Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince opened in theaters on July 8th. Yes, I had to go see the latest installment of the Harry Potter movies. I enjoyed it immensely, of course we all know how it ends.

However, I was distressed to not remember certain facts that were revealed in the movie, so...I have decided to reread the series.

I started with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - no not the Sorcerer’s Stone. I personally own both the UK and American versions of all the books. I was very annoyed when Scholastic (publisher of the American versions) decided it was necessary to change J.K. Rowling's original UK title. I believe that the Philosopher's Stone makes more sense given the historical connection to alchemy.

Anyway, one thing that puzzled me in the recent movie, was the scene where Hermione is explaining her parent's occupations as dentists. Hmm, I didn't remember that. However, it is clearly stated in the first book or at least the UK version. I do not have plans to reread the American version to confirm that this was not edited out. Challenge for a student or blog reader?

One other thing that has peeved me about the movies is that Peeves was removed from the story. So, I await the final two movies to see if he is finally added to the films. (Yes, the final book has been divided into two movies, just in case you didn't know.)

I will post comments about the Harry Potter books as I read them, but I don't want to get too distracted from my original goal of posting comments on books I haven't read, so...my next post will not be about Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Hogwart's cast.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This book was the Newbery winner for 2009. Newbery winners tend to be new and innovative. This book definitely fits that description. This book begins with a knife looking for Bod - short for Nobody. The knife has already eliminated his entire family. Bod is a toddler (only 18 months old) and doesn't comprehend the danger he is in. Fortunately, he finds his way to a cemetery. The residents adopt him and raise him as a member of their community although he is a member of the "living".

I believe the following quote covers this book accurately.

"A child named Nobody, an assassin, a graveyard and the dead are the perfect combination in this deliciously creepy tale, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting and sometimes surprising," said Newbery Committee Chair Rose V. Treviño.

The eighth grade book club read this book this past school year. Both Mrs. Kaplan and myself enjoyed this book as did the book club members that finished the book. If you start this book it is a good idea to read it all, for me it was similar to Holes. Like Holes by Louis Sachar it has a slow kind of depressing beginning, but once I was into the book, it was hard to set down. Keep in mind that the Battle of the Books committee for 2009-2010 for our district is considering this book as one of the 8 to 10 books for the competition. Please let me know what you think of this book. ddavis@srvusd.net

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

By saying this book is not appropriate for middle school students, will possibly make it more attractive.
However, Twisted is narrated by Tyler, who is a teen having emotional difficulty in his relationships with his father and Bethany, whom he worships.
Warning - Tyler contemplates suicide!
School Library Journal recommends this book for grades 9 and up and although I enjoyed this book, I am inclined to agree.
Check with your guardians before picking this one up and make sure you talk to some one if you are ever feeling like Tyler.

Skeleton Creek: Ryan's Journal by Patrick Carman

This book has a great idea of embedding short videos as part of the story. The story drops titles and authors names like a person trying to impress others by the famous people they know.
For example: Ryan McCray mentions Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Louis Stevenson in his journal. Plus, Sarah Fincher uses The Fall of the House of Usher and other horror titles and character names as passwords to her website.
Ryan is keeping track of his and Sarah's explorations into a mystery surrounding one of the gold dredges in Skeleton Creek, Oregon. The book strings you along, but doesn't quite live up to the expectation of the dropped names in the book.
Here is my YouTube review.

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Challenge, look up some of the passwords for Sarah's videos to determine which book or story these characters came from.