The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 16 Apr 2013 03:23 AM PDT SAY "Hi!" to Beebo, Peeper, Weirdo, Weirdel and their friends. They are coming to you through the picture book, The Adventures Of Beebo & Friends! – ABC And Special Wheels. The book is the first in a series written by Brigitte Rozario, illustrated by Tan Vay Fern and published by MPH. Rozario is also the portal head of ParenThots.com, The Star's parenting portal. The series is about a six-year-old boy named Beebo who lives in DeliLand with his Mummy, Daddy, brother Beezy and baby sister Milly. He loves playing and exploring with his best friend Peeper and other friends Sam, Weirdo and Weirdel. Together, they have lots of adventures in DeliLand, a magical place not too far away. The first book has two stories – ABC and Special Wheels. In the first story – ABC – Beebo doesn't want to learn his ABCs. He sneaks out of the house and runs to the field to play with his best friend Peeper. They see a dark cloud in the sky and then meet the evil Cloudmaster. He threatens to send DeliLand 40 years of rain unless the boys can solve a puzzle. In the second story – Special Wheels – a new girl named Sam joins Beebo's class. She is in a wheelchair. The kids at school don't know what to make of her wheels and the Strange twins (Weirdo and Weirdel) start bullying her. Children will have fun reading the stories as they pick up values like the importance of studying and not bullying others. In conjunction with the publication of The Adventures Of Beebo & Friends! – ABC And Special Wheels, MPH Publishing is giving away 10 copies of the book. To stand a chance to win, answer the following questions: 1) Who is Beebo's best friend? 2) What is the colour of the Cloudmaster's clothes? (He is on the cover of the book.) 3) Complete the following sentence in not more than 20 words: "I would like to read Beebo because ..." Send in your entries to beebo.beedle@gmail.com by April 30 (6pm) with the subject: The Star-Beebo contest. The contest is open to children aged 12 and below only. Entries must include your full name, MyKad/IC number, address and contact details. Winners will be notified by MPH via e-mail or sms. Please note that correspondence with the judges will not be entertained. ● The Adventures Of Beebo & Friends! – ABC And Special Wheels is available at MPH bookstores and Kinokuniya. For more information, go to facebook.com/beebobooks. |
| Posted: 16 Apr 2013 03:21 AM PDT A young author's first book offers adventure as well as teen angst. WHEN author Vas Bismark describes the protagonist River in Bloodline Chalice as a "simple, ordinary teenager", it is just as well that he adds, "... despite his extraordinary abilities" in the same sentence. Yes, River certainly has unusual skills – he can communicate with tigers, he "remembers" things he has never seen, and he is unusually strong and agile, able to single-handedly hold back armies of men and various assortments of menacing shapeshifters. "He is a character that takes no sides, he does what he believes is right. He is also confused, self-involved and somewhat misunderstood," writes Bismark in an e-mail interview from his home in the Philippines. These are hardly surprising traits, given that River has friends who seem to have been lying to him about his childhood, of which there is nothing he recalls. He can't quite shake the feeling that he doesn't belong in Carin, the only town he knows as home. Plagued by dreams and strange visions, he suspects that the answers to his questions lie beyond the borders of the town. So journey he must, but there are forces that seem hell bent on stopping him, and he doesn't know why. Who is friend and who is foe? Sometimes it is hard to tell. Bloodline Chalice is the first in the River's Journey series, and also the first book written by the 22-year-old author, whose favourite book genres are – not surprisingly – fantasy and science fiction. He comments, however, that he currently finds himself hard pressed to find time to read more than one or two books each month; he is kept busy with writing poetry, play scripts and short films "... for fun," he says, and also helping his father run and manage his vegetarian cafe and archery cafe. And in his spare (!) time, he is putting together a photography production house. "I'm not a photographer, I just manage a crew of talented friends. Other hobbies I have include watching anime, sports and painting," he shares. Interestingly, he sees a lot of himself in the protagonist of the book, and says that the most apparent commonality he has with River is his "fondness for music, humour, intense determination and temperament". Bloodline Chalice is a young adult fantasy novel, and it is one that comes with a message, according to Bismark. "It is adventurous, but will also speak to teens about very normal problems like fitting in, peer pressure and finding themselves. It is, of course, also fun, exciting and thrilling. It has the fun of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Emotionally, it has the excitement of a roller coaster, and the thrill of seemingly endless possibilities," he says. Bismark rates the story high on the relatability scale, thanks to its universal themes of unrequited love, friendship, the pursuit of truth and the dangers (and allure) of power, war, greed and betrayal. "I tried to balance the romance that appeals to the girls with the action and fantasy elements that appeal to the boys. I wanted the book to reflect life – life being the chaotic and stressful mess that it is, and yet remaining still beautiful somehow," he says. Each character in the book is based on a combination of two or three people he knows in real life, plus his "personal interpretation" of who he thinks they are. He also looks to the stars for inspiration: "I refer to the zodiac star signs or Chinese horoscope of the people I've based the character on as a general guide." On how Bloodline Chalice came to be published by RYTHM House Publishing (rythm-house.com), a Malaysian publishing company, Bismark shares that it was through a series of fortunate events. When he started writing the book, he did it with a vision of eventually having it published. It just so happened that at a business convention, he met a business associate of his dad's who requested a copy of his manuscript, and then handed it to Rythm House Publishing. "It turned out that Rythm House Publishing has a Young Writers' Programme where they train and mould young writers. I completed an internship with them and my manuscript was published! Everything just fell into place," he relates. But it certainly didn't simply happen without a lot of hard work. Bismark spent about a year and a half writing the first draft by hand. It was back to basics for the then 16-year-old; pencil and paper, and lots of feedback and critiques from close friends. "The titles, names of characters, plot and story changed many times throughout the course of writing this book. I spent two and a half years revising the initial draft, juggling it between studies, martial arts, sports and music. Then it was a year of throwing it back and forth through e-mails with the editors. All in all, it took about five years to complete the book," he recalls. "Revising the story is the most difficult part; it is surprising how different it turned out compared to my first draft." Bismark envisions a total of four, perhaps even five, books in the River's Journey series. He is currently working on the second book and hopes to finish it before the year is up. "I don't want to keep my readers waiting too long," he says. |
| Young, talented and successful Posted: 16 Apr 2013 03:18 AM PDT Meet the brightest stars under 25. WHILE some youngsters may be experiencing a quarter life crisis, others are already on track to become megastars. Galaxie shines the spotlight on 25 stars under the age of 25 who are destined for big things in 2013 in the new issue hitting newsstands today. One of the names on the list is Jennifer Lawrence. She nabbed an Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook earlier this year and she will return to the big screen as Katniss Everdeen in the much-anticipated The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in November. She is only 22. Likewise, Justin Bieber, who is 19, is still riding on the success of Believe and though the tabloids have not been kind to him of late, the fact that he is constantly in the news is a sure sign that his star is still shining brightly. These and 23 other stars, including Nicholas Hoult, Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Demi Lovato, Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Adele and HyunA are poised for a stellar year. Read about what's next for them in the April 16-30 issue of Galaxie. In the same issue, Ellie Goulding reveals what it was like performing for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge plus Smash stars Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty talk to Galaxie's Geraldine Jeremiah about real-life competition on Broadway in an exclusive interview from the set of the TV show in New York. If you're looking to decorate your walls with new posters, Galaxie's new issue comes with gorgeous pictures of Pretty Little Liars star Ian Harding, Pink, Fall Out Boy, One Direction and Taylor Swift plus a must-have poster of The Wolverine. Readers also stand a chance of winning attractive goodies like OneRepublic's new album entitled Native, Guy Sebastian's Armageddon CDs and Oxy hampers. All these and more on top of the reports on the latest in music, movies and TV as well as celebrity goings-on. ● Galaxie, which is owned by Star Publications (M) Bhd and voted Entertainment Magazine Of The Year for the years 2011 and 2012, also has a presence online at galaxieblog.com.my. For further updates on the magazine and the entertainment world, follow Galaxie on Twitter (@galaxiemag) and visit its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/GalaxieMagazine). |
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