His Dark Materials

So I wrote quite a long time ago about “The Golden Compass” which being a fantasy girl I really enjoyed. At the beginning of the summer I read the rest of the trilogy “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass”. So there is a pretty huge problem in talking about the other books in the trilogy in that I do not want to give away the end of the first book. Let’s just say that I liked them both. I have heard some negative things about the second book but I really liked it. I know that often the second book in a trilogy can drag because it is really setting up the last one but I really liked Will and found it moved along pretty well. This series is great especially for kids who are questioning the powers that be both political and religious. I’m sure that is why it is also so popular for adults who also want an atheist manifesto.

Now we can just sit back and wait until the Golden Compass film comes out at the end of the year. The preview looks awesome but I hope that it doesn’t lose too much in the adaptation. I love the look of Oxford and Iorek. Could the casting have been any better? I don’t think so. I wonder if they will make the other films and how the US market will deal with the overall message of knowledge is better than God (or if they will just skip that).

Trilogy rating – must have for the bookshelf, great re-reading potential.
Popularity -  It’s pretty hot already but expect it to go through the rook by Xmas…

High School Musical

Or Musicale as it is oft pronounced in the film. Yes I have finally gotten around to watching this mega hit. I have to admit that there is nothing a teen movie needs more than a choreographed dance number, preferably during a prom scene. Well HSM has no prom but it has plenty of musical numbers and large group dance routines which are my personal favourites.

So the storyline is pretty basic. There is a kind of creepy brother/sister team who are the king and queen of the musicale theatre in the school. There is the star of the basketball team and the new girl. The basketball guy Troy, played quite well by Zac Ephron, meets the new girl Gabriella at some sort of resort during the Xmas break. They are forced to share a karaoke duet and sing crazy well. When Troy returns to school he is interested in the musical but is terrified that he will be teased to death. Admittedly in high school I hung out with the nerds who were happy to participate in our Shakespeare productions but I think even they would have shied away from musicals.  Troy is very happy to discover that Gabriella has just transfered to his school (what a coincidence). Together they try to take on the stereotyping and compartmentalizing which happens in all high schools.

So what did I think? I enjoyed this movie, although I have to admit that I did not give it my full attention. Like some musicals I found the parts where they weren’t singing mind of slow. As other reviews have discussed it is really nice to see people under the age of the 30 playing high school kids. This movie is definitely a fun time and you know that many 13 girls and others will wear out the DVD especially with the sing along version which provides you with the lyrics. It may not be the best plot but the message is good, do what ever the hell makes you happy. Something more high school kids need to here.

Quality – 3.5/5
Popularity – 6/5

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

The sequel to the Travelling Pants, and rumoured to be a film waiting to happen. I have to say that I enjoyed the Second Summer much more than the first. Bridget finds that her Dad has hidden letters from her Grandmother. She decides to go down to stay with her Grandmother for the summer, but she doesn’t let her Grandma know she is coming. Tibby goes to film school for the summer and has to decide what she wants to do with her life. Lena struggles with the after-effects of what happened in Greece the year before and tries to uncover a secret that her Mom has been keeping.  Carmen now has to deal with her feelings as her Mom starts to date again.

The stories are all very interesting although Bridget’s was the most compelling. I started to get annoyed with Carmen, although I think that may be because I’m getting old. This is definitely a good summer read with just the right amount of serious conflict.

Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

The first of the series this book introduces us to Georgia Nicolson. Georgia is a pretty standard Brit teen with an embarrassing family, funny friends but no guys in sight. As Georgia tries to figure out the opposite sex she gets stuck with a variety of problems. The guys don’t seem to do anything other than make out (snogging). All this time Georgia tries to catch the eye of the older Sex God, brother of the guy her best friend is in love with.

Told in a diary style I really enjoyed this book. The situations that Georgia gets herself into are quite amusing, although usually more of the embarrassing sort of amusing.  I wanted Georgia to get the Sex God but I have the feeling (being older and wiser then I was at 14) that it will end badly. A very typical British sense of humour is expressed in the book and a helpful glossary is given at the back “for American readers”. I was familiar with some of the terms and the other ones I got used to pretty quickly. There isn’t any message in this book which is great, it is just a fun read. I look forward to checking out other books in the series.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

So doing this for school has officially ended but I don’t think I’m going to let go of this blog or reading YA. With school out I wanted to decompress with some more reading. I chose this one as I had seen the movie last year but never read the book.

 Plot summary:
Four girls born in the same month whose Mom’s were friends are spending their first summer apart. As they prepare to depart on their first individual adventures they find a pair of pants which magically fit them all. Unlike the film this is not done at the store but in Carmen’s room. You follow each of the girls through new and exciting/horrifying/embarasing situations. 

Evaluation:
I sort of enjoyed this movie just because of the actresses but as always the book is so much better. The plots are explored more deeply and the characters are more real. I felt that Carmen and Tibby’s stories were well portrayed in the film but not the other ones. I liked this book but didn’t love it. It was a fun summer read and at 15 on the beach I’m sure it would have been fabulous. I guess I’m getting old as I wanted to know more about the Mom’s as well as the daughters.

Score:    Quality – 3/5     Popularity  – 4/5

Bride & Prejudice

As the musical is the genre of the moment (see High School Musical) and I have a love of the Brit and Bollywood I chose this film to review. Bride and Prejudice is a re-telling of Pride and Prejudice but it is fairly loose. There is a guy called Mr. Darcy and many miscommunications occur but you do not need to be familiar with the book to get the film.

Lalita is the main character, the head-strong second eldest of four daughters. Lalita’s mother wants nothing more to marry her daughters off to successful Indian boys who preferably live in America. During many discussions about marriage and love there are the necessary song and dance routines. Lalita meets Mr. Darcy and American friend of a wedding guest, he and Lalita are at odds almost instantly. Darcy sees Lalita’s family as gold diggers and she sees him as an arrogant Westerner. Cultural barrier and stereotypes replace the class discussions of the original.

I enjoyed this film for itself and not a “re-make” of Austen’s work. The song and dance numbers were fantastic, including the hilarious “no life without wife”. I’m sure that this movie would appeal to a certain group of teens but probably not all of them. You could also sell this film to some LOST fans as it stars Naveen Andrews who plays Sayid. I would definitely consider including this in a collection, especially in areas where it wouldn’t be held in the video store.

Audience: 13+ (girls primarily) Rated PG-13
Ranking: Quality 4/5 Popularity 3.5/5

Burning London

This tribute album has a variety of artists including No Doubt, Ice Cube, Third Eye Blind and Moby. They cover classic Clash songs, like “London’s Burning” and “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” in a variety of styles.

Some of these covers work pretty well. I liked Ice Cube and Mack 10’s rendition of “Should I Stay or Should I go” and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones do a good job of “Rudie can’t fail”. But others I had to ship through. I couldn’t listen to No Doubt’s “Hateful”, or Cracker’s “White Riot” with a country twang. On one hand it is interesting to listen to tribute albums to see how new artists work with this classic material, but on the other hand I often just wanted to hear the original. I would recommend that libraries should just add the original albums or a “best of” rather than a tribute album. The tributes date much more quickly as the “hot bands” selected fade out of popularity.

Age Range: 13+
Ranking: Quality – 3/5 Popularity – 2/5

Stratford (Ontario) Public Library

The site

This site seemed so promising. OK it’s not super cool but it seemed pretty simple and sleek, but perhaps a little childish. The site covers a broad range of topics: magazines, entertainment, books, sports, online resources, study sites, jobs, college and your library. I was very disappointed to find out that all the pages were just sets of links. There was little original content and some of the links were sort of questionable. I found that the original content that did exist was rather condescending discussing things like how they will work with you if you have fines, or how it’s “HIP” to use the library catalogue.

Audience: 14+ according to website (12+ according to me)
Ranking: 2/5

Giant Robot (issue 43)

Giant Robot tags itself as “Asian Pop culture and Beyond” and it definitely delivers. This magazine has lists of music, books, and movies as well as in-depth articles about film festivals, researchers in Antarctica and more. This magazine managed to balance its representations of Asian culture very well featuring people from a variety of countries. I feel that this magazine would be good for people of Asian background or just those interested in the culture, which is very hot right now.

I enjoyed this magazine and I think that I may even consider buying a subscription. It was accessible to non-Asians but was true to its mission. There was a real variety of information given and some very interesting articles. I think that this magazine is aimed at the slightly older teens because of the content.

Age Range: 15+
Ranking: Quality – 4.5/5 Popularity – 4/5 (perhaps a little nichy)

So Much for the City – The Thrills

The Thrills are described as an indie/rock band from Dublin. This debut album is very California heavy with songs like “Big Sur” and “Santa Cruz (you’re not that far)”, inspired from their vacation in San Diego. This strong California influence lead to the band being featured on The O.C., in seasons one and two. This album is pretty mellow overall with catchy tunes that stick in your head but don’t bug you. The Thrills list their influences as Dylan and the Beach Boys and I can see that from this album. Even their upbeat songs have a touch of that melancholy that bands like Coldplay made famous.

I am a pretty big fan of Brit Rock which is why I jumped on this album when I saw it in the HPL YA collection. I’m not sure how big The Thrills still are with the teens but they are still producing albums, their third is on the way (according to their MySpace page). This is a pretty good album for lazy summers or even just chillin’ in your room. This wasn’t my taste in music as a teen but I’m sure some of them would like it. Even without The O.C. I don’t think that California will ever go out of style.

Age range: 14+
Ranking: Quality – 4/5 Popularity – 3/5