Hey, all, we've got two good reviews from our friends Michael and Stable Granny. First in line is Michael with a write-up about an Artemis Fowl graphic novel:
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel Series, book 1
Artemis Fowl
by Eoin Colfer and Amdrew Donkin
Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old boy with an IQ higher than Mozart's. When he sets out to prove that fairies and leprechauns really exist, a bizzare and mysterious chain of events is put into motion as Artemis captures a fairy named Captain Holly Short. The other fairies are desperate, so they create a time-stop around the Fowl residence, which means that because time is stopped outside the Fowl's propertity, Artemis will not be able to escape without freezing in time himself. When Holly's boss, Commander Root, goes in to talk with Artemis about Holly's release, Artemis declares that he knows how to escape the time-field. It's impossible, never been done. But Artemis hasn't been wrong yet. Artemis says he'll release Holly for one ton of the fairies' most precious item: fairy gold. Then Artemis finds out that the fairies will comply only to kill him and everyone else in the Fowl manor with bio-bombs. With time closing in, it's a race to the finish as Artemis must hope that his theory on how to escape the time-field pulls through. If not, then Artemis won't be around to see it's failure. Also available is the Artemis Fowl novel series. The graphic novel series is great for people who are interested in this book but don't want to read the 300+ page novel. This book contains humor, adventure, and a little bit of time travel. Fans of Jimmy Neutron will like Artemis' ultimate wisdom, while fans of Tinkerbell or similar movies or TV shows will enjoy the fairy content. This book has a little something for everyone! Also available in the graphic novel series: book 2, The Arctic Incident. So check it out!
Thanks, Michael! Darth Bill reviewed both ArtemisFowl graphic novels and liked them. He's our graphic novel meister and if he likes them, they've got to be good.
Next we have Stable Granny, a writer and horse lover, telling us her thoughts about The Lightning Thief movie:
I went to see The Lightning Thief last night and movie was very good.. interesting, had great characters, it kept the story moving forward. I really think the critics have been unfair in their reviews. Now did it follow the book, of course not. The book is much better. The only thing in the movie that bothered me a little was the love interest between Percy and Annabeth. Why question is why... friendship is so much stronger than goo-goo eyes and flirting.
Thanks to you too, Stable Granny! We all saw it and liked it and like you, could have done without the "goo-goo eyes and flirting." We are 100% MANLY MEN here and want movies with sword fights and monsters and explosions--which The Lightning Thief move had plenty of!
Carl
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Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lightning Thief Movie, Lightning Thief, Add a tag
What's the one thing that could bring a Master Jedi, a Sith Lord, and a CARLMAN together? The Lightning Thief movie! Zack, Bill and Carl have seen it and here are our thoughts.
One more thing--I'm going to demand credit for scriptwriting!! I've been saying for years that a Percy Jackson story should take place in Nashville, Tennessee since it has a full-scale model of the Parthenon and is called "The Athens of the South." So where does the middle part of the movie take place? HUH??? I demand my cut!!! (and not with Riptide!)
Okay, Tis I Darth Bill, and I went and saw the movie Sunday. I really was expecting the worse from the reviews the movie received by the "experts" in the paper and media who said at best it was average. Also several people I know said it was lousy. Okay here is where I give my sermon on forming your own opinions. I can't tell you how many times I have seen books and movies reviewed by so called "experts" and my opinion has been totally different from their conclusions. Bottom line, form your own thoughts
Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Our good friend Michael, who sent us so many fantastic reviews over the holiday break, is back with a new one! Here it is:
The Original Choose Your Own Adventure, book 160
The Computer Takeover
by Edward Packard
It's the mid 21st century. You are a computers genius and work with different computers all over the world. One day you get a call from your friend Maria on the moon. She tells you that the computer that helps them run the moon, Acorn, is doing something extra. Late at night, Acorn is having the robots carry out an extra project. You think it's no big deal. Acorn did stuff like that sometimes. Once it made a laser shield around the moon for better protection against meteors. But then Maria tells you that it's not telling them what it is. That's a problem. Now you must make a choice. Do you go to the moon and deal with Acorn yourself? Do you go to the creator of Acorn, a frail, old scientist incapable of much travel, and who needs frequent naps? The choice is up to you. I personally chose to visit the scientist, and then I... well, I'm not telling you. You'll just have to read it for yourself. There are many other Choose Your Own Adventure books. The original series, the new series, and the younger kids series. So pick one up today!
Thanks, Michael! Your reviews are always great. The library has several of these Choose Your Own Adventure books--come on in and take a look.
Today is January 12. Do you know what that means? ONE MORE MONTH UNTIL THE LIGHTNING THIEF MOVIE!!! Woo-hooooo!! Are you guys as excited as I am?? Who's going to see it right away? Who's going to see it the first day? Who's going to Master Jedi Zack's Camp Half Blood program at the Matthews library? (see his post of 1-08 to find out more) One. More. Month!! Can't wait!!
Carl
Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Yes, folks, we have another friend from the Guys Read blog who has commented on our Lightning Thief movie game. It's Hacksaw Jim Duggan and he likes the choice for Ares:
Boys Rule Boys Read Forever!
Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Hey, gang, one of our friends, Andre the Giant, from the Guys Read Blog has written to us about our Pick-the-Star-for-The-Lightning-Thief-Movie game. Let's hear it:
Hey guys, I'm from Guys Read and I really enjoyed the game. I think it would be interesting and pretty funny to see Hulk Hogan play Ares. Especially in the part where he is in the swordfight with Percy. I think it would be cool to see Freddie Highmore play Percy because of the poor and unaccomplished feeling he gives you in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, and Annasophia Robb as Annabeth because of her go-get-'em attitude you get from her on film. Thanks for making the cool blog!
I'm with you, Andre! I could see Hulk Hogan in the water, threatening Percy and slashing with that sword. I must confess that I haven't seen the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, so I'm at a loss. Same thing with Annasophia Robb. Sound like good choices, though. All right, who else has some ideas?
Carl
Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Rick Riordan, Lightning Thief, Lightning Thief Movie, Rick Riordan, Lightning Thief Movie, Lightning Thief, Add a tag
Hey, guys, I'm in the mood for a game. I've been thinking about this for a while and decided to put it on the blog today. (Maybe because the Oscars were on last night) I'm sure everyone knows that Hollywood is going to make a movie of Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. Chris Clolumbus, who directed the first Harry Potter movie, is going to make this one. So here's a game--if you were the director, who would you pick for the different parts? Now it has to be someone famous and someone who is now living, so we would know who you're talking about. OK?
Here are my picks. Keep in mind that I've been around a while and seen a lot of older movies, so these people may be more famous to me. Some of them haven't made many movies lately, but I still think they'd be great.
Dionysus--Danny DeVito. My first choice and, I think, a perfect choice. He's got that "don't bother me, you punk kids, I'm stuck here for 100 years" attitude that the D-man has in the books. Besides, he looks like a big satyr.
Poseidon--Jimmy Buffet. Yeah, the singer. Some of you may not know him because his music is more for grownups, but I bet your moms and dads have have his music. This may seem like a weird choice, but think about it--he's got that laid back, good-time beach look that Poseidon has. But I bet he could be serious when he needs to, just as in the books.
Zeus--hard choice. You'd need someone who's mature, commands respect, and still seems able to incinerate you in a minute if you cross him. I'd pick Paul Newman or Anthony Hopkins.
Ares--Hulk Hogan. Yes, the wrestler. I kept thinking of him while I read the books. He'd be great--big, loud, strong, aggressive, ready to squash you like a bug.
Hades--Alan Rickman, who was Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Capable of being scary yet funny (remember how funny it was when Hades complained of the traffic jams on the way to the underworld?) or Clint Eastwood. Now imagine him as a giant immortal, sitting on the throne of the underworld. Brrr--makes me shiver!
Athena--Maggie Smith, who was Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies. She looks like the lady you couldn't fool because she knows everything.
Voice of Kronos--James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader. Need I say more?
There are no prizes for this game--I just thought it would be fun. What do you think? Who would you choose?
Carl
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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How to Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockweel, in print since 1973 and recently turned into a movie, is one of the 100 most challanged books in the United States, because it supposedly encourages “inappropriate behavior.” But how inappropriate eating fried worms really is? Well, that depends on your culinary preferences and where you are from. Whereas How To Eat Fried Worms shows how many expressions of disgust one can come up with when confronted with the idea or reality of eating slimy, crawly things, Men Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects, by the authors of Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, shows a wealth of primitive and contemporary insect-eating habits and recipes from thirteen different countries.
The fact that I recently found fried grasshoppers and Mexican maguey worms on the shelves of a food shop in San Francisco might be a sign that the western aversion to insects as food may be movig away from the usual ick! yuck! ugh!, though. But whether or not bug-eating becomes popular here and whether or not I’ll ever try insect cookery myself, I am getting the message: “respect the preferences of “others’ paletes.”
Check out this list of insect snacks from around the world. And to teach young ones how ‘yum!’ and ‘yuck!’ sound in other languages, Linda Sue Park, Sue Rama and Julia Durango’s Yum!Yuck! A Book of People’s Sounds is reccomended.
Nannah V here,
I took my two grandsons to see this movie. Jeffrey is almost 11 and Bruce is 6. They loved it! Now they want to read the book! They are also excited about the two movies they saw intros for. "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" & "The the Last Airbender". Jeffrey has read all of the Whimpy kid books and they are very big fans of the Airbender cartoon. Personally I agree, I wish the actors looked younger. I have a hard time believing that they were 13. They looked more like 16.
You guys hit most of my beefs with the movie: that Percy was 15 instead of 13, and that the consequent love interest story was more pronounced (really not in the book); that it just wasn't as funny, with Percy being rather flat in the movie and flat-out-funny in the books; that there were lots of changes from the book.
I was really hoping for a closer rendering of the book, because its really a great one. I'm concerned that they may not make future movies, just because the story lines in book 1 were truncated, especially the parts that are important for the future movies! But if the money's there, they probably will...
STILL, very worth seeing and a fun action flick. AND if it gets kids to read the book(s) - which we already have - then it's all good.
it left out my favorite part with echidna and the chimera.
giant fan of the books.
Yeah, I hated they left out that part too. And I hated they left out Ares and Mr. D. I still say they should have had Hulk Hogan for Ares and Danny Devito as Dionysis.