Wow, I didn’t think they did, but the Australian Society of Authors told me yesterday that Federal Minister for Competition Policy Craig Emerson announced,

The Government has decided not to change the Australian regulatory regime for books introduced by the previous Labor government…read the rest

This means parallel importation restrictions on books detailed in Australia’s Copyright Act will remain unchanged. The ASA, Australian publishers, authors, illustrators and others campaigned all year to bring about this decision and they’ve succeeded.

ASA Executive Director Dr Jeremy Fisher acknowledged the Australian publishing industry was facing significant pressures.

Minister Emerson correctly highlights the fact that e-books and digital technology are having an impact on the Australian publishing industry. The ASA welcomes change. We constantly seek new means to increase authors’ incomes. We are currently in discussions relating to fair contracts for authors with regard to e-books and products such as Kindle. We have also taken an active role in the US-based Google Book Settlement, which will see authors being able to pursue income streams for out-of-print works. The ASA will always seek improved income streams for its members in both print and digital forms.

Of course the whole world, and one little rabbit, knew this before me, but I only have a few more paragraphs and then I might be able to join the living again.

In other (way more important) news, when I give my (whole, entire) thesis (all of it) to my supervisor, no not at the end of August, not at Halloween, not last week, maybe by this weekend, definitely by next wednesday, I have something very important to blog about – graphic novels! Rachel from Margaret River Library reminded me that this blog is meant to be about graphic novels, not me, so look out for my next post Rachel.

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I’m very close to having a thesis to submit but it’s taken quite a bit longer than I planned, due to a nasty monster which kicks at my heels, waiting for the right moment to trample mud all over my life. Monster isn’t the clinical term, most would call this monster depression, but I find euphemisms much more fun. Visits from the monster have been a bit too frequent for my liking this year, so I’m really looking forward to Halloween, when I will have a thesis to submit.*

At one time I thought I would submit at the same time as Zoë S. but she beat me to it and provided some useful advice on comments to be prepared for in the final stages of writing a thesis, in order to avoid a sociopathic outburst. I also found Zoë’s artistic post-it-note monster of great use. This looks just like the monster scribbled on the inside of my skull which runs circles round my mind, at the most inopportune times.

I haven’t been depressed constantly this year (in between I wrote a thesis with only editing keeping me from submission), but during the times I was, I came to the disconcerting conclusion that I couldn’t write a single coherent thesis sentence, but I could read book, after book, after book. Sadly none of these books were part of my lit review. Runaways is listed in my Literature Cited (as opposed to my Reference List) but reading all the vols I’ve got one after the other without a break in between (and this wasn’t the first time, so I already knew what happened) didn’t improve my thesis.

After whinging to my doctor about my inability to write a thesis, but my perfect ability to read a book (as long as it had no connection to my thesis) he told me that while depression makes thinking complex thesis thoughts pretty much impossible, reading, for me, is as automatic as breathing. This leads to the interesting hypothesis that if I stopped reading would I stop breathing? For my continued existence I’m not going to test that one out.

During various periods of automatic reading during the year, I discovered what’s good to read when you’re having a bad day and what you should save for a good day, thus follows my comparison of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (she of the headless girl brigade) and Paper Towns by the Real John Green. Sadly I break all the rules of reviewing including those laid out by pro-reviewers such as RealJohnGreen and Shannon Hale.

My rules for reviewing are easy to follow for any novice reviewer:

1. Frantically try to remember the names of characters. It helps if you have the book on hand, but if the library threatened you with a debt collector cause you still hadn’t returned it, or some annoying pup chewed it up, this can be problematic.
2. Write “I loved [insert title of book].” Alternatively try “This book captivated me” for a bit of variety.
3. Because you’re writing this in some word program, highlight loved/captivated and go to thesaurus to find a word with more syllables. This word program you’re using will also fix all your sp. mistakes – very unprofessional.
4. Add lots of spoilers cause the best bits of books are always at the end.

Luckily for me, Suite Scarlett has her name in the title, so that was easy. Luckily for Scarlett the headless girl brigade has taken its last head and her pretty face adorns the hardcover of Suite Scarlett. First spoiler: Scarlett thinks her sister Lola** is the beautiful one in the family, but a very clever aside from someone sets the record straight. I loved that line because Scarlett never even noticed.

I read the paperback, which has a key with the NY skyline as the lock, highly appropriate for a family who own and live in an NY hotel. Unfortunately for Scarlett this isn’t as fun as it sounds – she has to work in said hotel all summer long. But assorted adventures, romances and impromptu venue changes for their production of Hamlet ensue. Even when things get difficult for O’Hara I wasn’t reduced to tears – a good sign when pretty much everything was reducing me to tears the weekend I read it. And Hamlet almost became a comedy in the hands of the entertaining theatre troupe, complete with unicycles – always the best way to get around.*** My recent listening to Oliver Twist revealed a thoughtful insight on tears,

He begged, in an encouraging manner, that she should cry her hardest: the exercise being looked upon, by the faculty, as strongly conducive to health. It opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens down the temper.

Mr Bumble, in saying this, was bagging his wife and when she realised her tears weren’t doing their work, she proceeded to beat him, which he deserved. But it was nice to know tears are good for the health.

Back to Scarlett, if the best thing you achieved in your day was to do the dishes from the last three days, but only so you had space to cook dinner. All you cooked was French toast, but you managed to burn it. Don’t despair, Suite Scarlett will lighten up your evening. On the other hand you should steer clear of Paper Towns. I know what a truly amazing writer John Green is, and he’s up there as one of my fav writers, but I finished Paper Towns wondering why I hadn’t liked it.

Unfortunately I can’t remember Mr Protag’s name. It was first person (i think!?) so that didn’t help, but I’m pretty sure his name was something weird. I do remember Margo Roth Spiegelman (although sp. might not be quite right). And I remember their all night adventure, a fiendishly funny way to start a book and not part of my dislike. It was months after reading Paper Towns that I realized thinking

Her strings will not break. Her strings will not break. Her strings will not break.

most of the way through the book is not conducive to a good reading experience. That was when I decided I’d re-read Paper Towns again sometime, when my strings weren’t so close to breaking.

For some reason I haven’t learnt from my experience of Suite Scarlett and Paper Towns. Finding Girl at Sea by MJ and The Beginner’s Guide to Living by Lia Hills on the Inkys and the library I read Girl at Sea when I was feeling fine and all its cheeriness was wasted, although I had fun reading it. Then I began The Beginner’s Guide to Living. I knew this was a mistake, what with the subject matter and a first line

She looks good for a corpse.

But Lia Hills is a poet. A poet writing prose can be an awe inspiring thing:

There’s no space for him, for anything, except this throbbing. A thick cord of grief winding itself around me.

I’m going to have to wait for the rest of the metaphors because after reading a third, my strings had stretched too far. I removed my bookmark and went onto something else.

But thank you MJ and the RealJohnGreen for writing the stories you do. And thank you Colin Thompson for telling me not to be ashamed of my monster (obviously I haven’t quite taken on this advice, because I much prefer the word monster). And thank you Zoë S. for being the queen of post-it-notes. She doesn’t know this, but one day we’re going to make a hybrid novel**** together. It’s going to be a best-seller and we’re going to make millions :P

*If I don’t have a thesis completus by Halloween I’ll surrender myself to the first zombie I come across and happily join the walking dead.
**I remembered Lola’s name because I once had a pup called Lollopy Lola. She chewed a book, not lent by the library, but by my friend. And I didn’t even buy him another copy!? I just gave the chewed copy back to him – no wonder I haven’t seen him in a while.
***My parents still have the unicycle my brother used to ride when he was a kid. He’s visiting now so I have to remember to ask him if he can still ride one-wheeled.
****That’s what Zoë did her thesis on. Go to her research blog to see the list, choose some to read and discover the wonder of word and image living in symbiosis.

Literature Cited

• Vaughan, Brian. K. et al (2003-) Runaways New York: Marvel Comics
• Johnson, Maureen (2008) Suite Scarlett New York: HarperTeen
• Johnson, Maureen (2007) Girl at Sea New York: HarperTeen
• Green, John (2008) Paper Towns New York: Dutton Books
• Hills, Lia (2009) The Beginner’s Guide to Living Melbourne: Text Publishing

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The longlist for the 2009 Inkys has been out for a while, but I’m experiencing some thesis induced insanity at the moment and the Inkys just remind me of all that YA reading I have to catch up on. You may notice Matata the reading cat has a predilection for classics, but she’s not averse to YA in between. I think she could out-read Inky the dog any day of the week.

When I first saw the list I thought the best book of recent times, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, outranked everything else, even the books I hadn’t read :P

But then I read Skim by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki which utterly captivated me and The Hunger Games moved down my list. I hadn’t noticed Skim was on the Inkys list at first, but how could such a masterpiece of word and image (my two fav things) not be. I didn’t think its graphic novel-ness was the deciding factor in my opinion. But perhaps it was because it’s the combination of the words and pictures which I love so much, especially the full and double page spreads of illustration, with Skim’s diary creeping across the scene. My favourite is Skim and Lisa trying to summon the dead boy’s spirit in the woods, and missing him because they’re facing the wrong way (right). Its partial repetition on the end papers makes for a beautiful book design.

My favourite words in Skim are repeated in the blurb. The Inkys page also has them, but they missed the most important line (you can’t trust a dog with ink on his paws :P)

I had a dream
I put my hands
inside my chest
and held my heart

to try to keep it still

The unusual angles, tantalizingly crossed out words of Skim’s diary and obscuring of Skim’s face so much of the time, until she finds herself and an unexpected friend, combine to make a work of art on a very different level to The Hunger Games. And I much preferred the UK/Aust cover to the Canadian.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is also illustrated, by Ellen Forney, but I wasn’t as impressed with this book. When I first flicked through and saw pictures, I was very excited and expected great things. The illustrations are very funny and important to the story, as Junior explains,

I draw all the time…I draw because words are too unpredictable…I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation.

Others don’t share my view of their importance because Ellen Forney’s name is relegated to the title page. (At first I thought Alexie had drawn the pictures.) I thought parts of the story were inauthentic. If a narrator says he has a stutter, but won’t be talking with a stutter in the story, what’s the point? Mentioning the stutter was a waste of words if it wasn’t going to be used. And when a short and glasses wearing kid turned around a basketball game I was ready to throw the book across the room. It’s difficult to play sport with glasses. I know this from preferring to skate without glasses, where long distance vision doesn’t really matter (but a slam with glasses does). When the ball’s at the other end of the court I reckon basketball needs long distance vision in both eyes. Was I not paying attention when Junior found some spare change at home that someone hadn’t drunk and got himself contacts? And a bulimic girl coming out of the bathroom having just thrown up is not about to make friends with the school loser, she’s more likely to tell him to fuck off and make up some story about him so he doesn’t say anything about her.

My book group did Part Time Indian and I wanted to bring up all these quibbles, but I didn’t make it that night, so all I have is whining here. I realise Part Time Indian tells the important story of the horrendous life of so many indigenous people and is just as applicable in Australia, where alcohol kills so many Indigenous Australians and sport gets them out of a situation which should never happen in a country with such affluence. I hope The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian gets the wide readership it deserves and teenage readers aren’t as picky as me :)

My book group did also did Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Obviously there’s a theme here because I missed that night too, when I had so much to say about Where the Streets Had a Name. I disliked Does My Head Look Big In This? so I never read Ten Things I Hate About Me. People in my book group went to Reading Matters and were impressed with Randa Abdel-Fattah, so wanted to read her latest. I groaned inwardly, but went along with it. I’m interested in Palestine and the Israeli occupation which entails appalling abuses of human rights. When I started reading I couldn’t put it down, although there were lots of tears. Her descriptions of the land they lost were enthralling.

A pang of love for my country suddenly strikes through me. That lazy way the trees and bushes dot the land. The effortless beauty of the mountains and the secrets hidden within them.

I feel like this about the land where I live, although it’s not “my country” I love but “the country” – the land and its bush and wildlife which surrounds me. Even in the city I seek it out and glory in the nature which manages to thrive. I also love the passage which explains the title, although I had a tendency to call it Where the Streets Had No Name (being the pessimist I am). Btw I heard when I eventually made it to book group that they didn’t like it. I think their reading didn’t compare to Randa Abdel-Fattah’s lawyerly talking it up. But my brother, who only reads “literature” and never YA, has borrowed my copy of Where the Streets Had a Name. He’s also interested in Palestine and I did my own talking it up, which convinced him, although I’m yet to hear his verdict.

I loved Secret Scribbled Notebooks and like Joanne Horniman*

I liked being in their world so much that I wanted to immerse myself again.

Unfortunately for me my local library system (which has 6 libraries) doesn’t have My Candlelight Novel or Screw Loose by Chris Wheat** which I’ve also wanted to read all year. What is their problem? Do they not know I don’t have the money to buy every book that I must read otherwise I will die?? The library does have The Beginner’s Guide to Living by Lia Hills (perhaps they don’t want me to die :P) I only recently discovered and borrowed it, so it’s on the pile to read. And I’m not even meant to be reading YA, but getting through thesis books that are going back to the library in a month-ish (when I submit!!!)

Girl at Sea isn’t Maureen Johnson’s latest book. I don’t know what the criteria for getting on the list is, but perhaps their copy of Suite Scarlett hadn’t arrived yet. I love MJ’s books and blog, where she dispenses unrivalled advice on any topic you care to ask about, even at 4 in the morning. eg.

Hamsters cannot live inside your brain. This would kill both you and the hamster. Hamsters control your brain remotely. They can do this from up to 500 miles away.

For some strange reason I haven’t read all her books (obviously wasting too much book reading time on her blog) but I’ve just requested Girl at Sea from the library (yes, I was astounded they had it). While my book buying budget is non-existent, I do own and loved Suite Scarlett. Its sequel Scarlett Fever is at the proof stage. Due to warfare btween MJ and the Real John Green I’ve been planning a dual/duel review of Suite Scarlett and Paper Towns for a while. Since both are contenders for the Inkys this might happen next weekend, as long as my own warfare with that evil thesis doesn’t get in the way.

Paper Towns is very good, although I preferred Alaska and Katherines. The problem I had with Paper Towns had nothing to do with the book, but rather the reader. And it wasn’t that I didn’t like the book and thus thought it shit, as Shannon Hale and John Green warned against in reviewing. I know Paper Towns is a good book but…check back later.

I haven’t read Exposure by Mal Peet, but I know I have to. I loved Tamar (the Australian cover is infinitely better than the UK), but never tried his football novels because I thought that’s all they were. I’ve been informed they’re so much more, so I’m seeking out Exposure.

In my opinion Into White Silence by Anthony Eaton isn’t YA. Just cause you’ve written books for teenagers doesn’t mean that’s all you ever write. Of course, not having read the book I have no basis for this view, but that never stopped me before :P There’s another small problem I have with Into White Silence. After reading The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean I was so traumatized I’m not sure I can ever read about Antarctica again. The other thing is I’ve read very few of AE’s books. I loved The Girl in the Cave with pictures (what more could I want!) by John Danalis (I loved his Dog 37). Sadly, I just discovered I’m the only person in Australia who liked Girl in the Cave. Don’t be disappointed AE there’s one happy reader, although she borrowed her copy from the library. Now’s the time to find and buy an elusive copy from its 6 year old first print run.

Back to Into White Silence. Due to a strange affliction I acquired after becoming a kids’ librarian I can only listen to adult books. If I get over my Antarctic phobia, perhaps one day I’ll get the audio book of Into White Silence from the library. My current adult book listening has been classics, classics and more classics. This has nothing to do with me; my dad keeps getting them from the library and throwing them my way with words of encouragement – he doesn’t want me to finish that evil thesis. There was a slight non-classics interlude of murder and mayhem in the form of The Chopin Manuscript (by a gaggle of writers – the latest marketing ploy). After putting all the discs on my MP3o I got to disc 3 and it was a repeat of disc 2!? I had to listen to Modest Mouse to get over my stupidity. I have discovered Charles Dickens is funny, not in quite the same way as Maureen Johnson, but Oliver Twist makes me laugh, in between squirming with disgust at the atrocious behaviour of every adult in the story.

Back to the Inkys. My must-read list has grown with the rest I’ve missed (or just didn’t care about and maybe should)

1. Broken Glass by Adrian Stirling
2. Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell
3. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
4. Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen
5. Love, Aubrey by Suzanne La Fleur
6. Ten Mile River by Paul Griffin
7. The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi
8. Two Pearls of Wisdom by Alison Goodman
9. Worldshaker by Richard Harland

*My one year old niece has the beautiful name Mahalia, but I don’t think her parents got the name from Joanne Horniman’s Mahalia
**Chris Wheat writes occasional thought provoking articles for The Age

Note

Matata belongs to and was photographed by Justin Atkins

Update 25/08: nothing to do with the topic, but I had to amend view on Posse by Kate Welshman which I was reading while watching World’s Strictest Parents. I hadn’t finished Posse when I wrote I liked it. It starts very well, but deteriorates towards the end.

Even weird boys are afraid of their emotions – Special Topics in Calamity Physics‎ by Marisha Pessl (Penguin, 2006)

Because I’m finishing my thesis and my research with teenagers is long since over, the only teenagers I have access to these days are sk8ers and graf artists. They’re not quite representative of teenagers in general, so I look elsewhere for what the rest of the teen population is up to. My latest source is about as representative of teens in general as the real kids I know, but perhaps not quite as real, because it’s the reality TV of World’s Strictest Parents.  I’m desperate for anything to distract me from my excruciating thesis that I really should have finished by now.

I’m about to discuss reality TV because of the very real situation that occurs among boys and the men they become. I noticed this in previous episodes, but it wasn’t until the episode with a gay guy that I realized boys aren’t allowed to cry, unless they’re gay. Teenage boys brought up in our sexist world learn early on not to show “feminine” emotions like crying. If parents don’t model this behaviour, kids in the school yard will enforce it. Boys are “allowed” to show anger, particularly in the form of violence, or just plain avoidance of any emotion. As 16 year olds, the participants in World’s Strictest Parents are unlikely to realize that while they think it’s embarrassment at their mates seeing them cry that stops them, they’ve actually had 16 years of conditioning not to cry, from their mates, media and society in general. If any of these boys did cry and the producers chose to cut it, such manipulation by adults choosing to maintain this facade, would be even worse. I don’t think it’s the latter, tears from anyone make for good TV.

But back to the teenagers in question. I always have a book in front of me when watching TV, both for the ads and when it gets boring, a frequent occurrence.* I guess I wasn’t noticing much of what I was watching, cause I have no idea of the kids’ names. In the interest of lessening confusion these are the participants in my highly rigorous research study:

• from the first ep Mr Blond who lived with his grandparents
• his partner in crime Ms Blond who liked her smokes
• from the third ep in Ireland Mr Skip who skipped school and had to shovel horse shit as punishment
• from this week Mr Cool Hair who was gay and had fun fishing

I missed the beginning of this week’s ep,** but Mr Cool Hair and his partner in crime both had English accents. While the Australian voice over was still there, I wonder if they had to borrow an English ep to cover the minorities Australia couldn’t offer up in dysfunctional kids.

Every ep the kids receive a letter from their parents/grandparents. Each time the girl receives her letter she cries, as you’d expect because what’s written is pretty heart wrenching, and they’re probably missing their parental units by this time (even if they profess to hate them). When Mr Blond was offered his letter he attempted the tried and true avoidance strategy:

Do I have to read it?

I was shocked, but quickly realized why he said that. Luckily he kept any tears in check.

Oh the other hand, while it’s fine for girls to cry, getting angry isn’t allowed.*** While Mr Blond was living up to his gender expectations, smoking Ms Blond was kicking her gender expectations out the window. Mr Blond pissed her off, so she went on a screaming, yelling rampage – very unladylike. The house parents dealt with the altercation sensibly by having the two sit down together until they’d talked out their anger, specifically hers because Mr Blond was still perfecting his avoidance with some pretty biro artwork. The house parents reminded me of the father of a teenage girl psychologist Mary Pipher wrote about in Reviving Ophelia. The girl was raped by four older teenagers and as part of her recovery her father got a punching bag for her to take out her anger on [1]. Anger can be as useful for boys as for girls, as long as it’s expended in a non-destructive way.

Mr Skip hadn’t perfected his avoidance skills as well as Mr Blond. The kid reads the letter out loud, but this alternates with the parent/grandparent reading what they wrote, just to wake us up with a different voice. Mr Skip was reading, until he became so choked up by the content he stopped reading. The camera stayed on him staring at the page, waiting for him to continue (or start crying), but he wouldn’t budge and they cut to his parent finishing the letter.

Due to missing the start of Mr Cool Hair’s ep I missed his letter reading, but he came through with tears for me. When he’d broken the rules and was talking to the camera about how bad he felt, he cried and the camera noted the scrunched-up tissue in his hand. Towards the end his house father said he would be proud to have Mr Cool Hair as his son, they hugged and he cried.

Mr Cool Hair’s house mother said,

A real man needs to stand up…

I missed the rest, but that’s not relevant because Mr Cool Hair is well on his way to being a real man. He’s happy to show his emotions on camera and not pander to what our society says is correct gender behaviour. While he needs to work on becoming less concerned with his looks and affirmations from his peers, he’s conquered our society’s pointless and constricting rules for gender behaviour.

I missed the second ep in South Africa. While I could watch it online, I have better ways to waste my time, so I’ll assume my hypothesis held and Ms cried and Mr acted like a man :P Tell me if my hypothesis was demolished and my beautiful theory falls in a heap.

Notes

*I actually found Wed’s ep so boring, aside from when tears were shed, that I spent most of the time reading Posse by Kate Welshman [2]. I couldn’t believe it has a “Parental Guidance” note. Oh no, not adult themes!?
**That night we were having dinner for my brother’s birthday. I told everyone that I had to get home in time to watch some stupid reality TV so I could blog about the gender socialization of boys and girls. My mum and aunt visiting from Sydney were so interested in my explanation they watched it too. These are people who won’t even watch commercial TV, let alone reality TV. There must have been nothing on ABC.
***All the teenagers in the show are angry with their own parents/grandparents, obviously a sign of a dysfunctional teenager (here I was thinking it was a sign of a teenager). Another sign of a dysfunctional teenager is they like to pose for the camera in a sk8 park. If they’re a guy they might even add a board or bike to the mix, but girls just pose, you wouldn’t want to sk8 like a girl. Btw the SLAG trailer rips.

Photo credit

James gets upset and cries a lot by Ann Blair on Flickr. I’m sure the kids at school will fix this trait in James.

Books

1. Pipher, Mary (1994) Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls New York: Putnam
2. Welshman, Kate (2009) Posse Sydney: Random House

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Scott Westerfeld’s next book Leviathan is due out in October. I knew a bit about it: that it’s set during an alternative steampunk WWI (note to Edward) and I’d read the first chapter. I like steampunk, but it’s not my fav genre and although I’m going to read Leviathan, I wasn’t all that excited about it. Until now.

I hadn’t visited Westerblog in a while but today I did and discovered two things:

• there’s been a redesign à la steampunk — very cool
• but more importantly, Leviathan is illustrated by Keith Thompson

Westerfeld wanted the finished book to have the period feel of the era in which the story is set, Simon & Schuster is using 70-pound paper, full-color endpapers depicting an allegorical map of Europe, and 50 interior illustrations — lavish bookmaking financed in large part by Westerfeld himself.  — Publishers Weekly [2]

I am officially in love, not with Scott Westerfeld, those goggles just don’t do it for me, but endpapers do. And this is love without ever having seen the lavish bookmaking in question, that description is all I need. But I do have the evidence of Keith Thompson’s divine artwork. There’s three pictures at Westerblog and my favourite is Ascending. I want a poster of this for my wall, but I also want one of those balloon-swing-seat-thingys so I can do my own ascending — way better than the bus, although my hair might get a bit mussed. Westerfeld explained the collaboration,

The coolest thing about this series for me has been working with illustrator Keith Thompson. We decided to make the books look like they were published back in 1914, when almost all books (even adult) were illustrated. So Keith created a sort of “Victorian manga” style, part steampunk and part old-fashioned biotech. We’re putting about 50 pieces of art in each book, most of them full page!

I particularly like how Thompson’s art escapes the frame, it’s just too alive to stay hemmed in.

Due to my financial circumstances (stupid thesis!) I had to stop buying books, but Leviathan is going to change that. And by October I’m hopeful of submission and a return to employment which actually pays.

References

1. Westerfeld, Scott & Thompson, Keith (2009) Leviathan Sydney: Penguin
2. Corbett, Sue (2009) Author Profile: Scott Westerfeld Publishers Weekly, 20 July

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The other day I mentioned Beastly by Alex Flinn and mistakenly said it was by Suzanne Collins. I would love to read Beastly by Suzanne Collins, but sadly it’s only available in a parallel universe.

I enjoyed Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (although I only read the first in the series) but her latest The Hunger Games is much darker and thought provoking. I read Beastly and The Hunger Games in quick succession and they morphed into one in my rantings about the Productivity Commission’s report on removal of parallel importation restrictions on books. I said the copy I read was printed in the US. Subsequently I looked more closely at the paperback Beastly and found no mention of where it was printed. I’m pretty sure it’s a US produced book due to the not-so-white paper and a second barcode on the inside front cover, which I don’t think Australian produced books have. Most books state where they were printed, as did the hardback of The Hunger Games I read (printed in the US).

I have a thing for pictures in books (in case you hadn’t noticed) and when a book has no pictures, I have to make do with the cover, thus I’m passionate about cover design. Despite my non-existent design skills, I have an amazing ability to establish just how lacking someone else’s design skills are :P which is what I’m about to do with Beastly and The Hunger Games.

I wasn’t particularly enamoured of the cover designs of either book. They’re both true to their contents but the “futuristic” font of The Hunger Games grated and the rose on Beastly annoyed me. You can’t really see this from the small pic of the cover, but it had some strange texture thing going on, which I obviously didn’t get. The roses in the story are real and the cover rose just looked photocopied. (Spanish cover is way better.) But I don’t hate everything, if you remove the dust jacket of The Hunger Games the golden mocking-jay on the plain binding is stunning.

Persnickety Snark reviewed Beastly last week.

It was a great read that wasn’t overly challenging but contained enough tweaks to the original formula to make it entertaining.

She was kinder than me. I thought it was enjoyable fluff and a fun read. Reading it beside The Hunger Games may have coloured my view – Beastly just didn’t compare. But Ms Flinn does provide quite a long excerpt of Beastly on her website, so you can decide for yourself. And I love her (very girly) website design.

As Shakespeare and Beastly attest, there are few new ideas in the world, it’s what you do with them that matters. A discussion on IMBD questioned how much The Hunger Games was recycled from Battle Royale. I’ve never read or watched Battle Royale, but I love Series 7, a definite rip-off of BR, which I don’t think diminishes Series 7. Battle Royale isn’t a comedy, unlike Series 7, so perhaps this, and the adult “Contenders” in Series 7, make for less similarity.

The first I heard of The Hunger Games was someone suggesting it was a rip-off of Battle Royale and there are more superficial similarities between these two than between BR and Series 7. How do I know this if I’ve never read BR? Edward Shaddow filled me in on the Battle Royale basics. At first I didn’t realize how heavily The Hunger Games may have borrowed from Battle Royale. When I said to Edward that Collins’ sequel will probably involve an overthrow of the government he said that’s kind of what happens in the second Battle Royale movie (Batoru rowaiaru II). To emphasize the recycling going on with BR, there’s a novel, manga** and two live action movies.

The discussion on IMDB pointed out:

This may have been inspired by Battle Royale, but don’t forget that BR itself was largely based on such works as The Most Dangerous Game, The Running Man and The Long Walk. The Hunger Games may well have been inspired directly by any of those.

In any case it seems the author has missed on the single most crucial element of Battle Royale – the characters are best friends. Pitting random people against each other does not create anything near the amount of emotional intensity found in BR. If you do not know or care about your opponents, weighing your life against theirs becomes a rather uninteresting exercise in simple logic.

The commenters haven’t read The Hunger Games and don’t realise there is love between contestants. I particularly liked how dense Katniss was when it came to her admirer. As you’d expect with people who aren’t psychopaths, even the killing of total strangers is fraught with difficulty. The comparison between Katniss’ skill at hunting dinner, her squeamishness at wounds and sickness, and her unwillingness to kill people was very clever.

I hope I made it clear how amazing I think The Hunger Games is, recycling or not. Everyone should read it, and it makes the ideas of its predecessors available to a different audience. Edward reminded me the audience for YA novels are (supposedly) not allowed to watch R-rated movies. Luckily for teenagers everywhere Collins realized this. Australian Year 8s are already studying The Hunger Games in class. I hope they compared and contrasted it to the Battle Royale manga :P

It’s important we, particularly the next generation, consider the ideas encompassed in The Hunger Games. It seems so wrong to have a reality TV show based on killing, but if the Romans had TV they would have broadcast gladiator matches and our nightly news is often a forum for the day’s killings. While this is not meant as entertainment, I don’t watch TV news because I don’t want to see the horror we’re capable of, reading about it is bad enough. I don’t think we’re all that far from the dystopian world of Panem.***

Btw there’s a movie of Beastly in the works and I am not impressed with the casting or Beastly makeup.

*I know the word conflate might make more sense, but like Humpty Dumpty, I pay words handsomely to mean whatever I want. And I am having a chat with Beastly and The Hunger Games, it’s just a bit one sided.

** I have flicked through some of the Battle Royale manga. I saw the “adult content” and decided I could skip reading it and stick with Series 7. When I worked in a public library our graphic novel collection was next to the YA section and included BR and 300 beside Bone and Batman. I can’t remember how much BR went out, but no one ever whined about its placement. When I started my research and gave talks about GNs I had examples to show the diversity available. Battle Royale (and Sin City) were my examples of sex and violence.

***My brother has a theory that YA books have to be set in a dystopian world. Perhaps this could add to the debate on what makes a YA book.

Books and Movies

• Flinn, Alex (2007) Beastly New York: HarperTeen.
• Collins, Suzanne (2003) Gregor the Overlander New York: Scholastic.
• Collins, Suzanne (2008) The Hunger Games New York: Scholastic.
• Takami, Koushun (1999) Battle Royale San Francisco: Viz.
• Takami, Koushun & Taguchi, Masayuki (2000-05) Battle Royale [manga] Los Angeles: Tokyopop.
• Fukasaku, Kinji (2000) Batoru Rowaiaru (Battle Royale)
• Fukasaku, Kenta & Fukasaku, Kinji (2003) Batoru Rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (Battle Royale II: Requiem)
• Minahan, Daniel (2001) Series 7: The Contenders

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Update 17/07: I made a mistake about the book Beastly. It’s written by Alex Flinn.

I cannot begin to convey to you the destructive stupidity of what is being proposed, nor the intense sadness and great anger that so many Australian writers feel about this proposal.

said Richard Flanagan in his Closing Address at the Sydney Writers Festival in May.

Unfortunately, the Productivity Commission ignored Richard Flanagan and many others in its report on the investigation into the current provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 that restricts the parallel* importation of books. The report was released this week and is 240 pgs, but you can download each section separately, the most important being the Overview which includes key points and the Recommendations.

The Coalition for Cheaper Books is the major supporter of the removal of restrictions on parallel importation of books and their spokesperson is former NSW premier Bob Carr, currently Director of the Board of Dymocks. The Coalition represents booksellers in Australia with a combined market share of about 40% of book sales: Dymocks, Woolworths, Coles, K Mart, Big W and Target. The Coalition’s submission to the Productivity Commission creatively describes this membership. The “small, family owned businesses” which make up part of their membership are a particularly small minority. And it’s quite a stretch to call the last five booksellers. Books might comprise some of their diverse wares, but their main business is taking money from us when we’re not paying attention. ie. you’re standing in a long line that’s not going anywhere, with chocolate, bottled water, stupid Golden books, etc. staring you in the face, and thinking,

I’m thirsty, I need a sugar fix and Johnny won’t shut up.**

Arguments in favour of keeping parallel importation for books were detailed in the myriad submissions from Australian authors, illustrators, publishers (and even Angus & Robertson!?) to the Productivity Commission. Australian publisher Allen & Unwin’s submission noted:

The certainty provided by the Copyright Act, coupled with the incentive to operate efficiently embedded in the 1991 parallel importation provisions, have led to a situation where benefits are derived for consumers, authors, booksellers, printers and publishers. As well as this Australia derives a cultural benefit from the publication of close to 14 000 Australian authored books every year – books that help Australians understand themselves and their country better.

Writing in The Age newspaper former Hunters and Collectors front man Mark Seymour compared the parallel importation provisions for CDs in the 1990s with the current proposals of the Productivity Commission in regards to books. Yes, musicians can be as eloquent as writers :P

As to the price of books? That’s not what this controversy is about. In the end, it’s all about selling a free-market line…

As well as the Productivity Commission report and the Coalition’s submission, I’ve read other arguments in favour of removing the restrictions. To my utter amazement one of these arguments came from my professional association, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). ALIA made a joint submission with the Australian Digital Alliance and the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee to the Productivity Commission.

When I first read ALIA’s position earlier in the year I was shocked at their lack of understanding of the issue. Being the slacker that I am, all I did was abuse their stupidity in conversation with a few people (one of these conversations may have been on an email list). The Head of my department at Curtin University, Kerry Smith, told me I should contact ALIA with my views. It’s not until now, when it’s a bit too late, that I’m getting around to it. I’ve emailed ALIA and if anyone reading is a fellow member, feel free to borrow my words (see below), amending as you see fit, and contact them too. If you’re not a member, join ALIA, then contact them.

Do we really want to increase profits of retail chain stores? When we could continue nurturing Australia’s amazing literature.

*I will never be able to spell the word parallel without a computer.
**I admit the book, Golden or otherwise, is probably not going to be added to the shopping basket.

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My letter to ALIA

Update 17/07: I made a mistake in my letter. The book Beastly is written by Alex Flinn. Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games. I read both in quick succession and somehow they morphed into one in my head.

To ALIA,

As an associate member of ALIA I am writing in regard to ALIA’s position on the Productivity Commission’s report into the current provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 which restrict the parallel importation of books.

I am dismayed at ALIA’s response to the report and the Association’s joint submission to the Productivity Commission arguing for the removal of parallel importation restrictions for books. I realise ALIA, as the organisation representing the interests of libraries and library workers in Australia, has little interest in the well being of Australia’s authors, illustrators and publishers. Conversely, as an Australian librarian I have a great interest in Australia’s unique literature and the people who create it. Australia’s libraries are an important avenue for promoting a love of our homegrown stories and books among the general public, especially those who will never buy a book, no matter what the price. No other country’s libraries concentrate on Australia’s literature to the extent that our libraries do.

I have a number of disagreements with your position, but I will concentrate on two. You may find further details as to why removal of parallel importation restrictions for books will hurt Australia’s literature on my blog http://teenageresearch.wordpress.com/.

ALIA’s submission noted the Honourable Allan Rocher’s words,

These [Australian] writers apparently have no confidence in their ability to compete with overseas authors.

Competition from overseas authors is a legitimate threat to Australia’s literature, not because our books are of lesser “quality” than overseas counterparts (I can name numerous titles, authors and illustrators who are vastly superior), but because the Australian publishing industry is tiny in comparison to those of the US and UK. The monopoly enabled by parallel importation restrictions allows our tiny publishing industry to compete on a more even footing with the larger industries of the US and UK. These disparities were noted by many submissions to the Productivity Commission.

ALIA’s submission and email response to the report also noted:

By removing the restrictions, local booksellers and libraries would have the option of accessing better value books from overseas. Local publishers would have a strong incentive to make their prices more competitive and to look for greater efficiencies in their operations.

In the last week I have personally noted the decreased physical quality of a US book compared to locally published books. I read YA fiction and I borrowed Beastly by US author Alex Flinn Suzanne Collins from my local library, published and printed in the US. I enjoyed this light romance, set in New York and retelling the story of Beauty and the Beast. It’s perfect for teenage girls, but the poorly designed cover and almost grey paper of the book made for a very unattractive physical object. As much as I know never to judge a book by its cover, I was glad the library had it because I would never buy this US edition of Beastly. From my research with teenagers, both those who enjoy reading and those who do not, find cover design and overall look of a book an important factor in deciding whether to pick up and read a particular book.

Currently multinational publishers and distributors set up branches in Australia and contribute to Australia’s economy and our local publishing industry in many ways, described by a number of submissions to the Productivity Commission. The removal of parallel importation restrictions would allow multinational publishers and distributors to freely import books to Australia without the risks associated with local branches, thus all profits, expertise, etc. would be concentrated overseas. In this instance it may be that the greatest efficiencies in local operations would be to reduce publication of Australian books by Australian writers and illustrators and concentrate on titles which have already proven their worth in overseas markets.

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) rejected the findings of the Productivity Commission, as have numerous Australian authors, illustrators and publishers, including Tim Winton, Sonya Hartnett, Shaun Tan, Kate Grenville and Peter Carey. The ASA’s position is supported by the New Zealand Society of Authors, the UK Society of Authors and the Authors Guild in the USA. You may be interested in an article by celebrated Australian musician Mark Seymour concerning the related changes to parallel importation of CDs which occurred in the 1990s. His article in the Age newspaper can be accessed online http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-book-price-row-rings-too-sadly-familiar-20090709-deln.html

It would be a tragedy if our thriving publishing industry, including first time authors as all our cherished Australian authors once were, was diminished by removal of parallel importation restrictions. We must ensure we do everything to nurture our amazing literary creativity.

Yours sincerely,
Clare Snowball.

I have a list of graphic novels written or illustrated by Australians. It’s not extensive and I often discover titles I’ve missed, but finding Australian graphic novels and comics may become easier. Debbie Cox contacted me to tell about two projects of the National Library of Australia which aim to ensure the library collects published work of Australian comics creators. Collecting Australian Fringe Publishing at the National Library of Australia and The Comics Claiming Project are about the collection and treatment of comics, graphic novels, manga and zines at the NLA. The projects focus on:

• What’s being published by Australian creators and publishers, whether published in Australia or not
• Whether the NLA is adding them to the collection
• If not, how the intake of these materials could be improved

How is this relevant to Australian comics and graphic novels creators?

The NLA needs help ensuring Australian comics, graphic novels, manga and zines are represented in the national collection. For creators this will mean a copy of published work is preserved in a controlled environment and made accessible to library patrons now and in the future. Information about these works will also be made available as a catalogue record to anyone anywhere with access to the internet.

Creators can help by telling the NLA about their own (or other’s) published works. Australian publishers (those in Australia and international publishers with branches in Australia) are responsible for depositing published works with the library (legal deposit). Many smaller or independent publishers are unaware of their legal deposit obligations or that the library would be interested in the type of material they publish. If graphic novel and comics creators tell the library about their published (or soon to be published) works the library can take steps to acquire this material from publishers.

The NLA would also like to hear from creators published by non-Australian publishers such as IDW and First Second Books (both publish work by Australian creators). The library is interested in collecting works by Australians even when published outside Australia.

What should Australian comics creators do?

Tell the NLA about published work by sending the relevant information (title, name or names of creators, publisher’s name, date of publication and ISBN if known) by email, phone or snail mail.

The NLA would also like to hear from creators who wish to discuss any issues or ask questions about these projects.

Contact details

For graphic novel and manga creators:

Legal Deposit Unit
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6262 1312
Fax: (02) 6273 4492
Email: legaldep@nla.gov.au Please put graphic novel or manga in the subject line

For comic and zine creators:

Australian Serials
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6262 1312
Fax: (02) 6273 4492
Email: legaldep@nla.gov.au Please put comics or zines in the subject line

Or post a comment to Fringe Librarian http://fringelib.blogspot.com/

More information

For more on legal deposit or the National Library of Australia go to the Hayase Australian Comics Wiki:
Legal deposit at the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia

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I’m finalizing the literature review for my thesis. (I may even have a thesis to submit one day soon!) And I revisited two papers:

• “Is there a decline in the reading romance?” by Stephen Krashen and Debra Von Sprecken, and
• “Longitudinal study of the reading attitudes and behaviors of middle school students” by Terry Ley, Barbara Schaer, and Betsy Dismukes.

Krashen and Von Sprecken examined the results of a number of studies of children’s reading [1], including Ley, Schaer, and Dismukes’ longitudinal survey of 160 US students over three years as they progressed from sixth to eighth grade [2].

In their review of the literature Krashen and Von Sprecken looked at “how much children enjoyed reading” and concluded any decrease in reading enjoyment as children age is only slight. Most studies used a 5-point scale and the average was always above 2.5.

At no stage do children show a negative attitude toward reading. [3]

Krashen and Von Sprecken summarized the findings of Ley, Schaer and Dismukes as the amount of reading decreases from grade six to eight [4]. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes determined this using the Reading Behavior Profile (RBP) [5]. They also determined reading attitudes of the students with the Teale-Lewis Reading Attitude Scales, made up of measures for three motivations: Individual Development, Utilitarian and Enjoyment [6].

During my trip down memory lane (I read both papers some time ago) I discovered something disconcerting. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes stated,

A statistically significant relationship exited between the reading attitudes and the reading behaviors reported by the students…both their general reading attitudes and their frequency of voluntary reading declined during the three year period. [7]

The presence of a decline in general reading attitudes during the three years is incorrect due to an error in calculation. Table 1 showed the total scores for the Teale-Lewis Reading Attitude Scales [8], but the individual scores shown in Table 3 did not add to these totals [9]. Here are the scores from Table 1 and my calculations:

Thus, reading attitudes did not decrease with age. The decrease was a major finding of the paper. Conversely to what was described in the Abstract, Results and Discussion, there was a slight increase and then decrease, which conforms more to the “relative stability” of the individual scores [7]. Ley, Schaer, & Dismukes also discussed the separate scores for Individual Development, Utilitarian and Enjoyment and these findings were correctly reported [10].

Krashen and Von Sprecken didn’t mention this inaccuracy because they focused on the Enjoyment subscale of the Teale-Lewis Reading Attitude Scales. I wondered if I read Tables 1 & 3 correctly and a mistake was actually made. My supervisor agrees with me, but how did such a big blunder get past the three authors, journal editor and reviewer(s) of this peer reviewed article?

References

1. Krashen, Stephen & Von Sprecken, Debra (2002) Is there a decline in the reading romance? Knowledge Quest, vol.30, no.3, pp.11-17
2. Ley, Terry, Schaer, Barbara & Dismukes, Betsy (1994) Longitudinal study of the reading attitudes and behaviors of middle school students Reading Psychology, vol.15, no.1, pp.11-38
3. Krashen & Von Sprecken, p.11
4. Krashen & Von Sprecken, p.12
5. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.20
6. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.17
7. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.29
8. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.23
9. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.27
10. Ley, Schaer and Dismukes, p.30

Julie Ditrich, Director of Black Mermaid Productions and Australian Society of Authors Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio Holder, is asking Australian comics creators to participate in a survey that will help build a profile of the comics community, as well as provide a starting point for research into Freelance Page Rates.

AN OPEN LETTER TO AUSTRALIAN COMICS CREATORS

Dear Australian Comics Creator,

I am writing to you as a member of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), representing the recently established ASA Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio. I am currently undertaking research to create a Rates Card for you and other professional and emerging Australian comics creators for the purposes of commissioned works (otherwise known as work-for hire) agreements. By “comics” I mean anyone who is writing and illustrating comic books, graphic novels, comic/cartoon strips, digital (web) comics and zines (that contain comics/sequential art content). By “professional” I mean anybody who has been paid page rates by a publisher or other entity who has commissioned the work.
We are asking you to fill in a simple survey, which will only take you 10 minutes, and to provide information based upon your own professional experiences. This raw data will remain strictly confidential and will be used with the intention of formulating minimum page rates and to get an understanding of the makeup and profile of the working (and emerging) comics community in Australia. The specific minimum rates we want to develop for the Rates Card are for:

• Concept art sketches (per sketch)
• Comics page/panel/shot design (layout)
• Thumbnails/Roughs
• Pencilling
• Inking
• Colouring (computer or hand)
• Cover Art
• Lettering
• Writing (story synopsis, page breakdown, script)
• Editing (story or art)
• Cartoon/comic strip (print)
• Webcomic strip (digital)
• Zines (with comics – sequential art – content)
• Convention sketches (black and white only)
• Commissioned artwork (one-character piece or landscape or object sourced from comics properties) in black and white
• Commissioned artwork (one-character piece or landscape or object sourced from comics properties) in colour.

Please note that we will be cross-referencing the rates information with those issued by organisations such as the Society of Book Illustrators, Australian Cartoonist Association, and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance to ensure consistency.

The purpose of this exercise is to chart a course, lay out a roadmap for those of you who want to make comics your career. The hardest thing in this country is being able to set down a value for the different services that are required in the production of comics. By gathering raw data from as many sources as possible we’re hoping to change that so that in the event a publisher commissions you for a project, you will have access to minimum pay guidelines and negotiate a reasonable fee in keeping with your talents and the time, energy and commitment you put into creating scripts or artwork.

Given my background of having worked 20+ years in the Australian comics world and having been involved in every step of the storytelling process, I was asked to facilitate this project. I would like to think that through co-operation and consultation we might be better prepared for the future of storytelling in the Australian comics landscape.

You can help the ASA to help you by clicking onto the following link and completing the survey:

http://tinyurl.com/pwz2wn

The closing date is: Friday 31 July 2009.

Kind regards,

Tad Pietrzykowski