Get Thee to a Theatre!

If you haven’t seen Twilight yet, you simply must rush out and see it NOW! The movie was better than I expected, as I am rarely pleased with movies based on my favorite books. They never quite live up to the original. In the case of Twilight, though, the script was true to the novel in virtually every detail, so if you loved the book, you’ll adore the movie. Despite some negative reviews from those who have not read the Twilight series, the movie did what it was supposed to do–it transferred the book into film beautifully, including the characters. Prior to seeing the movie, I was not sure I “bought” Robert Pattinson as Edward, although Kristen Stewart seemed perfect as Bella from the start. After seeing the movie, however, Robert Pattinson is Edward. He was as gorgeous as Bella described him in the book; even though I’m old enough to be his mother, I could still detect the hotness. Peter Facinelli was a bit too pale as Carlisle–maybe if his hair hadn’t been so white, too–he was like looking at a blizzard. Carlisle’s albino-ness aside, the movie features breathtakingly beautiful scenes of the Pacific Northwest and an honest interpretation of the book that will have Stephenie Meyer’s fans clamoring for the release of New Moon. Oh, didn’t I tell you? Summit Entertainment, the producers of Twilight, announced this week that they are planning a movie based on New Moon. No release date has been set. So we still have something left to live for, Twilight fans!

They Came. They Saw. They Partied!

Remember all those guys and gals who won at trivia last Friday? You remember, Team Superior (brilliant yet bobbyish), Team # 3 (boring yet brilliant), and The Pink Draculas (brilliant yet beautiful–plus Tim). Well, here they are enjoying the fruits of their labor: pizza, Coke, Sprite, popcorn, and cupcakes. The first round of trivia was so successful that trivia will be back on December 12!!!!! To see the entire set of pix, check out Mrs. Hamilton’s flickr photostream. Stop by the media center for a form and get your team signed up ASAP. The deadline to sign up your team is Monday, December 8. Who will win next time? Will it be new competitors “Er”? Don’t think they have what it takes to take on the champs? We shall see!

Author Judy Blundell Wins 2008 Young Adult National Book Award

The 2008 National Book Awards were presented yesterday and author Judy Blundell was the winner in the children’s literature category for her novel What I Saw and How I Lied. Ms. Blundell won out over other teen authors Laurie Halse Anderson for Chains; Kathi Appelt for The Underneath; E. Lockhart for The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; and Tim Tharp for The Spectacular Now. Other YA authors judging the event included former winners Holly Black, Lemony Snicket (also known as Daniel Handler), Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler, and Cynthia Voigt. What I Saw and How I Lied is about a teenage girl who falls in love with a handsome young ex-soldier from her stepfather’s company and finds herself in a complicated web of lies. At the awards ceremony last night Blundell told the audience of around 650 people that she has written over 100 books as a ghost writer and romance novelist, but that this is the first written under her name. She thanked her editor, fellow author David Levithan, for giving her her voice and for encouraging her to write something of her own. As a recipient of the National Book Award, Ms. Blundell will receive a check for $10,000. Prizes were also awarded in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. You can read an article in School Library Journal for more information.

Are We Going to See Twilight or Not?

I know there were not many people who were able to go as a group to see Twilight, but I thought I would post a listing of the times when the movie is being shown this weekend. I think most people were available for Saturday. Here are the show times for Saturday at Riverstone:

Twilight (PG-13, 121 min.)

12:00pm | 1:30pm | 2:00pm | 2:40pm | 4:15pm | 4:45pm | 5:25pm | 7:00pm | 7:30pm | 8:10pm | 9:45pm | 10:15pm | 10:50pm | 12:20am

 

And Friday:

Twilight (PG-13, 121 min.)

12:00pm | 1:30pm | 2:00pm | 2:40pm | 4:15pm | 4:45pm | 5:25pm | 7:00pm | 7:30pm | 8:10pm | 9:45pm | 10:15pm | 10:50pm | 12:20am

 

And Sunday:

Twilight (PG-13, 121 min.)

12:00pm | 1:30pm | 2:00pm | 2:40pm | 4:15pm | 4:45pm | 5:25pm | 7:00pm | 7:30pm | 8:10pm | 9:45pm | 10:15pm

 

If you are available and you have your own ride and money to go, please email me immediately. According to fandango, the matinee shows are $7.25 and the evening shows (7:00pm and later) are $9.50. I thought it might be kind of fun to dress kind of vampire-y. If you promise you are going, I will get tickets in advance on fandango so we will be assured of having seats. Whatever time has the most people available will be the time we will go. We will still need to arrive early to sit together. Again, email me ASAP if you are available. The poll answers don’t really count because anyone can vote on the poll. Only the email votes count.

 

 

Trivia Winners Take the Prize!

Three tough teams out of Creekview trivia 23 teams of braniacs proved themselves worthy of the challenge today by answering tough questions and defeating their honorable opponents. The winning team from fifth period lunch was Team Superior, featuring Nathan K., Craig B., Kyle S., Ben S., Caleb C., and Cory N.  You may recall that several of these guys were on one of last year’s winning teams, The Ricky Bobbys. Team #3 was the winner (yes, you are right, that is the most boring name in history, but at least they’re smart!) composed of Alex, Gabby, Aaron, Brecken, and Shelby. In sixth period lunch, the Pink Draculas, featuring Lana B., Nicole W., Ashley C., Kaitlyn C., and Timothy M. defeated all challengers to take the crown. You may recognize some of these players as members of one of last year’s winning teams, The Sassy Six. Congratulations to all participants, you did a great job, guys! We’ll post better pictures next week when we snap some at the pizza party which will be held on Thursday during each lunch! Thanks to everyone who participated and to Dr. Eddy for the snacks.

Trivia is Almost Here!

Our first trivia meet of the year will be here this Friday, November 14 during all three lunches. If you are signed up to participate, make sure you bring your lunch to the media center and be ready to begin promptly at 11:45, 12:45, or 1:45. Today (November 10) is the last day to sign up your team, and we have had an overwhelming response. So far, we have nine teams signed up for fourth lunch, six teams for fifth lunch, and six teams for sixth lunch. Fourth lunch is a really HUGE lunch! What will the prize be for the winning teams? Maybe a million dollars each–or maybe a pizza party. We’ll also be providing snacks for all participants. And there are some guidelines:

·       All teams must be registered by Monday, November 10, 2008

·       No more than 6 students per team

·       The winning groups will share the prizes

·       Prizes will be given to the winning team of each lunch period

·       Forms must be returned to Mrs. Fleet, Mrs. Hamilton, or Mrs. Beasley.

·       Trivia will start promptly at 11:45, 12:45, and 1:45.

·       Bring your own lunch.

·       Snacks will be provided also!

And now (drum roll, please) for the (excellent) names of our participating teams. Why are some in larger fonts? Not because they are favorites. Go ask WordPress. At one point they were in Greek. Yes, Greek:

 ·       The No Names

 ·        Pretty in Pink

 ·       Quadrae Delinquo

 ·        The Bojangles

 ·       The Infernal Spawn of Evil (Be afraid; be very afraid!)

·        Justin Gerber

·       Geniuses

·       Team Superior (Not to be confused with Mother Superior!)

·       Test Ticklemonsters

·       Purple Drank

·       Intellectually Inclined Brodingnags!

 ·       The Semi-Brunette Bombshells

 ·       Team Buff

 ·       The Bon Bons

·       The J’s

 ·       Sprinkles

·       The Pink Draculas

·       Losers

·       A Cubed (You don’t want to see the long version!)

·       Aztecas

 ·       The Anti-Squirrels

Blatant Bibliophiles Will Meet Tuesday, November 11 at 8AM!!!

In case you missed the email (obviously everyone did) because practically everyone seems to be asking about the upcoming meeting and it seems apparent that either a) the email is lost in cyberspace, b) checking email is so last century, c) I accidentally wrote the email in Greek, or d) the dog ate your email. At any rate, we are having a Blatant Bibliophile meeting on Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 AM. In answer to your first question, of course there will be refreshments. Mr. Bradford will be stopping by to speak for a moment with those of you who are planning to participate in the Reading Bowl. Why are we meeting?
a) You might be hungry
b) You might be participating in Reading Bowl
c) We really need to select a book to discuss
d) We really need to decide if we are going to go see Twilight together

Celebrate Native Heritage Month with the readergirlz Blog-o-Hunt!

Have you been to the new readergirlz blog? Well, if not, then you are missing out! They are having a cool contest for Native American Heritage Month. Go to the new blog to participate in their blog-o-hunt. There are six questions about Native American authors and their work. The first 25 people to submit the correct answers win bookmarks and readergirlz buttons. You can submit your questions via email to readergirlz@gmail.com with the subject line “rgz blog-o-hunt” by November 30, but remember, the sooner you submit, the better your chances of winning, because the first 25 people with the correct answers are the winners. The questions were submitted by Creekview favorite author Cynthia Leitich Smith, who is one of the featured Native American authors for the readergirlz observance of Native American Heritage Month. First, here are some blogs you can check out to find answers to the questions:
http://cynthialeitichsmith.com

http://www.josephbruchac.com/

http://www.fallsapart.com/smoke.html

http://www.joyharjo.com/

http://www.nativewiki.org/Richard_Van_Camp

And now for the questions:

1. Sherman Alexie wrote the screenplay for a movie that was a huge hit at the 1998 Sundance festival. What was it called?

2. What is Sherman’s recent, award-winning, YA novel that shares the life of a Native American male teen?

3. Where does Joseph Bruchac live?

4. Joy Harjo and Cynthia Leitich Smith are enrolled members of the same Nation. What is the name of the tribe?

5. What will Richard Van Camp’s next novel be called?

6. In addition to Moccasin Thunder, featuring Native authors, Lori M. Carlson also edited a YA anthology highlighting Latino voices. What was it called?

Celebrate November with the readergirlz!

The readergirlz divas began their website to celebrate gutsy girls in life and literature (Sorry, guys, we love you, too, but…there is no such thing as readerboyz; maybe we’ll have to look into that!) Since November is election month, the readergirlz are celebrating the power of their collective voices and asking us to join them with these events:
1. Their election pick: Long May She Reign, by Ellen Emerson White, a powerful and relevant novel that explores the life of a president’s daughter kidnapped by terrorists. Don’t forget to join the readergirlz for an online live chat in the readergirlz forum on November 18 at 9 PM, EDT.
2. Be sure to check out the readergirlz Voting Manifesta by readergirlz diva Mitali Perkins. Mitali has also written about politics in her book First Daughter: White House Rules. Her blog includes information about potention first daughters.
3. You can check out the readergirlz and their personal statements about voting on MySpace or on their new blog, or become their fan on Facebook.
4. Don’t forget that November is also Native American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. Author Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Rain is Not My Indian Name, and author Joseph Bruchac, author of Sacajawea, will be featured on the readergirlz MySpace Forum on November 6 at 9 PM EDT.
5. Get ready for a blog scavenger hunt! More details to follow soon! Check the readergirlz website for details!