My Hunger Games Tribute persona:
Name: Twill Goldenwood
Congratulations! You had the honor of being a District 12 tribute in the 69th Hunger Games!
You were killed by eating a poisoned apple.
Very Snow White! Get your Hunger Games name and history here.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a perennial YA favorite. As you’ve probably heard, it’s going to be a movie, starring Harry Potter fav Emma Watson. I think this is a hard book to adapt, since so much of it is internal, but based on the casting I’m very hopeful. Another potentially good sign is that it’s gotten an R rating.
Why should that make me hopeful? Isn’t it bad for teens not to be able to actually see the movie? First of all, teens see R-rated movies all the time. It’s not that hard to get into one or buy/stream it later. Second, it’s not a fluffy book. It covers a lot of mature topics, from sex to drugs to drinking. That’s not all the book is about, but I’m kind of glad to hear that things won’t be watered down. It’s all part of a very real teenage experience. (Okay, my teenage experience wasn’t quite that rock-and-roll, but it exists.)
Are you looking forward to the Perks movie?
Last night’s Oscars didn’t have many great surprises or exciting moments, but I was glad to see that The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore won for best animated short. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here:
I haven’t seen the other nominees, but this one is so beautifully done I’m really glad it won. Who were your Oscar favorites?
Don’t know who to root for on Oscar night? Judy Blume is here to help. Along with being one of the most famous MG/YA authors ever, she’s also a huge movie fan. The New York Times talks with Blume about her picks. For major awards, she’s pulling for The Artist, which I haven’t seen yet but sounds fantastic. The only point on which I have to disagree with Blume is The Tree of Life, which she thought was pretentious and I really enjoyed. It’s not necessarily a movie I’d watch over and over, but I thought it was a compelling look at how we form memories as children and how insignificant personal struggles are amid the universe.
Blume also talks a little about what she’s working on now:
Q. Is it a young adult novel or is it for adults?A. I don’t know, it’s one or the other. It’s probably both. It’s too soon to know. Did you see that thing with Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert, it’s on YouTube. [Bagger’s note: It is really worth watching. Especially when they get to the marker-sniffing.] Colbert says something about, ‘So did you always know you were going to write for children?,’ and Sendak says: “Write for children? I just write, and they decide where it should go.” I will have to decide, but I’m on a first draft of an intricate novel, it’s a complicated story for me to tell.
If you’re like me, you’re unreasonably excited about the upcoming Hunger Games movie. The soundtrack was recently revealed, and I’m happy to see some favorite artists on the list, including:
It looks like the overall vibe is folk with an edge, which I think is perfect. (Frankly, I wish Neko Case could write the whole album; her sound matches the books perfectly.) Even though I don’t listen to much Taylor Swift, I actually like her song for the movie. You can see the video here:
Not as bouncy as a lot of her hits, and it has a nice mountain feel. So I’m very hopeful going into the movie. Any artists you like/dislike on the soundtrack, or anyone you wish were on the list?
A few more links to round out your day:
It was the best of birthdays, it was the worst of birthdays…
Well, hopefully not the worst. But it is the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens. Happy birthday, Charles! My favorite of his work is probably A Tale of Two Cities, which I first read when I was way too young to get most of it.
To celebrate, Masterpiece has shared the trailer for their upcoming production of Great Expectations. It looks awesome. I haven’t actually read the book (I know, I know) but this might be the inspiration I need. Also, teachers and librarians should take note:
“Three video-based lessons will be posted in April on the free teacher resource, PBS LearningMedia. Using video clips from Great Expectations, English Lit classrooms can compare and contrast the film with the book, learn about the moral underpinnings of the work, and explore Dickens’s writing process.”
What’s your favorite Dickens novel?
Some people are really good at titles. They can come up with really memorable titles that perfectly connect with their novel/play/poem. These people are also probably visited by helpful elves and ride to work on their pet unicorns.
I am not one of these people.
Either I come up with a title and no accompanying story, or I finish a story and stress about the title for a while. But titles are worth some stress. A good title can capture a reader’s attention right away, while a bad title can make an otherwise compelling book forgettable. Sometimes I’ll remember the plot well but totally forget the title and not remember that I’ve read/seen it until someone describes it more.
To see the difference that a good title can make, check out these alternate titles for famous movies. While I love the sound of The Rebel Nun, it has a very different feel than The Sound of Music.
Are you good at coming up with titles? What are some of your favorites?
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books and movies. It’s rare that both the original novel and the film adaptation work so well, but each version is fantastic. The movie is celebrating its 50th anniversary–hurray! In honor of the occasion, Movieline has interviewed Mary Badham, who played Scout, and Cecilia Peck, daughter of Gregory Peck. About why To Kill a Mockingbird is so necessary, Badham says:
“To me, the root of all evil is ignorance, and this book speaks directly to the importance of getting an education because ignorance breeds things like bigotry and racism, and all that hatred. We’re still dealing with that, right here in the United States, if we’re talking about Muslims or Mexicans or immigrants, you know, it’s a major deal right now. So we’re still grappling with these issues. It’s just that people have changed their clothes, that’s all. This is not a 1930s black-and-white issue, this is here and now, today.”
Another great example of why literature and film matters, especially if it confronts an uncomfortable subject. Make sure to check out the rest of the interview through the link.
Publishers Weekly has a great list of this year’s most anticipated book-to-film adaptations. Some of them I didn’t even know about, like Great Expectations. (Of course Masterpiece is also having a Dickensian spring, so maybe I was distracted.)
Obviously, the movie I’m most excited for is The Hunger Games. Really hope they do it well! I’m also really curious about The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Honestly, it’s not my favorite YA novel, but I’m intrigued about the adaptation. After all, Emma Watson was part of a really exciting adaptation already; maybe she’ll be good luck for this one, too.
What are you looking forward to seeing this year?