Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

MTV has an interview with Ashley Greene, star of the film version of Stephanie Meyer's popular vampire books.  She tells of her own love of the novels, and talks about fan concerns about her height and the length of her hair.

Stephanie Meyer has a whole page on her website dedicated to the movie.  You'll find more pictures of the cast there.

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The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the final Harry Potter book will be made into two films.  The first half is due to be released in November 2010 and the second part in May 2011. 

I think this is a great decision and have long wondered why they haven't done this with other Harry Potter books.  They seem so very condensed in film form and a lot of the extra moments that make Harry Potter so popular are necessarily trimmed.

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Little, Brown Books announced today that Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga will be released on Saturday, August 2nd at midnight. 

Meyer's first adult novel The Host will be released on May 6th. 

And to complete the year, Twilight will be made into a movie and released December 12th. 

A huge year for Meyer and her fans!  To keep informed on all of the developments, check out Meyer's website. 

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Check out this breathtaking new trailer for The Golden Compass film.  Wow!

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Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is becoming a film by Mandate Films.  Kat Dennings will play Norah and Michael Cera will play Nick.  Looks like the targeted release date is 2009.

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NPR has a piece on the upcoming The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, a film adaptation of the series by Susan Cooper which has me twitchy in all the wrong ways.  Yes, the film itself looks nice, but will it bear any resemblance to my beloved series?  I doubt it.  And this article did nothing to make me fear it less.  Take this quote from Cooper:

"You do have to do violence to a book to make it into a screenplay —
the two mediums are so different," Cooper says. "But the alteration is
so enormous in this case. It is just different."

That's exactly what I am afraid of!  Was the violence done to this series surgical and limited, or was it like a bomb going off.  We will just have to wait and see.

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Now on Yahoo! Movies, you can view two breathtaking trailers for the new Golden Compass film.  You can also find out about the film itself with a synopsis, photos and information on the cast.  It looks gorgeous, atmospheric and seems to echo the pictures of the books I had in my head.

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Tee hee!

The "Gossip Girl" panel on Friday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton got a
little surly when television critics asked the executive producers to
justify the underaged drinking and (attempted) date-raping in its pilot.

I love that they got pissy.  And how do they defend it?

After the morality question was asked in several different ways,
Schwartz said, “I don’t want to be hitting the same point, but I do
feel as if we’re not presenting this as a perfect world." He added, “As
long as we continue to portray this world responsibly but
realistically, we think the show should have a teen-aged audience.”

As a librarian, I am very used to defending books in the face of critical parents.  The answer is that this book (or show) may not be right for your family and may not reflect your family's morals.  And it is your right, as always, not to read/view it.  But it is not your right to stop others from doing that.

That is even more true for a TV show based on a series of books for teens that has garnered a lot of real criticism for the world they portray.  Hasn't everyone been warned enough about this?  And frankly, the plot lines don't seem that very different from so many other teen series on TV in the last few decades.  Beverly Hills 90210 anyone?

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Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff is being made into a TV movie by Hallmark.  Sissy Spacek is going to star as Josie.  No premiere date yet.

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Warner Brothers is going to make the magical Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage into a series of films.  Her books are Magyk, Flyte and Physik.  I read the first and really enjoyed it.  I loved its charm and quirks.

Does anyone know if the second and third were just as good?

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The Nancy Drew movie comes out this Friday.  You can find all sorts of articles about the film, the real author of the series, Nancy's fashion, and star Emma Roberts. 

Visit the movie's homepage to view a trailer, see photos, download wallpapers, screensaver or buddy icons, or read Emma's blog.

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Nickelodeon is showing a TV movie on Saturday, June 9th that is based on the Shredderman books by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Shredderman Rules! is definitely going on my TiVo!

You can also check out the cool Shredderman.com website from Random House where you can meet the characters, find computer fun, and play Shredderman WebQuest. 

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For all you folks who keep commenting on your love of the Gossip Girl book series and the upcoming TV show, here are a couple of links for you!

The photo above is from the Wikipedia entry for the show.  Gorgeous, ain't it?  I like it a lot better than the photo on their official site, but intriguingly the cast doesn't look the same!  The official site has a preview video you can watch as well featuring Blake Lively from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as Serena.

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The beautiful Golden Compass website which advertises the upcoming film, now has a new section where you can discover what your Daemon is! 

This is my Daemon:



What's yours?

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NPR has an interview with author Katherine Paterson and her son David, who wrote the screenplay for the movie of Bridge of Terabithia.  It is an interesting look at how Bridge came about and David's reaction to it. 

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The Golden Compass Film site is now online. Gorgeous, atmospheric, magical music, and a great glimpse at the Alethiometer. How thrilling! Only a year to wait...

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How did I miss this?  A movie based on Annette Curtis Klause's novel Blood and Chocolate is coming out in January!  The poster looks great!  You can click here for a larger image.  Hopefully they do Klause's book justice.  I completely adored her Silver Kiss which would also make a great film.  Her newer book, Freaks: Alive, on the Inside is still on my list of books to read. 

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The Book Standard is expanding its Book Video Awards to include a Teen Edition this year.  Working with Random House, the Teen Book Video Awards will feature films of How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.  The videos will be online starting November 29th. 

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WIth Thesps Tell Tale of Desperaux, Comingsoon.net announces the voice actors for the upcoming CGI movie of Tale of Desperaux. And look at the talent! Kevin Kline, Dustin Hoffman, Christopher Lloyd, Tracey Ullman and more! The site offers additional details on the production.

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ComingSoon.net has the news that Walden Media has teamed up with American Girl to bring the Kit books to the big screen. American Girl recently did TV films of two of their other titles, and they were remarkably watchable and well done. Let's hope that they continue that trend with their first big screen film.

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The upcoming Charlotte's Web Movie has a sweet site where you can visit the Zuckerman farm and view a trailer of the movie. From the trailer it looks like they have changed a lot of the story and added slapstick humor, but I have hope that in the end they have retained the sweetness of the original. Let's all hope!

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Arthur and the Minimoys will be released in film version this Christmas. The website offers a trailer you can view online, information on the main characters, a glimpse at the storyline, and looks at the amazing animation that captures the land of the Minimoys. This is certainly worth a look.

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Hope you weren't holding your breath, because the Second Narnia movie is postponed until summer 2008. I admit that when I finally saw the first in the series, I was pleasantly surprised. OK, so as the softy I am, I teared up when Aslan appeared. I'm such an easy touch. :)

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Yahoo!  has the news that Nickelodeon Movies is going to make movies from The Five Ancestors series, wirtten by Jeff Stone.  Stone has planned seven books in the series, and right now the movie deal is for two films. 

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ComingSoon.net says that Sam Raimi is to Direct The Wee Free Men, a movie based on Terry Pratchett's young adult novel. Raimi is the director for the Spider-Man movies.

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Sci Fi Wire has the story that Warner Brothers has acquired the rights to create a film of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

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Variety.com - Fox locks up classic kid tomes is an article about Fox 2000 developing a movie version of the Ramona series.

"So many kids have asked me, 'When's a Ramona movie coming out?' " Cleary said in a statement. "I'm so glad there's finally going to be one! I look forward to seeing it."

Susan Katz, prexyprexy of HarperCollins kid division, said, "As Beverly Cleary turns 90, it's the ideal time to reintroduce Ramona Quimby -- and all of Mrs. Cleary's other memorable characters -- to a new generation of young people."

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The Christian Science Monitor has an article Hollywood turns a page on Micheal Flaherty, the president of Walden Media and his desire to create films that get kids reading.

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USA Today has an article on the upcoming animated Curious George movie. Nicely, the movie is done in the old ink-and-pen style rather than computerized.

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According to Coming Soon!, Renee Zellwegger will be the lead in Miss Potter, a movie about the life of Beatrix Potter.

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Coming Soon! has news about the new joint venture between Disney and Walden Media to create a movie of Bridge to Terabithia, based on the Newbery Award winning book by Katherine Paterson. The movie is due out in spring of 2007.

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The official site for the movie of Eragon is up and running. Some of the sections are not functional yet, but you can read about the legend of Eragon, browse the lexicon, or download wallpaper for your computer.

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Coming Soon has an interview with Anna Popplewell who plays Susan in the upcoming film Narnia.

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Coming Soon! has a link to USA Today's picture gallery on the new movie version of Charlotte's Web.

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Lifetimetv.com: Movies - Speak

Lifetime Channel will be running their movie version of Speak, based on the book by Laurie Halse Anderson, on September 5th.

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Fantastic Fantasies: Hollywood's Hunt for the Next Boy Wizard is an article from The Book Standard that looks at the new trend of fantasy movies for children. Movie version of Eragon, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Golden Compass, and Artemis Fowl are all in the works. I love that all of these films are based on books, since it will draw kids who enjoy the movies to seek out the books they are based on.

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NPR covers Hayao Miyazaki's new anime film based on Diana Wynne Jones' book with Miyazaki's Magic on Display in 'Moving Castle'. Amazing how evocative radio can be when describing film.

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Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire now offers an online trailer for the upcoming movie! Enough to get any Harry Potter fan looking forward to November.

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Coming Soon! offers a posting on two USA Today articles on the Harry Potter movies. Good news is that Daniel Radcliffe is returning to play Harry in the fifth movie!

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Boston.com has a nice article on the Books brothers, Chip and Mike Flaherty, who are responsible for some of the recent films based on children's books, like Holes and Because of Winn Dixie.

"As paradoxical as it sounds, we want to be known as the film company that gets kids back to reading," says Chip, 40, neatly summing up the company philosophy.

"If moviegoers walk out of one of their films saying it was OK but the book was better," says Mike, 36, "We consider that a success." Reading is "the gateway" to Walden's mission, he continues. "It's central to everything we do."

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The April edition of VOYA has an article on using anime in the library, Animeted Library. It contains information on showing anime films, a list of recommended movies, and a contact list for anime studios. Exactly what any library considering doing an anime club or ongoing program needs to know.

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The official website for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is now available with information on the production, the books, and Narnia itself.

The first time you try the site, make sure to allow plenty of time for it to load. Eventually a white gem will appear on the doorknob to match the one by the lock and it will turn into place. Then you get to go through the keyhole and enter the wardrobe.

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The Seattle Times: Arts & Entertainment: "Sin City": Bad guys never looked so good

"Until now, movies based on comic books or graphic novels have only approximated the kinetic style of comics while remaining rooted in the familiar conventions of film. Even the acclaimed "Spider-Man" blockbusters owe more to director Sam Raimi than to comics creator Stan Lee.

"Frank Miller's Sin City" sets a new and higher standard."

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Coming Soon! has the news of Fox remaking My Friend Flicka, based on the children's book by Mary O'Hara.

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants looks to be a wonderful movie based on the popular series of books. The site offers the trailer, photos, downloads, contests, message boards, and much more.

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