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Banshees, Furies, and Baba Yaga: A Round-Up of Monstrous Women and Fatal Femmes for International Women’s Day 2024

To celebrate the upcoming International Women’s Day (8th of March – get your camellias ready!), we’re taking a look at some of the most viciously haunting women known to folklore and mythology. From the Mexican ghost story of La Llorona to Jenny Greenteeth, the malevolent water hag of English folklore, these terrifying tales celebrate the darker side of some of the fiercest femme fatales, and remind us to embrace women’s rights and women’s wrongs…

via GIPHY


Banshees

A blood-curdling fixture of Irish mythology, a Banshee (or ‘woman of the fairy mound’) is recognisable by their long hair and typically red or green attire. Believed to be the spirits of women who were either murdered or died during childbirth, they herald the death of a family member with their distinctive shrieks and wailing.

Furies

The Furies are chthonic (relating to the underworld) goddesses of vengeance in Ancient Greek mythology, best known for hunting down and punishing those who have violated their code of justice. While artists differ in their depictions, they’re frequently shown with hair made of snakes and the wings of a bat (hot girl summer amirite). When named, the three furies go by Allecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera.

La Llorona

While there are slight variations in the account of La Llorona’s origins, she is most commonly believed to be the vengeful ghost of a woman mourning her children, whom she drowned in a fit of jealous rage after discovering her husband’s adultery. She is said to haunt bodies of water, weeping loudly and searching for the bodies of her children.

Baba Yaga

The iconic chicken-legged-house-inhabiting witch of Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga appears as an elderly woman who is at times a benevolent and helpful force, and at other times perfectly ready to set people on fire and eat their children. Yes queen.

Lamia

Another hot snake lady of dubious specifics, Lamia is a figure from Ancient Greek mythology who is either A) an ordinary woman who fell victim to Zeus’s infidelity and Hera’s subsequent wrath, or B) the monstrous descendent of Hecate, goddess of witchcraft. Described as being half-snake, half-woman, reports of Lamia’s beauty vary – with some sources describing her as a beautiful human from the waist up, and other sources attributing her with the face of a demon.

Jenny Greenteeth

A water-dwelling monster of English folklore, Jenny Greenteeth derives her name from her green skin and hair, and her razor-sharp teeth. Because she’s one to commit to a theme, she’s best associated with green water such as bogs or stagnant ponds, and green water plants like algae and duckweed. Also she drowns and eats people, but that’s secondary to the fact that she’s embraced her favourite colour.

 

And now, here are some books so you can settle in with a blanket and mug of tea and read about strong and monstrous women to your heart’s content.


Her radiant curse / Lim, Elizabeth
“Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Squad / Tokuda-Hall, Maggie
“Becca moves to an upscale Silicon Valley suburb and is surprised when she develops a bond with girls who belong to the popular clique – and even more surprised when she learns their secrets”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Warriors, witches, women : mythology’s fiercest females / Hodges, Kate
“Meet mythology’s fifty fiercest females in this modern retelling of the world’s greatest legends. From feminist fairies to bloodsucking temptresses, half-human harpies and protective Vodou goddesses, these are women who go beyond long-haired, smiling stereotypes.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Daughter of smoke & bone / Taylor, Laini (series)
“Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters–the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known.” (Catalogue)
To kill a kingdom / Christo, Alexandra
“Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. […] When a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into a human as punishment. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lore / Bracken, Alexandra
“Every seven years there is a hunt offering mortal descendants of gods the opportunity to claim their divinity by killing any of nine immortals made mortal for one night. Lore Perseous has no desire to participate, embittered because her family was killed by a rival who then ascended to godhood. When a childhood friend asks her to help, and a wounded god offers an alliance, Lore overlooks the steep cost of this decision in exchange for vengeance.” (Catalogue)

Lies we sing to the sea / Underwood, Sarah
“Hanged in an annual sacrificial ritual to Poseidon, seventeen-year-old oracle Leto awakens on an island inhibited by Melantho, a strange immortal girl with oceanic powers, who tells Leto the only way to break Poseidon’s curse is to return to Ithaca and kill the prince.” (Catalogue)

A court of thorns and roses / Maas, Sarah J (series)
“Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from stories, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin, a High Lord of the faeries. As her feelings toward him transform from hostility to a firey passion, the threats against the faerie lands grow. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose Tamlin forever” — Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Attack of the 50 foot wallflower / Heidicker, Christian McKay
“Phoebe Darrow and her mom have faced flesh-eating plants, blobs from outer space, and radioactive ants […] All Phoebe wants is to stop running from motel to motel and start living a monster-free life. But when her mom mysteriously vanishes, Phoebe is left to fend for herself in small-town Pennybrooke. And that’s when Phoebe starts to transform….” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Girl, goddess, queen / Fitzgerald, Bea
“Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying. The real story is much more interesting. Persephone wasn’t taken to hell: she jumped.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Orpheus girl / Rebele-Henry, Brynne
“Raya– abandoned by her mother, obsessed with ancient myths– lives with her grandmother in a small conservative Texas town. For years she has hidden her feelings for her best friend and true love, Sarah. When the two are caught in an intimate moment, they are sent to Friendly Saviors: a re-education camp meant to “fix” them and make them heterosexual. Subjected to abusive and brutal “treatments” by the staff, Raya vows to assume the mythic role of Orpheus to save them both and to return them to the world of the living… at any cost.” (Catalogue)

Daughter of darkness / Corr, Katharine (series)
“Deina is trapped. As one of the Soul Severers serving the god Hades on earth, her future is tied to the task of shepherding the dying on from the mortal world unless she can earn or steal enough to buy her way out. Then the tyrant ruler Orpheus offers both fortune and freedom to whoever can retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld. (Adapted from Catalogue)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein : a retelling / Landman, Tanya
“A thrilling gothic tale of hubris gone badly wrong. A young man’s search for the secret of the spark of life leads him to a horrific experiment in which he creates a gigantic creature from dismembered body parts. Rejected by his creator, the initially gentle creature turns monstrous when his desire to find companionship and love are thwarted.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Fierce femmes and notorious liars : a dangerous trans girl’s confabulous memoir / Thom, Kai Cheng
“Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir is a coming-of-age story about a young Asian trans girl, pathological liar, and kung-fu expert who runs away from her parents’ abusive home in a rainy city called Gloom. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth / Haynes, Natalie
“In Divine Might Natalie Haynes, author of the bestselling Pandora’s Jar, returns to the world of Greek myth and this time she examines the role of the goddesses.” (Catalogue)

Tūhono 2024: We Want Your Poems!

Tūhono, Wellington City Libraries’ poetry journal for children and teens, will soon be opening for submissions! From 1 April – 12 May, we will be accepting submissions of poetry from young writers aged 5 – 18 in Wellington City. In previous years we have published more than 200 young poets in Tūhono — so this year we’ll again be splitting it into two books, one for kids and one for teens.

Unlike some other poetry journals, having your work accepted in Tūhono is not a competition — as long as you follow the rules of submission, every piece of work that gets sent to us will be published. Tūhono itself will be published as an eBook on OverDrive, and in a limited print run for our libraries, so that everyone with a library card can borrow it and bask in your talent and glory! Check out previous editions of Tūhono on our catalogue here.

Let your poetic thoughts take wing!

Here is all the information you need in order to submit a poem for inclusion in Tūhono 2024:

When?

  • Submissions are open from 1 April – 12 May 2024.
  • The journal will be published and available to borrow from the library in late 2024.

Where?

  • Submissions may be entered here from the 1st of April.

Who?

  • Anyone between the ages of 5 and 18 who lives in the Wellington region may participate.
  • You may submit as an individual or as a group.

What?

  • Theme: We want you to write a poem on the theme of “Tūmanako | Hope.” The kupu Māori ‘tūmanako‘ has a wide range of meanings, including the act of hoping or wishing for something to happen, as well as hope as an object — something that you greatly desire, yearn for, or wish to be so. When you are writing your poem, you might like to think about some of the following questions, but as always with Tūhono, there is no one way we expect you to respond to this theme:
    • Act of hoping — how does hope make you feel? What does hope help you to achieve? What does hope mean to you? When you are hoping for something to happen, what thoughts and feelings come into your mind? How does the act of hoping make your body feel?
    • Hope as an object — Do you hope for something tangible, like a new thing to own? What does that thing look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, or feel like? Do you hope for something intangible, like world peace? What does that look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, or feel like? When you have gained (or not) the thing that you have hoped for, what do you think that will feel like?
  • Length: Your poem should not be longer than one A4 page typed, with size 12 font and 1.5 line spacing. Only one poem per person will be accepted.
  • Language: Your poem may be written in English or te reo Māori.
  • Format: Your poem should be submitted as a .doc, .docx, or .txt file.

Why?

  • We want to give all young people in Wellington the opportunity to have their work published on an accessible platform. We think everyone deserves a platform and the chance to see something they created be part of the library’s collection, alongside all the other great authors and poets represented on our shelves. Tūhono aims to be a uniquely Wellington collection of writing, capturing the thoughts and emotions of kids and teens from all over the city and region across time. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to provide this platform for your creativity to take wing.

Throughout the months of April and May, we will be posting regular updates on this blog providing inspiration for your writing — so keep your eyes peeled! If you would like more information about Tūhono, you are more than welcome to contact the editors here. Happy writing, everyone! We are so excited to see what you come up with.

What’s on for Wellington Pride 2024?

March is almost upon us, which means we’ve been getting ready for the Wellington Pride Festival | Tū Whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara which runs from the 1st to the 17th of March. If you’re familiar at all with us here on the WCL Teen Blog, you’ll know that we’re a pretty pride-ful bunch. So we have a whole plethora of library events for you to attend!

Read on to see what we’ve planned for you!


Rainbow Youth Nights

Waitohi | Johnsonville Library
Saturday 2 March, 5.00-8.00pm

Te Māhanga | Karori Library
Saturday 16 March, 5.00-8.00pm

Our Rainbow Youth Nights are back! We’ll be open after-hours for rainbow and takatāpui youth (and friends!) to socialise, have fun, explore our spaces without any of those pesky grown-ups around, and experience the General Youth Night Vibes of crafts, chats, gaming, and pizza.

Our Youth Nights are completely free (pizza included!) but you do need to be 14+ and of High School Age to attend, so please come prepared to show your school ID. And, if you have fun at a Rainbow Youth Night, you should come along to our regular monthly Youth Nights which are only slightly-less-rainbow-themed than these ones!


Wear Your Pride: Badge Making and Friendship Bracelets

Te Awa-a-Taia | Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library
Wednesday 6 March, 4.00-5.00pm

Taylor Swift brought friendship bracelets back, so of course we’re jumping on the bandwagon!

We’ll supply all the materials, you come along and create friendship bracelets and also use the Official Library Badge Maker to create your ideal Pride badge.


My Story, My Pride: A Youth Poetry Pride Workshop

Ngā Puna Waiora | Newtown Library
Thursday 7 March, 4.00-5.00pm

Are you a writer? Do you have Poetic Thoughts that you’d like to better express on the page?

Then come along to this workshop and explore the intersections between power, poetry, and being queer with a published poet!

Registrations are required, so follow the Friendly and Safe link above to find out how to register.


Comics, Queerness, and Community: A Workshop with Sophie Labelle and Sam Orchard

Waitohi | Johnsonville Library
Friday 8 March, 5.30-7.00pm

Wow! We’re very excited about this one. Amazing comic artists and Excellent Humans Sophie Labelle and Sam Orchard are leading a workshop at OUR Johnsonville Library. Yeah, we can’t quite believe it either.

If you’re a comic artist (or aspiring comic artist) this is something not to miss! Sam and Sophie will discuss comic-making and the power of art to bring communities together, and will take you through the process of creating a comic strip.

This event is for people aged 16+. Follow the link above to register.


Just to be Queer: Zine-making Workshop

Ngā Puna Waiora | Newtown Library
Thursday 14 March, 4.00-5.00pm

We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re making zines! Or rather, we hope you will be making zines.

Drag your friends along to the library to learn all about zines. Or if you’re already an expert, just make a bunch of zines! As an extra incentive, once you’ve made a zine, we are able to copy it and have it added to the Wellington City Libraries Zine Collection!


Youth Pride Quiz

Te Awe Library
Friday 15 March, 6.10-8.00pm

Do you wish you had a tiny trophy that proves how great you are at answering questions? If so, we’ve got the event for you!

This is another after-hours event, so the library will only be open for you keen quizzers. We’ve written some Pride-themed questions, you want to answer them (or so we’re hoping), and we’re just planning a fun night in general!

Register your team through the link above.


Rainbow Storytime with Queen Olivia III

Te Awa-a-Taia | Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library
Saturday 16 March, 11am-12 noon

Yes, we get this is a storytime more aimed at kids. BUT you may know some kids and can share the glorious word? Or you might just feel like dropping into the library to relive your own childhood?

Anyway, Queen Olivia Lucretia-Bourgeois Connie St Redfern III is a fantastic storyteller so if you or any children you encounter come along, you’re sure to have a magical time.


Out in the City

Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington CBD
Sunday 17 March, 10am-4pm

Yes, our excellent Library Stall will be back at Out in the City! We’ll be there all day handing out books and badges – grab your favourite queer author, or rummage around for the Pride Flag of your choice – and talking about LGBTQIA+ books, movies, online resources and more. Come and say hi!

 

Brooms, Break-Ups and Bizarre Murders: New Teen Books in the Collection

It’s February and we’ve got another fine selection of new books in the Young Adult collection.  And what a diverse lot!  From alternative fiction about broom racing and bigotry, to help with finding your voice in a difficult and changing world, and a wild new story about a serial killer with a menstrual obsession, there’s a lot to explore.  Check out this selection of just some of the titles that have hit our shelves this month…

Comics

Brooms / Walls, Jasmine
“It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills… it’s there to be found. Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Guardians of the Galaxy. Vol. 1, Grootfall / Kelly, Collin
“One year ago, the Guardians of the Galaxy were torn apart – their optimistic future shattered by the betrayal of one of their own. Now they ride the space lanes of a lawless corner of the galaxy, trying to outrun their tragedy. Caught in the middle of a civil war, those who were once Guardians face a battle that was lost from the start. Because they’re about to find themselves face-to-face with their old ally Groot – and he’s not the friend they remember! Where Groot goes, Rocket won’t be far behind – but he’s not happy to see the Guardians!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

If you’ll have me / Eunnie
“Momo Gardner is the kind of friend who’s always ready to lend a helping hand. She’s introverted, sensitive, and maybe a little too trusting, but she likes to believe the best in people. PG, on the other hand, is a bit of a lone wolf, despite her reputation for being a flirt and a player. An unexpected meet-cute brings the two together, kicking off the beginning of an awkward yet endearing courtship–but with their drastically different personalities, Momo’s overprotective friend, and PG’s past coming back to haunt her, Momo and PG’s romance is put to the test.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Static : up all night / Giles, Lamar
“After Virgil Hawkins reveals his secret identity as Static to his girlfriend, Daisy, she breaks up with him, leaving him free to go to a big music festival with his best friend Richie Foley (also known as superhero Gear), but they soon run into girls who each have secret identities of their own.” (Catalogue)

Fiction

Thin air / Parker, Kellie M.
“Seventeen-year-old boarding school student Emily Walters is selected for an opportunity of a lifetime–she’ll compete abroad for a cash prize that will cover not only tuition to the college of her choice, but will lift her mother and her out of poverty. But almost from the moment she and 11 other contestants board a private jet to Europe, Emily realizes somebody is willing to do anything to win. As loyalties shift and secrets are revealed, Emily must figure out who to trust, and who’s trying to kill them all, before she becomes the next victim.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Murtagh / Paolini, Christopher
“The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Murder on a school night / Weston, Kate
“All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, her BFF Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth-form party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school. On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather’s second in command – suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer… period.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Gwen & Art are not in love / Croucher, Lex
“Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom’s only female knight), they become reluctant allies. By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen’s infuriatingly serious, bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight” (Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Louder! : a guide to finding your voice and changing the world / Asquith, Kate
“”If you want to use words to change the world, keep reading. This book is your guide to making a difference, explore the power (and pitfalls) of language, investigate media bias, spot fake news, and discover different types of activism.” (Catalogue)

Mental health and me / Maldonado, Salvador
“Mental Health and Me brings together seven stories of teenage struggles, from body image issues to drug abuse, as experienced by real-life teenagers. This book will help young people to better understand mental health issues, empathise with those who are struggling and possibly even see their own experiences reflected, making them feel more supported and less alone.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

What the fact / Yasmin, Seema
“Tracing the spread of misinformation and disinformation through our fast-moving media landscape, a journalist, scientist, medical professional, and professor gives readers the skills to identify and counter poorly sourced clickbait and misleading headlines.” (Catalogue)

Fever knights : role-playing game / Ellis, Adam
“You were once a normal, everyday teenager on the verge of adulthood. But after a mystical experience, you developed unusual powers and became something far greater—a protector of humanity and guardian against evil—a Fever Knight! Fever Knights Role-Playing Game transports you into a retro world that never was. This is a place where the 90’s vibes are still alive: from latchkey kids to Super Nintendo gaming, to cassette players and Saturday morning cartoons, and from urban legends to adventures in the woods. Designed for first-time and veteran gamers, this book contains a lightweight ruleset.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new books in the collection, go to: What’s new / February 2024 (wcl.govt.nz)

The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… Supergirl

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character or series. This post is all about the Girl of Steel from the planet Krypton, Supergirl!


Who is Supergirl?

Kara Zor-El is the older cousin of Superman, sent from Krypton as a teenager to look after the baby Kal-El once he landed on Earth. However, due to her ship landing decades later, she arrived when Superman was already an adult. Lacking a purpose, Kara struggles to adapt to a planet that is less technologically advanced than Krypton, but this in no way deters her from following Superman’s example as a hero. Gaining superpowers under Earth’s yellow sun, she now protects Metropolis while trying to find a place in her strange new home as Supergirl. 

Note: DC Comics are divided by publishing eras, determined by a point where they set the issue number (and sometimes, continuity) of a series back to #1. ‘Pre-Crisis’ is everything DC published prior to 1986, ‘Post-Crisis’ is everything from 1986-2011, the New 52 from 2011-2016, DC Rebirth from 2016-2021, and Infinite Frontier from 2021 to present.


Supergirl : Origins

The details of Supergirl’s origin have varied over DC’s publishing history, including her civilian identity, when she was discovered on Earth, and even whether she is Kryptonian or not. Her origins have been explored in the story Being Super and the recent World’s Finest series.

Supergirl : being super / Tamaki, Mariko

Batman/Superman : world’s finest. Vol. 2, Strange visitor / Waid, Mark

As for her origins on Krypton, the House of El graphic novel trilogy provides some context for Krypton’s history prior to its destruction.

House of El. Book one, The shadow threat / Gray, Claudia

House of El. Book two, The enemy delusion / Gray, Claudia

House of El. Book three, The treacherous hope / Gray, Claudia

And for stories about Supergirl’s more famous cousin, check out our WCL Guide to Superman!


Pre-Crisis

In the Pre-Crisis timeline, Kara Zor-El landed on Earth and was discovered by Superman, who learned that they were cousins and took her under his wing as Supergirl. In her headline series from this era, Kara moves to Chicago, enrolls in university, and soon gathers a rogues gallery, including her archnemesis, the nuclear-powered Reactron.

Pre-Crisis Supergirl appearances

Daring new adventures of Supergirl. Volume 1 / Kupperberg, Paul

Superman : whatever happened to the man of tomorrow / Moore, Alan


Post-Crisis

In the Post-Crisis era, a new editorial rule at DC meant that Superman had to be the only survivor from Krypton, which presented problems for introducing Supergirl. In this continuity, Supergirl is Linda Danvers, a human teenager who can transform into a superhero with powers similar to Superman.

Supergirl Linda Danvers appearances

Supergirl. Book one / David, Peter

Supergirl. Book two / David, Peter

Superman : Emperor Joker

Convergence : zero hour book 2 / Giffen, Keith


The Last Daughter of Krypton… At Last!

Eventually, Kara Zor-El was reintroduced to Post-Crisis continuity, with her spaceship being discovered at the bottom of the Gotham River. After meeting Superman, Supergirl travels to the future to join the Legion of Super-Heroes, fights a mysterious Superwoman, and sees the birth of a New Krypton and the resurrection of her parents.

Post-Crisis Supergirl appearances

Supergirl : the girl of steel / Loeb, Jeph

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes : the quest for Cosmic Boy / Bedard, Tony

Supergirl : who is Superwoman / Gates, Sterling

Supergirl. Volume 4, Daughter of new Krypton / Gates, Sterling

Supergirl : friends & fugitives / Gates, Sterling

The hunt for Reactron / Gates, Sterling

Supergirl : Bizarrogirl / Gates, Sterling


The New 52

The New 52 reset the histories of most DC characters back to square one, and Supergirl was no exception. Here, Kara is a loner who only occasionally runs into Superman. In her journey to find a home and community, she briefly befriends Superman villain Silver Banshee, joins the rage-powered Red Lantern Corps, and attends the intergalactic Crucible academy.

New 52 Supergirl reading order

Supergirl. Volume 1, Last daughter of Krypton / Green, Michael (also on Libby)

Supergirl. Volume 2, Girl in the world / Green, Michael

Supergirl. Volume 3, Sanctuary / Johnson, Mike

Superman : H’el on Earth / Lobdell, Scott

Supergirl. Volume 4, Out of the past / Nelson, Michael Alan

Supergirl. Volume 5, Red daughter of Krypton / Bedard, Tony

Supergirl. Volume 6, Crucible / Perkins, K.


DC Rebirth

Taking inspiration from the Supergirl TV show, the DC Rebirth era has Supergirl move to Metropolis’ sister city National City, teaming up with the Department of Extranormal Operations to help stem the city’s various alien threats.

Supergirl Rebirth era reading order

Supergirl. Vol. 1, Reign of the cyborg supermen / Orlando, Steve

Supergirl. Vol. 2, Escape from the Phantom Zone / Orlando, Steve

Supergirl. Vol. 3, Girl of no tomorrow / Orlando, Steve

Supergirl. Vol. 4, Plain sight / Orlando, Steve


Supergirl meets the Killer of Krypton

During the reinvigoration of the Superman books by Brian Michael Bendis, Supergirl got a new series that saw Kara setting off on an intergalactic manhunt for the dreaded Rogol Zaar, a Kryptonian-hating alien mercenary with a mysterious connection to Kara’s uncle (and Superman’s father) Jor-El.

‘Bendis era’ Supergirl reading order

The Man of Steel / Bendis, Brian Michael

Supergirl. Vol. 1, The killers of Krypton / Andreyko, Marc

Supergirl. Vol. 2, Sins of the circle / Andreyko, Marc

Supergirl. Vol. 3, Infectious / Houser, Jody

Batman/Superman. Volume 1, Who are the Secret Six / Williamson, Joshua

Superman action comics. Vol. 5, The House of Kent / Bendis, Brian Michael


Infinite Frontier – The Woman of Tomorrow

Supergirl has had one miniseries in the Infinite Frontier era, the acclaimed Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which is set to be adapted into a feature film starring Milly Alcock as Kara. Meanwhile, Kara has helped her cousin protect Earth during the Warworld Saga and the Lazarus Planet event.

Infinite Frontier Supergirl appearances

Supergirl : woman of tomorrow / King, Tom

Superman action comics. Volume one, Warworld rising / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Superman Action Comics. Volume three, Warworld revolution / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Superman : Kal-El returns / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Lazarus Planet


Based on the TV show

The long-running CW Supergirl show starring Melissa Benoist has also been adapted into its own comics, much like The Flash show before it.

Adventures of Supergirl [1] / Gates, Sterling

Crisis on infinite Earths : Paragons rising : the deluxe edition / Wolfman, Marv

Earth-Prime


Supergirl’s Teams

Supergirl has rarely been a team player outside of her immediate Super-Family, having only brief tenures on the Teen Titans, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the Justice League. In a moment of pique, she was briefly inducted into the Red Lantern Corps, a crimson-themed version of the Green Lanterns who are powered by rage.

Supergirl in the Legion

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes : the quest for Cosmic Boy / Bedard, Tony

Supergirl as a Teen Titan

Teen Titans : Titans of tomorrow

In the Justice League

Justice League United. Volume 1, Justice League Canada / Lemire, Jeff

Justice League United. Volume 2, The infinitus saga / Lemire, Jeff

As a Red Lantern

Red Lanterns. Volume 5, Atrocities / Soule, Charles

Supergirl. Volume 5, Red daughter of Krypton / Bedard, Tony

Team Supergirl

In order to save Superman from cosmic imprisonment in Superman/Batman : vengeance, Bizarro assembles a whole team of Supergirls from across time and space, including the modern Kara Zor-El, Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, Linda Danvers, Power Girl (see below), and Cir-El, Superman and Lois’ daughter from a potential future.


Power Girl

Kara Zor-L is Power Girl, the Supergirl from Earth-2 who wound up on the mainstream DC Universe (Earth-0) after the destruction of her Earth. Where Supergirl is eager to adapt to her adopted home, Power Girl bears a chip on her shoulder for having lost both Krypton and her original adopted Earth, manifesting in her brash, ‘punch first and ask questions later’ attitude.

Post-Crisis, Power Girl took on the secret identity of ‘Karen Starr’, and split her time between running a tech start-up and serving on the Justice Society of America.

Black Adam/JSA : black reign / Johns, Geoff

Infinite crisis / Johns, Geoff

Power Girl : power trip / Gray, Justin

Justice Society of America : thy kingdom come. Part two / Johns, Geoff

Justice Society of America : thy kingdom come. Part three / Johns, Geoff

Justice Society of America : Black Adam and Isis / Johns, Geoff

Justice Society of America : the bad seed / Willingham, Bill


Just a Girl in the Worlds’ Finest

In the New 52, a new Earth-2 is created with a new Kara Zor-L, who gets sent to Earth-0 along with Earth-2’s Robin (Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman). The pair take on the new aliases of Power Girl and Huntress and try to find a way home to Earth-2 in the series Worlds’ Finest.

Worlds’ Finest. Volume 1, The lost daughters of Earth 2 / Levitz, Paul

Worlds’ Finest. Volume 2, Hunt and be hunted / Levitz, Paul

Worlds’ Finest. Volume 3, Control issues / Levitz, Paul

Worlds’ Finest. Volume 4, First contact / Levitz, Paul

Worlds’ finest. Volume 5, Homeward bound / Levitz, Paul

Upon returning to Earth-2, Kara must help her fellow heroes save the world from an invasion from Darkseid, and after the planet is regenerated (a literal ‘Earth 2’) she strikes up a romance with its new Superman, Val-Zod.

Earth 2 : world’s end. Volume 1 / Wilson, Daniel H.

Earth 2 : world’s end. Volume 2 / Wilson, Daniel H.

Earth 2 society. Volume 1, Planetfall / Wilson, Daniel H.

Earth 2 : society. Volume 2, Indivisible / Abnett, Dan

Earth 2 : society. Volume 3, A whole new world / Abnett, Dan


Power Girl Returns

The Post-Crisis Power Girl eventually returns in Infinite Frontier. After burning out of the corporate grindset as a member of an ‘Uber but for superheroes’ service in One-Star Squadron, she gains new telepathic powers in the Lazarus Planet event and befriends a fellow psychic, former Teen Titan Omen.

Infinite frontier / Williamson, Joshua

One-star squadron / Russell, Mark

Lazarus Planet

Power Girl returns / Williams, Leah


Supergirl Across The Multiverse

Power Girl isn’t the only alternate Supergirl out there in the infinite Multiverse of DC Comics.

Crime Syndicate / Schmidt, Andy – On Earth-3 where the roles of heroes and villains are reversed, a treacherous Ultragirl tries to take out her cousin, Ultraman. This world also has a Superwoman, although technically she is the evil equivalent of Wonder Woman.

Multiversity : teen justice / Cohen, Ivan – On the matriarchal world of Earth-11, Supergirl is the daughter of Superwoman and fights alongside the young super-team Teen Justice.

Kingdom come / Waid, Mark – In a possible future, an older Karen Starr (now Power Woman) joins a new Justice League, led by an older Superman trying to bring order to a world full of unruly metahumans.

Supergirl adventures : girl of steel – In the world of the DC Animated Universe, Supergirl is Kara In-Ze from Argo, a ‘sister planet’ to Krypton that was also devastated. Discovered in cryogenic stasis by Superman, Kara is brought to Earth, where she becomes gains powers similar to her ‘cousin’ and becomes Supergirl.

Injustice 2. Vol. 1 / Taylor, Tom – The Injustice universe’s version of Supergirl first appears in its sequel comic, where she arrives on Earth not knowing her cousin has taken over the world.

Ame-Comi Girls. Volume 3, Earth in crisis / Palmiotti, Jimmy – Both Supergirl and Power Girl appear on this manga-inspired world where only women gain superpowers.

DC Comics Bombshells : the deluxe edition, Book one / Bennett, Marguerite – Here, Kara’s ship lands in Soviet Russia instead of the USA. When she comes of age in the midst of World War II, she defects and joins a team of heroines determined to end the conflict.

Dark Knights of Steel. Vol. 1 / Taylor, Tom – Transporting the heroes of the DC Universe into a medieval world of knights and nobility, the Supergirl here is Zala Jor-El, the princess of the ruling family, the House of El.

Supergirl : cosmic adventures in the 8th grade / Walker, Landry Q. – In this cartoon-influenced series, a young Kryptonian named Linda Lee struggles to balance schoolwork with being Supergirl.

Surviving the Onslaught of “Love!” : Aro-Ace Reads for a Non-Romantic Valentines’ “Celebration”

Unfortunately, Valentines’ Day is here.

*hooray*


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As you may be able to tell, I’m not the biggest fan of those old Saint Valentines. No that’s not a typo. Now I’m sure some of you lovebirds with your partners and social life love the opportunity to celebrate this forsaken day. To you I say two things:

1) How dare you! >:(

2) Yeah that’s fair, enjoy what you want. Valentines’ can be a fun day, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying it.

However, some of us are curmudgeonly old grinches who despise joy and human connection, so we shall complain!

This so called “holiday” is nothing but a corporate sacrifice organised by and directed to Big Chocolate and Big Flower and Big Card. The companies do not care about your love, they just want to make bank by slapping a heart on their product and demanding your money. And it’s not like they’re even using the real shape of a heart! This is what a heart looks like and don’t you dare use any other shape!


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So why do we even celebrate this “Valentine” chap?

Valentines’ Day grew from a Christian celebration honouring Saint Valentine of Rome and Saint Valentine of Terni (who may or may not be the same person). There is also a third Saint Valentine who did things in Africa but he was only mentioned in like one book, so we don’t know much about him. This is why I’ve been calling it Valentines Day, there’s like 3 Valentines. So VR and VT were both priests back in the third century when the Roman Empire was very…. stabby when it came to Christians, so they both got executed. The Christian Church was like “damn, that sucks, they were good dudes and maybe performed miracles, we should recognise that” so decided to make them saints and have a day for them. Supposedly Valentine of Rome healed the blindness of his jailer’s daughter, which was his miracle.

So… what does any of this have to do with love?

NOTHING!

Any take on a tale of a Saint Valentine being a romantic dude are fabrications made after Valentines’ Day was made all lovey dovey.

And when did Valentines’ Day become all about romance?

Read More

Pratchett, Patriarchy and the Past: New Teen Books in the Collection

If you’re looking for something fresh and new to read right now, we have got you covered.  From historical fiction, murder mysteries and romance to feminist comics, ghost stories and putting your best foot forward online, and many, many more, there is sure to be something to pique your interest.

Fiction

I’ll tell you no lies / McCrina, Amanda
“New York, 1955. Shelby Blaine and her father, an Air Force intelligence officer, are wrenched away from their life in West Germany to New York’s Griffiss Air Force Base, where he has been summoned to lead the interrogation of an escaped Soviet pilot. A chance meeting with Maksym, the would-be defector, spirals into a deadly entanglement. The more Shelby learns of Maksym’s secrets, including his detention at Auschwitz during the war, the more she becomes willing to help him. But as the stakes become more dangerous, Shelby begins to question everything she has been told.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Let’s play murder / Lupo, Kesia
“Veronica wakes up trapped with four strangers in a sprawling manor house in a snow storm with a dead body, a mystery right out of an Agatha Christie novel. It feels so real but it isn’t. This is VR and this is THE Game; a rumoured Easter Egg hidden in other VR games that draws you into a competition for a prize beyond your wildest dreams. And there’s no escaping the VR world until the Game is won. It may not be a game Veronica wanted to play, but it’s one that she has to win or die trying.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A thousand boy kisses : a novel / Cole, Tillie
“When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune’s heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. But when he discovers the truth of her absence, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

What happened on Hicks Road / Jayne, Hannah
“Lennox Oliver is loving her new life in California. For the first time, she feels normal. She has friends, and a maybe boyfriend and best of all no one knows the truth about her past and what happened to her mom. But everything changes the night after a party when a drive on the supposedly haunted Hicks Road turns deadly and Lennox hits something…or someone. Her friends say it was nothing, at worst, a deer in the road. But when a note saying FIND ME is slipped through her window, she fears that there was a girl she hit on Hicks Road that night …or she’s slipping deeper into the illness that took her mother.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Comics

Smash the patriarchy / Breen, Marta
“Patriarchy means ‘the rule of the father’ and describes a system where men are in control. At least since the time of Aristotle, loud-mouthed men have called women weak and inferior. The book is not afraid to examine some of the worst crimes – public shaming, medical examinations, and the widespread murder and jailing of feminists around the world – as it calls on readers to finally smash the patriarchy forever.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Festival of shadows : a Japanese ghost story / Atelier Sentō (Firm)
“Every summer, in an isolated Japanese village, a celebration known as the Festival of Shadows takes place. The villagers are entrusted to assist the troubled souls or “shadows” of those who died tragically, and to help them come to terms with their deaths and find eternal peace. Naoko, a young girl born in the village, is given a year to save the soul of a mysterious young man. Naoko puts her own life on the line to save the soul of this man she loves, in an exciting, moving and beautifully drawn story that takes the reader on a journey from the beautiful Japanese countryside to glamorous Tokyo art world.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Courage to dream : tales of hope in the Holocaust / Shusterman, Neal
“Courage to Dream plunges readers into the darkest time of human history – the Holocaust. This graphic novel explores one of the greatest atrocities in modern memory, delving into the core of what it means to face the extinction of everything and everyone you hold dear. Woven from Jewish folklore and cultural history, five interlocking narratives explore one common story – the tradition of resistance and uplift.” (Catalogue)

One in a million / Lordon, Claire
“Something is wrong with Claire, but she doesn’t know what. Nobody does, not even her doctors. All she wants is to return to her happy and athletic teenage self. But her accumulating symptoms – chronic fatigue, pounding headaches, weight gain – hint that there’s something not right inside Claire’s body. But even in her most difficult moments battling chronic illness, Claire manages to find solace in her family, her closest friends, and her art. A deeply personal and visually arresting memoir that draws on the author’s high school diaries and drawings, One in a Million is also a sophisticated portrayal of pain, depression, and fear that any teen or adult can relate to.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Tiffany Aching’s guide to being a witch / Pratchett, Rhianna
“An illustrated and practical guide to being a witch in Discworld, covering everything you’ve ever wanted to know from telling the bees to magical cheese, from working with other witches to dealing with elves, from tending flocks to fending off forces from other worlds. This beautiful and practical guide has been compiled by Tiffany Aching herself, including snippets of remembered wisdom from Granny Aching alongside notes from Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, and Rob Anybody who offer their own unique perspectives on all things witchcraft.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Clicks : how to be your best self online / Devon, Natasha
“When young people step into the digital world and are bombarded with ‘hot takes’, calls to cancel ‘problematic’ individuals, trolls, fake news and celebrity sales pitches they’re likely to find it overwhelming and confusing. This book wants to change that. It will teach young people how to: – Understand the psychological effects of social media on their minds, including internet pornography – See and evaluate all sides of an argument – Spot fake news – Explain their ‘take’ persuasively – Use the internet to campaign for a fairer world – Get the most out of their online role models – Show allyship to marginalised groups.” (Catalogue)

For more new books in the collection, go to: What’s new / February 2024 (wcl.govt.nz)

The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… Astro Boy and PLUTO

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character. This post is all about Japan’s first manga sensation, the super-powered robot Astro Boy, and his recent adaptation, the science-fiction crime comic PLUTO.

Astro Boy Anime GIF - Astro Boy Anime Robot - Discover & Share GIFs

(Astro as seen in the 2003 anime – GIF via Tenor)

image

(Atom from the 2023 adaptation of PLUTO – GIF via Tumblr)


Who is Astro Boy?

Astro Boy (‘Tetsuwan Atomu‘ in Japanese) was created by Osamu Tezuka, one of Japan’s most prolific cartoonists, and published from 1952 to 1968 in his original run (then adapted into several anime and a feature film). While the series was drawn in a light-hearted style inspired by old Disney cartoons, Tezuka used Astro Boy to explore heady themes about environmentalism, war, prejudice, and the cost of technological advancement.

In a futuristic world where humans and robots co-exist, Astro was built by roboticist Dr Tenma as a replacement for his deceased son, Tobio. When Astro failed to live up to Tenma’s expectations, he sold Astro to a circus, where he was rescued by the kindly Dr Ochanomizu. Designed with ‘100K horsepower’ and an array of gadgets like jet boots and finger lasers, Astro’s greatest strength is his emotional intelligence, as he often finds himself acting as a mediator between robots and humans when they come into conflict.


How to read Astro Boy

We have the first eight collections of the original Astro Boy run by Tezuka on our eLibrary Libby, plus a graphic novel of the first collection.

Graphic novel

Astro Boy. 1 / Tezuka, Osamu

On eLibrary (Libby)

Astro Boy Volumes 1-2

Astro Boy Volume 3

Astro Boy Volume 4

Astro Boy Volume 5

Astro Boy Volume 6

Astro Boy Volume 7

Astro Boy Volume 8

We also have a spin-off of the original Astro Boy series by Tezuka, A-tomcat, in which a young boy becomes friends with a cat who has all of Astro Boy’s abilities.

A-tomcat / Tezuka, Osamu


What is PLUTO?

Astro Boy‘s most famous story arc is ‘The Greatest Robot on Earth’, in which a colossal, powerful robot named Pluto begins hunting down and destroying the seven most advanced robots in the world, including Astro (you can read it in Astro Boy Volume 3). It was one of Astro’s biggest challenges, requiring him not only to increase his power to match his new rival, but also learn to reason with Pluto, who turned out to be more sympathetic than initially believed. This storyline was adapted by artist Naoki Urasawa into PLUTO, a manga for mature readers (seinen) between 2003 and 2009, and later turned into an anime for Netflix in 2023.

In PLUTO, the seven most advanced robots are destroyed and have their bodies left with objects resembling horns sticking out of their heads. Not only that, each robot’s human creator is hunted down as well, with the crime scenes left in a way that indicates only a robot could have done the deed. There’s just one problem: it’s impossible for a robot to kill a human. Or is it?

While Astro (here called Atom) is still in the story, the main character of PLUTO is the detective robot Gesicht (pronounced GEH-sicked), who is tasked with investigating the case. As the plot unfolds, he learns the deaths of the robots and their inventor are tied to a vast conspiracy involving a recent controversial war, a secretive anti-robot hate group, and Atom’s original creator, Tenma.

Urasawa’s PLUTO is the ‘gritty adult version of a childhood property’ done right. It expands on Astro Boy‘s themes and setting to tell a new story with classic characters, who gain a far greater amount of depth than they were allowed in the original Tezuka story. PLUTO’s themes about prejudice being the likely human response to living with robots and the psychological harm from conflict has never been more relevant in an era of ongoing wars, political extremism, and the pressing fear of AI replacing human labour. Yet, due to the presence of Atom/Astro Boy, it contains an element of irrepressible hope for a better, kinder world where we can overcome hatred and difference.

With its recent pitch-perfect adaptation to anime, it’s never been a better time to read PLUTO, and it may only grow more prescient with time.


How to read PLUTO

The complete story of PLUTO is collected in eight tankoban volumes.

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 001 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 002 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 003 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 004 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka, 005 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 006 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 007 / Urasawa, Naoki

Pluto : Urasawa X Tezuka. 008 / Urasawa, Naoki

Mould, Souls, and Demon Lemons

Over the weekend, I bought an old painting from my local thrift store. I walked home feeling immensely cultured and proud of myself, filled with visions of some day being in my sixties and telling my then-BFF Taylor Swift about the first piece of art I ever collected. HOWEVER. As soon as I reached my flat and started messing around with places to hang the painting, I noticed an accursed detail: MOULD.

THERE IS MOULD ON MY NICE NEW PAINTING. (Either that or the artist has made a very questionable choice with some black paint.)

A photograph of a framed painting, depicting a still life of fruit and drinking vessels.

A perfectly innocent and mould-less painting, or SO I THOUGHT.


While this was a very upsetting development to begin with, I quickly realised that there was more to the situation than appeared. The mould was only growing on a pair of painted lemons, which lead me to the realisation that they were, in fact, Demon Lemons.

The Picture of Demon Lemons

Once upon a time, a pair of lemons made a deal with the Devil. The deal was this;  that they should remain forever young and beautiful, while an enchanted portrait (ahem) bore the marks of their aging, rotting, and decrepit natures.

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Boring Old People Books That Are Good Actually™


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“It’s a classic”

“What an influential novel”

“This is high art”

“You’ve got to read these 10 million classics before you die”

“Welcome to English class”

We’ve all heard it before. Some geriatric white dude wrote a novel about important things™ hundreds of years ago and we’re expected to care. In some cases, we even have to read it, due to the unfeeling cruelty of our education. When we finally start to read this “lifechanging™” book, all that we gain is a desire to sleep.


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But all is not lost. While it seems an insane thought, some classics are actually good. And not in the way that some literary snob who appreciates all the artistic intricacies and fancyness thinks so, but just as good books.

Just so you know I’m not talking out of my rectum because I’ve been paid off by Big Literature (I’ll have you know I’m being paid off by the library, which is a notable difference) I’m going to actually tell you about books I’ve actually read. I can tell you from personal experience why you’d want to open up these dusty tomes and why you’ll maybe even end up enjoying them.

However, because I am a sham and a charlatan who hasn’t actually read that many classic books, I have acquired the assistance of some of the other bloggers to supplement my recommendations. They’ll be talking about some of their favourites just like I will.

So! Without further ado (and quite definitely not much ado), let us see which Boring Old People have written Boring Old People Books that are Good Actually™!

William Shakespeare

“Ooooh la dee dah, Shakespeare, aren’t you so fancioux and cultured.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah I get it. Shakespeare is the English literature author that is inevitably inflicted upon innocent youths by the school system. But some of his stuff is like genuinely good. And not just in a prestigious, high class, literary way, but in a genuine “this is enjoyable” way.

Something that can get lost in history about Shakespeare, considering the grand acclaim his works get, is that these plays weren’t made to be some high intellect academic exercise in storytelling. These plays were public entertainment, the ye olde version of tv shows or blockbuster movies. These were made for us plebeians, to amuse the people.

Twelfth Night


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Twelfth Night, also known as What You Will, is my personal favourite Shakespeare play. To let you know why, first we need a little context, a history lesson.

Because the past was the worst, ye olde theatre didn’t allow women to be actors, so every character in a play was played by a male. Yes, even the female characters. Often younger boys would be playing women due to their more slight frames and higher voices.

Now why am I bringing this up? Well you see Twelfth Night is all about gender bending weirdness and is generally super queer. When the main character Viola finds herself shipwrecked alone in Illyria, she disguises herself as a man for safety and maybe other reasons who knows. This means our main character is a man (the actor) playing a woman playing a man, hilarious stuff.

The basic conceit of Twelfth Night is that Viola, under the guise Cesario, is sent by the Duke Orsino to woo the mourning Countess Olivia. The problem is Viola does her job too well, making Olivia fall for her, while she is falling in love with Orsino, who has a “great fondness” for his nohomo best guyfriend Cesario. Love triangles abound! There’s also all sorts of juicy romcom shenaniganry: identical twins, secret weddings, doing anything for your “bro”, mistaken identity, pranks, and manipulation. Everything your heart could desire!

Much Ado About Nothing 


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Do you love enemies to lovers? Are you fond of witty snark battles among people who love to hate to love each other? Why, how about you try Much Ado About Nothing. This play feels so modern in its bantering love interests Benedick and Beatrice, who are tricked by their friends into gradually falling in love. There’s also some other story about this lovey dovey couple of Hero and Claudio but they don’t matter as much. Back to the important bit, look at this delightful dialogue:

BENEDICK :  What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet
 living?

BEATRICE:  Is it possible disdain should die while she
 hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?
Courtesy itself must convert to disdain if you come
 in her presence.

BENEDICK:  Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain
 I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted; and
 I would I could find in my heart that I had not a
hard heart, for truly I love none.

BEATRICE : A dear happiness to women. They would
 else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I
 thank God and my cold blood I am of your humor
 for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.

 

Now, I’m going to say something extremely out of character for a librarian:

Don’t read the book.


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“Then what the @#$%&! am I to do then?!” The poor and clueless cry.

Let me finish. So Shakespeare plays are, well, plays, not novels. They are best experienced live. Don’t get me wrong, reading the plays can be great, but sometimes it’s better to watch and/or listen. The problem is that it’s gonna be a rare moment you get to see a production, let alone an exemplary production, in person. Plus that’s expensive, not a very library recommendation. However we do have some recordings of such plays: BBC’s Twelfth Night, BBC’s Much Ado About Nothing and an audiobook version of Much Ado About Nothing. There are lots of versions of these hundreds of years old plays around. If you can get your grabby little hands on it, The Globe’s traditional all male version of Twelfth Night featuring Stephen Fry is really good. Another good choice is a more modern adaptation of Twelfth Night: the film She’s the Man.

Edgar Allan Poe


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Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

Now in a bit of a change of pace from fluffy romcoms, is the master of gothic horror himself: Edgar Allan Poe. His stuff is just so delightfully creepy and a must read for any lover of horror and the macabre. In addition to his excellence, this is also the guy who is considered to have invented the detective genre with “The Murders of the Rue Morgue.”  Poe wrote short stories, a form I have sung the praises of before, which makes his work easy to pick up for a microdose of fright.

But Poe was no one trick pony, no no. Unsurprising, considering his name, Poe also is famous for his Poetry. Poe’s try is absolutely wonderful, having this brilliant rhythm that practically makes the words flow out of your mouth when reading. Because poetry is excellent as a vocal medium, if you were to read his work I’d suggest reading them out loud, or finding a recording of someone else reading them.

For some odd reason we at the library don’t have any readings of his poetry, but we do have readings of his short stories. Because these tales were written by an old fart, like all the books in this blog, there are many readings available online for free due to the lack of any pesky “public domain”. A personal favourite reading of mine is one of my favourite stories The Tell-Tale Heart, read by the YouTube channel Overly Sarcastic Productions, who also read The Masque of Red Death and other stories.

Whether you are more interested in his short stories or his poetry you can’t go wrong with Poe.

Jane Austen


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Pride and Prejudice:  It’s funny.  REALLY funny.  Lizzie Bennet is really relatable as a heroine – she’s smart, has little tolerance for stupidity or men that think they’re better than her.  Mr Darcy is HOT.  I always find it a quick read, one I can knock over on a rainy afternoon, giggling at the sassiness of it and holding my breath that Lizzie and Darcy stop being such boneheads and finally get together.  Jane Austen is the reason that Bridgerton exists too.  Extra points if you go on to read Sense and Sensibility, which is just as delightful.

TackyCardigan

Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest :  Another book (originally a play) that is really funny.  If you like witty wordplay and sharp clapbacks, this one is for you.  It’s full of knotty situations that the main characters need to talk their way out of, and a hefty twist towards the end.  It can also be interpreted as a bit gay, which is fun too.

TackyCardigan

Mary Shelley


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At age 19, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley adapted a ghost story she told during a writer’s gathering and turned it into Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, a tale of scientific hubris that results in one of the most iconic monsters ever imagined. While the book’s language is extravagant and the story-within-a-story framing device is a bit of a hurdle, once we meet Victor Frankenstein, a young man who pays a terrible price for his intellectual curiosity, the book fully takes off. It has everything a great genre book should have: action, romance, mystery, suspense, tragedy, even farce, as Victor spends the back third of the book chasing his creation across Europe like the Coyote chasing the Roadrunner, while the monster cruelly taunts Victor all the way. Far from the inarticulate brute of the movies, Frankenstein’s monster himself is a eloquent, sympathetic being; a lurching, nine foot tall wretch who chews out his creator at every opportunity for bringing him into a world that is repulsed by him. It’s an indispensable book if you have any interest in Gothic literature or science fiction (being the earliest example of the genre), and once you read it, you start to see its influence on everything from Blade Runner to Barbie.

Bram Stoker


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Dracula: You probably are thinking “Why should I read Dracula? I already know the story” but that is exactly why you should. Even the most faithful of adaptations have significant differences, and the most popular versions omit entire characters and subplots and introduce storylines antithetical to the original text. Dracula by Bram Stoker is not a gothic romance or love triangle, but instead a story told through diary entries and journals, letters, and newspaper articles about a group of people who through determination, research, science, and teamwork manage to bring an end to an ancient and evil being who has come to prey on all they love – at the cost of their sanity and their lives.

-The Dracula Enthusiast, our resident Vampire Expert


Charles Dickens


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A Christmas Carol: You probably don’t need any introduction to this story but it is truly worth the read, especially since the festive season is upon us! If you’re in your self-reflective era then A Christmas Carol is basically that but make it ✨Victorian man✨. Scrooge gets confronted with the fact that he hasn’t been on Santa’s “Nice” list for quite a while and realizes (with the help of a few ghosts) that he can be a better person. Basically I love this story because it gives me slim hope that one day billionaires will wake up and donate all their money to the poor, and I guess Christmas is quite fun too.

-Grace

Numerous Authors

One Thousand and One Nights – The Arabian Nights: It has a little bit of everything. If you like stories within stories, you’ve got it. Self-fulfilling prophecies? There’s plenty. Pop culture references before they were pop culture. You betcha (Aladdin is based on one of the stories in this classic). Plus, it’s all framed with the story of one badass heroine trying to escape a murderous maniac by telling him stories interesting enough that he’ll keep her alive till the next dawn. And, if you don’t want to read all the stories you don’t have to. Honestly what more could you ask for?

-Grace

Editor's Note: So The Arabian Nights is written in Arabic, not English, shock horror. This means that any version you read will be a translation, each translation slightly different. You may want to have a look at the multiple options there are, or not, do whatever, I'm not your mum.


Someone, We Assume, We Don’t Actually Know Who


via GIPHY

Beowulf: Look, I won’t lie to you. The story is as basic as they come. There’s this dude called Beowulf, he’s a big ol’ guy with big ol’ muscles, and he kills a big ol’ monster called Grendel for the crime of eating 30 Danish party-goers… every day for like 20 years (you would think the Danes might have called in the cavalry a little earlier but I guess they didn’t want to look like lil nerds who couldn’t even take down one monster). Then he kills another big ol’ monster who happens to be Grendel’s mum. Then he gets to sit around being king for a while before he has to kill — you guessed it — a third big ol’ monster.

Except this one is a dragon and it sets him on fire and bites a hole in his neck, thus ending Beowulf’s story (though being the badass he is, being on fire and bleeding out doesn’t prevent him from killing the dragon anyway — his last words are basically “at least show me the sick loot I got for beating this boss” before dramatically dying all over his new pile of gold-plated dinnerware). So if you like monsters, magic, epic journeys and lots of blood and gore, Beowulf is the story for you! It’s basically LOTR but without all the filler.

It’s not all doom and gloom though — the sċop (bard) who wrote this version of the poem down devotes a weird amount of time to dunking on this loser Unferth who keeps trying and failing to talk down to our buddy Beowulf. Not cool, Unferth — in Beowulf’s words, “in helle sċealt werhðo drēogan, þēah þīn wit duge” (basically, “go to hell you big nerd.”) Classy!

-Stephen

Editor's Note: (Haha, imagine, Stephen, the editor, getting edited by moui. Oh how the turns tabled)

So Beowulf is a super duper old poem, written in English so old it's called Old English. That means you can't really read the original. "But we read Shakespeare, that's in Old English right? We can vaguely understand that." 

NON! 

Shakespeare's stuff is actually written in early modern English, Old English is an entirely different thing. Behold! The first lines of Beowulf, untranslated! I mean, look at this gobbledygook:
Hwæt! Wē Gārdēna     in ġeārdagum,
þēodcyninga     þrym ġefrūnon,
hū ðā æþelingas     ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scēfing     sceaþena þrēatum,
moneġum mǣġþum     meodosetla oftēah,
eġsode eorlas,     syððan ǣrest wearð
fēasceaft funden,     he þæs frōfre ġebād,
wēox under wolcnum,     weorðmyndum þāh,
oðþæt him ǣġhwylċ     þāra ymbsittendra
ofer hronrāde     hȳran scolde,
gomban ġyldan.     þæt wæs gōd cyning!
I'm sure you can read that easy peasy. 

Because such a cool story is hidden behind this witchcraft (what in the world is a þ or a ð??!?!?!??!?!!??!!?) we have to deal with translation.

First we have Papa Tolkien's translation because we have to respect our elders and Tolkien was a fricken nerd when it came to language. His version is written poetically, so it's all pretty noises and such. If you just want to read it like a novel, we have this prose version by some rando who's probably a cool guy but didn't happen to practically invent the fantasy genre so he gets no name recognition. There's also a summarised version with illustrations by a lead artist on the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Once again you don't have to do what I say, I'm not your mum, so feel free to find and read whatever version you want, we have plenty more at the library. For all I know maybe you can read Old English and have been looking for some reading recommendations in that language.

Super editor's note out!

Happy Reading!


via GIPHY

Draconic Tales for ‘Appreciate A Dragon Day’! Looking at Real Life “Dragons”!

Here be Dragons…

Photo 106371248, (c) wild_wind, licensed under CC-BY 4.0 DEED

Everybody loves dragons.

All around the world there are countless iterations on the idea of the dragon, oftentimes created independently of each other. Almost every culture has a dragon. That or translators and folklorists are a bit over eager to stamp the title of dragon on anything vaguely scaley. Regardless, you have to admit they are cool.

Besides the part where they don’t exist, that bit kinda sucks. It’d also be super dangerous if they did. But let’s be honest, if dragons did exist, knowing humans and our treatment of large fauna *cough*moa/mammoths/haast-eagle*cough*, we’d probably have killed them off already. Either way, probably for the best.

It is true that we have some “dragons” which are mostly glorified lizards (still adorable though) and other miscellanea.

Today is Appreciate a Dragon Day. I have thoughtfully provided a list of dragons for you to pick from all au naturale. And because you lot have been such well-behaved little gremlins, I’ll even share some fun facts on each of these fierce beasties.

A Flying Dragon – Genus Draco

 Photo 339511077, (c) Martin Walsh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)

Because reality is often disappointing, flying dragons, on top of not being dragons, don’t actually fly. What they do is they glide. That said, those wings of theirs are pretty neat expansions of their ribs and can at least pretend to fly. Do your ribs allow you to pretend to fly? Didn’t think so.

Dehling JM (2017) How lizards fly: A novel type of wing in animals. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189573. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189573

Central Bearded Dragon

Photo 341430640, (c) Owen Gale, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The only dragon commonly kept as a pet! Even in New Zealand, the buzzkill that won’t let me have a precious snake as a pet. Some cute behaviour they have is waving their hand to show submission, mostly to show other bearded dragons that they’re chill and not gonna mess with their turf.


via GIPHY

Due to them being pets, you can find plentiful adorable images and videos on the internet, so that’s something you can do to fill an afternoon!

Komodo Dragon

Photo 341814950, (c) robert_thibault, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

So there’s something weird with the Komodo’s bite. When komodos attack big prey, like say a buffalo, if they don’t manage to kill the prey the first time, it’ll stalk the prey which eventually dies of infection. The thing is it’s not clear whether this is a purposeful evolutionary thing, because komodo dragons do have venom, or at least something like venom, but scientists don’t know what it really does. Give the topic some research if you want, it’s super interesting.

Boyd’s Forest Dragon

Photo 188207878, (c) Samuel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Boyd’s Forest Dragons are great, they spend the majority of their lives just hanging out on tree trunks. Unlike most lizards, they don’t sunbathe, instead letting the air heat them, so they can just stay on their tree trunks. If you bug them by coming close, they will just move to the opposite side of the tree and return to their vibing.

What a mood.

Read More

History Repeats [and Rewrites!] Itself…

History is a beautiful clusterfudge of odd characters, wacky narratives, and an unusual number of poisonings. As such, it’s only natural for historical events to provide a rich source of inspiration to writers who frankly can’t be having it with the modern day (that’s a general assumption, but I have faith – at least once a day I get angry at either a microwave or a traffic light so why wouldn’t other people have had it with our technological trappings as well?).

Enter: The Historical Retelling!

I know it sounds a little dry and dusty, but I can promise you that the books listed below are absolutely fat with intrigue, heart-racing romance, murderous intent, poison, old gods, and… cake? Have I piqued your interest yet?

If so, read on for more…


Gwen & Art are not in love / Croucher, Lex
“Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom’s only female knight), they become reluctant allies.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

My contrary Mary / Hand, Cynthia
“Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and … queens? Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she’s a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is a shapeshifter in a kingdom where Verities rule. It’s a secret that could cost her a head–or a tail.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Cake eater / Dahlin, Allyson
“3070. Marie Antoinette has arrived in the Franc Kingdom to marry the prince, secure an alliance, and rake in likes from her fans. Versailles is not the perfect palace Marie has seen on The Apps: her life is a maze of pointless rules, and the court watches her every move for mistakes.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Anatomy : a love story / Schwartz, Dana
“Hazel Sinnett is a medical student in 19th century Scotland who, after being kicked out because of her gender, works with new attractive acquaintance Jack Currer to procure dead bodies to study, but they soon discover secrets buried in the heart of Edinburgh society.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The black kids / Hammonds Reed, Christina
“Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of high school and […] they can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer. But everything changes one afternoon in April, when four police officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Alex & Eliza : a love story / De la Cruz, Melissa
“1777. Albany, New York. As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. […] And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Pride and premeditation / Price, Tirzah
“Seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seeks to solve a murder before her rival Mr. Darcy beats her to it.” (Catalogue)
My Lady Jane / Hand, Cynthia
“Edward is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d rather be planning his first kiss than who will inherit his crown. Jane, Edward’s cousin, is far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately, Edward has arranged to marry her off to Gifford secure the line of succession. And Gifford is, well, a horse.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Blood countess / Popović, Lana
“1570s Hungary. Anna Darvulia is working as a scullery maid for the Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna […] Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell– and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she is not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lovely war / Berry, Julie
“In the perilous days of World Wars I and II, the gods hold the fates — and the hearts — of four mortals in their hands. They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. […] Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it’s no match for the transcendent power of Love.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

One for all / Lainoff, Lillie
“France, 1655. Tania, the daughter of a retired musketeer, is afflicted with extreme vertigo and subject to frequent falls. When her father is murdered she learns that he has arranged for her to attend Madame de Treville’s newly formed Académie des Mariées in Paris. It is no finishing school: it is an academy for female Musketeers, socialites on the surface but dangerous, well-trained women who wish to protect France from downfall.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Fawkes : a novel / Brandes, Nadine
“Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
Reputation / Croucher, Lex
“Middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams. Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

And I darken / White, Kiersten
“A girl child is born to Vlad Dracula, in Transylvania, in 1435. Rejected by her father and ignored by her mother, Lada is sent with her younger brother, Radu, to be raised in the Ottoman courts. They meet Mehmed, son of the sultan, and form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point. She will grow up to be Lada Dragwlya, a vicious and brutal princess, destined to rule and destroy her enemies.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The prince and the dressmaker / Wang, Jen
“Paris, at the dawn of the modern age: Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride – or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia – the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion! Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Rejected princesses : tales of history’s boldest heroines, hellions, and heretics / Porath, Jason
“A brazen, uproarious collection of illustrations of tough women both historical and fantastical-too awesome, too fierce, and sometimes too weird. These are not fantasy tales of blushing ingenues and happily-ever-afters. Here are the real unsung women of history, real and from literature, mythology and folklore.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Enchantée / Trelease, Gita
“When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her brother and sister. Relying on magic, she transforms into ‘the Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles. […] But ‘la magie’ has its costs. When a scheming courtier blackmails her, Camille loses control of her secrets. Then revolution erupts, and she must make choices– before Paris burns.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A million to one / Jaigirdar, Adiba
“Four friends have stolen aboard the Titanic. They’re after the Rubaiyat – a book inlaid with priceless jewels. Josefa is a charismatic thief, Hinnah a daring acrobat, Violet an outstanding actress and Emilie a talented artist. It is Josefa’s plan, but she needs all of their skills. Despite their very different backgrounds, in a world of first-class passengers and suspicious crew members, the girls must work together to pull off the heist of their lives.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… Venom and Carnage

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character. This post is all about those two gruesome toothsome puddles of alien goo, Venom and Carnage!

(GIFs via Giphy)


Who is Venom?

Venom is a ‘symbiote’, a race of alien creatures that parasitically bond to other beings to survive. When one of these symbiotes bonded to Spider-Man and was rejected, it found its way to disgruntled reporter Eddie Brock, who had a vendetta against Spider-Man. Eddie and the symbiote formed a partnership over their mutual hatred of the Wall-Crawler, transforming into a hulking ink-black monstrosity – Venom.

In addition to granting its wearer increased strength, durability, and the power to shapeshift and manifest weapons out of its body, the symbiote also replicated all of Peter’s powers and memories. Due to its previous bond with Peter, Venom also cannot trigger Spidey’s danger-alerting ‘Spider-Sense’, which makes Venom one of Spider-Man’s deadliest villains. Fortunately, the symbiote’s biology makes Venom weak to high-pitched sounds and extreme heat, a vulnerability that Spider-Man can always exploit.

Over the years, Venom has also spawned new symbiotes, including the maniacal Carnage, the quintuplet Life Foundation symbiotes (Riot, Lasher, Phage, Scream, and Agony), the inverted copy Anti-Venom, and the good-natured Sleeper.


Symbiote Spider-Man

Spider-Man first gained the symbiote in the original Secret Wars, where he thought it was just an all-black version of his costume. While Peter initially embraced the symbiote, over time it began to amplify his negative emotions and control him against his will, leading Peter to reject it.

Black Suit Spider-Man appearances

Secret wars / Shooter, Jim

Symbiote Spider-Man / David, Peter

Symbiote Spider-Man : crossroads / David, Peter

Symbiote Spider-Man : king in black / David, Peter

Spider-Man has rejoined with the symbiote on occasion, such as when he fought a Carnage-powered Green Goblin, or when a Doc Ock-possessed Peter (see ‘Superior Spider-Man’ in our Spider-Verse blog) tried the symbiote on for size as the Superior Venom. Some What If? stories explore what would have happened if Peter had kept the symbiote permanently, like the recent miniseries Spider’s Shadow.

The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan

The Superior Spider-Man. 5, Superior Venom / Slott, Dan

Spider-Man : Spider’s shadow / Zdarsky, Chip


Venom: Lethal Protector

Venom initially tried to be a hero, calling himself a ‘Lethal Protector’ following a simplistic eye-for-an-eye morality. During this period, Venom moved to San Franciso and was later captured by the Life Foundation, who forced him to create his first five offspring.

‘Lethal Protector’ era Venom reading order

Venom: Lethal Protector (only on Libby)

Venom : lethal protector : heart of the hunted / Michelinie, David

Venom : planet of the symbiotes / Michelinie, David

Spider-Man : maximum Carnage

Venom : the complete collection / Way, Daniel


Mac Gargan as Venom

Eddie would eventually lose the symbiote, and Mac Gargan (the Spider-Man villain know as the Scorpion) became its new partner. As Venom, Gargan worked with the Thunderbolts, and using the suit’s ability to shapeshift, passed himself off as Spider-Man on Norman Osborn’s ‘Dark Avengers’.

Mac Gargan as Venom appearances

Thunderbolts : caged animals / Ellis, Warren

Thunderbolts : secret invasion / Gage, Christos

Mac Gargan as ‘Spider-Man’ appearances

Dark Avengers (only on Libby)

Dark X-Men / Cornell, Paul

Siege : Mighty Avengers / Slott, Dan

Siege : battlefield


Anti-Venom

Remnants of the symbiote in Eddie fuse with his white blood cells to create Anti-Venom, a symbiote with none of Venom’s weaknesses and no mind of its own. Anti-Venom is harmful to other symbiotes and has the ability to cure any disease or ailment, leading Brock to gain a messiah complex over his newfound power to heal.

Anti-Venom appearances

The amazing Spider-Man : the return of Anti-Venom

Amazing Spider-Man : Venom Inc / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)

Black Cat [4] : queen in black / MacKay, Jed


Agent Venom

The Venom symbiote is captured by the US government and given to Flash Thompson, a military veteran and Peter Parker’s former classmate. Flash uses the symbiote’s abilities as ‘Agent Venom‘, a covert operative performing secret missions for the Army and working alongside the Secret Avengers and General Ross’ Thunderbolts.

Agent Venom appearances

Venom [1] / Remender, Rick (also on Libby)

Venom : the complete collection. Volume 2 / Remender, Rick

Venom : the land where killers dwell / Bunn, Cullen

Agent Venom teams

Secret Avengers. [Vol. 1] / Remender, Rick

Secret Avengers [3] / Remender, Rick

Thunderbolts. Volume 1, No quarter / Way, Daniel

Thunderbolts. Volume 2, Red scare / Way, Daniel

Thunderbolts. Volume 3, Infinity / Soule, Charles

Thunderbolts. Volume 5, Punisher vs. the Thunderbolts / Acker, Ben


Venom: Spaceknight

Agent Venom later joins the Guardians of the Galaxy as their Avengers envoy (see our blog on Guardians of the Galaxy for more on this series). Here, Flash changes his symbiote form to an armored-plated look as Venom: Spaceknight.

Venom, space knight [1] : agent of the cosmos / Thompson, Robbie

Venom, space knight [2] : enemies and allies / Thompson, Robbie


Back to Brock

The symbiote eventually returns from space and is bounced between different hosts: the veteran-turned-criminal Lee Price and Venom’s original host, Eddie Brock. After settling on Brock once more (and leaving Flash with a new Anti-Venom suit to compensate), Venom spawns another symbiote, the benevolent Sleeper.

Venom. Volume 1, Homecoming / Costa, Mike

Venom [2] : the land before crime / Costa, Mike

Venom : lethal protector. Vol. 3, Blood in the water / Costa, Mike

Amazing Spider-Man : Venom Inc / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)

Venom. Vol. 4, The nativity / Costa, Mike

Venom. First host / Costa, Mike


Venom: The King in Black

Donny Cates’ run on Venom deepens the mythology of the symbiotes, expanding on what exactly they are as a species and their role in the Marvel Universe. In this series, Eddie discovers he has a long-lost son named Dylan, fights a vastly more powerful Carnage, and confronts the mind-controlling ‘King in Black’, the god of all symbiotes.

Donny Cates Venom reading order

Venom. Vol. 1, Rex / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

Venom. Vol. 2, The abyss / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

These first two volumes are also collected as Venom. Vol. 1 / Cates, Donny

The war of the realms : Venom / Bunn, Cullen

Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny

Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

Venom. Vol. 4, Venom Island / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

Venom. Vol. 5, Venom beyond / Cates, Donny

Venom [6] : king in black / Cates, Donny

The ‘King in Black‘ storyline is continued in these spin-offs.

King in black : planet of the symbiotes / Chapman, Clay McLeod

King in black : thunderbolts / Rosenberg, Matthew

King in black : return of the Valkyries / Aaron, Jason

Spider-Woman. Vol. 2, King in black / Pacheco, Karla

King in black : Avengers / Thorne, Geoffrey

Savage Avengers. Vol. 4, King in black / Duggan, Gerry

Symbiote Spider-Man : king in black / David, Peter

King in black : Gwenom vs. Carnage / McGuire, Seanan

King in black : Namor / Busiek, Kurt

The Guardians of the Galaxy [2] : “Here we make our stand” / Ewing, Al


Venom and Son

In the current Venom series, Eddie ascends to becoming the new King in Black, discovering the extraordinary (and time-bendingly weird) extent of his new role. Meanwhile, on Earth, Eddie’s son Dylan becomes the new Venom and must confront a new symbiote named Bedlam, who has mysterious ties to his father.

Current Venom reading order

Venom. Vol. 1, Recursion / Ewing, Al

Venom [2] : deviation / Ewing, Al

Dark Web / Wells, Zeb

Venom [3] : dark web / V, Ram

Venom [4] : Illumination / Ewing, Al


Across the Venomverse

Did you know that Venom had his own Spider-Verse? Across the multiverse, Venom has bonded to all sorts of other Marvel heroes, including Captain America, Rocket Raccoon, Black Panther, and Deadpool. In Venomverse and its sequel Venomised, Eddie Brock teams up with these Venom variants to fight the Poisons, an interdimensional hyperparasite race that feed on symbiotes.

Venomverse / Bunn, Cullen

Venomized / Bunn, Cullen

Extreme Venomverse

Death of the Venomverse / Bunn, Cullen

Ultimate Venom

In Ultimate Marvel (Earth-1610), Venom is not an alien, but a lab-grown organism created by Peter Parker and Eddie Brock’s parents. As in the original continuity, Venom bonds to Peter and then Eddie, and later spawns Carnage, which here bonds to Gwen Stacy. When Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man, he fights a deadlier, improved version of this Venom.

Ultimate Venom appearances

Ultimate Spider-Man : war of the symbiotes / Bendis, Brian Michael

Miles Morales : with great power / Bendis, Brian Michael

“Gwenom”

The symbiote appears in Spider-Gwen’s universe (Earth-65), also created as a lab-grown experiment. This Venom bonds to Gwen, creating the combo of ‘Gwenom’.

Gwenom appearances

Spider-Gwen. Vol. 4, Predators / Latour, Jason

Spider-Gwen. Vol. 5, Gwenom / Latour, Jason

King in black : Gwenom vs. Carnage / McGuire, Seanan

Renew Your Venoms

In the Renew Your Vows timeline (Earth-18119) where Peter and his family fight crime together, Mary Jane bonds with Venom to keep up with her super-powered husband and daughter.

The Amazing Spider-Man : renew your vows [2] : the Venom experiment / Conway, Gerry

The End of Venom

The miniseries The End imagines possible futures for Marvel’s heroes and villains. In Venom’s case, the symbiote comes into conflict with an artificial intelligence, starting a war that extends for over a trillion years.

The end / Larsen, Erik


Who is Carnage?

Carnage is Venom’s first offspring, created when Eddie Brock was sharing a prison cell with serial killer Cletus Kasady. The spawn of Venom bonded to Kasady and they became Carnage, a maniacal, all-red symbiote with an insatiable bloodlust.

Early Carnage appearances

Spider-Man : maximum Carnage

Superior Carnage / Shinick, Kevin

Deadpool vs Carnage / Bunn, Cullen


Carnage off his AXIS

In the crossover series AXIS, a magic spell causes the Avengers, X-Men and their villains to have their moralities inverted, causing the heroes to turn bad and the villains to turn good. Here, Carnage grows a conscience for the first time but is unsure how to use it, turning him good but without a stable guide on how to do good.

Carnage in AXIS appearances

Avengers/X-Men : Axis / Remender, Rick

Axis : Carnage & Hobgoblin / Spears, Rick

Nova [5] : axis / Duggan, Gerry

Later reverting to his evil ways, Carnage is hunted by a police task force, before being captured and bonded to Norman Osborn to become the Red Goblin.

Carnage [3] : what dwells beneath / Conway, Gerry

The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan


Absolute Carnage

Over the years, Carnage has grown a god complex, and continues to evolve in his quest for universal omnicide. In Absolute Carnage, he learns he can gain power by absorbing the DNA of former symbiote hosts (by force, naturally) and begins hunting them down, putting him in the path of Venom and Spider-Man.

Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny

The amazing Spider-Man : absolute Carnage

Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

The Absolute Carnage storyline is continued in these spin-offs.

Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool / Tieri, Frank

Absolute Carnage : Miles Morales / Ahmed, Saladin

Absolute Carnage : Scream / Bunn, Cullen

Absolute Carnage : lethal protectors / Tieri, Frank

Absolute Carnage : the immortal Hulk and other tales / Ewing, Al


Extreme Carnage

Seemingly defeated after Eddie becomes the King in Black, the Carnage symbiote begins another campaign of death by hunting down various Spider-Man villains, like Hydro-Man and The Spot, and stealing their powers.

Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Carnage : black, white & blood

Carnage. Vol. 1, In the court of crimson / V, Ram

Carnage in hell / V, Ram

Carnage reigns / Ziglar, Cody

Death of the Venomverse / Bunn, Cullen


Ravencroft

When not raising havoc, Carnage is incarcerated in Ravencroft, an asylum for the criminally insane. Other famous inmates include Carnage’s girlfriend Shriek, the imperfect Spider-Man clone Doppelganger, Wolverine’s nemesis Sabertooth, and even Dracula.

Ravencroft appearances

Spider-Man : maximum Carnage

Ravencroft / Tieri, Frank

Ruins of Ravencroft / Tieri, Frank


Other Symbiotes

Both Venom and Carnage have spawned new symbiotes over the years, growing a deadly family tree that continues to wreak havoc over the Marvel Universe.

Life Foundation symbiotes

The five Life Foundation symbiotes (the brute Riot, the tendril-coated Lasher, the spiky Phage, the prehensile-haired Scream, and acidic Agony) have only appeared sporadically since their creation, usually as foot soldiers for bigger villains.

Life Foundation symbiote appearances

Venom: Lethal Protector (only on Libby)

Deadpool vs Carnage / Bunn, Cullen

Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny

Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Scream has a few spin-off titles of her own, mostly tying into Carnage-related storylines.

Absolute Carnage : Scream / Bunn, Cullen

Scream. Vol. 1, Curse of Carnage / Chapman, Clay McLeod

Agony and her current host Gemma Shin were members of Wilson Fisk’s Thunderbolts, serving as his enforcers during the Kingpin’s time as mayor of New York City. Later, she is offered redemption as a part of Daredevil and Elektra’s new team, The Fist.

Devil’s reign / Zdarsky, Chip

Devil’s reign : villains for hire / Chapman, Clay McLeod

Daredevil & Elektra. Vol. 1, The Red Fist saga / Zdarsky, Chip

Daredevil & Elektra [2] : the Red Fist saga. Part two / Zdarsky, Chip


Toxin

Toxin is Carnage’s first offspring (and by extension, Venom’s grandchild). As the 1000th of his line, Toxin is stronger than both his parent and grandparent and more resistant to their weaknesses. Fortunately, Toxin is also the most benevolent of his family, with a strong dislike of other symbiotes.

Toxin appearances

Venom : the complete collection. Volume 2 / Remender, Rick

King in black : planet of the symbiotes / Chapman, Clay McLeod

Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy


Sleeper

Sleeper is Venom’s most recent offspring, and very protective of his ‘brother’, Eddie’s son Dylan. Like Toxin, Sleeper is a more benevolent symbiote, but is more secretive than his brethren, preferring to possess hosts without their knowledge. Sleeper also has the unique ability to generate chemical compounds from his body, such as mind-altering pheromones and corrosive acids.

Sleeper appearances

Venom. Vol. 4, The nativity / Costa, Mike

Venom. First host / Costa, Mike

Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny

Venom. Vol. 4, Venom Island / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)

Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy

Venom. Vol. 1, Recursion / Ewing, Al

Venom [2] : deviation / Ewing, Al

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Soft Apocalypse Scouts!

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth!

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and inventing a new cryptid, Mary Shelley-style).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

Ah, summer. The season of weird sunburn patterns and everything being just a little bit sticky. Don’t get me wrong – I love summer, but in my high school days, this was also the hot little season in which I lost all sense of routine and purpose outside the structure of school. Thankfully, I am now an adult which means I can come up with whatever dumb activities I like for the sake of personal enrichment, and today I am here to share some of these said dumb activities, so if the hot season ennui is getting you down… why not become a Soft Apocalypse Scout??

I’ve made y’all some badges (because let’s face it, who the heck doesn’t like a good badge?), the templates of which you can find below, and I’m trusting each of you to DIY these badges into something a little more tangible , whether that means simply printing them off and sticking them to your foreheads, turning them into stickers using the HIVE Makerspace’s cricut machine, or even turning these into real badges using Wellington City Library’s badge-making machine!* I’m also trusting you to earn each and every one of these badges by accomplishing the associated task and/or challenge  – so without further ado, Soft Apocalypse Scouts move out!

*If you’re more into earning badges you don’t have to print yourself, surely you’ve already signed up for the Summer Reading Adventure?


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I solemnly swear to do my best every day, and in all that I do, to be brave and strong, to be truthful and compassionate, to be interesting and interested, to pay attention and question the world around me, to think of others first, to always help and protect my friends, then there’s a line about god or whatever, and to make the world a better place for Lumberjane scouts and for everyone else.

        –  Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy


The Environment Badges

Digital scout badge depicting a silhouette hiking up a hill against a green background.

Hiking Badge: Explore a new hiking or walking trail to earn this badge.

Camping Badge: Earn this badge by spending a night in nature!


Camp / Rosen, Lev AC
“At Camp Outland, a camp for LGBTQIA teens, sixteen-year-old Randall “Del” Kapplehoff’s plan to have Hudson Aaronson-Lim fall in love with him succeeds, but both are hiding their true selves.” (Catalogue)

The Do-er Badges

Scout badge of two crossed tennis rackets set against an orange background.

Sporty Spice Badge: Learn or take part in a new sport to earn this badge.

Scout badge of a knife and fork set against an orange background.

Chef’s Kiss Badge: Learn to cook a new meal! Check out Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Cooking the Books (but make it literal) for inspiration.

 


Vegan BBQ : 70 delicious plant-based recipes to cook outdoors / Beskow, Katy
“70 simple, summery recipes to cook on your barbecue, as well as delicious sides, dips and snacks to brighten up any alfresco event. From Katsu burgers with wasabi mayo, Buttered Hassleback squash, and Sizzling fajitas, to Brown sugar baked beans, BBQ patatas bravas or Kiwi and avocado salsa.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Literary Badges

Scout badge of a book against a red background.

Bookworm Badge: In order to earn this badge you can borrow and read a new book from your local library! (For bonus points – why not sign up for the Summer Reading Adventure 2024??)

Scout badge of a quill and inkpot set against a red background.

Author Badge: Try your hand at writing a poem, essay, or short story to earn this badge!

 


Dear Ally, how do you write a book / Carter, Ally
“With practical tips and helpful advice, Dear Ally is a treasure for aspiring writers at any stage of their careers. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at how books get made, from idea to publication, and gives you insight into the writing processes of some of the biggest and most talented YA authors writing today.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Aesthete Badges

Scout badge of two drama masks set against a blue background.

Thespian Badge: Attend or take part in a theatrical performance to earn this badge.

Scout badge with a crossed pencil and paintbrush in front of a white paint splatter, set against a blue background.

Artist Badge: In order to earn this badge, create an original work of art. Check out Weird Art (and How to Make It!) for ideas!

 

 

 

 

 


Drama / Telgemeier, Raina
“Callie rides an emotional roller coaster while serving on the stage crew for a middle school production of Moon over Mississippi as various relationships start and end, and others never quite get going.” (Catalogue)


The Self-Care Badges

Scout badge of a person in bed against a purple background.

Sleepy Baby Badge: Put your phone on DND at night and get eight hours sleep for three nights in a row.

Scout badge of four paper dolls holding hands, set against a purple background.

Friendship is Magic Badge: To earn this badge, organise a fun event for you and at least one friend.

 

 


Rookie on love : 45 voices on romance, friendship, and self-care
“A single-subject anthology about the heart’s most powerful emotion, edited by Tavi Gevinson. Featuring exclusive, never-before-seen essays, poems, comics, and interviews from contributors like Jenny Zhang, Emma Straub, Hilton Als, Janet Mock, John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Gabourey Sidibe, Mitski, Alessia Cara […] and many more!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Creature Badges

Scout badge of a pawprint, set against a brown background.

All Creatures Great and Small Badge: Earn this badge by volunteering at a local animal sanctuary, or completing one of the activities suggested in Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Comforts for Creatures.

Scout badge of an alien doing peace fingers, set against a brown background.

I Want to Believe Badge: Research a historical alien or cryptid sighting, and create a movie, text, presentation or artwork inspired by what you learned.

 


Unnatural creatures
“Magical creatures from the werewolf, to the sunbird, to beings never before classified will thrill, delight, and quite possibly unnerve you in tales by E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

So there you have it! Your Soft Apocalypse Scout assignment for the summer. If your interest has been piqued, why not check out a local Scout (11-14yrs), Venturer (14-18yrs) or Ranger (12-17yrs) troop near you?

For a teaser of some activities that you might get up to as a Scout, check out their regularly updated e-zine from their 2024 Jamboree currently taking place just outside Hamilton!

Or if you’re feeling like something a bit more low-effort, have a browse through some of our summeriest, scoutiest books below:


Lumberjanes [1] : beware the kitten holy / Stevenson, Noelle
“Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp… defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons… what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Under the Stars Camping Australia and New Zealand: The best camsites, huts, glamping and bush camping / Lonely Planet (Corp)
“Discover more than 200 out-of-this-world camping hotspots in this epic guide that features breathtaking wild camping pitches, picturesque glamping sites, scenic campgrounds, cabins, huts and more – with practical details and expert tips for an adventure like no other.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lumberjanes : campfire songs
“Cryptids, and kittens, and costumes, on my! Neither rain nor heat nor mischievous faeries can put a damper on the fun at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types! Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley are helping throw a huge, mid-summer costume bash with the rest of the Lumberjane scouts, but the decorations, snacks, and supplies keep going missing, thanks to some pesky faeries!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Hungry campers cookbook : fresh, healthy and easy recipes to cook on your next camping trip / Holder, Katy
“Hungry Campers Cookbook brings together the fun of family camping holidays with fresh, healthy, gourmet yet simple recipes.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Lumberjanes [14] : X marks the spot / Watters, Shannon
“The Roanoke scouts are eager to hunt down what they hope might be some kind of mystical hoard of gems and jewels, rad dinosaur bones, or maybe even more treasure maps (that you have to piece together to find an EVEN BIGGER prize, obviously)! What they end up finding is scattered pieces of an ancient Greek statue of a woman, who, when assembled, comes back to life as a vindictive ex-goddess!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Give me a sign / Sortino, Anna
“Seventeen-year-old Lilah, who wears hearing aids, returns to a summer camp for the Deaf and Blind as a counselor, eager to improve her ASL and find her place in the community, but she did not expect to also find romance along the way.” (Catalogue)

Excellent short walks in the North Island : 250 walks under 2 hours / Janssen, Peter
“Wherever you are in the North Island you’re sure to be within reach of a short walk with an excellent destination […] All walks will suit those who enjoy walking but do not want a long tramp with heavy boots and a pack, or travellers who are short on time.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Survive in the outdoors / Lawrence, Mike
“Step-by-step instructions for seven projects that will help you survive in the wild […] Prepare yourself before you set off on your next adventure! Whether you’re hiking in the wilderness or camping in your own backyard, Survive in the Outdoors! will equip you with the know-how you need. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Robinson Crusoe / Defoe, Daniel
“Robinson Crusoe is determined to devote himself to a life at sea. Luck, however is not with him in his various voyages–his first is shipwrecked and his second taken by pirates, yet nothing dissuades him from his passion. One day, en route to Africa, his ship is wrecked, leaving him marooned on an uninhabited island, with no way to return to civilization…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

How do you do, fellow kids? – Books written by actual teenagers!

Given that this is the Teen Blog, I am making the assumption that you, reading this, are a teenager. And I’m also making the assumption that you like books. This is a library blog after all. AND, third assumption here, I’m assuming that you will find it cool or interesting to find out about books that were written by people the same age as you!

Rather than, you know, someone who was a teenager last century writing about what they think you’ll like.
*sweats in millennial*

via GIPHY

Will this post act as inspiration for you to start/continue writing your masterwork? Perhaps. Will it give you a new and exciting list of books to go ahead and read (and of course log for the Summer Reading Adventure)? Hopefully. Will it at least be an enjoyable short read to take up a few minutes of your long summer’s day? Er, maybe?

So here, in no particular order, is my list of books that were written by people your age or thereabouts.

Eragon / Paolini, Christopher / eAudiobook / eBook /
The first manuscript for Eragon was written when Paolini was 15, and his family self-published the book when he was 17. THEN Random House sniffed him out and offered to publish Eragon, which they did when he was 19. And yes, he did create the maps and a WHOLE LANGUAGE, forge his own knives and swords, and make his own bow and arrows and chainmail as part of writing Eragon.
They even made a movie (of rather dubious quality) back in 2007.
A fifth book set in the world of the Inheritance Cycle has just been released this year. We have copies of Murtagh on order (in print and audiobook form!) so you can jump over to our catalogue and add yourself to the hold queue if you’re interested.

Solitaire / Oseman, Alice / eBook
Have you been avidly watching Heartstopper, or rapidly devouring Volume 5 that came out this year?
Solitaire is Oseman’s first book – written when they were 17 and published when they were 19. It’s a bit more serious than Heartstopper so Oseman does recommend checking out the content warnings on her site before reading. And yes, that is Charlie’s sister you’re following there in Solitaire. And no, you don’t have to read Heartstopper before you read this. Or read this before you read Heartstopper.

Cover image used with permission from Denika Mead.

The death-hunters / Mead, Denika
Denika Mead was 15 when this, her first book (which is full of world-hopping adventure and exhilaration), was published. That was in 2019, which means that as I write this, and given my maths is correct, she is still a teenager! Mead has already published five books in the Royal Orchid series and one in the Agents of TIME series. AND she runs writing workshops and writes for The Sapling and lives in Lower Hutt.
Mead is known for her faced-paced narratives, and for readers who devour her books due to their not-put-down-able nature.

Tūhono. a journal of poetry by Wellington teens 
Yes, of course I’m sneaking Tūhono in here. We’ve got to have some self-promotion, right? All the poets published in Tūhono are local Wellington writers and, well, that’s the only criteria! If you have a read-through, you may come across someone you know. Or you may not realise you’re reading something written by a friend since there are a few pseudonyms/pen-names used in there.

The extraordinary and unusual adventures of Horatio Lyle / Webb, Catherine
Webb wrote her first book, Mirror dreams, when she was 14 and it was published two years later. Unfortunately, we don’t have copies of any of her first four books in our libraries, but we do have a copy of her fifth book, which I actually like a whole lot better so it’s like the universe has aligned so that I can feature my preferred book. Think Sherlock Holmes, but more likeable and likely to accidentally blow things up, and also there are supernatural beings about.
This one was published when Webb was 19, which means that she had five books published before the age of 20! That is one less than local author Denika Mead though…

These violent delights / Gong, Chloe
This one was written when Gong was 19 while she was on a uni break (as in, she wrote the whole thing in a month!) but it wasn’t actually published till she was 21. It still fits into the scope of this post though, as she was a teenager while she was writing it. Gong was born in Shanghai but grew up in Auckland from the age of 2 (then did skedaddle off to the US for university) so we are DEFINITELY claiming her as an NZ writer.
These violent delights features 1920s Shanghai, rival gangs, mysterious deaths, was a hit on BookTok, and was also featured in a previous BookTok blog! Go us.

Echo / Kelly, Arlo
Were you keeping an eye out on the New Zealand Book Awards for children and Young Adults this year? Well, I’m sure you were and I’m sure you saw Echo, which was a finalist for the NZSA Best First Book Award. Arlo Kelly was the youngest finalist, at 16 years old! He lives over in the Kāpiti Coast and the inspiration for Echo came from a walk along Makorori Beach with his sister, which has led to this thoughtful and emotive story that centres around a whale and a boy with Low Vision. Another local and very talented writer!

Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft / eAudiobook / eBook
I couldn’t not mention Frankenstein. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was 19 when she wrote this, the first example of science fiction. How many 19-year olds create a whole new genre? She had passed the double-decade milestone by the time it was published, but not by much!
Frankenstein has inspired many adaptations and reprints and editions. And it all came from this 19-year-old coming up with a ghost story to tell her husband and that Lord Byron guy!


If you’re getting to the end of this list feeling like you’re running out of time to produce your masterwork, please don’t despair! To change direction completely, here are a few FAMOUS authors who weren’t published, or didn’t even start writing, until much later in life. So you’ve still got plenty of time.

J.R.R. Tolkien, famous name, creator of Middle Earth and Elvish and Hobbits and the One Ring and all that, had his first work of fiction, The hobbit, published when he was 45. When his publisher requested a sequel, The fellowship of the ring followed a mere seventeen years later.

You must have read something by Dick King-Smith when you were younger. He wrote many many children’s books, including all those books about Sophie and also The sheep-pig (which became the film Babe). He was 54 when he sat down to write his first book, The fox busters, and he was 56 when it was published. And he still went on to write over a hundred books!

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote all those Little house books that you can find spread across our libraries. Her first book, Little house in the big woods, was published in 1932 when she was 65! And her books are still in print today.

Love, Libraries and Lives Lost – New Teen Books in the Collection

Do you need something fresh to read over the school holidays?  We’ve got a great selection of new books rolling into our collection this month as always.  We’ve selected a handful below to get you started!

Comics

Mall Goth / Leth, Kate
“Liv Holme is not exactly thrilled to be moving to a new town with her mother. After all, high school can be brutal, even more so when you’re a fifteen-year-old, bisexual goth. But Liv is determined to be who she is, bullies or not. Thankfully, she’s found the perfect escape: the mall. Under its fluorescent lights, Liv feels far away from her parents’ strained marriage and the peers who don’t understand her. Amid the bright storefronts, food court smell, and anonymous shoppers, Liv is safely one of the crowd and can enjoy the feeling of calling the shots in her own life for once.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The infinity particle / Xu, Wendy
“Clementine Chang moves from Earth to Mars for a new start and is lucky enough to land her dream job with Dr. Marcella Lin, an Artificial Intelligence pioneer. On her first day of work, Clem meets Dr. Lin’s assistant, a humanoid AI named Kye. Clem is no stranger to robots–she built herself a cute moth-shaped companion named SENA. Still, there’s something about Kye that feels almost too human. When Clem and Kye begin to collaborate, their chemistry sets off sparks. The only downside? Dr. Lin is enraged by Kye’s growing independence and won’t allow him more freedom. Plus, their relationship throws into question everything Clem thought she knew about AI. After all, if Kye is sentient enough to have feelings, shouldn’t he be able to control his own actions? Where is the line between AI and human?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass : the graphic novel / Vargas, Mel Valentine
“It’s the beginning of sophomore year, and Piedad “Piddy” Sanchez is having a hard time adjusting to her new high school. Things don’t get any easier when Piddy learns that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off from those who care about her – or running away? (Adapted from Catalogue)

Fiction

Divine rivals : a novel / Ross, Rebecca
“After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again… All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms. Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?” (Catalogue)

Also available as an eAudiobook, and an eBook on both Libby and Borrowbox.

Ryan and Avery / Levithan, David
“When Ryan and Avery met at a queer prom, they felt an instant connection. This is the story of their first 10 dates: the tender hopes, the skittish fears, the difficulty of introducing someone into your pre-existing life. There is always the possibility of heartbreak– and the chance that maybe, just maybe, you’ve found the right person to love.” (Catalogue)

Where he can’t find you / Coates, Darcy
“Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they’re found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer . . . or something far darker? She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe–which is why it’s such a shock when Hope is taken. With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

What stalks among us / Hollowell, Sarah
“The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. But with a whole day of playing hooky unspooling before them, they make their second mistake. Or perhaps their third? Maybe even their fourth. Because Sadie and Logan have definitely entered this maze before. And again before that. They quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The space between here & now / Suk, Sarah
“Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life. Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The library of broken worlds / Johnson, Alaya Dawn
“In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great celestial peacekeeper of the three systems, a terrible secret lies buried. The daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library’s ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. When she meets Joshua, a mortal boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a Disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to break ranks with the gods and help them. To do so she will have to venture deeper into the Library– and she discovers the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.” (Catalogue)

Non-Fiction

Lads : a guide to respect and consent – step up, speak out and create positive change / Bissett, Alan
“In a world full of negative influences, LADS is a toolkit for teenage boys on respect and consent, helping them call out bad behaviour and giving them the confidence to be their best selves. Have you ever been in a situation where there’s a loud guy making dodgy comments, cracking jokes that only he thinks are funny or leering at the girls in the room? You can feel the tension, right? That Guy is the worst, but no one is saying anything, because the whole situation is intimidating and awkward. This toolkit will help you call out bad behaviour and understand the serious issues facing girls today. And it will make you feel confident navigating relationships, so that everyone feels happy, heard and respected, while being the best version of yourself.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new books in the catalogue, go to: What’s new / December 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

Y’all Just Love Desserts! Looking Back on the Year’s Sweetest Holidays

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s beginning to look a lot like our favourite December holiday! And the bells were ringing through the land, bringing peace to all the world and good will to man. What a bright time, it’s the right time to join in any reindeer games.

Yeah, you better watch out! You better not cry! You better not pout! I’m telling you why!  Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie. I gave you my tart, and the very next day, you gave it away, which is wild because pumpkin pie is really nice. All I want for this day is sweets! I mean if you manage a pumpkin pie, that’d be great, but it’s not as big of a thing in New Zealand.

Próspero año y día de la tarta de calabaza!

It’s December 25th, and you know what that means…

Merry Pumpkin Pie Day!


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But Pumpkin Pie, while delicious, doesn’t have the cultural impact here compared to the US of A. So why not celebrate other sweet-themed holidays. It’s the end of the year after all, so why not take a look back on all the various dessert and candy themed holidays!

Now you might not realise this, but there are so many of these sweet holidays, even the mainstream “actually celebrated” holidays. I mean, think of the major holidays: Halloween is about getting free candy, Easter is about getting chocolate eggs, and Valentines Day (plus it’s evil twin White Day) is about giving people heart themed chocolates. Down to our roots we want excuses to eat more sugar.


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Say, if you wanted to have a day for cake, that’s not your birthday, try November 26: Cake Day. There are also subcake days, like pancake day, cheesecake day, cupcake day, sponge cake day, and ice cream cake day. But then you can go hyper specific, like National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day (April 20th). But it’s not just cake, there are so many random desserts that people apparently care enough to make a whole day about. Like who is that excited over Oatmeal Nut Waffles?

For you, dear reader, I have compiled all of 2023’s various mouthwatering holidays into one convenient place. Have I potentially missed some? Maybe. But am I going to check? No. Am I going to insert random other days to teach you a lesson about blindly trusting internet sources without engaging critical thinking and because I think it’s funny? Perhaps.

Enjoy your journey!


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Read More

The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… Aquaman

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character or series. This post is all about DC Comics’ King of the Seven Seas… Aquaman!


Who is Aquaman?

The son of a lighthouse keeper and a princess from the undersea kingdom of Atlantis, Arthur Curry, discovers he has the power to breathe underwater, survive in deep ocean environments, and command marine life. Claiming his birthright as king of Atlantis, Arthur now protects the seven seas as its monarch and hero, Aquaman. Alongside him are his wife and queen Mera, and the Aqualads, Garth and Jackson Hyde.

Note: DC Comics are divided by publishing eras, determined by a point where they set the issue number (and sometimes, continuity) of a series back to #1. ‘Post-Crisis’ is everything from 1986-2011, the New 52 from 2011-2016, DC Rebirth from 2016-2021, and Infinite Frontier from 2021 to present.


The Legend of Aquaman

Aquaman’s Post-Crisis origin is told in The Legend of Aquaman, which has him as the son of an Atlantean wizard and the Queen of Atlantis. Exiled to land at birth and raised to adulthood by the lighthouse keeper Tom Curry, Arthur eventually returned to Atlantis and took the throne.

Aquaman : the legend of Aquaman / Fleming, Robert Loren


Sub Diego

The ‘Sub Diego’ storyline begins when a massive earthquake sinks the city of San Diego under the waves, leaving thousands dead and the survivors inexplicably gaining the ability to breath underwater. Aquaman and his new sidekick Lorena Marquez, aka Aquagirl, must help the new waterbreathers adapt to life under the sea, while preventing the rise of a new oceanic criminal syndicate.

Aquaman : to serve and protect / Arcudi, John

Aquaman : kingdom lost / Arcudi, John


Sword of Atlantis and Blackest Night

Arthur uses Atlantean magic to restore Sub Diego back to land, but as a consequence, he mutates into the monstrous Dweller of the Depths. He is then replaced with a younger Aquaman, Joseph Curry, who Arthur aids alongside a seemingly reformed King Shark.

Joseph Curry appearances

Aquaman : sword of Atlantis : once and future / Busiek, Kurt

Superman/Batman. Volume 4

Sometime after, Arthur perishes and is resurrected during the Blackest Night crossover, which sees deceased heroes and villains in the DCU return to life as superpowered zombies called Black Lanterns. In the sequel series Brightest Day, Arthur and Mera search for a cure for Arthur’s lingering Black Lantern powers, discovering the secret son of Black Manta along the way.

Blackest Night saga / Johns, Geoff (also on Libby)

Brightest day : omnibus / Johns, Geoff


The New 52

The New 52 reboots DC Comic’s long-running continuity, tweaking Arthur’s history in the process. Rather than being the king of Atlantis for some years, here Arthur is reluctant to take the throne until his hand is forced by Orm, his half-brother and self-proclaimed ‘Ocean Master’, attacking the surface with an Atlantean army.

Aquaman. Volume 1, The trench / Johns, Geoff (also on Libby)

Aquaman. Volume 2, The Others / Johns, Geoff

Aquaman. Volume 3, Throne of Atlantis / Johns, Geoff

Aquaman. Volume 4, Death of a King / Johns, Geoff

Aquaman. Volume 5, Sea of storms / Parker, Jeff

Aquaman. Volume 6, Maelstrom / Parker, Jeff

Aquaman. Volume 7, Exiled / Bunn, Cullen

Aquaman. Volume 8, Out of darkness / Abnett, Dan


DC Rebirth

The DC Rebirth period of Aquaman focuses on the geopolitical tensions between Atlantis and the United States, as Arthur must mediate between both sides to prevent an all-out war. Later, the Atlantean throne is usurped by the vicious King Rath, and Arthur finds new allies in the denizens of Atlantis’ slums.

Aquaman. Vol. 1, The drowning / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman. Vol. 3, Crown of Atlantis / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman. Vol. 4, Underworld / Abnett, Dan

‘Underworld’ is also collected as Aquaman : Underworld, the deluxe edition / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman. Vol. 5, The crown comes down / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman. Vol. 6, Kingslayer / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman/Suicide Squad : sink Atlantis / Williams, Rob


Drowned Earth

After leading the Justice League against an oceanic alien armada in Drowned Earth, Arthur loses his memories and is nursed back to health by a community of ancient sea gods (including Aotearoa’s own Tangaroa). This series sees Aquaman reconnecting with his allies both on land and Atlantis, and facing an improved mecha-powered Black Manta.

Justice League : Aquaman : drowned earth / Snyder, Scott

Aquaman. Vol. 1, Unspoken water / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman. Vol. 2, Amnesty / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman. Vol. 3, Manta vs. machine / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman. Volume 4, Echoes of a life lived well / DeConnick, Kelly Sue


Infinite Frontier

The Infinite Frontier era of Aquaman (or rather, Aquamen) focuses on former Aqualad Jackson Hyde, who now shares the Aquaman title with Arthur. Here, Jackson, Arthur and Black Manta must team up to stop a secret cabal of Atlantean sleeper agents.

Aquaman : the becoming / Thomas, Brandon

Black Manta / Brown, Chuck

Aquamen / Brown, Chuck

Also published in this era is Aquaman: Andromeda, a cosmic horror adventure that sees Aquaman aiding an experimental submarine crew to a spaceship graveyard in the ocean.

Aquaman : Andromeda / V, Ram


Aquaman’s teams

Aquaman is a founding member of the Justice League, valued for his status as regent of the oceans and his unique powerset. Arthur and the League have faced threats together such as the time-travelling League of Ancients (JLA. Volume six), the Ocean Master and his Atlantean army (Throne of Atlantis), and a disgruntled Justice League fan using the League’s secrets against them (The people vs. the Justice League).

Aquaman on the Justice League

JLA : New world order / Morrison, Grant

JLA. Volume two / Morrison, Grant

JLA. Volume four / Morrison, Grant

JLA. Volume five / Waid, Mark

JLA. Volume six / Kelly, Joe

Justice League. Volume 3, Throne of Atlantis / Johns, Geoff

Justice League of America : power and glory / Hitch, Bryan

Justice League. Vol. 6, The people vs. the Justice League / Priest, Christopher J.

Justice League. Vol. 7, Justice lost / Priest, Christopher J.

Dark nights : metal / Snyder, Scott

Justice League : Aquaman : drowned earth / Snyder, Scott

Aquaman and the Others

The New 52 establishes that Arthur was once a part of a team of mysterious heroes called The Others, each of whom possesses a unique Atlantean weapon (Arthur’s being his signature trident).

Aquaman. Volume 2, The Others / Johns, Geoff

Aquaman and the Others. Volume 1, Legacy of gold / Jurgens, Dan

Aquaman and the Others. Volume 2, Alignment Earth / Jurgens, Dan


Mera, Queen of Atlantis

Mera is from the kingdom of Xebel, another underwater city constantly at war with Atlantis. Initially sent to execute Arthur, Mera fell in love with him, and now uses her gifts of water manipulation and her royal connections to aid him as his queen.

Mera, Queen of Atlantis / Abnett, Dan

Mera : tidebreaker / Paige, Danielle


Garth, the first Aqualad

Garth was an Atlantean orphan whom Arthur adopted as his trusty sidekick, Aqualad. With powers identical to Aquaman, in addition to some proficiency in Atlantean magic, Garth became a founding member of the Teen Titans (later just ‘the Titans’).

Garth as Aqualad appearances

Teen Titans : year one / Wolfram, Amy

Titans hunt / Abnett, Dan

Titans. Vol. 1, The return of Wally West / Abnett, Dan

Titans. Vol. 2, Made in Manhattan / Abnett, Dan

Titans. Vol. 3, A Judas among us / Abnett, Dan

Titans : the Lazarus contract / Priest, Christopher J.

Aquaman : Underworld, the deluxe edition / Abnett, Dan

Heroes in crisis / King, Tom


Jackson Hyde, the second Aqualad

The second Aqualad is Jackson Hyde, the son of Black Manta and a Xebel spy. Raised in New Mexico as far from the ocean as possible, Jackson eventually discovered the truth of his parentage and joined up with Aquaman and Mera. Jackson has the same powers as Mera, using special gauntlets to shape water into weapons and generate electrical shocks through them.

This version of Aqualad first appeared in the animated series Young Justice as an Atlantean named Kaldur’ahm, then was introduced in the comics shortly after.

Aqualad in Young Justice appearances

Young Justice [2] : training day / Weisman, Greg

Young Justice [3] : creature features / Weisman, Greg

Aqualad in mainstream DC Comics appearances

Brightest day : omnibus / Johns, Geoff

Teen Titans. Vol. 2, The rise of Aqualad / Percy, Benjamin

Teen Titans. Vol. 3, The return of Kid Flash

Aquaman. Vol. 2, Amnesty / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman. Vol. 3, Manta vs. machine / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman. Volume 4, Echoes of a life lived well / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Aquaman : the becoming / Thomas, Brandon

Aquamen / Brown, Chuck

Jackson is openly gay, appearing in DC’s Pride comics and even has his own graphic novel romance, You Brought Me the Ocean.

DC Pride 2021

You brought me the ocean / Sanchez, Alex


Black Manta

Aquaman’s nemesis is Black Manta, a ruthless high-tech pirate commanding an undersea legion of criminal henchmen. While Manta is mostly out for loot and plunder, he has a personal vendetta against Aquaman, who in his early adventures was responsible for the death of Manta’s father. Recently, Manta has tried to persuade his teenage son Jackson Hyde into joining him in his criminal enterprise.

Black Manta appearances

Aquaman : kingdom lost / Arcudi, John

Brightest day : omnibus / Johns, Geoff

Aquaman. Volume 2, The Others / Johns, Geoff

New Suicide Squad. Volume 1, Pure insanity / Ryan, Sean

New Suicide Squad. Volume 2, Monsters / Ryan, Sean

New Suicide Squad. Volume 3, Freedom / Ryan, Sean

Aquaman. Vol. 1, The drowning / Abnett, Dan

Aquaman. Vol. 3, Manta vs. machine / DeConnick, Kelly Sue

Justice League : Aquaman : drowned earth / Snyder, Scott

Black Manta / Brown, Chuck

Aquaman : Andromeda / V, Ram


Other Aquaman allies

Lagoon Boy

La’gaan is a fish-like Atlantean who took on the name ‘Lagoon Boy’ due to his resemblance to the classic movie monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He’s been a member of the teen super-team Young Justice in the comics and became Aqualad’s replacement on ‘The Team’ in the show Young Justice.

Lagoon Boy appearances

Young Justice. Book six

Young Justice [4] : invasion / Weisman, Greg (based on the TV show)

Heroes in crisis / King, Tom

King Shark

Nanaue is a humanoid shark, the son of the Shark God Chondraka and a human woman from Hawaii. As King Shark, Nanaue’s nature wavers between articulate villain and bloodthirsty beast-man, and as such, his allegiance has shifted many times over the years. He’s been an ally to Aquaman in Sword of Atlantis, a mercenary in the Secret Six, and an operative in Task Force X.

King Shark appearances – Post-Crisis

Aquaman : sword of Atlantis : once and future / Busiek, Kurt

Secret Six : unhinged / Simone, Gail

Secret Six : the reptile brain / Simone, Gail

Secret Six : the darkest house / Simone, Gail

King Shark appearances – New 52 to present

Suicide Squad. Volume 1 (also on Libby) through Volume 5

Teen Titans. Vol. 2, The rise of Aqualad / Percy, Benjamin

Aquaman. Vol. 5, The crown comes down / Abnett, Dan

Suicide Squad : Blaze / Spurrier, Simon

Suicide Squad : King Shark / Seeley, Tim

If you’d like to learn about the actual Hawaiian legend that inspired King Shark, check out The Shark King : a Toon book/ Johnson, R. Kikuo


Aquaman across the Multiverse

Absolute Justice / Krueger, Jim – In a global conflict between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, Aquaman must rescue his infant son from Brainiac and Black Manta.

Kingdom come / Waid, Mark (also on Libby) – Like many elder heroes in this alternate future, Arthur has retired, choosing to rule Atlantis while the first Aqualad protects the seas as the second Aquaman.

Flashpoint / Johns, Geoff  – In this dark alternate timeline accidentally created by The Flash, Arthur leads Atlantis in a brutal war against the Amazons.

Injustice : Gods among us : Volume 1As sovereign of Atlantis, Aquaman is one of the first challenges to a grieving Superman’s world-conquering Regime.

The Multiversity / Morrison, GrantAquawoman from the matriarchal Earth-11 joins a team of multiversal heroes to fight the evil interdimensional Gentry. Other multiversal Aquapeople featured here include the fascist Unterwasserman, the Mer-Man of Justice 9, and the hybrid hero Aquaflash.

Justice League incarnate / Williamson, Joshua – Aquawoman returns to the Multiversity to fight a reinvigorated Darkseid.

Multiversity : teen justice / Cohen, IvanAquagirl Jaqui Hyde leads Earth-11’s teenage super-team Teen Justice.

Earth 2. Volume 4, The Dark Age / Taylor, Tom – On Earth-2, the Atlantean on the resident hero team ‘The Wonders of the World’ is Queen Marella.

Justice League beyond : power struggle / Gage, Christos – Set in the future of the DC Animated Universe, Aquaman’s daughter Mareena joins the Justice League Unlimited.

The Jurassic League / Gedeon, Juan – Aquaman’s equivalent on the dinosaur-dominated Earth-27 is the trident-wielding spinosaur Aquanyx.

Wildstorm : Michael Cray. Volume 1 / Hill, Bryan Edward – In the spy-oriented Wildstorm Universe, operative Michael Cray is tasked with hunting down ‘The Aquaman’, a New Zealand scientist who genetically engineers himself into an animalistic aquatic being.

SpongeBob comics. #2, Aquatic adventurers, unite / Hillenburg, Stephen – While not part of the DC Multiverse proper, it should be noted that the aquatic adventurers Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy from Spongebob Squarepants were inspired by Aquaman and Aqualad.

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: The Summer Round-Up!

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth!

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and becoming the cryptid I want to see in the world).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

Believe it or not, it’s summer! Since it’s an established fact that you can’t beat Welly on a good day, how exactly can we make the most of the sunny season?? If you’re the type with access to a letterbox, then you will have hopefully received Wellington City Council’s summer edition of Our Wellington – Tō Tātou Pōneke which outlines some of the nifty and magical events that will be taking place in the capital over the next few months. I’ve taken it upon myself to highlight the (in my opinion) niftiest and most magical activities on offer, for your perusing pleasure:

via GIPHY

Marvel: Earth’s Mightiest Exhibition

  • What: Explore the stories and characters of the Marvel Universe at the world-premiere exhibition.
  • Where: Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre
  • When: 14th December 2023 – 28th April 2024
santa at Waitangi Park
  • What: The last of WCC’s Christmas in the Quarters series of events, come along to meet Papa Tinsel himself and make the most of the activities on offer, including ice skating, a foam pit, face painting, food trucks and more!
  • Where: Waitangi Park
  • When: 11am-5pm 16th December
Summer Solstice
  • What: Celebrate the 2023 summer solstice with music, bonfires, and a solstice ceremony!
  • Where: Island Bay Beach
  • When: 8.30pm 22nd December 2023
New year’s eve
  • What: More live music, more food trucks, and – most importantly – fireworks! Come along to welcome in the New Year with ✨pizazz✨
  • Where: Whairepo Lagoon
  • When: 8pm-12am 31st December 2023

Gardens Magic

  • What: Live music! Lights! Sleepy pigeons! Explore the botanical gardens after dark with the astounding concerts and light displays on offer.
  • Where: Wellington Botanic Gardens
  • When: 9-28th January 2024
island bay festival
  • What: I opened up the website and immediately saw bagpipes and horses, so you know it’s going to be good. Come explore the best of Island Bay!
  • Where: Island Bay
  • When: 11-17th February 2024

Wellington pride Parade

  • What: Celebrate our rainbow whānau in style this summer with the annual Wellington Pride Parade featuring floats, performers, music and more!
  • Where: Courtenay Place, Dixon Street and lower Cuba Street
  • When: 5.30pm 9th March 2023

Not too shabby, eh? And that’s just what’s on offer through WCC – explore the wider Wellington region with local berry picking, flower farms, camping spots, and more. Plus –  keep an eye on the Wellington Advent Calendar for neat vouchers and nifty inspo for the sand season!

Have a beautiful summer, and meri kirihimete from all of us here at Wellington City Libraries!


Summer in the city of roses / Keil, Michelle Ruiz
“All her life Iph has protected her sensitive younger brother, Orr. This summer, with their mother gone at an artist residency, their father decides it is time for Orr to toughen up at a wilderness boot camp. When he brings Iph to a work gala in downtown Portland and breaks the news, Orr has already been sent away. Furious at his betrayal, Iph storms off and gets lost in the maze of Old Town.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
This one summer / Tamaki, Mariko
“Rose and her parents have been going to Awago Beach since she was a little girl. It’s her summer getaway, her refuge. Her friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had, completing her summer family. But this summer is different […] It’s a summer of secrets and heartache, and it’s a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Fat girls hiking : an inclusive guide to getting outdoors at any size or ability / Michaud-Skog, Summer
” Equal parts empowering and impassioned, personal and practical, this book adds an important voice to the conversation about diversity in the outdoors, raising visibility of hikers who have too long been marginalized. As the Fat Girls Hiking motto goes, “Trails Not Scales!””” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Camp / Rosen, Lev AC
“At Camp Outland, a camp for LGBTQIA teens, sixteen-year-old Randall “Del” Kapplehoff’s plan to have Hudson Aaronson-Lim fall in love with him succeeds, but both are hiding their true selves.” (Catalogue)
Summer days and summer nights : twelve love stories
“Summer meets love in both fantasy and reality in this anthology featuring renowned writers of both teen and adult fiction. Summer is the perfect time for love to bloom, and these short stories of teenagers facing the confusing maze of first love will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake.” (Abridged from catalogue)


The girl’s guide to summer / Mlynowski, Sarah
“Sydney Aarons is leaving her Manhattan townhouse for a summer backpacking around Europe with her best friend, Leela. They’re visiting London, France, Italy, Switzerland and everywhere in between – it’s going to be the trip of a lifetime. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
All summer long / Larson, Hope
“Thirteen-year-old Bina faces her first summer without her best friend, Austin, who has left for soccer camp.” (Catalogue)
Unbored : the essential field guide to serious fun / Glenn, Joshua
“Vibrantly designed and illustrated, it’s crammed with activities that are not only fun and doable, but get kids engaged in the wider world–and provides information to expand their worldviews, too, inspiring them to learn more.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Lumberjanes [1] : beware the kitten holy / Stevenson, ND
“Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp… defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons… what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Recipes from an Italian summer
“380 summer recipes for all lovers of Italian food.” (Catalogue)
Paper planes / Wood, Jennie
“After a life altering incident, Dylan and Leighton are sent to a summer camp for troubled youth. They both need a good evaluation at the camp. Otherwise, they’ll be sent away, unable to attend high school with their friends […] Can Dylan and Leighton save their friendship and protect their future while trying to survive camp?” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Ugly Christmas sweater party : Christmas crafts, recipes, activities / Shay, Brandy
“Put on your ugly holiday sweater and get ready to PARTY! Whether you’re planning your own wacky celebration or contributing to someone else’s festive affair, here are the most deliciously ugly (in a good way!) ideas for making Christmas merry. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Easy vegan Christmas : 80 plant-based recipes for the festive season / Beskow, Katy
“Easy Vegan Christmas is a 80-recipe cookbook showcasing simple vegan recipes, for a fuss-free festive season.” (Catalogue)

✨Unsettling✨ nostalgia for your holiday reading

Ah, December. A time of things-slowing-down, the official start of Summer, and oh, that Christmas thing as well. With the warm* weather, many people going off on holiday, and the end of the year rolling around, I always start to feel nostalgic. And my nostalgia often manifests as reserving a bunch of my favourite books to re-read.

*Warm-er? Warm-ish? Not-as-much-rain?

Now I’m sure I’ve mentioned before my love for The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, and my almost-constant-need to be listening to one of the audiobooks**. So if you haven’t read or listened to those you should immediately go and do so! These books are wonderfully written, full of complex and real characters, political machinations, some excellent god/human interactions, complicated relationships, and very good depictions of characters dealing with trauma. But they’re also funny and all the characters tell stories to each other and care a lot about their people and ugh, they’re just so good.

**Yes, I really like them as audiobooks. I have had conversations about this with Teen Blogger Grimm who just cannot get into the audiobooks because magnificent narrator Steve West pronounces the names differently to how she says them in her head, but while we cannot agree on this point, we do agree that these books are Excellent and Everyone should read them.

A small cat lying in a box with all her legs hidden

You need a picture to break up all these words. Please enjoy this unsettled cat – where did all her legs go?!

Why am I telling you about these books again? Well, mainly because the books I tend to get nostalgic for are not books like this series***. I get the itch to go back and re-read some of those (dare I say it) simpler adventure stories**** I enjoyed when I was younger. But whenever I venture forth into the stacks to retrieve these particular books, I’m always surprised by how dark and grim they are, and by the unsettled feeling I’m left with.

***But I still wanted to tell you all about this series again! Go read them. Seriously.

****Ok, ‘simpler adventures’ maybe, but still often a bit twisty.*****

*****I apologise for the footnotes? Not sure why so many are creeping into this particular post.

So, obviously, I’ve decided to share some of these books that I love with you, in case you also want something to read over the summer that is vaguely unsettling, enjoyable, and not too long. So read on for books about bone porridge, many discreet murders, horrible family members, and a fair share of malignant spirits.

The stolen lake / Aiken, Joan
This is always the first one that comes to mind. Joan Aiken wrote a fantastic series of books that started with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase about an alternate history version of England where the Stuarts kept the throne, and it was never passed on to the Hanovers. Different books in the series focus on different characters. The Stolen Lake features Dido Twite, a girl who was swept out to sea and picked up by a ship in a previous book. She’s slowly navigating her way home, and in this book her ship is called to aid fictional New Cumbria in South America. Dido finds herself in a very grim place, where giant birds carry people off and the queen eats bone porridge (sourced from the bones of young girls she’s had thrown to the piranhas) to maintain her youth. Brilliant stuff!

Is underground / Aiken, Joan
Another in the same series as The Stolen Lake! No bone porridge here, just some pretty awful child labour. Children, including the Crown Prince of England, have been going missing in London and another young Twite is tasked with figuring out what’s going on. And what’s going on (and this is not a spoiler given the cover illustration) is that they’re being kidnapped and transported up North to work underground in a coal mine. And a foundry. And there may be accidents involving molten metal.

The owl service / Garner, Alan
Why yes, that character probably did murder that other character in the past. But what can you expect when a fragment of tale from the Mabinogion amplifies itself throughout history and keeps repeating and repeating and repeating? Owls are bad, flowers are not, but both are still creepy. I could say SO MUCH about this book, but that might put you off. Just let me tell you this: you don’t need armies of ghosts or witches with ovens to create something truly spooky and (I can’t forget my keyword here!) unsettling. Just some plates found in an attic, some pebble-dash, and a whole lot of interpersonal angst.

Under the mountain / Gee, Maurice
Ah, my most-read book in my primary school library. It’s set in Auckland and has been made into both a TV series and a movie over the years and is full of volcanoes and weird-worm/slug-mud-aliens that are set on total world domination and annihilation. It’s just one of those fun adventures with some red-haired twins with special powers, right? Err, not quite. It’s slightly scary, very unsettling, and not everyone comes out unscathed in the end.

Tripswitch / Gordon, Gaelyn
Another New Zealand author who has written something that is both kinda fun, and very unsettling the more you think about it. Three orphaned cousins are brought together to live with their aunt (coincidence? Or multiple sororicides on the aunt’s part?), and she’s just so …evil? Mean and nasty yes, but when you find out the reason she had her twins everything just gets much more serious. But there’s also a lot of humour in it (the sports team who just decide to steal a bus??), which possibly makes the grim details stand out a bit more.

Black Maria / Jones, Diana Wynne
Diana Wynne Jones is WONDERFUL. She’s written some marvellously fun and twisty books for children full of weird magic and quirky characters. But she’s also written some truly chilling books. This is one of them, and there’s just so much going on. From buried imprisonment, to not-really-dead fathers, a sweeter-than-ever Great-Aunt with a will of iron, to an entire town under one person’s thumb, it just makes you look at small town life in a different way. And Great-Aunts.

The time of the ghost / Jones, Diana Wynne
More Diana Wynne Jones creepiness. This time, we learn what happens when some kids mess with something beyond their ken or control. When the ghost comes back in time she knows that something awful is going to happen, so we also know this, but all the characters that the ghost is watching don’t know this so as they creep closer to disaster we just know that something will go wrong, but we don’t know what will go wrong… So there’s a lot of tension and trying to figure things out, and let me just say that I will not be going near any soft toys left outside to grow mildew after reading this!

The changeover / Mahy, Margaret
Margaret Mahy’s another author who can write joyful and fun, adventure and excitement, and also haunting and chilling. And this book is the latter. Laura’s day starts with a warning, and ends with her younger brother getting his soul slowly sucked out of him through a stamp on his hand. This is very understated horror, but there’s just so many very normal things in there that what happens really sticks in your mind. They even made a movie of it, set in post-earthquake Christchurch!

And I’ll even add a bonus book in, because how can you talk unsettling childhood stories without delving into the Brothers Grimm?

The complete Grimm’s fairy tales / Grimm, Jacob
We all know some of the Grimm’s fairy tales, but there are a whole lot more that not many people stumble across. And a lot of them are VERY weird!

Below, I have written out one of the shorter unsettling stories from this particular collection, under the Read more. If you want to feel incredulous that such a story was written, and really put the grim in Grimm, well then, just read on…

Read More

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