Tuesday, July 10, 2018

When Hollywood Screws Up a Good Story.


FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2010
I have read three books by this author and I've enjoyed each one. My favorite is The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle for which the book won a Newbery Honor in 1991. The story is told in first person, past tense. Maybe that is why I enjoyed it... the immediacy of this type of story telling or the fact that the main character is a thirteen-year-old girl. 

I also enjoyed Avi's
 Chrispin: The Cross of Lead. It won a Newbery Medal in 2003. Told in third person, past tense and set in medieval England, thirteen-year-old Chrispin sets out on a journey to find his father.

The most recent book I read by this author was
 The Fighting Ground. Told in 3rd person, past tense and copyright 1984. The Revolutionary war is the back drop for the story of this thirteen-year-old boy's adventure. I enjoyed seeing how the author used dialogue in German for characters in the book which didn't understand nor could be understood by the m/c Jonathan, and then had a translation of the dialogue in the end of the story. 

An interesting bit of trivia...
 In my daughter's fifth grade Open Court language arts text book, there was a short story by Avi which was a huge disappointment. Most likely it was summarized or edited by someone not familiar with the talent and professionalism of the author's other works.

There is a reason why this book is a New York Times Bestseller... because it is deserves it. The novel was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist, won 2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Award, and the 2000 Michael L Printz Award. 
It is unique because it is told by the main character (first person) explaining what he is going through as if he were filming a movie about the experiences in his trail and the events that led up it.
 It is a great Y.A. novel.

NOT A KID BOOK. I think Khaled Hosseini is a very talented and thought provoking author. The honesty in which these realistic fiction novels are told are compelling, yet horrifying when I think that such events and experiences occur. I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns better than The Kite Runner--maybe because I was able to identify with the female characters. To me, it was less disturbing than Kite Runner.  I have recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns to several of my reader friends. It is an eye-opening journey into the lives of two Muslim women living in Afghanistan.

[Another good example of when Hollywood screws up a good story. This book was made into a cartoon and ended up so far from the book it made my daughter and I disgusted. In the movie there was some type of vegetable tornado character and a cat which was never in DiCamillo's book at all.]
Published by Candlewick Press, this book won the Newbery in 2004. It was a sweet and fun story told in third person, past tense with an occasional narrator intrusion. This middle grade novel is heartwarming with humor ringing throughout. I read the book and listened to the Unabridged Audio CD with my daughter and both experiences were enjoyable. When the motion picture for this story came out, my daughter was excited to see it, but to her disappointment the movie didn't follow the wonderful events in the book. But, as with most movie-adapted stories, nothing beats the original novel.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010
I love this book!!! I want to write like this talented woman. She has an incredible way to make a reader laugh and cry on the same page. 

Copyright 2006 and published by Candlewick Press. Told in third person, past tense the m/c, Edward, is a porcelain rabbit. In the beginning Edward is not a likable character (this is what I like best about the story). Things happen to Edward, but he can't react to his circumstances because he is a toy. The author stays true to this fact.
 Edward does, however, think and feel and his character arch develops despite his inability to react physically to what happens to him.

Published by Little Brown, Jerry Spinelli won the 1991 Newbery for this masterpiece. The book is told in third person, past tense. I loved this book. It reminded me of the movies "Big Fish" and "Forest Gump" because of the myth-like m/c.  This is a fun read and I would pass it on to any fourth through middle grade reader.

The book is actually called An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. Published by Scholastic, this non-fiction book won a Newbery Honor in 2004 and deservedly so. I thought it was an interesting read, and until I read the book I was not familiar with this event in American History.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010
I purchased a copy of this book at an SCBWI Tri-Region Editor's Day at the Santa Ana Zoo in 2008. It is published by Milkweed Editions and one of the editors of Milkweed gave a speech at the conference. Copyright 2004. 

The voice of the m/c Isabelle is strong with the sarcasm and humor to match any eight grade thirteen-year-old. The first two paragraphs are first person, present tense but in the third paragraph it flashes back to explain the main events of the story. The story returns to present tense for the last two pages to sum up the family's relationship. Isabelle's problem is believable and the topic of eating disorders is an important one that needs to be addressed.
 

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

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