FINALLY ANGUS, THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING HAS BEEN RELEASED ON DVD IN THE US!!! We maybe had to wait patiently for a year and a half while all our British friends were seeing it in theaters and buying the DVD, but it is here now and it is FANTASTICALLY HILARIOUS.

For those of you who were not spazing when the movie failed to be released in theaters here (I, for one, was really really steamed), Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging is a movie based on the uber funny book Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, the first in the Georgia series by Louise Rennison.

The movie revolves around 14 year old Georgia as she attempts to steal the new boy in town, a sex god named Robbie, from her archenemy, saggy Lindsay, all while trying to control her cat Angus, take snogging lessons, perform random dancing with her ace gang, and prevent her family from moving to New Zealand. Pants! (Don’t worry if you didn’t understand a word I said there, the Georgia books all come with a handy dandy British-American Glossary in the back.) Sure some things were different from the books (like why didn’t Jas have a fringe! She is supposed to have a fringe!) but Georgia is just so spot-on and hilarious that I couldn’t help but love love love this movie!

One of my fave quotes from the movie:

There are five things I will do now to be more mature and prepare for my new life in New Zealand.
One, stop reading magazines and do Sudoku instead, to maximize brain size and stop Alzheimer’s.
Two, do yoga every morning and night and cleanse my body of toxicity by banishing all negative feelings towards ex-best friends and bass players.
Three, listen to dolphins, because they’re clever and unselfish.
Four, no more chips. Only organic fruit and veg. Although not from Robbie’s shop.
Five, a new style for a new me.

How did that “new style for a new me” work out for Georgia? Well, I don’t think it was as bad as that time she shaved off her eyebrow… Check out the movie to find out!

Author: Alyson Noël
Books: Evermore, Blue Moon, and Shadowland (which make up the Immortals series> Look for no. 4, Dark Flame, and a spin-off, Radiance, coming soon!) and First Kiss (Then Tell), Kiss & Blog, Laguna Cove, and more!
Contact: Alyson’s b-board
Website: www.alysonnoel.com
Blog: http://alysonnoel.com/blog.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlysonNoel/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alyson.noel
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/alysonnoel
Teen Fiction Cafe: http://teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com/ <—this is a blog written by Alyson and lots of other fun YA authors. Be sure to check it out this week because they are celebrating their three year anniversary and giving away lots of free stuff!

Wanna learn to see auras like Ever in the Immortal Series?! Alyson put these simple instructions on her website at: http://www.alysonnoel.com/IMMORTALS/extras.php. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but I think a facebook quiz once told me my aura was Violet… however might not be too accurate since, you know, FACEBOOK CAN’T SEE ME! or at least I hope not… :::paranoid face:::

The aura is the colorful electromagnetic field that surrounds all living things. With some practice, you can see an aura too!

Here’s how:

Turn the lights low but not off. You want the room dim with just enough light so that you can still see in front of you.

If you’re with another person, have them stand before a white background, if not, hold your hands before a white background.

Relax. Seriously, relax! Your gaze needs to be soft in order for this to work. So while you want to maintain your gaze, you don’t want to give a hard stare.

If you’re with a friend, focus on the area just around them (with a soft gaze). After a few seconds you should be able to see a white glow around them if not color. This is the aura—you did it!

If you’re alone, bring your index fingers together until they just barely touch, then gaze softly at the space between them. You can move your fingers back and forth if you want (but don’t touch) until you notice the glow just between them.

If you saw a white glowing light—congrats! If you saw color—wow! If you didn’t see anything, don’t worry, keep trying—you’ll get it eventually!

EVER’S AURA COLOR CHART

Red: Energy, strength, anger, sexuality, passion, fear, ego
Orange: Self-control, ambition, courage, thoughtfulness, lack of will, apathetic

Yellow: Optimistic, happy, intellectual, friendly, indecisive, easily led

Green:Peaceful, healing, compassion, deceitful, jealous

Blue: Spiritual, loyal, creative, sensitive, kind, moody

Violet: Highly spiritual, wisdom, intuition

Indigo: Benevolence, highly intuitive, seeker

Pink: Love, sincerity, friendship

Gray: Depression, sadness, exhaustion, low energy, skepticism

Brown: Greed, self-involvement, opinionated

Black: Lacking energy, illness, imminent death

White: Perfect balance

Have you met Alyson Noël? Do you have a YAuthor Adventure to share? Email Amber and we might post it on a YAuthor Stalking Tuesday!

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Books: Leviathan, Love is Hell, First kiss (then tell), the Uglies Series, Peeps, the Midnighters Series, So Yesterday
Email: scott@scottwesterfeld.com
Website: www.scottwesterfeld.com
Blog: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/
Videos: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/videos/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ScottWesterfeld
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SimonSchusterVideos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/scottwesterfeld

LEVIATHAN IS THIS MONTH’S READERGIRLZ BOOK!!!!!

Did you see that right there?! You can chat with Scott Westerfeld LIVE on March 17, 2010 starting at 8 pm!!!! And be sure to listen to Scott’s Leviathan Playlist for Readergirlz: http://www.playlist.com/playlist/19135140363/standalone

Need some inspiration for the Teen Youtube Contest? See the awesomeness that is Leviathan’s book trailer below:

Have you met Scott Westerfeld? Do you have a YAuthor Adventure to share? Email Amber and we might post it on a YAuthor Stalking Tuesday!

Author: Neil Gaiman
Books: So many! Here are some of them: Coraline, Stardust, The Sandman, Odd and the Frost Giants, The Graveyard Book, M is for Magic, Neverwhere
Movies: Coraline, Stardust, Beowulf, and Mirrormask
Short Stories online:www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Short_Stories
Email: www.neilgaiman.com/feedback/?to=neil
Website: www.mousecircus.com and www.neilgaiman.com
Blog: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/neilhimself
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/Neilhimself
Sudoku: www.mousecircus.com/GraveyardSudoku.aspx

Wanna Meet Neil Gaiman? thennnn ROAD TRIP! HOP IN YOUR CAR AND DRIVE TO NAPERVILLE RIGHT NOW! He is the chosen author for this year’s Naperville Reads and will be part of numerous awesome events around town Feb. 23-24. Maybe he’ll talk about that Doctor Who episode he wrote…

Neil Gaiman Says What?!: Button Support
Finally, someone who isn’t afraid to show buttons the love and respect they deserve. “People who are scared of buttons must live horrible lives.”

Have you met Neil Gaiman? Do you have a YAuthor Adventure to share? Email Amber and we might post it on a YAuthor Stalking Tuesday!

You can fly solo or work with up to five other teens, videos need to be 5 minutes or less, and they MUST be uploaded to the QC Libraries YouTube group during Teen Tech Week which runs March 7-13th. 

Check out this year’s themes:

-Picture book comes to life

-Live-action Anime

-Day in the life of your favorite author

Choose a theme and run with it.  Also new for this year:  ALL entries must be submitted to the QC Libraries YouTube group.  So, your videos must comply with YouTube’s terms of use in order to be shown on the IMAX screen at the red carpet premiere party.  Party?

Yep, the red-carpet premiere party at the Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre will be Thursday, March 25th at 6pm, screening (on the GIANT screen) will begin at 7, awards ceremony to follow.  Like the past two years, we will hand out Oscar-like trophies we call ‘Deweys’ to select winners.  There will also be two grand prizes up for grabs–Librarian’s Choice Award and Viewer’s Choice Award.  Each of the grand prize winning vids will be awarded $100 cash.  For all of the event details print off one of the registration forms today!! 

Also, we’re hosting several filming and editing labs at the Fairmount St. Library starting tomorrow night at 5:30.  If you don’t have a camera, don’t know the first thing about editing, have no idea what you’re doing we will happily walk you through every step.  Serious.  You can even use our green screen for a little special effects action!  Here are the dates/times of all open labs:

2/23 Tuesday 5:30-7:30

2/25 Thursday 3:00-5:00

2/27 Saturday 3:00-5:00

3/4 Thursday 3:00-5:00

3/6 Saturday 3:00-5:00

3/11 Thursday 3:00-5:00

3/13 Saturday 3:00-5:00

If you have any questions, or to submit entry forms, contact your local library or call DPL Teen Specialist Christie at 563.326.7893. 

Make a video.  Do it.  Trust me–this experience is one you’ll want to tell your kids about…

-Christie

Author: Justine Larbalestier
Books: Liar, How to Ditch your Fairy, Love is Hell, First Kiss (Then Tell), Magic’s Child, Magic Lessons, Magic or Madness, and for you Buffy fans: Seven Seasons of Buffy:Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss their Favorite Television Show and Fighting the Forces: What’s at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Website: http://justinelarbalestier.com/
Contact: http://justinelarbalestier.com/contact/
Blog: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JustineLavaworm

Favorite Recent Twitter quote: Today’s guest blogger, @thesarahcross has gone too far. My blog is now infested with uni***ns. Not happy. http://wp.me/peDKA-22W 4:01 PM Feb 12th

Sadly, I have not met Justine ::frown:: so instead of an Amber Adventure we will call this feature Awesome Author Says What?! where we will highlight a discussion by the Author (usually on their blog) that makes us think or laugh or stand up and clap our hands.

Justine Larbalestier Says What?!: The Cover of Liar:

Last summer, a controversy broke out when readers who were lucky enough to score an advanced reader’s copy of Liar realized that the girl they were reading about did not have the same skin color as the girl portrayed on the book’s cover. Here is what Justine had to say about the cover:

“Every year at every publishing house, intentionally and unintentionally, there are white-washed covers. Since I’ve told publishing friends how upset I am with my Liar cover, I have been hearing anecdotes from every single house about how hard it is to push through covers with people of colour on them….How welcome is a black teen going to feel in the YA section when all the covers are white? Why would she pick up Liar when it has a cover that so explicitly excludes her?” Check Justine’s blog post for the rest of her comments.

Also, take a look at this video “concerning the standards of beauty imposed on today’s black girls and how this affects their self-image” produced by Kiri Davis in 2005 for her high-school literature class:

Have you met Justine Larbalestier? Do you have a YAuthor Adventure to share? Email Amber and we might post it on a YAuthor Stalking Tuesday!