More YA books to film this fall!

Am I excited about Ender's Game?  Yes yes yes.  But I am also excited about two very different movie adaptations of YA novels.


How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff


This is such a beautiful and frightening book; I remember reading it when it came out a few years after 9/11 and it felt so incredibly real.  I've re-read it since and it still drops me.


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Dude, where's my trailer?  Well, they hast not made one, young viewer.  I know, it comes out in November and how long were we watching those Gatsby trailers for the love of Pete? 

So it goes...just have to rely on the ol' imagination and fortunately there's not that long to wait.

 

 

 

8/22/13

Hey, here it is!

 

More YA books to film this fall!

Am I excited about Ender's Game?  Yes yes yes.  But I am also excited about two very different movie adaptations of YA novels.


How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff


This is such a beautiful and frightening book; I remember reading it when it came out a few years after 9/11 and it felt so incredibly real.  I've re-read it since and it still drops me.


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Dude, where's my trailer?  Well, they hast not made one, young viewer.  I know, it comes out in November and how long were we watching those Gatsby trailers for the love of Pete? 

So it goes...just have to rely on the ol' imagination and fortunately there's not that long to wait.

 

 

 

8/22/13

Hey, here it is!

 

July is STILL Anti-Boredom Month!

Here are some ideas...

• All Cambridge youth centers are FREE!  All summer!

• Watch a free screening of Life of Pi outside at the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle on Thursday, July 11.

• Become a soap bubble magician.

• Write a letter (and mail it also).  You will make someone very happy!

Image: Dhiren Gala, 2012.

• Check out the Boomtown Festival at the Multicultural Arts Center July 29 thru August 1. 

•  While you are there, visit the rooftop garden at Kendall Square.

• Cut your hair.  Yes, you will initially feel trepidation, but once you get going it is quite exhilarating!

• Make popsicles.  If you don't have popsicle molds, use ice cube trays, muffin tins, or paper cups!

• Learn to say "hello" in another language.  You may also wish to learn how to say "help!"
  

• Go to the sandcastle competition at Revere Beach on July19-21.

• Wait for someone to water their yard, and then dive through their sprinkler.

• Learn some dance steps at The Mission (call 617-349-6273 to register), then salsa at Boston City Hall on Friday, July 12.

• Join an online writing community.

• Learn something new about birds, plants and animals at a free Fresh Pond event.

• Give your old Barbie a makeover.

 

• Watch cliff divers fall 90 feet into Boston Harbor at the ICA on August 25.

• Name all the feels. 

• Museums all over Massachusetts are participating in Free Fun Fridays -- find one near you!

• Just play: at the Sunday Parkland Games near the Weeks Footbridge on Memorial Drive.

• Finally, make your own souvenir t-shirt to commemorate it all!

Got more ideas of how to beat boredom to a pulp?  Share them with us in the comments!

July is STILL Anti-Boredom Month!

Here are some ideas...

• All Cambridge youth centers are FREE!  All summer!

• Watch a free screening of Life of Pi outside at the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle on Thursday, July 11.

• Become a soap bubble magician.

• Write a letter (and mail it also).  You will make someone very happy!

Image: Dhiren Gala, 2012.

• Check out the Boomtown Festival at the Multicultural Arts Center July 29 thru August 1. 

•  While you are there, visit the rooftop garden at Kendall Square.

• Cut your hair.  Yes, you will initially feel trepidation, but once you get going it is quite exhilarating!

• Make popsicles.  If you don't have popsicle molds, use ice cube trays, muffin tins, or paper cups!

• Learn to say "hello" in another language.  You may also wish to learn how to say "help!"
  

• Go to the sandcastle competition at Revere Beach on July19-21.

• Wait for someone to water their yard, and then dive through their sprinkler.

• Learn some dance steps at The Mission (call 617-349-6273 to register), then salsa at Boston City Hall on Friday, July 12.

• Join an online writing community.

• Learn something new about birds, plants and animals at a free Fresh Pond event.

• Give your old Barbie a makeover.

 

• Watch cliff divers fall 90 feet into Boston Harbor at the ICA on August 25.

• Name all the feels. 

• Museums all over Massachusetts are participating in Free Fun Fridays -- find one near you!

• Just play: at the Sunday Parkland Games near the Weeks Footbridge on Memorial Drive.

• Finally, make your own souvenir t-shirt to commemorate it all!

Got more ideas of how to beat boredom to a pulp?  Share them with us in the comments!

Guest Post: Teen Advisory Board

Here's what Marshall thinks about that:

*****

Congratulations to the Graduating class of 2013. As everyone rides the euphoria of never having to go to High School ever again, there are all sorts of cool things going on in the Library.

First, some cool authors who are on tour to support their books are stopping by the teen lounge for a bit. Their books are already making waves around the US and they have hardcore bookworms jumping up and down waiting for the books to launch.

Also of interest in the library community is Stephen King's highly anticipated book, Joyland, which is about a teenager who works at a Carnival and is confronted by a psychopath murderer. Sounds interesting. Then of course, having been on shelves for a while now are the latest books in the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead and the Embrace series by Jessica Shirvington. Indigo Spell for Bloodlines and Emblaze for the Embrace series. Both series are fantastic and fans of the series are going to be excited.









As if that's not enough, Vampire Academy also has a movie coming out with a release date of Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2014. I'm excited for it. There's a full cast list and everything.

Things to look out for in the future include the 4th Bloodlines novel in November of 2013, the 4th Embrace novel in October 2013, and a sequel to what was arguably Stephen King's Best book of all time The Shining. A lot of talk goes on in the book world if you just listen.

But remember that the most important part of this is to get you reading. Now that school's out for the seniors and everyone else isn't too far behind, now's the chance to read the books you want to read, and not the ones the school makes you read. So go on and find something out there to enjoy.

Until next time.

Book to Screen, Holy Smokes.

I was going to do a short little roundup of  YA book --> movie releases this summer, and fell down an IMDB hole of upcoming (meaning in the next...year? or so?) movies that were adapted from books. MAN, you guys. They make a movie of everything! So here is my probably-too-comprehensive calendar of movie events. I tried to stick with just YA titles, and left a few off (because you guys KNOW about Catching Fire in Novemember, right?!? And you KNOW about World War Z, right?!?). But still. This list!

Here we go. In calendar order.

April 27
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
This is actually out right now, in limited release. Limited release means it's showing in just a few cities, and often not at big multi-plex theaters. We're lucky in the Boston area, because lots of times it's easier for us to find movies in limited release than it is for someone in say, Wisconsin. I know this aired at the Boston LGBT film festival. 

 May 10
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald  
Don't worry, I'm not going to make you watch this trailer again. The release date has been pushed back so many times if we all watch the trailer one more time, we might not even want to see the movie anymore. Here's hoping May 10 comes quick, because I still think this looks spectacular. (How about I just link to the trailer. That doesn't count right?)

June 7
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume  
I have a little personal history tied up in this book and movie, which I am sure I have mentioned before. All of that aside, it is a great book by one of our very best authors, and everything is pointing to the movie capturing the spirit of the book. I can't wait.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare  
Whether or not you like Shakespeare, you most likely have or will have to read him at some point. Those who find his dialog overwhelming on paper are often surprised by how different it becomes when they see it acted out. One of Shakespeare's most lighthearted plays gets the Joss Whedon treatment, and it looks like a lot of fun.

August 2
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
There isn't a trailer out on this one yet, but I have read some really great things about it. I really enjoyed the book, and can't wait to see what they do with it! And it's not out until August, so you have a little time to read it beforehand!

August 23
The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Oh man. This is going to be huge.

 November 1
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card  
You know when an older celebrity dies, and it's on the news, and you are very sad about it, but kind of surprised because you had assumed that they died a long time ago? That's how I feel about the Ender's Game movie. When I heard they were making it I was glad, but also like How is that not a movie already? Oh well, it is now!

Okay,  I thought I had seen a trailer for this.

But when I looked it up, it was just a bunch of fan-made trailers.

And one hilarious thing where

they titled a video "First look at

Ender's Game movie!"

But it was just one still from the movie

which they did a VERY slow motion zoom-in on

for like 2 minutes, then asked "HOW EXCITED ARE 

YOU TO SEE THIS MOVIE?!?" Hahaha. But seriously, how excited

ARE you?

In Development

AND THEN there was this whole list of movies that were "in development" which means the project is just starting to happen. No release date, some don't even have a cast listed yet, but man, look at this list!

•  Legend by Marie Lu 
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver  
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
•  Maze Runner by James Dashner
• Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan 
• 13 Reason Why by Jay Asher 
•  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
•  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray 
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead  

 

 There are actually WAY more, but you get the picture. Now, I'm not sure at what point an "in development" movie project gets its own IMDB entry, so things could change. But it looks like we're going to have a lot to look forward to. If you're into this sort of thing.
 


 
 

Iron Man 3, Embarrassing Stories and Book Trailer News

• I must have been living under a rock not to realize that Iron Man 3 is in theaters tomorrow.  Luckily I can catch up on all things Tony Stark over at Marvel's Iron Man news page.  Now I am stoked to see Pepper Potts in the suit!

• That time when you had to read in front of the class and said "breasts" instead of "breath"?  Don't worry, we've all been there -- in real life and in fiction.

• Suzanne Young's new book, The Program, is getting a lot of buzz!  It's comforting to know that in the dystopian future that lies ahead, at least our hair will be perfect.

• It chills my blood just thinking about Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave. They are making short trailers for each of the "waves"; this is the first one.

• I think the trailer for Julie Kagawa's The Eternity Cure is stylish, despite the foghorn meme.

• And our last video is an invitation to be part of a book trailer -- for Suzanne Collins's Catching Fire!!

Cool Event for NERDFIGHTERS

You know who you are!

This Saturday the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy will be screening a documentary about Nerdfighters! Here's the information I have:

* * * * *

NERDFIGHTERS DOCUMENTARY: A FILM TO DECREASE WORLD SUCK.

A crowd-sourced senior honors thesis documentary about the online video community known as The Nerdfighters. 

Saturday, May 4th @2pm

Thomas Crane Library

We will be collection tissues and sugar-free lemon drops for This Star Won't Go Out! Please bring one of these items as admission.

* * * * *

So hop to it, hoppy! Grab your nerdfighter friends, jump on the T, and DFTBA.

Book & Movie Trailer Roundup!

It's getting so you can't tell 'em apart.  Please note how this one uses the omninous foghorn that started with Inception.  Catch up to the rest of us, book marketers! it's BEEN DONE [smacks upside head].

Still, I'm intrigued.  What's with that bracelet?  Will it track her, or explode off her hand if she tries to leave?

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau




The City of Bones trailer is here in its extended glory!


Wow, now I don't have to watch the movie.  Although, is that Magnus Bane we're seeing there?  Holy hotness, Batman.  Plus the kid from The Misfits -- that is the most exciting casting ever.


Big big news for my fellow horror fans and anyone who finds Christmas kinda unsettling: Joe Hill's NOS4A2 will be on shelves at the end of the month.



While Mr. Hill is indeed too-cool-for-school kids, please please please wear a full face helmet while riding your motorcycle.

The Percy Jackson franchise is still...going strong?


OMG, you guys, they totally did the foghorn thing.  Logan Lerman, take the money and run!  Run your adorbs face into another indie picture!

Also, you guys are only worried about Kronos?  Because last time I checked, the entire Greek pantheon was made up of jerks and sociopaths.


And it wouldn't be a trailer roundup without the latest teaser of Catching Fire.

Get More: 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News, Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks

Anything else out there that we should get excited about?

10 Feminist Films for Women's History Month

Alien*



Bend It Like Beckham
 

Easy A
 

Girlfight
\


The Invisible War



Legally Blonde


Pariah



Precious



The Runaways
 


Whip It







* One of the greatest movies ever made, yes, but feminist?  Hells yeah -- the characters in the script were written as unisex roles that could be played by a man or a woman.  Sigourney Weaver, pretty much unknown in film, was cast as the lead -- but remember that audiences seeing this movie in theaters for the first time would have NO IDEA who was going to live or die.  Now that it's a huge franchise, we take it for granted that Ripley is the star, but imagine what a breakthrough this was in 1979.

Oscars 2013

Did you watch them?  Are you completely sleep-deprived, like me?

Big congratulations to Cambridge's own Ben Affleck!  And I was pretty amped that Jennifer Lawrence won for Best Actress.

My favorite performance was Shirley Bassey freaking knocking it out of the park with "Goldfinger."


Sorry Jennifer Hudson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, you got nothing on this Dame.

The other key reason to watch the awards is, of course, the clothes.  Have some fun checking out these retro red carpet moments.

What about you guys?  Did you think this was an Oscar ceremony to go down in history or just "meh"?

Gangsters

We just got in a copy of The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman, and that got me thinking about great books with gangsters in them.  Which got me thinking about great movies with gangsters in them.  Which got me thinking about how much I'm looking forward to seeing The Gangster Squad.  Which brings us to...

Books n' Trailers!

This was a terrific movie from this summer, even though it has Shia LaBeouf in it.



This one from the early career of Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorites...



And of course...


Have you got a favorite gangster story on page or on screen? 

43 days to get ready for CINEBIBLIOTRIVIA!

YOU GUYS.  There is a trivia contest on Tuesday, January 15 and you are going to want to start getting ready now.  For the next 43 days we are displaying books and movies that will aid you in trivia mastery.

THERE WILL BE PRIZES.  So pick your team mates and fire up your brain engines!



HOT. DIGGITY.

James Bond, Adele and Opening Theme Songs

Not even asking if you're planning to see Skyfall (out today in theatres!) because Duh.  Nor is this post about your favorite Bond film, your favorite Bond villain, or your favorite Bond. 

Although this brief aside for my favorite Bond suit:

Look at him, now look back at me.

I was home sick yesterday, and in between drinking tea and using up all the Kleenex I heard this cool story on Here and Now about the music of James Bond films.  So today's question is: what do you consider to be the best Bond opening theme?

There's sure to be an ardent Goldfinger camp, with good reason.


But plenty of 80s babies prefer Duran Duran's A View to a Kill.




I have to include Tom Jones's Thunderball because the man passed out during the recording.  That's dedication, folks.




And Adele's Skyfall is just gorgeous.



What do you think?  Is there another Bond theme song you want to nominate as the Best of the Best?  I think we can all agree than when you're asked to record a Bond theme you have arrived.  It's champagne and Oscar nominations from here on out.


p.s. I would not be a good librarian if I didn't encourage you to check out Ian Fleming's Bond novels, which started it all.  They are super good; I checked 'em all out of this very library when I was a kid.

THE CONTENDER

Have you read it? Are you reading it? Do you have a copy of it staring you down but you haven't cracked it yet? Do you have no idea what I'm talking about? If you're starting 9th grade at CRLS this year you and all your classmates should be reading this book this summer. If you don't have a copy come and ask a librarian!

While you're here, stop in at our 9th grade book discussion THIS THURSDAY (Aug 2) at 2:00pm! Talk to you classmates, talk to us, and stick around for a loosely-related boxing movie. 

Book discussions for other classes in the weeks to follow:
Grade 10: Thursday, Aug 9, 2:00pm
Grade 11: Thursday, August 16, 2:00pm
Grade 12: Thursday, August 23, 2:00pm

All the Movies Should Be Dance Battle Movies

Bits and Pieces

Sometimes you love a book with all your heart, and even after one reading you've got whole parts of it memorized because the words went through your eyes and down your throat and became a part of you in this very real way, and you just want to tell people about it. That's the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that you hate a book with all your heart, and the only reason you finished it is that you were fueled by the adrenaline rush that only comes from pure disgust.

Mostly it's in the middle, I think. Mostly you like a book okay, or you like parts of it and roll your eyes at other parts. Sometimes a book is just not too great, but there is one great scene, or one great passage that rings so true that you can't bring yourself to hate the whole thing. (Example: I just read Mister Death's Blue-eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn. It was so different from what I expected, but there was one touching scene that just made the whole book for me).

Anyway, sometimes you might just want to tell your best friend to just read this one part, it's so good! , but really it wouldn't be good outside the context of the whole book. It's hard being a reader sometimes, isn't it? It's much easier with movies! This amazing video is 135 beautiful clips from movies. Beautifully shot, beautiful to look at. It's the perfect thing to zone out to at the end of a long, hot week.

Today's afternoon movie...

Credit: National Geographic (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/great-white-shark/)

That's all I'm going to say about that.  Show starts at 3PM.

Volunteer for Cambridge Recycling

Want to help Cambridge Recycling? Volunteer at a summer in the city movie night to get the word out and sign people up to receive the Cambridge Recycling newsletter. It’s fun because you are outside, get to talk to people, enjoy music & movie, and get a free t-shirt. Email recycle@cambridgema.gov if you can help at:

August 9, 7pm 
Eric Royer’s One Man Band & Outdoor Movie Screening (East Cambridge Savings Bank parking lot, 292 Cambridge St)

August 16, 7pm  
Vegetable Circus & Outdoor Movie Screening (East Cambridge Savings Bank parking lot, 1310 Mass Ave)

August 23, 7pm  
Levins Family Band: Uncle Eye & Aunt Julia & Outdoor Movie Screening (Volpe Center Lawn, 55 Broadway St)

August 30, 7pm  
Improv Boston’s Family Show & Outdoor Movie Screening (University park @ Sidney & Franklin St)