Pandemonium

Pandemonium by Chris Wooding and Cassandra Diaz
This is acclaimed author Chris Wooding's first graphic novel - a fun fantasy adventure with a dark twist. Seifer's life is about to becoming a royal pain... as captain of the local skullball team, Seifer Tombchewer is the envy of his peers. He's fast, he's strong and he flies circles around his competition. But Seifer has always dreamed of more - of leaving his tiny remote village for a new life beyond the mountains. He never dreamed it would happen like this.

I really liked this one, it has a great sense of adventure, clever humour and I'll enjoy seeing where the next book in the series will take readers.

Books to movies

Yesterday's blog posting generated some discussionn towards books we like to see be made into movies. Here are a few that I know will be released in 2012.
 Coming to a theatre near you...

This cautionary tale was first published in 1971. It was animated for television in  1972 and also made into a musical. This weekend it will be released as a movie. I wonder if we've gotten the message yet?
Here's the movie trailer.


Also coming out this year is, The Secret World of Arrietty which is based on the classic The Borrowers by Mary Norton.
Summary: There are two families living in an old house out in the country. The difference between these two families is that one lives above ground and the other family lives under the floor. This is the story of the family that lives under the floor, surviving off the scraps and misplaced items that the topside family don't seem to realize are missing.
Here's a look at the movie version.


Here are a few others that I know will be coming out this year. I'm not going to post the trailers for the rest of these today (maybe some other morning, when I have loads of time.)

Now here's the challenge for some of you - get busy reading these books before you go to the movies.

Reading the Oscars

Tonight is Hollywoods' big night. The Academy Awards. The Oscars. The fashions, the films, the books?
Many of tonights movies started out as books, and someone, somewhere along the way thought 'Hey this would be a good movie.'  Sometimes the movie is true to the book, barely missing a single note. Other times well, lets say the director took some creative license and strayed from the book. Either way, The Academy Awards can lead people to great books and vice-versa - Great Books can lead people to a great film.

Here are some of the great books that made their way to being great movies.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (6 nominations)


Hugo -- based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (11 nominations)



The Help by Kathryn Stockett (4 nominations)


The Adventures of Tintin - based on The Secret of the Unicorn by Herge (1 nomination)


The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (1 nomination)

Happy Valentines Day

How about that for a Valentine's Day treat?

Best Friends Forever

Best Friends Forever: a World War II Scrapbook by Beverly Patt

Best Friends Forever tells the story of 14 year old Japanese American Dottie Masuoka and Louise Krueger  as their lives and friendship must change with the internment of all Japanese American during World War II. Louise starts a scrapbook, documenting events that have happened with the intent of sharing it with Dottie when she returns.
I think those of you who enjoy historical fiction or enjoy a mixed media sort of book will breeze through this one.
Things I liked: the scrapbook format, the newspaper clippings and advertising promos of the time, the different fonts used to indentify the girls.
Things I didn't like: I wish it were a Canadian book, I didn't like how open ended it was - is this the first installment of a series?, and of course at the end of the book there is the statement "Three days after Pearl Harbour, Germany and Italy declared war on the US as well. World War II had begun."

Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos

This book just won the Newbery Award for best children's fiction. Jack Gantos once again gives us a glimpse of what must have been a crazy upbringing (even if these events didn't exactly happen to him, he still is drawing from something he knows to make it so believable.)

Summary:

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional , Dead End in Norvelt, is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, who's plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his fueding parents, and who's nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of shocks and excitement are coming Jack's way once his Mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbour with a most unusual chore.

Endlessly surprizing, this sly sharp-edge narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly of kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.

I can say from personal experience that this book not only had me laughing out loud, but I've tested it on grade 7's and 8's and yes it got them laughing too.

Book trailer.



Random Acts of Kindness

So, I created a bulletin board for other people to enjoy -- when I entered our library Monday morning this is what I found.

Thank you Mrs. Hudson and your awesome group of Grade Seven's, you not only made my day but quite possibily my whole month. I hope your Random Acts of Kindness keep spreading.

Voki

I have been thinking of a variety of options students could use in presenting book talks. Here's a cool one for books that contain a strong main character that could promote the book or books that contain an avatar character, such as the one I created for Rash by Pete Hautman.
Check out -- voki.com -- if you want to try it for your next project.
Read and create.

Libraries ...

This past week I created a display for the Lethbridge School District head offices. I chose to make a giant size Wordle, I asked my friends at school to finish this sentence - Libraries are... - this provided tonnes of inspiration. I included numberous photos from libraries in the district and of course ours.Take a look.

The Crazy Man

The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter

I wanted to revisit this gem of a book, it left me hungry for the hot, dry days of summer, with crickets chirping, winds making the fields of wheat move as if in choreographed wave, and a simplier time.

Here's the summary:
In 1965, twelve year old Emaline , living on a wheat farm, must deal with a family that is falling apart. When her dog Prince, chases a hare into the path of the tractor, she chases after him, and her father accidently runs over her leg, leaving her with a long recovery and a permanent disability. Even worse, from Emaline's point of view, is that in his grief and guilt, her father shoots Prince and leaves Emaline and her mother on their own.

This is a novel written in verse, so it reads very quickly, it's a touching story and will make you think about how times and values have changed.
Here's my favourite passage.
"Heard coyotes in the night
from my open window.
Far away.
One pack calling,
another answering.
Young ones yipping
along with deeper voices.
Smell of wood smoke
on the night air.
A full moon.
Their high whines.
Their wild choir.

It's like I'm standing right there next to Emaline, hearing and feeling everything she is. Now that's good writing.
If you enjoyed The Crazy Man you might want to try reading Karen Hesse's - Out of the Dust.
Read On