February 2012
42 posts
Dracula is the new fairy tales are the new zombies are the new vampires
There are apparently seven new Dracula projects in the works, because for some reason, Hollywood keeps deciding to make the same projects at the same time. Witness: This year, while TV is playing Grimm and Once Upon a Time, we will also have two Snow White Movies (Mirror Mirror in March and Snow White and the Huntsman in the summer). Last year there was a Red Riding Hood movie.
In the 1980s, there were several “teen-and-adult switch bodies” movies, all inspired by Freaky Friday. In the 1990s, 1998 saw competing movies about earth getting hit by a comet or asteroid, and 1997 had two films about a volcano eruption. They’re what’s hot at the time, but are they any good? (No.)
One reason Hollywood likes things like Sherlock Holmes, fairy tales, and Dracula is that they are in the “public domain” – no more copyright on them. And since nobody owns them anymore, anyone can tell whatever story they like about those characters. Disney loves using them – just look at the John Carter movie, which is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars.
But while Hollywood has adapted books since movies began, ever since Harry Potter, they’ve been adapting more kid and teen books than ever before. So if you want to know what’s coming to theaters in the next few years, take a look at the latest young adult books for some clues.
What’s next after Dracula? If the Hunger Games is a hit, expect sequels and more dystopian science fiction stories, such as the Maze Runner.
Get Your Geek On: Read a Tech-y Book!
This Teen Tech Week, check out one of these tech-y and geek-y books. All can be found in our YA Fiction section.
- Adams, Douglas - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- Anderson, Laurie Halse - Twisted
- Anderson, MT - Feed
- Barnes, John - Tales of the Madman Underground
- Brande, Robin - Fat Cat
- Brooks, Kevin - iBoy
- Card, Orson Scott - Ender’s Game
- Castellucci, Cecil - The Queen of Cool
- Cohn, Rachel and Levithan, David - Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
- Condie, Ally - Matched
- Dessen, Sarah - Along for the Ride
- Doctorow, Cory - Little Brother
- Falkner, Brian - Brain Jack
- Fisher, Catherine - Incarceron
- Green, John - Paper Towns
- Going, KL - Fat Kid Rules the World
- Lyga, Barry - Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl
- Myracle, Lauren - ttyl
- Philbrick, WR - The Last Book in the Universe
- Portman, Frank - King Dork
- Tsang, Evonne - My Boyfriend is a Monster #1: I Love Him to Pieces (YA Graphic Novel)
- Vizzini, Ned - Be More Chill
- Wittlinger, Ellen - Parrotfish
- Yang, Gene Luen - Level Up (YA Graphic Novel)
A Video Game Starter Guide for Total Newbs - by The Mary Sue →
themarysue.com
Looking to get into gaming (just in time for Teen Tech Week?) - check out this handy guide from The Mary Sue.
Did you know that you can check out video games from your library? You can check out up to two games for a week - no charge!
Jan Berenstain, co-creator of The Berenstain Bears, passed away at 88 →
washingtonpost.com
Did you read The Berenstain Bears books as a kid? I sure did!
She was working on two books and doing illustrations until the day before she passed away. She will definitely be missed!
Go Behind the Scenes of Avengers VS X-Men on MTV Geek →
geek-news.mtv.com
Starting March 28th you can watch “Avengers Vs. X-Men: War Journals”, an all new video series about the most anticipated comic book of the year. Follow the MTV Geek Avengers VS X-Men tag to stay up to date on all the latest news.
The first issue of the comic drops April 4th.
For a limited time only: Watch The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore →
theguardiansbooks.com
Watch the magical Oscar-nominated animated short film inspired by the book! Available for a limited time only!
Get ready for the Oscars by watching this short! Not only is the animation really cool, it’s all about books - check it out :)
JK Rowling is writing a new book! →
latimesblogs.latimes.com
Unfortunately, it won’t be Harry Potter related, but it’s still exciting!
Click the link for the entire LA Times article.
“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
—Ray Bradbury, advice to writers
NEW! Young Adult Science Fiction
Hankering for some dystopian drama? These YA Sci Fi books JUST came in. Click on the picture for a direct link to our web catalog.
Check out New Young Adult Books! →
supportlibrary.com
Looking for a new book to read? Click on this link to sign up for Book News! Every month you will get an email with four new Young Adult books that have been chosen for the spotlight.
There are plenty of other categories you can explore if you’re looking for new Mystery, Science Fiction, Book Club picks, Nonfiction, and more :)
Trailer: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax - Theatrical Trailer
Right click on the video to copy the embed code
Okay, so this is not exactly YA or Teen, but The Lorax is a great book with an important message! Plus, it has Zac Efron and Taylor Swift!
