World Book Night Wrap Up / Bookography

I was so proud to be chosen to participate in World Book Night this year.  My first thought was, "Oh my gosh!  I'm going to give books out at my school!"  Well, I was close---I actually got my second choice book (The Hunger Games)---which I gave out at Stonewall Jackson High School (Quicksburg, VA).

You're probably thinking, "Ok, everyone has read The Hunger Games.  The movie is HUGE right now."  You're right, it is.  But, I live in a rural area.  The elementary school that I teach at (that feeds into SJHS) is a Title 1 school, which means that we have over 50% of our students on free and reduced lunch.  For many families, there isn't money left over for extras, like books.  A lot of students don't have any books in their home.  I wanted to give our students, especially those that are "reluctant readers", the opportunity to own their own copy of such a wonderful book.  

But, here is a picture of the school Monday morning (note the horrible, gray sky!  It was 43 degrees and rainy!)

Here's me, sporting my button (why yes, I do have an "I Love Lucy" vitameatavegamin poster in my classroom...BEST. EPISODE. EVER)

As you can see, I have not yet mastered the fine art of taking a picture of myself without it looking like I have 5 chins.  Believe it or not, this was the best....

Pictures of the books :)

I went back over on Thursday during my planning and was able to hand out books to a class of students (many of whom I remember from their elementary school days!)  Here are some pictures Mrs. Bates was awesome enough to send me!   

I just want to thank Mr. Dorman (the SJHS principal), Mrs. Bates (the SJHS librarian), Mrs. Swab (whose class I invaded) and the World Book Night organization for allowing me to take part in this.  I hope to be able to participate again next year.

(Bookography is a post hosted by Kristina @ Kristina's World of Books)

Who is helping to give out half a million free books

...all across America on one day?  I am.  And I'm so happy to be doing it!

WHO: From Kodiak, Alaska, to Key West, Florida, in 6,000 towns and cities across America, 25,000 volunteers will give away half a million free books on one day: April 23, 2012.

WHAT: World Book Night U.S. is an ambitious campaign to personally give out thousands of free, specially printed books across America. Volunteer book lovers like myself will help promote reading by going into our communities and handing out free copies of a book we love to new or light readers, reaching them especially in underserved places – and even some fun spots. Volunteers will be picking up the books at a local bookstore or library in order to go out and share them in locations as diverse as VA hospitals, nursing homes, ballparks, mass transit, diners, and more.

I am very proud to be a part of the first World Book Night in the U.S., following the impressive launch of this campaign in the UK and Ireland last year.

On April 23, 2012 with 20 copies of The Hunger Games (!), I will be handing books out at Stonewall Jackson High School!  

I'm hoping to have pictures and a write up for you on Wednesday.   

 For more information about World Book Night, please go to http://www.worldbooknight.org/

Movie Review: The Hunger Games (minor spoilers)

I know, I know ANOTHER Hunger Games movie review.  I promise it'll be different than everybody else's!  There may be minor spoilers, because, lets face it, 99% of everyone who are going to see it in theaters have already seen it. 

I have been waiting for this movie ever since I saw over a year ago that they were starting to cast the various characters.  I had my opinions---oh that Jennifer Lawrence, she's a looker, but is she Katniss? (spoiler alert--she nailed the part of Katniss).  Oooh Thor and Gale are brothers---what a fantastic gene pool!  Josh Hutchinson, what a baby face, does he have the chops to play Peeta convincingly?  Seriously, major kudos to the casting department.  ALL the characters / actors were wonderful. 

Lenny Kravitz was awesome as Cinna.  I wish he was featured more, as he did play a big part in Katniss' life in the Capital.  At the moment, I forget what piece of advice he gave Katniss during the movie (when they first met--something about making people like you), and I was like, "Girl, ALWAYS listen to Lenny!  He won't steer you wrong!"  Truth...when it doubt, what would Lenny Kravitz do? 

I liked that they featured the interactions between Seneca Crane and President Snow.  It showed more into the psyche of Snow, but also the human side of Seneca---yes he is producing the biggest show in the country, yes he needs to keep things interesting, but he has a bit of a conscience (I can never spell that word, sorry).  He's a pawn in Snow's game just like the tributes.

A lot has been said about Madge not being in the movie.  Big deal.  Girlfriend didn't do much for me when I was reading the book anyway.  I liked how they had Katniss get the pin from The Hob and give it to Prim for good luck and then Prim gave it back to Katniss after the reaping.  I think it made their relationship bond stronger. 

Oh how I cried when Rue died!  I knew I was going to.  I warned my husband and friend before we went in that I was going to.  I sat there with tears rolling down my face, unashamed.  How could it not affect you?  (except of course if you were the gentleman sitting in front of me, snoring loudly, I guess it didn't)....seriously, who pays $10.50 to take a nap?  Geesh.

The only thing that I felt was missing was that the mutts didn't have the dead tribute's eyes.  They didn't touch on that part of the book.  Maybe because it was getting to be really long at that point.  Maybe because that's a really deep thing to get in to.  Who knows.  (This was a topic up for debate at my house Tuesday night---were the mutts really mutations of the dead tributes or were they just created with similar eyes to get in to Katniss' head?)   

You can look at the books and movies at the superficial level and say they are just books about kids killing kids for sport.  But they are so much more than that (I'm not going to get in to that here).  For a book that has a lot of death, I think the director did a good job in showing the before and after, but not really the actual "killing" (of course, there were exceptions, there always are). 

All in all...I'd pay to see it again!  I loved it!

Happy Hunger Games!

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS THE HUNGER GAMES COMES OUT TODAY!!!

Ok, back to normal speaking voice...I'm so excited that The Hunger Games movie comes out today!  Every single time I see a commercial, I get chills!  I'm so excited for this movie!  I just know its going to be ah-maze-ing. 

However, the odds aren't in my favor as I have a meeting to go to this evening (its ok, cause its with Donalyn Miller as the speaker) and the Mr. has to work this weekend :(  So, much like my Harry Potter 7.2 plan (as the Mr. had to work that weekend, too), we're going to go Tuesday afternoon after I get out of school.  Part 2 of the plan is to not read ANYTHING people write about the movie on Twitter.  It's going to be hard, but I can do it!

I just know its going to be huge as EVERYONE is reading the book in preparation for the movie (however, had they just listened to me like a year ago, they'd have read the book already and been well prepared!)  Moral of this paragraph:  listen to me!  I know what I'm talking about!  :) hhahahaha j/k (not really)

So, have a happy Hunger Games.  Go see the movie.  Enjoy it.  But for the love of Pepsi, don't talk to me about it until Tuesday.

Blood Red Road

Set in the post-apocalyptic future, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, is at its heart, a story of the importance of family.  It also doesn't hurt that the heroine could kick your butt from here to next week.

Here's the summary from Goodreads:
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back. Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization. Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

If I can be 100% honest, what drew me to this book was that someone had told me it was like The Hunger Games (and we all know how much I love THG).  I can definitely see the similarities:
*set in the future after some huge disaster that has destroyed the landscape, the government and most technology
*Hard to like, but harder to dislike, heroine, Saba.
*Saba, much like Katniss, can kick your butt.
*Forced fights to the death
*Evil, crazed leader
*corrupt government
*the idea that family is one of the most important things in your life

However, there are some differences:
*Saba doesn't have to go at it alone (and learns the value of friendship and how to trust others).
*Saba is actively fighting to save her brother (while Katniss is actively fighting to save her own life, and inadvertently, her family).
*Saba ignores her sister, is almost at the point of hating her and wishing she was never born
*Saba is sly and cunning, but she is always honest about her intentions and actions.
*Not just kids fighting kids.
(I'm sure there are more, but lets not get too deep here).



I was a little disappointed that this book took me about 130 pages to really get into, and honestly, I could have put it down and not finished it and would not have cared.  But then, the action started and it was nonstop!  I had a hard time putting the book down after that!  I'm so glad I kept reading!

Besides the story being a little slow in the beginning, I would have to say my only other downfall with it, and this could very well just be a problem with the e-galley edition, is that there were no quotation marks around speech.  This drives me crazy!  I couldn't tell who was speaking, if it was speech or thought and it really bothered me.  However, like I said, this was the e-galley, so it might be different by the time the real book comes out.

Another issue I'd like to point out is that the book is written like the characters speak, not "proper" English.  I can see where some might be bothered by this, but I thought it made the book more real.

All in all, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 on Goodreads.  Yes, if you like THG, you might want to read this book.  But if you didn't like THG, you might want to check it out, too.  Its not just a rip-off story.  It is a powerful book in its own right.

*I downloaded this book for free thanks to Simon & Schuster's GalleyGrab program.*