I, the "Editor-in-Chief" of BB Times, am very pleased to announce (after my long, stressful break--isn't that an oxymoron?) the release of a new Shannon Hale book. No, it is not Rapunzel's Revenge, nor is it Forest-born, but it is... *drum roll, please*
ENNA BURNING in KOREAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fantabulous or what, my friends? Indeed, after almost four years of selling well in the U.S., EB was released in Korea, April 15, 2008! Take a good look at the cover: (I'm not quite sure whether the black frame is there in the cover, but I doubt it)
EB is the third Shannon book to be translated and published in Korea. The first is actually Princess Academy (directly translates into Princess Academy), which came out July 16, 2007. Second was The Goose Girl (in Korean, Goose-Keeper Princess, but if you try to translate this using one of those computer translators, you'll get Princess Hitting a Goose...oh dear...), which was released December 15, 2007. The official title (translated) is The Princess's Maid and the Secret of Fire. Sorry, Enna, but you aren't mentioned in the title.
And I learned something. Dictionary.com is so funny! If you translate: 프린세스의 시녀와 불의 비밀 (EB in Korean), it comes out to this: "maid and sudden secret of phosphorus three".
Now...names. Very important. English names don't translate into something into Korean that actually mean something, but I thought I'd experiment with Dictionary.com, just to see what they say.
Shannon Hale: 섀넌 헤일 (pron: Shah-nun Hay-ill; Dictionary.com says: "The Hale whom it spreads out"--lovely, eh?)
Ani: 아니 (pron: Ah-nee; Dictionary.com says: "It knows")
Isi: 이지 (pron: Ee-gee; Dictionary.com says: "Intelligence"; so I guess if you say "Ani-Isi", Dictionary.com would think that you're saying "It knows intelligence.")
Enna: 에나 (pron: Eh-nah; Dictionary.com says: "Enna"--surprise, surprise)
Leifer: 레이퍼 (pron: Lep-pah; Dictionary.com says: "The ladles"--don't ask why)
Miri: 미리 (pron: Mee-ree; Dictionary.com says: "In advance"--which is sort of ironic, because in the PA cover above, Miri is in front of all the rest of the girls)
Peder: 페더 (pron: Peh-der; Dictionary.com says: "Feather"--they rhyme! Kind of reminds me of the linder hawk...)
Olana: 올라나 (pron: Oh-lah-nah; Dictionary.com says: "It rises"--maybe her temper in the beginning of PA does? ;) )
Mt. Eskel (called Eskel Mountain): 에스켈 (pron: Es-kehl, then with the Korean word for mountain; Dictionary.com says basically the same thing)
Danland: 댄랜드 (pron: Dahn-lahnd; Dictionary.com says "The land which it puts"--OK, puts...what???)
For more info, you can go to: http://www.openkid.co.kr/author/author_view.asp?id=011688&svrt=00. It's all confusing and everything, but the first red link is PA, the second is GG, and the third is EB. If you click on them and scroll down, you can see one of the illustrations in the books. Yes, Korean readers get Shannon books with ILLUSTRATIONS. So lucky! And the drawings are very cool and awesome. I'm so jealous!!!!!!!
Shan-fans and Shaniacs, isn't it a great, happy feeling when you know that the international Shannon love is spreading? ;)
Lots of Love,
bookbutterfly :D
