The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Quirk Books)

Philippa Gregory

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

A Twisted Faith by Gregg Olsen

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Using book cover:

Using live actors in scene re-enactment:

(This video is the winner of the Kirkus 2009 Book Video Awards, sponsored by Random House Children’s Books and co-hosted by BN.com)

Using voice over set to and stock images and video:

(Barnes & Noble)

This Buffy vs. Edward mash up has been circling the blogosphere for awhile now, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat…

Strange and menacing shadows have haunted seventeen-year-old Luce since she was young, slinking around corners and circling overhead whenever she was near forests, water, dark places. But they never issued a tangible threat until one fateful night involving the mysterious fire and suspicious death of her boyfriend. Luce was there but can’t remember anything from that night – at least, not anything the police would believe – and after a summer full of hate mail and death threats, Luce’s parents pack her off to Sword & Cross reform school.

There, Luce is instantly drawn to Daniel, a fellow student, with the strange but persistent feeling that she knows him from somewhere. But Luce can’t figure out if Daniel, one minute flipping her off and the next asking her to ditch school for a swim in the lake together, hates her or likes her. Luce also catches the eye of the charming and generous Cam and finds herself caught in a bizarre love triangle. Meanwhile, the shadows are growing more frightening and bold than ever before, and Luce begins seeing strange things when she’s with Daniel – glowing violet lights, lake water shimmering around the outline of wings. . .

Luce and her newfound friend Penn begin to search the school records and library to discover more about Daniel’s past, which is inextricably wrapped up in Luce’s own. What Luce finds out, little by little, will change her life – and the world.

Romance, myth, betrayal, danger, a battle between good and evil. . . when the book ends, readers, like Luce, have just glimpsed the surface of the mystery. Readers will likely figure out a key secret a step or two before Luce, but are still left with a satisfactory amount of unsolved questions at the end, anticipating the next book in the series, Torment (Sept. 2010).

Twilight fans will love the forbidden love, supernatural beings, and beautiful and tormented men of Fallen. Fallen’s love story isn’t as charged as Twilight’s, which fans might miss, but for which I am thankful (yes, Daniel and Cam are both handsome, but we don’t have to hear Luce swooning over their perfect bodies, golden eyes, stone cold muscles and dazzling smiles every other sentence). There’s something here for non-Twilight fans as well, who will appreciate Luce, a stronger character than Bella, who begins with a compelling history that only gets better, swims better than any guy, is smart, and cares deeply for her female friends.

And, of course, adult lovers of YA will find something to enjoy as well (the only thing I didn’t like was the high school’s 30-page and 15-page paper assignments. Really? That’s what you do in grad school). It’s a quick and entertaining read that leaves you with an interesting plot to mull over until the next book comes out. This should be a good one for the message boards.

♦Full disclosure: I requested and received an Advance Review Copy of Fallen from Delacorte Press

Have you ever seen a book trailer? Book trailers can be made of music and text set to still images, acted out, or animated. They can also contain interviews with authors.

Please take  my survey on book trailers for a graduate school project – it will take you less than 5 minutes and will be a huge help to me. Click here to begin. Your IP information is not stored, and you can opt-out at any time. Thank you!

Example book trailer (Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book):

*spoilers*

I don’t know much about clevvertv.com but in August they reported that Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer’s last novel in the Twilight saga, will indeed be made into a film like the first three books, Twilight, New Moon (hitting theaters next week) and Eclipse.

The article says that Melissa Rosenberg, the movie’s screenwriter, hinted that part of the book would be toned down for the movies’ young audience. This is welcome news, as I couldn’t imagine how the sure-to-be tween blockbuster would visually portray scenes such as these:

…large purplish bruises were beginning to blossom across the pale skin of my arm. My eyes followed the trail they made up to my shoulder and then down cross my ribs. I pulled my hand free to poke at a discoloration on my left forearm, watching it fade where I touched and then reappear. [...] There was a faint shadow across one of my cheekbones, and my lips were a little swollen [...] The rest of me was decorated with patches of blue and purple.
- Bella, post-sex

and

Bella’s body, streaming with red, started to twitch, jerking around in Rosalie’s arms like she was being electrocuted. All the while, her face was blank—unconscious. It was the wild thrashing from inside the center of her body that moved her. As she convulsed, sharp snaps and cracks kept time with the spasms.
- Jacob, describing Bella, who refuses to end the pregnancy that is violently killing her (and who also seems to have never heard of a c-section).

But hey, Bella waited to have sex until marriage, and all life – even that of a half-human fetus who breaks its mother’s spine and will likely chew its way out of her womb – is sacred. So who’s complaining?

These are so lovely, I have to share: illustrations by Brian Wildsmith in A Child’s Garden of Verses.

I couldn’t express it better than Vintage Kids’ Books:

if this book was butter, right now I would be smearing it all over toast

Get the book here.

Wicked parents, sleeping beauties (or princes?), quests, disguises, magic, love, danger… the Guardian has great a fairytale series going on with retellings and analysis by writers such as Philip Pullman, Marina Warner, and AS Byatt. Thanks to Monica Edinger (another interesting blogger, and Alice fan, discovered!) @ educating alice for pointing it out.

by Laura Barrett

One night in Twilight-world, Edward reveals to Bella that he has snuck into her room to watch her sleep, and that’s he’s been doing so for, oh, about a month. But Bella doesn’t mind, or think this is creepy, or any kind of violation, because it’s sooooo romaaaaantic.

Now Edward can watch you while you sleep, too.

Creepy McStalkerson

Like Poshdelux, I can’t even put this disturbing piece of pop culture into articulate words. I just stare at it in disbelief, and then gag.

Now picture this decal on the wall of some young girl’s room… (if only I had photoshop…)

Check out this fantastic blog displaying a growing collection of art inspired by Where The Wild Things Are. All of the pieces are unique and gorgeous, but here are my favorites:

"Wild Snow" by Bobby Pontillas

"Back Home" by Alberto Cerriteno

"Hide and Seek" by Dan Matutina

"Wish You Were Here" by Nate Wragg

"That Very Night" by Sarah Caterisano

"And It Was Still - Wait A Minute!" by Willie Real

Learn more about the project and the artists – even buy a piece – here.