopian fiction: a list from the CMIS database.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/03/trailer-tuesday-the-hunger-games/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: The Graveyard Book http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/27/trailer-tuesday-the-graveyard-book/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/27/trailer-tuesday-the-graveyard-book/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:10:32 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1746 resized_9780747594802_224_297_FitSquare 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.

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The author

The text

Reviews

Articles and interviews

Awards

The film

Other books by Neil Gaiman

  • Reviews of some of his titles  in the CMIS database

Come, dance The Macabray.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/27/trailer-tuesday-the-graveyard-book/feed/ 1 Trailer Tuesday: The Two Pearls of Wisdom http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/20/trailer-tuesday-the-two-pearls-of-wisdom/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/20/trailer-tuesday-the-two-pearls-of-wisdom/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:30:48 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1657 9780732288006Singing the Dogstar Blues (1998) marked the debut of a writer to watch, as the awards it garnered testified.  Set in the near future, with more than a dash of humour, those of us who enjoyed that book have waited a long time for more. It took until 2008 for Alison Goodman to publish again – first an adult crime title, Killing the Rabbit, followed soon after by The Two Pearls of Wisdom. This latter book has other titles depending where you live, but more of that later. It’s been worth the wait.

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The author

Interviews

The text

Published in Australia as The Two Pearls of Wisdom, this title has been released in the UK as Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye and in the USA Eon: Dragoneye Reborn. Don’t be fooled, they are exactly the same book, despite cover and name change, but the dedicated websites are certainly worth a visit.

Reviews and articles

Awards

Teacher’s Notes

The sequel, Necklace of the Gods, is due to be published in 2010. While you are waiting, there is more Eastern fantasy to be had from another Australian author -  Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori series -  or you can bone up on the history of Feng Shui.

Good news too that Singing the Dogstar Blues has been reissued ten years on.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/20/trailer-tuesday-the-two-pearls-of-wisdom/feed/ 0 What would the children think? http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/18/what-would-the-children-think/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/18/what-would-the-children-think/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:53:05 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1705 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)
  • The Black Cauldron (1985) adapted from Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain
  • Little Buddha (1993)
  • A Disney trio: Dumbo (1941), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Peter Pan (1953)
  • North (1994)
  • Song of the South (1946) adapted from Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus stories
  • The 5000 Fingers of Dr T (1953)  – a Theodore Geisel affair, later disowned by him
  • The Thief and the Cobbler (1964) – based on stories from the Arabian Nights
  • Babe : Pig in the City (1998)
  • The Brave Little Toaster (1987) adapted from a novel by Thomas M. Disch

More here about the brouhaha that Wild Things is generating, but for the rest, see the annotations on the slideshow.

The link to this fascinating piece of film history was first spotted on the educating alice blog.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/18/what-would-the-children-think/feed/ 0 Stitches http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/17/stitches/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/17/stitches/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:12:43 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1648 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.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/17/stitches/feed/ 0 TrailerTuesday: Mao’s Last Dancer http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/13/trailertuesday-maos-last-dancer/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/13/trailertuesday-maos-last-dancer/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:01:56 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1474 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.

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The man

  • Li Cunxin’s website
  • Biography (from the website)
  • Interview (ABC RN’s Life matters – podcast, 2007 )
  • Interview (Radio New Zealand National – podcast 2007)
  • Interview (Ballet Magazine UK, 2003)
  • Interview with Peter Thompson, Part 1 (Talking Heads 2006, ABC TV) Transcript only
  • Interview with Peter Thompson, Part 2 (Talking Heads 2006, ABC TV) Transcript only
  • Article – Dance of the peasant prince (SMH 2003)

The texts

Adult edition (2003)

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Awards

Young readers edition (2005)

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Awards

The Peasant Prince, with Anne Spudvilas (2007)

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Published in US as Dancing to Freedom (2008)

Awards

The film

The history

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/13/trailertuesday-maos-last-dancer/feed/ 3 Trailer Tuesday: How I Live Now http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/06/trailer-tuesday-how-i-live-now/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/06/trailer-tuesday-how-i-live-now/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:30:27 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1303 9780141319926Many 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.

Dig Deeper

About the Author

The text

Reviews of How I Live Now

Teachers Notes for How I Live Now

Awards for How I Live Now

Interviews with Meg Rosoff

Articles written by Meg Rosoff

Other YA titles by Meg Rosoff

Don’t let this, or indeed any of Meg Rosoff’s books, slip under your radar. If you haven’t read her yet, you are in for a treat.

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