It’s finally here. The movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Here’s a link to the trailer. http://hungergamesmovie.org/category/hunger-games-trailer/
Hunger Games movie out March 23rd
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IndieBound
IndieBound is an website created by the independent bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association. It links to thousands of independent booksellers. I love this site for its lists of favorite books and new releases. There is a new list every month to view and specialized lists including Kid’s books. Here’s the link to the latest Kids’ Indie Next List http://www.indiebound.org/kids-indie-next-list?edition=201112k. It includes young adult novels.
What is Mrs. Bresnan Reading?
Looking for a book now that you’ve read through the Hunger Games series? Try Matched by Ally Condie. The book is set in a Utopian/Dystopian society where the government controls everything from what kind of job you’ll have to who you’ll be married to. Cassia is a teenage girl excited to be “matched” with her future spouse. Her ideal match turns out to be her best friend, Xander. But the face of another boy, Ky, suddenly appears on her computer screen when she is looking at information the government provides about her match. Is Ky really her match? But Ky is an “Abberation,” a member of society who will not be allowed to marry. This as well as other events have Cassia questioning the perfection of her society. Matched is the first book of a trilogy. The second novel is Crossed.
New Reference eBooks: Milestone Documents
We’ve just added a couple of great new resources to the NHS Library Media Center, “Milestone Documents: World History” and “Milestone Documents: American History.”
Published by Salem Press, this series focuses on primary sources and includes discussion and analysis as well as context, timeline, biographical profile, etc. We have purchased both a print set and online eBook access. See Mrs. Bresnan for password information for the eBook version.
Books to Movies: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is wonderful novel written in 2005. The story is told from the perspective of nine-year-old Oskar Schell who lost his father in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Oskar is searching for information about his father. The book employs visual images to enhance the story and drive the plot. There is a particularly powerful “flip-book” motif at the end of the book showing a “jumper” from the World Trade Center attack on 9/11. The book is being adapted into a film starring Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks which is scheduled for release in 2012.
Here’s a link to the trailer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
200 Years in 4 Minutes
Hans Rosling examines life expectancy and income over the past 200 years, in 200 countries in just four minutes of amazing animation. Worth taking a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
What is Mrs. Bresnan Reading?
I just finished The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It is a tale set in the future United States which is divided into 12 Districts controlled by the “Capital”. At some point in the past the Districts rebelled against the Capital and were defeated. In punishment for the rebellion, each year a boy and a girl (ages 12 to 18) from every district must compete in the Hunger Games — a Gladiator-like/Survivor fight to the death. The protagonist is 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen who volunteers to take her younger sister’s place in the games. Her fellow competitor is Peeta Mellark, a boy who has loved Katniss since childhood. A real page turner. Book one is Hunger Games, Book two is Catching Fire, and Book three is Mockingjay. There will be a film adaptation produced by Lionsgate.
History for Music Lovers – YouTube
History for Music Lovers is a fun YouTube channel created by two History teachers in Honolulu. Takes classic stories and sets them up as music videos. One of my favs is the story of The Odyssey set to the music of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe”.
Figment.com
Figment.com is a website created by former staff member of The New Yorker. It is a forum designed to give teens an opportunity to share what they are reading and writing. See the New York Times Article by Julie Bosman, “Web Site for Teenagers with Literary Leanings“
Interactive Shakespeare
The Interactive Shakespeare Project http://college.holycross.edu/projects/isp/index.html is from the College of Holy Cross. Editions of text (I think they just have Measure for Measure at the moment) are linked to explanations of text. For example “eternal sleep” has a hyperlink and then in a sidebar text comes up explaining that this refers to “death”. Also has videos, teacher guides.
