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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Movie News, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 45
1. Me Before You – Official Trailer

ME BEFORE YOU was a breakout novel for the enormously talented author, Jojo Moyes . With the film version set to hit theaters this summer, even more people will fall in love with the world created by Ms. Moyes. I dare you to watch this trailer and not cry.

And if you’ve already read ME BEFORE YOU, and don’t know what to do with yourself until June 3rd, pick up a copy of the sequel, AFTER YOU.

 

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2. Trailer for THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU stars Jason Bateman as Judd Foxman, who’s in the midst of dealing with his wife’s affair when his sister Wendy (Tina Fey) calls to tell him their father has suddenly died.

After the funeral, Foxman matriarch Hillary (Jane Fonda) tells her four children (Bateman, Fey, Adam Driver and Corey Stoll) their father’s last wish was to have his kids under the same roof for one week. So the siblings remain at their childhood home — with visits from Rose Byrne, Dax Shepherd, and Connie Britton along the way. (via Buzzfeed)

Based on the novel by Jonathan Tropper.

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3. Ben Affleck Stars in Gone Girl

Anticipation is steadily growing for the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling thriller, GONE GIRL. The studio has just released the first trailer and it certainly captures the essence of the book. Ben Affleck stars as Nick Dunne, a man who has become a suspect in the disappearance (murder?) of his wife.

Have you read the book? Are you excited about seeing the film?

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4. Motherless Brooklyn Headed to the Big Screen

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According to Deadline, Edward Norton will star, direct and write the film version of Jonathan Lethem’s MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. Brett Ratner and James Packer’s RatPac Entertainment have stepped in to fully finance the film for a late 2014 production start in New York. While Lethem’s novel is contemporary, Norton has set the story in New York in 1954, a time of great change in the city. He plays Lionel Essrog, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette’s syndrome, who tries to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend. Armed only with few clues and an obsessive mind, Lionel slowly unravels closely guarded secrets that have major ramifications. It leads him through Harlem jazz clubs, Brooklyn slums and sets him against thugs and Gotham power brokers to honor his friend and save a woman who might his own salvation.

This will be Norton’s second time behind the camera after he made his debut on Keeping The Faith. He set this up at New Line as the book was published, right after Norton got an Oscar nomination there for his mesmerizing performance in American History X. Norton currently stars in the Wes Anderson-directed The Grand Budapest Hotel, and most recently wrapped the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu-directed comedy Birdman, both for Fox Searchlight. He’s repped by UTA and attorney Robert Offer.

“We all know Edward Norton is one of the most compelling actors of our generation, but I also know he’s an exceptional writer and filmmaker,” said Ratner, who directed Norton in the 2002 adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. “As soon as I read his script for Motherless Brooklyn I knew this was a project I wanted to get involved with and am thrilled to partner up with Edward and Class 5. Edward’s script has melded elements of Jonathan Lethem’s terrific novel with an original story that at once feels classic and entirely fresh. And with Edward playing Lionel Essrog, the brilliant private detective with Tourette’s Syndrome, this will be a tour de force performance.”

Here is more information about MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN:

From America’s most inventive novelist, Jonathan Lethem, comes this compelling and compulsive riff on the classic detective novel.

Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn’s very own self-appointed Human Freakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark, count, and rip apart our language in startling and original ways.  Together with three veterans of the St. Vincent’s Home for Boys, he works for small-time mobster Frank Minna’s limo service cum detective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King of Brooklyn, would be unimaginable, so who cares if the tasks he sets them are, well, not exactly legal. But when Frank is fatally stabbed, one of Lionel’s colleagues lands in jail, the other two vie for his position, and the victim’s widow skips town. Lionel’s world is suddenly topsy-turvy, and this outcast who has trouble even conversing attempts to untangle the threads of the case while trying to keep the words straight in his head.  Motherless Brooklyn is a brilliantly original homage to the classic detective novel by one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation.

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5. Beautiful Creatures Heading to the Big Screen

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl will be hitting the big screen on Valentines’ Day!

Starring Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Emmy Rossum, this film is sure to delight fans!

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6. Divergent Heading to the Big Screen

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s young adult hit series Divergent (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, 2011) is scheduled for release on March 21, 2014. Shailene Woodley, who received accolades for her supporting role as George Clooney’s fiery daughter in The Descendants and starred in the TV series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, has been cast in the much-coveted role.  Neil Burger will be directing but the male lead, which Variety says is currently “considered one of the more sought-after roles for a young actor” has not yet been decided.

Shalene Woodley

SUMMARY:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

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7. Fusenews: Paddington V. Pooh (supporters could call themselves marmalites and hunnies)

You folks have been awfully good about my recent shoddy blogging, so I tip my hat in your general direction.  Jules of 7-Imp and I are putting the final touches on our book for Candlewick editing-wise and, as you might imagine, it eats up large swaths of time like an irate and hungry badger.  There is no situation in which a badger cannot be used as an example.  True fact.

In other news, there’s an author/illustrator out there that I happen to like very much.  His name is Aaron Zenz and over the years he has startled me time and again with the relative brilliance of his creativity.  If he wasn’t making multiple inspired pieces for the Re-Seussification Project then his kids were contributing to the stellar Boogie Woogie blog.  Well, Aaron and Co. are some of my favorite folks so when I saw the Friends of Zenz page asking to help ‘em out in the midst of some pretty upsetting surgery, you can bet I jumped on board.  If you’ve a minute, you can too.  They’re swell folks.

So I got to meet J.K. Rowling the other day.  Yup.  The woman who basically set me on the path of children’s librarianship in the first place via her books and I up and met her.  You see the good Dan Blank had tickets and one of those tickets happened to have my name on it.  So I got to see her speak with Ann Patchett about this adult novel of hers The Casual Vacancy (a title I’m certain she stole from the notes of Lemony Snicket) and then I stood in a long line and got my copy signed.  The conversation between us is as follows:

J.K. Rowling: Thanks for coming.

Betsy Bird:  Guh.

Many thanks to Dan for the opportunity.  He’s blogged about the experience here and just so you writer folks know, he’s doing another session of his author platform course starting Oct 31, with a free webinar. The course features Jane Friedman, Richard Nash, Colleen Lindsay, Kathleen Schmidt, Joanna Penn and Jeff Goins as guest speakers.  Info on the session is here and the webinar is here.

COMIC LEGEND: There was a Winnie the Pooh comic strip where the characters acted a lot more aggressively than most Winnie the Pooh fans are used to.

STATUS: True”

Thus we find the strangest and maybe most engaging link of the day.  Apparently there was a Winnie-the-Pooh syndicated comic strip out there for a while that contained the Disneyfied Pooh and friends.  And apparently it was written by some seriously odd souls.  How else to explain some of these downright weird inclusions?  Comic Book Legends Revealed explains more (you’ll have to scroll down a little but they’re worth finding).  This one’s my favorite:

Wowzah.

And speaking of bears . . . how do you get kids interested in the political process?  Have ‘em vote for bears, of course!  The West Linn Public Library had an inspired idea.  They’re holding a bear election through election day on November 6 and, as they explained it to me:

“inviting kids (and adults) to vote for their favorite bear from children’s literature: Pooh, Paddington, Mama Berenstain, or Corduroy. We have also gotten staff involved by asking them to volunteer to be bear campaign managers. The response from staff and patrons has been tremendous! Our campaign managers have embraced their roles beyond my wildest dreams by designing posters, stickers, bookmarks, and games to support their bear.We are having so much fun that I thought I would share with other libraries. I have even created a campaign video for my candidate, Mama Bear—here is that link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.153513568034372&type=2“  Love it!  I suppose I’m a staunch Pooh supporter thanks to my job, but it’s tough.  Paddington comes in at a close second in my heart.

Okay, let’s do the Me Stuff all in one fell swoop today.  First off, I made a reading list for NYC’s New Victory Theater to accompany their upcoming shows.  Check it out here.  I never properly thanked Miss Kathleen at Mental Floss for including me in the 24 Library-Centric Sites We Love round-up, to say nothing of the compliments regarding my video with Travis Jonker. Thanks to Maureen Petry for the links!  I’m speaking at a Joan Aiken event tonight so enjoy this piece written by Lizza Aiken, Joan’s daughter, entitled Voices: The magical mysteries of children’s literature.  I was interviewed at the blog The Children’s Book Review as part of their ongoing librarian series.  And the Children’s Media Association blog gave me what could well be the most flattering spotlight I’ve received in my long internet life. Whew!

There was a Bibliography-Off between Judy Blume and one of my favorite comics Patton Oswalt not long ago.  As Jezebel described it, “The only thing that could really be better than this (for a Sunday, anyway) is if Calvin and Hobbes were real and they spoke at a TED Talk about the vividness of a small child’s imagination.” I just wish S.E. Hinton had heeded Patton’s call to give him a hand.  She’s on Twitter all the time, y’know.  Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the link!

Maybe you can’t see Phil Nel speaking in my library tomorrow about Crockett Johnson.  If not, here’s the next best thing.

All right.  Enough with the books.  Let’s look at some up-to-date movie news directly from Cynopsis Kids.  First up:

Nickelodeon begins production this month on its new original comedy/caper TV movie, Swindle, which will star a bevy of the network’s stars including Jennette McCurdy (iCarly), Noah Crawford (How to Rock, You Gotta See This), Noah Munck (iCarly), Ariana Grande (Victorious), Chris O’Neal (How to Rock, You Gotta See This) and Ciara Bravo (Big Time Rush). Based on the popular kids book of the same name by Gordon Korman, the movie will be shot in Vancouver Canada. The movie is set to begin airing in 2014 on Nickelodeon’s 40+ international channels across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. The story begins when an evil collector cons Griffin (Crawford) out of a million dollar baseball card that could have saved his best friend’s (O’Neal) home, he teams a ragtag group of his classmates (Grande, McCurdy, Munck and Bravo) to take down the swindler. Directed by Jonathan Judge (Big Time Rush, Fred 3), Swindle is written by Bill Motz (Brandy & Mr. Whiskers) & Bob Roth (Lion King 2), Eric Freiser (Road to Ruin) and Adam Rifkin (Small Soliders, Mousehunt). Marjorie Cohn (Big Time Movie, Rags), Lauren Levine (Bridge to Terabithia, Best Player), Loris Lunsford, Karen Glass and Paul Barry serve as executive producers. Scott McAboy’s Pacific Bay Entertainment is producing.”

Second up:

“Toronto-based Radical Sheep Productions (Stella and Sam, Yub Yubs, The Big Comfy Couch) acquires the rights to the graphic novel series Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, by author/illustrator Michael Rex (Goodnight Goon, The Runaway Mummy). Under the deal Radical Sheep will develop a K6-11 aimed animated series based on Fangbone! The story revolves around Fangbone, a nine-year-old barbarian warrior from Skullbania who winds up in third grade at Eastwood Elementary in order to save his native land from the evildoer Venomous Drool. With the help of his new pal Bill, a lovable, average, goofy kid, Fangbone outwits his enemies while discovering the modern world.”

Sometimes the title sells it alone: Children’s Author Illustrator Elisha Cooper Gives Lecture on “Inappropriate” Children’s Books.

New Blog Alert: The election’s coming up and everyone’s getting ready.  With that in mind, did you know that there’s a blog out there solely dedicated to talking about political children’s books?  Kid Lit About Politics it’s called.  One for the radar.

New Blog Alert II: For that matter did you know there was a mother-son blog out there (adult mother and son!) called crossreferencing: a hereditary blog?  Yep.  There you can find Sarah and Mark Flowers as they, “discuss YA Literature and Librarianship from our dual perspectives.”  It’s pretty cool.

New Blog Alert III: Tis the season.  This third new blog is actual that of The Junior Library Guild called Shelf Life.  It’s currently doing a wonderful job of discussing current issues and hot books.  Of particular note is the post Save [Books of Wonder] and Save Your Soul.  Couldn’t have put it better myself.

Have you ever watched the movie Matilda and thought to yourself, Whatever happened to child actress Mara Wilson?  Thank god for the internet, eh?  Thanks to Brita for the link.

On a serious note there is a lovely memory of Peter Sieruta up at the blog Archives and Special Collections.  It happens to include what may be the first picture of Peter to ever make it to the world wide web.  God, I miss that guy.

The Onion’s A.V. Club has been a bit lazy in their looks at children’s and YA literature but this recent post on 2012 graphic novels is well worth reading. Many thanks to Eric Carpenter for the link!

Daily Image:

Just knowing that Gabi Swiatkowska has a blog where she displays art like the pieces below is enough to make my life complete.

Thanks to Jane Curley for the link.

5 Comments on Fusenews: Paddington V. Pooh (supporters could call themselves marmalites and hunnies), last added: 10/27/2012
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8. Fusenews: Though to be fair, who ever heard of harmFUL spitballing?

Howdy-do, folks.  Today I am off to the Yonkers Library to participate in a Charles Dickens panel with some experts in the field.  Why me?  I don’t precisely know but I’m honored to be asked.  Plus the train ride will allow me to read my new Lemony Snicket book (this would be the children’s literature equivalent of bold as you please name dropping).

Onward!

First up, some nepotism, uncut.  The resident husband has a tendency to be brilliant (not that I’m biased or anything).  Recent evidence of this can be found on editor Cheryl Klein’s podcast Narrative Breakdown – Creative Writing, Screenwriting,Young Adult Lit, TV shows and More.  With partner-in-crime James Monohan, the two of them have a habit of talking about writing in all its many forms.  Mr. Bird appears on the episode called “Scene Construction 1 > Character Expectations and Tactics” on 9/8/12 which was described as, “what may be our most ambitious episode yet.”  In related news, Mr. Bird has restarted his blog Cockeyed Caravan in all its wild advisory glory.  I just like this picture he came up with when talking about the roles individuals play in teams:

  • Wow.  This post outlining how creating a book trailer meets Common Core Standards is fantastic.  Many thanks indeed to Joyce Valenza for the link!
  • In case you weren’t aware of it, the Onion A.V. Club has decided that young adult literature is interesting enough to highlight on occasion (articles equating it with chick lit and meritless copyright suits notwithstanding).  In the series YA Why? they split their time evenly between new hot titles and older fare.  Stay for the new stuff but eschew the looks back in time.  Odds are whatever title you see there, the Fine Lines column by Lizzie Skurnick did it better.
  • “…the critic is someone who, when his knowledge, operated on by his taste in the presence of some new example of the genre he’s interested in…hungers to make sense of that new thing, to analyze it, interpret it, make it mean something.”  Flatterer.  As an aspiring book critic of children’s fare, I was much taken with the Darryl Campbell Millions article Is This Book Bad, Or Is It Just Me? The Anatomy of Book Reviews which seeks to not only summarize in brief the spats and spits in the adult literary criticism world (a fine and fancy recap if ever there was one) then goes so far as to define the four classical elements of literary appraisal (“Reaction. Summary. Aesthetic and historical appraisal”).  This one is your required reading of the day.  Many thanks to Marjorie Ingall (who will be part of the literary criticism panel at this year’s KidLitCon) for the link.
  • List this one under Good Folks Doing Stuff You Should Know About.  Now tell me everything you know about The Foundation for Children’s Books.  Not to worry.  If you don’t live in Boston you might not have heard about them.  I’m a New Yorker but I know all too well the good works of the Bostonians, and this organization is particularly keen since they “bring acclaimed children’s book authors and illustrators into underserved K-8 schools in Boston for visits and workshops focused on writing and illustration.”  Folks like Barbara O’Connor, Grace Lin, Mitali Perkins, Bryan Collier, and many many more.  From what I hear, this year they’re hoping to expand their work in six schools, increase the number of donated books they bring to each school, and start a “Books for Breakfast” professional development series in Boston classrooms where they focus on particular “libraries” of new books–for example, “great non-fiction for 4th and 5th graders,” and then donate the books that they highlight to those classrooms.  FYI!!
  • Movie news time!  As you may know I tend to get my heads up from Cynopsis Kids.  This week they threw out a little piece of info that I almost missed.  I was reading up on future children’s movie projects when the title Happy Smekday floated past.  Happy what now?  Apparently I missed Adam Rex’s June post that mentioned that an official announcement had been made about a True Meaning of Smekday movie from Dreamworks Animation.  More to the point the press release (and IMDB page) report that it will star Jim Parsons and Rihanna.  Which . . . is perfect.  Blooming bloody perfect.  Clearly J.Lo will be played by Parsons and Tip by Rihanna.  I’m a little floored.  Mind you, the description of the film that they provide is a bit ugh. “In Happy Smekday! an alien race invades Earth and uses it as a hideout from their mortal enemy. When one lowly alien accidentally notifies the enemies of his whereabouts, he is forced to go on the run with a teenage girl. The two become unlikely buddies and embark on a comical globe-trotting adventure to right his wrongs, in which our alien hero learns what it really means to be human.”  As I recall J.Lo discovers “what it really means to be human” insofar as it means taking road trips and wearing a sheet over his head.  Ah well.  All I ask is that they include my favorite line in the book when he looks at Tip’s car and says with sweet condescension “Oh.  It rolls”.

There’s other book news on the horizon too, so look lively.  Cynopsis Kids has been busy.  To wit:

  • “Universal looks to Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to produce its feature film adaptation of author Dugald A. Steer’s popular kid’s book series Dragonology (12 books so far), per Heat Vision. Kurtzman and Orci have a first look deal with Universal under their banner K/O Paper Products  Dragonology is part of that agreement. Dragonology was to be written by Leonard Hartman who will now serve as an executive producer. A new writer has not yet been named. Kurtzman and Orci, who wrote and produced Star Trek 2, are also set to write and executive produce the Amazing Spider-Man movie sequel.”

And very very exciting news:

  • FilmNation Entertainment acquires the feature film rights to the popular kid’s book A Tale Dark & Grimm by author Adam Gidwitz. FilmNation is partnering with Marissa McMahon of Kamala Films to finance the development and produce the live-action movie with FilmNation Entertainment’s Aaron Ryder and Karen Lunder. Jon Gunn (Mercy Streets, My Date with Drew) and John W. Mann (Mercy Streets) will pen the screenplay. Based on some of the more gruesome Grimm Brother’s stories, A Tale Dark & Grimm follows the adventures of two unsuspecting kids who hold the key to breaking out of the dark ages. McMahon explains, “Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark & Grimm is a smart, addictive, and hilariously gruesome narrative that turns familiar fairy tales on their head, much to the delight of both children and parents.” FilmNation recently completed filming on the new teen-targeted comedy Premature, which they are producing from writer/director Dan Beers.”

Not so sure about the whole “hold the key to breaking out of the dark ages” part (and you know the devil is totally going to get cut) but still good news for the author.  Have no idea how they’ll do it, though.  I mean, there is a LOT of blood in that book.

  • Daily Image:

It came out a couple months ago but I never linked to it.  You’d do well to discover this great Flavorwire post on 10 Wonderful Libraries Repurposed from Unused Structures (though really, how can you link to one jail and not mention the greatest courthouse-to-library conversion of all time, the Jefferson Market Branch?).  Here’s a converted railcar to library:

And if you liked that be sure to read the follow up post on 10 Awesome Bookstores Repurposed from Unused Structures.  Big thanks to Mike Lewis for the links!

5 Comments on Fusenews: Though to be fair, who ever heard of harmFUL spitballing?, last added: 9/28/2012
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9. The Great Gatsby Film Boosts Book Sales

The Great Gatsby, which has long been a staple on high school reading lists, is steadily moving up the bestseller chain. This could be a result of the upcoming movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. The movie was originally set to premiere at Christmas but has now been bumped back to summer 2013. The movie has an estimated budget of $127 million and is directed by Baz Luhrmann.

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10. Fusenews: Answer – The Horse

The laptop of my infinite sadness continues to remain broken which wrecks a certain special kind of havoc with my gray cells.  To distract myself, I plunge headlong into the silliest news of the week.  Let’s see if there’s anything here to console a battered Bird brain (something tells me that didn’t come out sounding quite right…).

  • The best news of the day is that Matthew Kirby was the recent winner of the Edgar Award for Best Mystery in the juvenile category for his fabuloso book Icefall.  My sole regret is that it did not also win an Agatha Award for “traditional mystery” in the style of Agatha Christie.  Seems to me it was a shoo-in.  I mean, can you think of any other children’s book last year that had such clear elements of And Then There Were None?  Nope.  In any case, Rocco interviews the two winners (the YA category went to Dandi Daley Mackall) here and here.
  • It’s so nice when you find a series on Facebook and then discover it has a website or blog equivalent in the “real world” (howsoever you choose to define that term).  The Underground New York Public Library name may sound like it’s a reference to our one and only underground library (the Andrew Heiskell branch, in case you were curious) but it’s actually a street photography site showing what New Yorkers read on the subways.  Various Hunger Games titles have made appearances as has Black Heart by Holly Black and some other YA/kid titles.  Just a quick word of warning, though.  It’s oddly engaging.  You may find yourself flipping through the pages for hours.
  • A reprint of Roger Sutton’s 2010 Ezra Jack Keats Lecture from April 2011 has made its way online.  What Hath Harry Wrought? puts the Harry Potter phenomenon in perspective now that we’ve some distance.  And though I shudder to think that Love You Forever should get any credit for anything ever (growl grumble snarl raspberry) what Roger has to say here is worthy of discussion.
  • And in my totally-not-surprised-about-this department… From Cynopsis Kids:

“Fox Animation acquires the feature film rights to the kid’s book The Hero’s Guide to Saving your Kingdom, per THR. A fairy tale mashup by first-time author by Christopher Healy and featuring illustrations by Todd Harris, revolves around the four princes from Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. Chernin Entertainment (Rise of Planet of the Apes) is set to produce the movie. Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins Children’s Books release The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (432 pages) today.”

If y’all haven’t read The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your King

9 Comments on Fusenews: Answer – The Horse, last added: 5/4/2012
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11. Nicole Kidman in Talks to Star in Screen Version of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson

Nicole Kidman is in talks to star in Before I Go to Sleep, reports Screen Daily. Director Rowan Joffe (who wrote 2010′s The American and 28 Weeks Later) is writing the adaptation based on S.J. Watson’s best-selling novel about a woman who wakes up every morning without any memories from the last twenty years, and then tries to piece together her memory and identity with the help of her journal, her mysterious neurologist, and her husband, whom she’s not sure she can trust. Memento50 First Dates? Who can say? (via Vulture)

1 Comments on Nicole Kidman in Talks to Star in Screen Version of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson, last added: 4/26/2012
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12. Jennifer Lawrence to Star in Serena by Ron Rash

 

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in “SERENA”

According to The Playlist, filming has started on the Depression-era drama “Serena” with Susanne Bier at the helm, and a first look at Jennifer Lawrence and her co-star Bradley Cooper has emerged. Based on the novel by Ron Rash, the story centers on a man named George Pemberton (Cooper) and his new bride, Serena (Lawrence), as they set out to depression-era North Carolina to create a timber empire. Their successful, ruthless reign in the mountains becomes complicated when Serena discovers her inability to bear children, setting her on a vengeful path against George’s illegitimate son. Fun fact: Darren Aronofsky and Angelina Jolie were once circling this, but that never came to pass.

Production is underway in Prague.

Serena by Ron Rash

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13. Fusenews: Gleep!

Durn.  This is what I get for not doing a Fusenews in a while.  A whole plethora of good stuff!  Let’s see what we can use up in a single day, eh?

For the record, if you haven’t read these Hunger Games comics (in the style of Kate Beaton, no?) then now’s the time.  They’re surprisingly good.

Good old poetry month.  From spine poems to 30 Poets / 30 Days the celebrations are magnificent.  Go ye, seek out and find.

  • I won’t normally link to podcasts but this recent Scriptnotes that covers how a screenwriter options a novel he wants to adapt includes a discussion of older children’s books that were considered for screen adaptation.  FYI!
  • On the one hand they’re 9 Barbies Based on Books.  On the other hand, if that Edward doesn’t sparkle and glow in the dark then I hope the people who purchased him got their money back.  Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.
  • When I worked the reference desk I got a lot of Stumpers.  Folks would ask me to come up with a beloved book from their childhood and I would try to figure it out.  If I couldn’t find it I’d take down all their information and ask PUBYAC on their behalf.  If that didn’t work I’d suggest Loganberry Books, even though they charge money.  Would that I had known about Whatsthatbook.com.  A free site where folks post their stumpers and other folks answer them, it’s pretty cool.  Sometimes I just like hearing the wacky descriptions. Current favorite: “Young girl reading to an older lady, girl almost gets caught in quicksand”.  I hate it when that happens.
  • Hello, under-a-rock denizens.  J.K. Rowling’s newest book is going to be released.  Hope you like community politics!!!
  • Do Childish People Write Better Children’s Books? Dude, if you want to walk up to Maurice Sendak and inform him that he is childish, be my guest.  I’m just gonna go hide behind this sturdy concrete pillar over here until the spatter of your remains stops with the spattering.
  • Stealing books from publishers is nothing new, but there’s something particularly slimy about doing it during the Bologna Book Fair

    6 Comments on Fusenews: Gleep!, last added: 4/19/2012
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14. Adena Halpern’s 29 Heading to the Big Screen

 

According to Deadline.com, 20th Century Fox has hired Karen McCullah & Kirsten Smith to adapt 29, the novel by Adena Halpern. John Davis is producing. The book is a high concept comedy about an elderly woman who wakes up in the body of her 29-year old self and finally has the chance to do things right. McCullah & Smith’s credits include Legally Blonde and The House Bunny. In addition to solo projects, they are scripting Love It Or Leave It for Chockstone Pictures, which they are producing with Seth Jaret and Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz and Roger Schwartz. The scribes are repped by Paradigm and manager Seth Jaret.

Summary:

What if you closed your eyes, blew out the candles, and your wish came true?

Ellie Jerome is a young-at-heart seventy-five-year-old who feels she has more in common with her twenty-nine-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, than her fifty-five-year-old daughter, Barbara. Ellie’s done everything she can to stay young, and the last thing she wants is to celebrate another birthday. So when she finds herself confronted with a cake full of candles, Ellie wishes more than anything that she could be twenty-nine again, just for one day. But who expects a wish like that to come true?

29 is the story of three generations of women and how one magical day shakes up everything they know about each other. While Ellie finds that the life of a twenty-something is not as carefree as she expected, the sheer joy of being young again prompts her to consider living her life all over. Does she dare stay young for more than this day, even if it means leaving everyone she loves behind?

Fresh, funny, and delightful, 29 is an enchanting adventure about families, love, and the real lessons of youth.

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15. Fusenews: A Very Young Blogger

Anne McCaffrey passed away yesterday at the age of 85.  I have linked to the io9 obituary because the title mentions her book The Ship Who Sang which was a great favorite of my mother’s back in the day.  I was more of a Dragonriders of Pern fan myself.  I have a very clear memory of being in 5th or 6th grade and discovering Dragonsong on the shelf.  It was a good gateway novel to the world.  Later I would go on to own The People of Pern which was this kickin’ collection of paintings of the different characters, full color glossy glory and all.  They should make such books for Twilight, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, etc.  While we remember Ms. McCaffrey in our own ways, remember too that illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi once did the art for a version of Dragonflight back in the day.  Tony’s take was that the dragons should have an alien look to them (since technically the series is sci-fi, not fantasy).  The results were fascinating.

  • Oh! Oh! Oh!  You may have heard it here first.  Matt Phelan’s The Storm in the Barn has been optioned for a feature film!  What’s that you say?  Lots of books are optioned but never see the screen?  Maybe so, but how many are produced by  Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mad Men) and written by David Goodman (Fringe, Angel)?  Darn few, that’s how many.  Thanks for the heads up, Matt.
  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret is out and folks are flocking around the country to see it.  Here in New York one theater decided to show George Méliès shorts for kids.  They don’t necessarily point out the Cabret collection (in the book/film Méliès is a major character) but that’s my interpretation of their timing.  Not a shabby notion too.
  • The latest Best Books list to come out is the Kirkus list of best books of 2011.  Of the “best” lists to come out this year, this one may be closest to my heart.  Granted it forgot books like Never Forgotten, but check out some of these inclusions!  Blue ChickenDragon CastleOrani.  I love what made the final cut!  I’m a little sad that this is the first I’ve heard of
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16. Storm in the Barn MOVIE News!


I'm very happy to announce that The Storm in the Barn has been optioned for a feature film! Grady Twins Productions is developing the book for a live action movie. Marti Noxon, writer/producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mad Men (two of the best shows ever), is producing and David Goodman (Fringe, Angel) is writing the screenplay. I'm involved in a sort of advisory way. Everyone at Grady Twins has been great and I'm convinced that Storm is in the right hands.

It's a long road to the silver screen, but we are certainly off to a good start.


7 Comments on Storm in the Barn MOVIE News!, last added: 11/17/2011
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17. The Help: THE MOVIE!

I can’t wait to see this!! It opens Wednesday. Some of my favorite book bloggers have already seen it and say it is great!

1 Comments on The Help: THE MOVIE!, last added: 8/8/2011
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18. Moby Dick: The Movie

 

Tonight is the launch of the Encore miniseries MOBY DICK starring William Hurt, Ethan Hawke and Gillian Anderson.

Nantucket. 1850.

The tiny island is the capital of the American whaling industry, where sailors, traders and harpooners seek their fortunes. Three of them – Ishmael (Charlie Cox), Pip (Daniel Gordon), and Queequeg (Raoul Trujillo) – become crewmembers of the Pequod, and their journey with the charismatic but tyrannical Captain Ahab (William Hurt) begins.

A veteran whale hunter who lost his leg to the gigantic Moby Dick, Ahab is obsessed with revenge. But his long-suffering wife (Gillian Anderson) and crew know little about his plans. Only his first mate, Starbuck (Ethan Hawke), senses the dangers ahead.

Ishmael in particular is hypnotized by Ahab, ignoring the warnings of Queequeg and Starbuck. But when the crew is crippled by hunger and thirst across the Atlantic, they all see the effects of his bitterness. Ahab wants Moby Dick. And when he kills one of the white whale’s companions, the apocalyptic struggle between man and animal begins.

A classic of American literature, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is dramatically reimagined on screen in an epic tale of adventure, vengeance and obsession.

Starring: William Hurt, Ethan Hawke, Gillian Anderson, Donald Sutherland, Billy Boyd, Charlie Cox, Eddie Marsan

 

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19. I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT – Pictures from the Set

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson sarah-jessica-parker-running-scene sjp sjp2 sjp-hendricks sjp-hendricks2 sjp-kinnear sjpmunn

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20. The Help Trailer

I loved this book so much and the movie looks like it is going to be a MUST SEE! Now if only Kathryn Stockett could give us another book…NOW!

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21. Something Borrowed

I literally can’t wait to see this one! I love Emily Giffin’s books!

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22. Fusenews: The YA Mafia is dead. Long live the YA Mafia.

Call him the Tupac Shakur of children’s books.  Or maybe that title should go to Margaret Wise Brown.  In any case, it seems that every ten years or so we get a new Shel Silverstein book or collection of poems entirely out of the blue (I’m counting Falling Up, and Runny Babbit when I say that).  At some point this will inevitably lead to an Elvis situation, wherein folks will start claiming that Silverstein never actually died and is currently holed up somewhere in Amherst, MA, biding his time, releasing his books on his own schedule.  This is, of course, wishful thinking on my part since Silverstein is the author who was alive during my lifetime that I would have most liked to have met.  Watch out, Steven Kellogg.  You’re #2.  In any case, here’s the scoop on the newest Silverstein.  The man’s still got it  / had it.

  • Sometimes you want to unlearn something you have learned.  Beware then, my readers.  Once you read this you can never go through life not knowing about it.
  • Now that is how it is done!  Over the Atlantic the British blog Playing by the book has posted a quite remarkable little piece on an exhibit currently showing at the Imperial War Museum in Britain (where I once bought this poster).  In the blog post How to explore war with children?, we are told that, “Once Upon a Wartime, an exhibition which opened earlier this month at London’s Imperial War Museum, takes five children’s novels about war and conflict and uses them as a starting point to explore what war can mean for children.”  The five books in question include War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall and Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley.  Of these I am ashamed to say I have only read Carrie’s War (which is brilliant).  The post then goes on to talk about the exhibits and shows copious photographs.  It’s enough to make you pine, once again, for England.  Thanks to Sara Lewis Holmes for the link.
  • I have this fantasy that someday I’ll conduct a video conversation with Travis Jonker where we converse entirely by holding up the titles of children’s books (after all, we know he’s ace with a video cam).  I think of such things when he makes similar projects look easy.  Take, for example, his latest book spine cento.  It’s all in preparation to get you guys excited about making your own book spine poems for Poetry Month.  I know I’m tempted.  Spine it up!
  • The Ancient Editor Rejects a Manuscript and in the process offers some very fine props to Mr. Dan Gutman.  Thanks to @medinger for th

    11 Comments on Fusenews: The YA Mafia is dead. Long live the YA Mafia., last added: 3/6/2011
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23. Fusenews: “The Hardy boys were tense with a realization of their peril.”

So I’m reading through my weekly edition of AL Direct and I notice that no matter what worldwide occurrence takes place, librarians are always there. Whether it’s damage to two libraries in Egypt, stories from the librarians in Christchurch, New Zealand, or how the Wisconsin Library Association delayed Library Legislative Day due to the protests, the profession is there.  That last story was of particular interest to me, since I had wondered whether any school librarians were amongst the protesters in Wisconsin lately.  According to the article, they most certainly are.  You go, guys!!  Seriously, I want to hear more about it.  If any of you know any school librarians marching in WI, send them my way.  I’d love to do a full post on them.

  • Speaking of folks in the news, I have to give full credit to author/illustrator Katie Davis for consistently locating the hotspots in children’s literature and convincing folks to talk to her about them on her fabulous podcast.  In the past she’s managed to finagle everyone from the editor who wanted to replace the n-word in Huckleberry Finn to James Kennedy on the 90-Second Newbery.  Now she’s managed to get Bruce Coville to talk about what went down when he and fellow children’s author Liz Levy got stuck in Egypt during the protest period.  That Katie.  She’s got a nose for news.
  • I’m having a lot of fun reading How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely these days, and I can’t help but see echoes of the plot in this story about the man behind the Hardy Boys novels.  We hear about the various Carolyn Keenes all the time, but why not the Dixons?  After reading this old piece in the Washington Post from 1998 (The Hardy Boys The Final Chapter) I feel vindicated.  I reread some of my old Three Investigators novels not too long ago and they STILL held up!  I always knew they were better than The Hardy Boys.  Now I have proof.  I was going to save the link to this essay until the end of the Fusenews today, but it’s so amusing and so delightfully written that I just have to encourage you, first thing, to give it a look.  Thanks to The Infomancer for the link.
  • Fun Fact About Newbery Winning Author Robin McKinley: She’s learning to knit.  Related Sidenote: She also has a blog.  Did you know this?  I did not know this.  And look at the meticulous use of footnotes.  McKinley should write the next Pale Fire.  I would

    10 Comments on Fusenews: “The Hardy boys were tense with a realization of their peril.”, last added: 2/25/2011
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24. Fusenews: If it has Jeffrey Tambor in it, it’s gotta be good!

Boy, I picked the wrong week to go about putting off my regular Fusenews.  What we’ve got here is a veritable fusey newsy pile-up.  I shall endeavor to separate the wheat from the chaff, but no guarantees it’ll actually work.  Let us see what all I’m able to pack in for today then:

Lucky ducks!  New York Public Library has just released the 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list for 2010.  I participated a bit this year, so you’re certain to find my favorites on there.  Of course it was a committee so the results may hold some surprises as well . . .

  • Tis also the season for booklists!  And not just any booklists.  Jewish booklists!  Two entirely different sources came to my attention recently.  First up, my favorite historical children’s literature blog (favorite blog that looks at historical fiction and non-fiction for kids, that is) The Fourth Musketeer just came up with a list of My Top Books for the Eight Nights of Hanukkah.  My library is pretty depleted of Hanukkah books at the moment (no surprise there considering the timing) but even so I can see from Margo’s list that we’ve some gaps in our collection.  I mean, there’s a Paschkis Hanukkah book out there and we didn’t buy it?  This shall not stand.
  • And into the Best Books of 2010 category comes Marjorie Ingall, who recently posted on Tablet Magazine the year’s best Jewish picture books and the year’s best Jewish books for older kids.  Great lists all around.  In terms of picture books I included The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Ann Redisch Stampler on my own Magnificent Books of 2010 list, but I wish I’d seen that fabulous looking Zishe the Strongman by Robert Rubinstein too.  On the chapter books side I’m ashamed to say I’ve read only two of the books listed, though Hereville by Barry Deutsch also made it to my magnificent books list.  Love that title.  Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the links.
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25. Fusenews: If it has Jeffrey Tambour in it, it’s gotta be good!

Boy, I picked the wrong week to go about putting off my regular Fusenews.  What we’ve got here is a veritable fusey newsy pile-up.  I shall endeavor to separate the wheat from the chaff, but no guarantees it’ll actually work.  Let us see what all I’m able to pack in for today then:

Lucky ducks!  New York Public Library has just released the 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list for 2010.  I participated a bit this year, so you’re certain to find my favorites on there.  Of course it was a committee so the results may hold some surprises as well . . .

  • Tis also the season for booklists!  And not just any booklists.  Jewish booklists!  Two entirely different sources came to my attention recently.  First up, my favorite historical children’s literature blog (favorite blog that looks at historical fiction and non-fiction for kids, that is) The Fourth Musketeer just came up with a list of My Top Books for the Eight Nights of Hanukkah.  My library is pretty depleted of Hanukkah books at the moment (no surprise there considering the timing) but even so I can see from Margo’s list that we’ve some gaps in our collection.  I mean, there’s a Paschkis Hanukkah book out there and we didn’t buy it?  This shall not stand.
  • And into the Best Books of 2010 category comes Marjorie Ingall, who recently posted on Tablet Magazine the year’s best Jewish picture books and the year’s best Jewish books for older kids.  Great lists all around.  In terms of picture books I included The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Ann Redisch Stampler on my own Magnificent Books of 2010 list, but I wish I’d seen that fabulous looking Zishe the Strongman by Robert Rubinstein too.  On the chapter books side I’m ashamed to say I’ve read only two of the books listed, though Hereville by Barry Deutsch also made it to my magnificent books list.  Love that title.  Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the links.
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