Mid-December Reads
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Kate DiCamillo – After reading the Tale of Despereaux, I had high expectation for DiCamillo and I was not disappointed. I was joyful and tearful all at once as I finished reading this book. And the graphics are so lovely!
The Bartimeaus Trilogy: The Golem’s Eye: Johnathan Stroud – The story intensifies as Kitty, a young girl with a resilience to magic, takes a more prominent role. What both grips me and bothers me about this series is the atypical hero, Nathaniel. I just want to smack him! I have hope for him tho. Bartimeaus is not the evil rouge he pretends to be.
No Talking: Andrew Clements – A simple premise (girls v. boys – who can remain silent the longest) taken by Clements becomes a charming, insightful experiment. A great book for those middle-grade readers who don’t like reading.
Things Hoped For: Andrew Clements – The follow-up to Things Not Seen doesn’t disappoint. The story follows Gwen, a high school senior nearing graduation and crunch time. She must soon perform violin solos at the top musical schools in New York and Boston is she is to fulfill her dream. But as her life begins to unravel and twist around her, she gains a new perspective on her ambitions. Enter Robert (and a brief appearance by his – now girlfriend – Alicia) of Things Not Seen. The writing is simple (I often forgot Gwen was a high school senior and not a middle schooler) and it took a couple chapters before I was hooked, but I did enjoy. Especially the end, when all that has seemingly fallen apart, is strung back together by Gwen’s strength.
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree: Lauren Tarshis – A mock Newberry pick by the Children’s Librarians at Ocean County Library, this was a delightful read. Emma-Jean’s detached yet fundamentally accurate observations made me blush at rememberances of my own youthful behavior. What silly creatures we children are!
Another YA Book in Theaters?
I have learned the Amulet of Smarkand, the first in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, will be (fingers crossed) released on the big screen in 2009 by Mirimax Records and the Weinstein Company! Slated to direct is John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) and to write is Hossein Amini. Very exciting.
I’ll Punish You!
So, I know this post is a LONG time coming, but I couldn’t find the pictures (or the time) until today. The Ocean County Library Cart Wheelers participated in the annual Toms River Halloween Parade (the second biggest Halloween Parade in the country) under a pirate theme. Bandanas and our Library T’s in tow, we lined up for the big event. But it took forever to get people organized so naturally, I got bored and wandered around. That’s when I saw them: Sailors Mercury, Venus, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon. All of them, there in front of me, ready to march in the parade. It was awesome. I squeeled and reeled. They weren’t frightened, but elated that I knew their disguises. They made the outfits themselves! They watched Sailor Moon on Toonami in grade school (I watched in high school) before catching the morning bus. We were kindred spirits. So we snapped a few pics!
Movie Review: The Golden Compass
I was fortunate to see a sneak peak of The Golden Compass last night. Having read Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (the first of which this movie is based upon), I came into the film with high expectations. I wasn’t disappointed (The Chronicles of Narnia). But I wasn’t blown away either (i.e. The Lord of the Rings).
What worked? The graphics. Expertly woven into every shot (unlike Narnia). Iorek was mighty. He upstaged some of the live actors, even Nicole Kidman ^o^.
Lyra was perfect. Just enough sweetness and plenty of ferocity. Dakota Blue Richards got her character spot on! The method used to show her reading and understanding the Alethiometer is well done, with the presence of dust prominent.
Serafina Pekkala (uk! I didn’t like the name as I read the book either) was a gem. Strong presence in a short amount of screen time. She arrived with panache and left you gawping in her wake. The guys in the theatre felt the same way.
What could have been improved? The gyptians were stereotyped. There was very little time to build their characters and Lyra’s relationship to them, so they popped in when needed and were out of my mind when gone. This, in addition to the overall choppiness of the movie running from about 5 to 25 minutes in, left me thinking they could have spent an extra 10 minutes easing into the college surroundings and another 10 on the gyptians, their concerns and power.
But, all in all. A solid film. I’ll see it again next week 
and hope it does well enough to warrant two sequels.
Also, it was super sweet to see the trailer for Inkheart!!
