Another book-to-movie!

I just read that a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie version of Pictures of Hollis Woods will be shown this Sunday, December 2nd, on CBS. It's a wonderful book and, looking at the cast that includes Sissy Spacek and Alfre Woodard, may well be a wonderful movie.

From book to movie

So many good books become movies, from the well-known to the not-so-well-known. Given that there are a few movies coming out in the next month or so that are based on or inspired by books, I thought I'd make up a quick list of books that are in the PRHS library that have become (or will soon become) movies.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott book • movie (1994)

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett book • movie (1995)

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi books • movie (2008)

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper books • movie (2007)

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen book • movie (2006)

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton book • movie (1983)

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz book • movie (2006)

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis books • movie (2005) • movie (2008)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer book • movie (2006)

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery book • movie (1985)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini book • movie (2006)

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman book • movie (2007)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling book • movie (2007)

Holes by Louis Sachar book • movie (2003)

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien books • movie (2001) • movie (2002) • movie (2003)

Beowulf by Unknown movie (2005) • movie (2007)

Twilight movie!

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (review here) is going to be a movie! Shooting starts in February and Bella will be played by Kristen Stewart. Read more here (Variety.com) and here (Meyer's website).

Quidditch World Cup - for real

At some colleges in the United States, students play Quidditch (from the Harry Potter books). Basically, they run around with brooms between their legs and chase a human Snitch (dressed in yellow), throw bouncy Bludgers at people, and try to get a volleyball Quaffle through hoola hoops.

I'm not making this up. Read about the 2007 Quidditch World Cup here (there are photos) and an article about the origins of the Quidditch World Cup here.

Get your own Weasley clock!

Well, not exactly (and not yet), but Microsoft has developed a prototype "Whereabouts Clock" that's a lot like the Weasley's clock from the "Harry Potter" books:



It works with a certain software on family members' cell phones that transmits the cell phone's location to the clock that might be in, say, your kitchen. Neat!

New books

Another box of new books arrived yesterday and are now in the New Book display. A full list of the new additions is below.

Fiction

Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey

Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

I, Coriander by Sally Gardner

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson

The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Valiant by Holly Black


Nonfiction

Black berry, sweet juice by Lawrence Hill

Swifter, Higher, Stronger: a photographic history of the Summer Olympics by Sue Macy

Remembrance Day links

From the PRHS library Del.icio.us account.

Remembrance Day books at the PRHS library

Last year's virtual display: http://prhslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/11/remembrance-day-virtual-display.html

Last year's Remembrance Day post: http://prhslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/11/remembrance-day.html

Review: Life as we knew it

Life as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer

16-year-old Miranda is really not happy about that meteor that's supposed to hit the moon. Her teachers pile on extra meteor assignments and everyone is excited to watch the meteor hit the moon, especially those astronomers on TV.

What nobody expected is the moon to be moved closer to the earth, and within hours earthquakes and volcanoes cause world-wide destruction. Miranda's whole life - and the lives of those around her - is thrown into chaos by the events that follow. Gas prices climb to $35 a gallon. There is no electricity. Deadly diseases spread. Bite your nails as Miranda and her family struggle to survive.

This book freaked me out. I almost went to the grocery store to stockpile nonperishables halfway through the book, except I couldn't put it down. The next few times in the grocery store I had to stop myself from loading a cart with cans of soup. Sure, sounds crazy, but read it and you'll understand.

5 stars out of 5 for Life as we knew it.

Read a review.