Coming to a Theme Park Near You

Book equals theme park?

Your favorite book.... coming to a theme park near you! Ok, for one franchise this has already come true: Harry Potter, in Orlando. Well, recently, there's been talk of Lionsgate (the studio who does The Hunger Games) wanting to open a Hunger Games theme park.

Needless to say, this has gone over like a lead balloon with the fandom.

What would there be in this theme park, anyway? Archery? Survival skills? Baking?

Yes, these are great, but all of these separate things don't necessarily come together great.
This is not just thinking outside the box, this is way over the box.  The bottom line is, it just doesn't gel with the series' themes. 

Some people are suggesting, and I'm one of them, to just do a museum with costumes and props from the films.

No one mentioned doing a theme park for Twilight. Well, there sort of is, already. It's called the Pacific Northwest. 

E-Books: Dystopian Kids Club

Yes, I'm here. Abject apologies. I meant to do this last week.

I subscribe to a couple of free and reduced price e-book newsletters. A lot of times the books are available for more than one program, but I usually order them through the Kindle app. Just to save space.

So, I've really liked two of the recent books I've read. "Monument 14" is a cross between "Lord of the Flies", and "The Mist" (with no mutant insects). I really liked it. It's about a bunch of kids who get stuck inside a store when a disaster happens. My only complaint is that it's a trilogy. I have nothing against trilogies in general, it's just that I wanted a resolution! I'd like to read the others.

The second book I'm reading is "Banded." It's a lot like "Divergent," but not quite as sinister. At least not yet. I'm still reading it. Like I said, it's a lot like Divergent, but it's good so far.  There's also a concept in the story that could be interpreted as being similar to the film "In Time." The story is about children who must leave their families at 16 and live in different groups they are screened for.

Sent from my iPad 2

Mockingjay Trailer Theory

We got a couple of very interesting tweets this morning.  We''re getting something Mockingjay- related tomorrow. Commence the pins and needles. So, I came up with my own theory about what a teaser might include... 

Katniss thinking about Peeta, sad and morose, intro to 13, her needing to be the Mockingjay, maybe some cuts of the rebellion,  Peeta on tv, and his "dead by morning" quote to 13. And of course, the Mockingjay symbol. 

Of course, if anyone has their creative juices flowing at Lionsgate, they'd make it like one of Beetee's propos. That would be fun.   

If Lionsgate sticks to the MPAA guidelines, though, they can't release it earlier than Friday....

The Fault in Our Stars

After "The Fault in Our Stars, " I was sitting in a restaurant trying to process thoughts. I had called mom as I was leaving the auditorium.  She asked, "How was it?" I started bawling. That should tell you something.

 It's a sweet, simple story. Sad, but lovely at the same time.

 Wilem Dafoe plays a jerk, although he somewhat tries to redeem himself at the end. Kevin Bacon is no longer my most "hated" actor.

 I cried during the parent moments, mainly between Hazel and her Mom. Got teary when "All of the Stars" played at the end. (I love several of the songs off the soundtrack.)

 Gus pursues Hazel, and finally, she lets him in. Gus seems kind of pretentious, maybe even forward, but when you think about it, what does he have left? Besides time? And secretly, I think we girls want to be pursued like that.

 There is a moment where Hazel and Gus are in the Anne Frank house, and you hear a snippet of a quote from Anne: "Think of all the beauty left in the world and be happy." That is kind of what Hazel and Gus did, with the little infinity they had.

"Thirteen is alive and well, and so am I."

Apparently Beetee hacked my blog. :)

Book Musings and More

Hi.  Here's another issue (well, maybe it's the first) of book musings.... 

Sometimes I wonder about book characters.

- Did Katniss forgive her mother after Mockingjay?  Did she forgive Gale?
- I wonder if (in The Help) "Baby Girl" Leefolt remembered Abileen, and if she grew up believing she was kind... smart... important.

I can get pretty sucked into a book- imagination-wise.  I get a picture of the setting, and that setting sticks.  For example, when reading Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn," I mostly imagine an acquaintance's house, instead of the Cullen's in the film.  This is even after I've seen the film a few times.  It's kind of interesting. 

We have a pretty strong need to defend our respective fandoms.  I guess it's kind of like high school, in a way.  And don't get us started about downing our favorites.  Case in point: Twilight.  Lately, these graphics have been popping up on Pinterest.  The "creator" takes literary/film heroines, such as Hermoine and Katniss, they saved people, helped their friends, etc.  Then there's Bella Swan... who did nothing except get a boyfriend.  Stuff like that.  Kind of drives me nuts.

(They must not have read the end of "Breaking Dawn.")

Repeat after me: They. Are. Different. Stories.  You'd like another word?  Here you go: Genres.

*Steps off soapbox* 

I'm talking to all of my fellow children of the eighties here: How would our lives be different if all the books we love now were available back in high school?  I mean all of us who are *slightly* out of the suggested range for YA (young adult) literature.  It would have been fun.  But we would have been more low-tech about it-- The Internet was just a baby when I was starting high school. 

OK, I think I'm done. 

Currently reading: "The Book Thief" and "How I Live Now."

Movie List for the summer:
- Godzilla
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- The Fault in Our Stars
- Maleficent

The Book Thief

Last week, I watched The Book Thief on pay per view. I was looking for something to watch, and I hadn't heard too much about it. I have seen the trailer but it hadn't gotten enough coverage in the States. It should have gotten a lot more than it did frankly . This movie deserves it.

It's about a girl named Liesel who is sent to live with a German foster couple, just before World War II.  She's rather lonely; her brother dies on the trip where she's given up by their mother.  The foster mother is really... quite mean.  The father, however, is very sweet.  To top it all off, she is behind in school because she doesn't know how to read.  The other children give her a bad time, but she does make friends with a boy named Rudy.  

As time passes, the father helps Liesel learn how to read in the basement. 

Let me take a moment to say that this film, as well as the book, is narrated by Death.  Slight spoiler alert.  Also: you will be VERY tempted to write off the foster mother. DO NOT DO IT. Be patient.

Some time passes, and the War starts to heat up.  Neighbors start to be called up for war. One pivotal moment is when Liesel and her father go to a Nazi book burning.  Publicly, the father supports the Nazi Party, but you can tell he really isn't into it.  During the demonstration, Liesel knows that this is wrong.  After the burning, she is around the pile of smoldering books, where she decides to take one, and reads from it. 

More time passes, and Liesel's parents decide to take in a Jewish man named Max.  He becomes ill shortly after, but recovers.  There is a very memorable scene where the foster mom comes to Liesel's school to tell Liesel that Max is well.  

During his time in the basement, Max makes Liesel a gift of a journal from a painted-over Nazi propaganda book.  Also, Liesel helps deliver laundry that the mother takes in.  One of the stops is at the Mayor's house, where she encounters a mysterious woman who lets her read in her library.  Before Liesel meets the woman, however, her second act of book thievery is from this library.  But the woman lets her read as long as she can on her laundry trips.  

Remember how I said the film is narrated by Death? It's for good reason.  But stick with it.  The ending is bittersweet, but so worth it.  

I've been reading the book; I haven't finished it yet.  It's actually quite poetic, for a non-prose book, so to speak.