Truffula treats
In honor of Dr. Seuss’s 108th birthday (happy birthday Ted!), the premiere of the new animated The Lorax film, and the annual Read Across America Day, I took a look at David A. Carter’s The Lorax...
View ArticleTwo weeks and counting…
Now that March has finally arrived, we’re officially in the “T-minus” phase for The Hunger Games movie adaptation, hitting theaters on March 23. In anticipation, I’ve been perusing several pieces of...
View ArticleRecommended Hunger Games readalikes
As you know, we’re now less than two weeks from The Hunger Games movie release. While that may seem like forever if you’re a fan, it does give you just enough time to devour one of these recently...
View ArticleThe Hunger Games movie adaptation
Excitement was rampant at a March 23rd midnight showing of The Hunger Games (Lionsgate Films), director Gary Ross’s highly anticipated adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s bestselling dystopian novel....
View ArticleI speak for…
Dr. Seuss. Well, someone has to, because Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios, creators of the new movie The Lorax, certainly don’t. The basic elements of Dr. Seuss’s classic tale remain:...
View ArticleThe Princess Bride: book versus movie
I love everything about William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. I love the book, first published in 1973 by Harcourt Brace, with its romance, humor, and snark. It manages to be self-aware and meta — that...
View ArticleThe Perks of Being a Wallflower movie review
The long-awaited movie version of Stephen Chbosky’s 1999 novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Summit Entertainment, October 2012; PG-13) celebrates the 90s, the mix tape, friendship, love, and the...
View ArticleThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey review
“…one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green, and the hobbits were still numerous and prosperous, and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after...
View ArticleOz, the Great and Powerful, or, Why it pays to have low expectations
Or, Maybe I’ve Gotten Less Discerning Since Having a Second Kid. I recently saw Oz, the Great and Powerful in IMAX 3-D. Having read mostly 2-2.5-star reviews, I wasn’t expecting much. But when their...
View ArticleThe Silver Linings Play…book vs. movie
Crossover writer Matthew Quick, author of young adult novels Sorta Like a Rock Star, Boy 21, and the soon-to-be-released Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, made his debut in 2008 with The Silver Linings...
View ArticleThe Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie review
As a lover of young adult literature and a fan of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, I was delighted to hear that City of Bones (PG-13, Sony Pictures, August 2013) would be made into a film....
View ArticleLet’s go to the movies!
Contenders for film awards flood theaters in November and December, and this year several adaptations of children’s books will be joining the race. Roger already mentioned Ender’s Game, which opened...
View ArticleEnder’s Game, abridged
On November 1st, the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi novel Ender’s Game (Summit and OddLot) opened to mostly positive critical response and a $28 million domestic box office take. For the...
View ArticleHappy diamond anniversary, Weston Woods!
Weston Woods is turning 60 this year! In honor of the occasion the company has created a new 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition DVD. The hour-long special collection “includes six of [their] most...
View ArticleDivergent movie review
In the world of Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy, the dystopian city of Chicago is run through a personality-based system of grouping. The five factions, to one of which every person belongs, are...
View ArticleThe Fault in Our Stars movie review
Last year, we teamed up to write “What Makes a Good YA Love Story?”, and much of our answer to that question was based on the epically beloved, critically acclaimed 2012 novel, The Fault in Our Stars...
View ArticleIf I Stay movie review
So, I saw that movie based on a YA novel about teens in love who are faced with questions of life and death. No, not that one, at least not most recently. I’m talking about the New Line Cinema/MGM...
View ArticleThe Maze Runner movie review
I’m a sucker for a good secret. The Maze Runner is all about secrets. If you’ve read James Dashner’s novel, seeing the Twentieth Century Fox movie (released September 19, 2014) is a completely...
View ArticleThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 movie review
The team behind The Hunger Games film adaptations gets it. With plenty of explosions and covert operations to draw from in Suzanne Collins’s source material, Lionsgate Films’s The Hunger Games:...
View Article“From Page to Screen” panel
When my favorite books get made into movies, I’m there. But I’m usually wearing a t-shirt with this logo (courtesy of Unshelved): So when Children’s Books Boston announced its latest event, “From Page...
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