Booktalking through VoiceThread

Voice Thread is my new favorite tool! It is an online digital photostory creator which is a fabulous colloboration tool.

See my first booktalk on Jodi Picoult's 19 Minutes here:
http://voicethread.com/share/21674/

Kite Runner Movie

We were SO EXCITED to see a FREE, private prescreening of the movie, The Kite Runner, on Monday, November 5 at the Barn Plaza Cinema in Doylestown. The lucky students who got to go were those which read the book by Khaled Hosseini and attended the after-school book discussions. The group was able to win the prescreening by joining the official movie blog and getting at least 100 members to join the blog. They’re looking forward to a follow-up discussion of the book vs the movie on Wednesday, November 14 after school in the library.

Jodi Picoult

This past Wednesday I was lucky enough to attend a book signing/q&A at Princeton University with Jodi Picoult. Picoult happens to be a Princeton grad, and the gathering was quite small and intimate. She read from her upcoming novel, Change of Heart, which sounds like another best-seller. It is about a man on death-row who wishes to donate his heart to a little girl of his victim. Typical of Picoult, the novel has a lot of intriguing characters who each have their own voice and individual issues. I'm anxious to read this book which comes out next March.

Hearing that her novel My Sister's Keeper was becoming a movie and would be starring Carmeron Diaz as the mother, a student there was appalled at this casting choice and asked Picoult how such a decision could me made. Picoult's reply was intriguing: she said that she's not so opposed to the "Hollywood" approach to her book, because she hopes that it will turn that many more people onto the story. She explained that many people have come up to her who said they enjoyed the TV movies from her books so much, that they then decided that they would read the book. She basically said that this could turn non-readers into readers, much like I hope our movie promotion of books will do throughout this school year.

Into the Wild and Onto eBay

It appears that Kite Runner isn't the only 'movie based on book' which is creating turmoil. In an NPR interview we learn that the famed bus in the story Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is getting some unwanted attention. A man put a piece of it up for auction on eBay. Krakauer and the director, Sean Penn, worry that the attention from the movie will ruin the bus' shrine-like status.

Kite Runner Movie Delayed

Parammount Pictures is delaying the release of The Kite Runner because of fears that the child actors may be in danger. Since the story includes a rape scene, the Afghan children and their families may face attacks from other Afghans because of the culturally unacceptable matieral in the movie. The actor who portrays Hassan particularly fears for his life because he feels his fellow Hazara might feel humiliated by his rape scene.
At this time, the movie has been delayed until Dec. 14.
Read the complete story here.

What are your reactions to this? What responsibilites do the producers have for protecting the families? We have much to discuss at our next book club meeting on Oct. 24!

Dark is Rising

This certainly seems to be a big year for movies based on books! As our school anxiously and actively awaits the release of The Kite Runner in November and Into the Wild is presently out in theaters, Dark is Rising is on deck to be released this Friday. This is very timely since this book is on our Reading Olympics list this year!
Click here to listen to the NPR interview with the author, Susan Cooper.

Kite Runner Promotion

Read the book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and then see the movie!
We will be having book discussions after school in the library on September 26th and October 24th.
For those who attend, we will take a trip to see the movie in November.

Click here to sign-up for the Kite Runner Movie club. We are already past 100 members which entitles us to a prescreening of the movie!
Be sure to sign-up as a member of the New Hope Lions club.

Listen to these NPR Interviews about The Kite Runner:
An Afghan Story: Khaled Hosseini and 'Kite Runner'
Film of 'Kite Runner' Novel Sparks Safety Concerns
Author Hosseini Returns to Afghanistan
Khaled Hosseini, Spinning Tales of a Faraway Home