More books and the movies that have been inspired by them.
The rise and fall of Willie Stark, who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Stark begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success. Set in the 1930s.
All the King's Men by
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this classic book is generally regarded as the finest novel ever written on american politics. It describes the career of Willie Stark, a back-country lawyer whose idealism is overcome by his lust for power. New Foreword by Joseph Blotner for this fiftieth anniversary edition.
All the King's Men
Oscar(r)-winning actor Sean Penn (Best Actor, Mystic River, 2003), two-time Academy Award(r) nominee Jude Law (Best Supporting Actor, The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1999; Best Actor, Cold Mountain, 2003), four-time Academy Award(r) nominee Kate Winslet (Best Supporting Actress, Sense and Sensibility, 1995; Iris, 2001, Best Actress, Titanic, 1997; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004), and Oscar(r) winner Anthony Hopkins (Best Actor, The Silence of the Lambs, 1991) star in this riveting story of a humble man's rise to political power and the destructive force of corruption and betrayal that would ultimately unravel his soul, based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Willie Stark (Penn) is an ordinary man from a rural town, demanding that crooked politicians and shady businessmen in Lousiana be held accountable for the collapse of a poorly built school. Urged to run for Governor by a dubious political advisor, Tiny Duffy (three-time Emmy(r) Award winner.
A love-struck mermaid named Aquamarine supplies adventure and insights to two twelve-year-old girls, lifelong friends who are spending their last summer together before one of them moves away.
Aquamarine by
Hailey and Claire discover a mermaid at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club. On the edge of growing up, they learn that life is unpredictable, friendship is forever, and that magic can be found in the most unexpected places.
Aquamarine
Directed by Elizabeth Allen.
Emma Roberts, Sara Paxton, JoJo.
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
Because of Winn-Dixie by
An unforgettable first novel about coming of age one sweet summer—and learning to love what you have. The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket—and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar. Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship—and forgiveness—can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm. Recalling the fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and utterly genuine first novel from a major new talent.
Because of Winn-Dixie
The heartwarming 'tail' of a young girl whose life is changed by a scruffy, fun-loving pooch she names Winn-Dixie. The special bond between them works magic on her reserved dad and the eccentric townspeople they meet during one unforgettable summer.
Eliza Naumann, an ordinary girl with an exceptional gift for spelling, embarks on the rough-and-tumble "spelling bee" circuit, where her quirky family will collide with the harsh realities of life.
Bee Season by
Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos. Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt. Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.
Bee Season
A father becomes obsessed with training his daughter for the National Spelling Bee, avoiding his wife and crumbling marriage
Los Angeles, 1947: The mutilated body of a beautiful young woman -- dubbed the Black Dahlia by the press -- is found. The two Los Angeles policemen assigned to the case soon become obsessed by it and by the victim.
The Black Dahlia by
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness.
The Black Dahlia
Two police officers find their lives changed when asked to investigate the gruesome murder of a struggling actress.
Jesse's colorless rural world expands when he becomes fast friends with Leslie, the new girl in school. Together they create the world of Terabithia, an imaginary kingdom filled with giants, trolls, and other magical beings.
Bridge to Terabithia by
This Newbery Medal-winning novel by bestselling author Katherine Paterson is a modern classic of friendship and loss. Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief. In addition to being a Newbery Medal winner, Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children's Book and has become a touchstone of children's literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson's other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved. Supports the Common Core State Standards
Bridge to Terabithia
Directed by Gabor Csupo ; screenplay by Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson ; music by Aaron Zigman.
Josh Hutcherson, Anna Sophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Zooey Descha
While working together as a herder and camp tender on remote Brokeback Mountain, cowboys Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist develop an intimate relationship that spans many years and endures frequent separations, in this stand-alone story from the collection Close Range: Wyoming stories by Annie Proulx.
Brokeback Mountain by
Brokeback Mountain is the story of Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two cowboys who share a small cabin while working as herders and camp tenders during a summer spent on a range far above the tree line. They fall into a relationship that at first seems solely sexual-but then reveals itself to be something more. Both men marry and have families, but over the course of many years and frequent separations they find their relation- ship becomes the most important thing in both their lives, and they do anything they can to maintain it. Proulx's description of their bond is beautiful and haunting-and often brutal in its portrayal of the hardships, and ultimately the violence, they face. Perfect for both moviegoers and Proulx's already well-established legions of readers, this volume is a handsome and timely edition of one of the most talked-about stories of recent years.
Brokeback Mountain
Directed by Ang Lee ; screenplay by Larry McMurtry.
Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams.
A fateful encounter with a married woman on the Long Island Rail Road leads to disaster for middle class ad executive Charles Schine after a rendezvous at a sordid hotel leads to a brutal attack, blackmail, and murder.
Derailed by
For Charles Schine, it began as a quiet, ordinary day with a simple commute to work...until he meets the seductive, mysterious Lucinda Harris--an encounter that will irrevocably wreck his life. From multitalented writer James Siegel comes a highly charged, suspenseful tale of murder, betrayal, and revenge. Warner Books is proud to present Siegel's newest thriller, featuring rich characterizations and a scintillating plot that builds to an explosive climax sure to stun readers.
Derailed
Two married executives' flirtation leads to a one-night stand. Their fling turns dangerous when a violent criminal threatens to expose their secret and lures them into a terrifying game with more surprises and more danger than they may survive.
A small-town girl fresh out of an Ivy League college lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine, but wonders if the glamorous perks are worth putting up with the Editor from Hell.
The Devil Wears Prada by
The deliciously witty and delightfully dishy novel about life at a glamorous fashion magazine is now a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, set to open in theaters on June 30.
The Devil Wears Prada
Miranda is the editor of "Runway" magazine. She is a terror to everyone who is around. Her first assistant strives to please her, but can't quite pull it off. Enter Andy, a young woman who knows nothing of the fashion industry and has never read the magazine. Nonetheless, Miranda, hires her a second assistant. When Miranda demands that she obtain the next unpublished Harry Potter manuscript, it forces Andy to dig it up in order to please her boss. With the help of one of the magazine's fashion editors, she gets a complete makeover and a new security. As she is whisked away to Paris with Miranda, Andy faces all of the glamor that could be hers and is forced to make the decision of where she wants to be in her life.
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. (Book One of the Inheritance series)
Eragon by
Perfect for fans of Lord of the Rings, thenbsp;New York Timesnbsp;bestselling Inheritance Cycle about the dragon rider Eragonnbsp;has sold over 35 million copies and is an international fantasy sensation. Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy--until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save--or destroy--the Empire. A New York Times Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A Book Sense Bestseller
Eragon
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.
Erin Gruwell and her "unteachable, at-risk" students set out on a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against ignorance, misunderstanding, and the negative forces in their own lives.
The Freedom Writers Diary by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER & NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Straight from the front line of urban America, the inspiring story of one fiercely determined teacher and her remarkable students. As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at Wilson High School in Long beach, California, Erin Gruwell confronted a room of "unteachable, at-risk" students. One day she intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust--only to be met by uncomprehending looks. So she and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. They learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the "Freedom Writers" in homage to the civil rights activists "The Freedom Riders." With funds raised by a "Read-a-thon for Tolerance," they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she declared that Erin Gruwell's students were "the real heroes." Their efforts have paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition--appearances on "Prime Time Live" and "All Things Considered," coverage in People magazine, a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley--and educationally. All 150 Freedom Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college. With powerful entries from the students' own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. The authors' proceeds from this book will be donated to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the Freedom Writers' college tuition. Erin Gruwell is now a visiting professor at California State University, Long Beach, where some of her students are Freedom Writers.
Freedom Writers
Directed by Richard LaGravenese.
Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn.
Odessa, Texas has seen better days, but one passion sustains the community...when the Permian High Panthers take to the field. Friday Night Lights captures the frenzy of a small town that reveres its school football team and their weekly games.
Friday Night Lights by
Return once again to the enduring account of life in the Mojo lane, to the Permian Panthers of Odessa -- the winningest high school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, Bissinger chronicles one of the Panthers' dramatic seasons and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires-and sometimes shatters-the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms. Includes Reader's Group Guide inside. Now a an NBC TV weekly drama series.
Friday Night Lights
Directed and written by Peter Berg.
Derek Luke, Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez, Tim McGraw.
Having lost his biggest client to an unscrupulous boss, Max Skinner journeys to Provence to inspect a vineyard he has inherited, only to find that a California woman allegedly has a claim on the estate.
A Good Year by
From Peter Mayle, a wonderful new novel steeped in wine—and the business of wine'and set in, bien sûr, Provence. Max Skinner is not exactly setting the London financial world on fire'and when his supervisor steals his biggest client, it’s definitely time to inspect the vineyard in Provence that his recently departed uncle left him. Heartily and happily distracted upon his arrival by the landscape, the weather, and the food'not to mention the gorgeous notaire handling the estate and the stunning owner of the local bistro?Max almost forgets about his inherited property. Which might have been a good idea, because the wine produced there is swill. But then why, Max has to wonder, is his caretaker so anxious to acquire the land? When a beautiful young woman from California arrives with what might be a legitimate claim on the estate, and knowledge of vineyards that far outstrips Max’s own, the plot begins its twists and turns into and out of truly wonderful complications and resolutions. This is luscious reading'soothing us with the sensual wonders of Provence while it tells a fascinating tale of the hugely lucrative and competitive boutique-wine trade. It is Peter Mayle’s most satisfying, most delectable novel yet. From the Hardcover edition.
A Good Year
Directed by Ridley Scott ; adapted from the book by Peter Mayle.
Russell Crowe, Freddie Highmore, Albert Finney, Rafe Spall, Abbie Cornish, Marion Cotillard.
In his fourth year at Hogwarts Academy, Harry is mysteriously entered in an unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills, friendships, and character, amid signs that an old enemy is growing stronger.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by
The paperback edition of the legendary, record-breaking, best-selling fourth Harry Potter novel. Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup. He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Directed by Mike Newell ; screenplay by Steven Kloves.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall ; Eric Sykes, Jason Isaacs.
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
Hoot by
Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails. Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.
Hoot
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site
A small boy is challenged to eat fifteen worms in fifteen days, so two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious meal.
How to Eat Fried Worms by
This series meets National Curriculum Standards for: Social Studies: Time, Continuity, & Change
How to Eat Fried Worms
Performers:
Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Adam Hicks, Austin Rogers, Alexander Gould, Ryan Malgarini, Philip Bolden, Clint Howard, Ty Panitz, James Rebhorn, Thomas Cavanagh, Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Twenty-eight-year-old Maggie Feller, who goes from job to job on the fringes of show business, and her older sister Rose, a lawyer, have had no contact with their grandmother Ella since their mother's death years ago, but all three need to find each other to reach happiness.
In Her Shoes by
Meet Rose Feller. She's thirty years old and a high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She has an exercise regime she's going to start next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her that she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up little sister to get her life together. Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old, drop-dead gorgeous and only occasionally employed, Maggie sings backup in a band called Whiskered Biscuit. Although her dreams of big-screen stardom haven't progressed past her left hip's appearance in a Will Smith video, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her dowdy big sister to stick to a skin-care regime. These two women with nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, shared DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that their family is more different than they ever imagined, and that they're more alike than they'd ever believe. In Her Shoes -- Jennifer Weiner's follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut, Good in Bed -- observes Rose and Maggie, the brain and the beauty, as they make journeys of discovery that take them from the streets of Philadelphia to Ivy League libraries to a "retirement community for active seniors" in Boca Raton. Along the way, they'll encounter a wild cast of characters -- from a stepmother who's into recreational Botox to a small, disdainful pug with no name. They'll borrow shoes and clothes and boyfriends, and make peace with their most intimate enemies -- each other. Funny and poignant, richly detailed and wrenchingly real, In Her Shoes will speak to anyone who has endured the bonds of big -- or little -- sisterhood, or longed for a life different from the one the world has dictated, and dreamed of trying something else on for size.
In Her Shoes
Directed by Curtis Hanson ; screenplay by Susannah Grant, based on the book by Jennifer Weiner ; music by Mark Isham.
Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Feuerstein.
A memoir of the Gulf War by a front-line infantry marine recounts his struggles with the conflict on the front lines, his battles with fear and suicide, his brushes with death, and his identity as a soldier and an American.
Jarhead by
Anthony Swofford'sJarheadis the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative.When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker.Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man.Unlike the real-time print and television coverage of the Gulf War, which was highly scripted by the Pentagon, Swofford's account subverts the conventional wisdom that U.S. military interventions are now merely surgical insertions of superior forces that result in few American casualties.Jarheadinsists we remember the Americans who are in fact wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life.A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace,Jarheadwill elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics that includes Philip Caputo'sA Rumor of Warand Tim O'Brien'sThe Things They Carried,and be admired not only for the raw beauty of its prose but also for the depth of its pained heart.
Jarhead
Directed by Sam Mendes.
Lucas Black, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Cooper, Jamie Foxx.
The reluctant personal physician to Idi Amin, Scottish civil servant Nicholas Garrigan, is drawn despite himself to the charismatic but brutal dictator, until a plot against Amin awakens him to the unspeakable horror and cruelty of the regime.
The Last King of Scotland by
Nicholas Garrigan has fled his native Scotland, and his parents' expectations, to take a position as a doctor in a remote rural outpost of Central Africa. Shortly after his arrival in Uganda, he is called to the scene of a bizarre car accident: Idi Amin, manically driving his red Maserati down the dirt tracks of Garrigan's small village, has run over a cow. Garrigan binds Amin's sprained wrist and puts the incident behind him, until a letter arrives from the Minister of Health informing him that Amin--in his obsession with all things Scottish--has ap-pointed Garrigan his personal physician. Garrigan is instructed to settle into State House, on the grounds of Amin's residence, immediately.   Later, Garrigan will reflect that had he known what awaited him, had he foreseen the terrifying concatenation of events this decision would set in motion, he would have boarded the first plane back to Scotland. He will wonder why it never occurred to him to simply say no. But--flattered, disarmed, and intrigued, if uneasily, by the pros-pect of entering Amin's inner circle--he steps into the role of caring for the man who will turn out to be one of the most brutal dictators of all time.   So begins Nick Garrigan's journey into a Con-radian heart of darkness, as his own moral center battles weakly against, and then succumbs to, the dark and irresistible seductions of Idi Amin Dada, whose cruelty and cunning are masked by brilliant rhetoric, hilarious wit, and electrifying personal magnetism. When at last Nick awakens to the horrors of Amin's regime, he must awaken also to his own complicity in it--he cared for Amin, as a doctor and as a friend--and to the knowledge that he is both a traitor to his own country and a prisoner in his new one. By turns comic and chilling, Giles Foden's The Last King of Scotland is a masterful debut from a remarkable talent--a riveting history of "blood, misery and foolishness" that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned, and a profound meditation on conscience, charisma, and the slow corruption of the human heart.
The Last King of Scotland
Directed by Kevin MacDonald ; screenplay by Jeremy Brock, based on a the novel by Giles Foden.
Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington.
Four English schoolchildren enter the magic land of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and assist Aslan, the golden lion, in defeating the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter. (Book Two of The Chronicles of Narnia)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by
There are a thousand stories in the land of Narnia, and the first is about to be told in an extraordinary motion picture, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, from Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. This is the companion book to that movie. Here is a bold and striking contemporary new look for this classic series, designed especially for adult readers! Fifty years ago, C. S. Lewis created a land of wonder and enchantment in The Chronicles of Narnia. Since its first appearance, more than eighty-five million readers worldwide have come to love this definitive fantasy series. Now all seven perennially popular books are available in a brand-new adult trade paperback format. The story describes the never-ending war between good and evil. Narnia is a land frozen in eternal winter; a country waiting to be set free. Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change and a great sacrifice.
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Directed by Andrew Adamson.
Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton.
A group of young suburban parents, including a stay-at-home dad, a former feminist, and an over-structured mom, finds its sleepy existence shattered when a convicted child molester moves back into town and two of the parents have an affair.
Little Children by
Tom Perrotta's thirty-ish parents of young children are a varied and surprising bunch. There's Todd, the handsome stay-at-home dad dubbed "The Prom King" by the moms of the playground; Sarah, a lapsed feminist with a bisexual past, who seems to have stumbled into a traditional marriage; Richard, Sarah's husband, who has found himself more and more involved with a fantasy life on the internet than with the flesh and blood in his own house; and Mary Ann, who thinks she has it all figured out,down to scheduling a weekly roll in the hay with her husband, every Tuesday at 9pm. They all raise their kids in the kind of sleepy American suburb where nothing ever seems to happen-at least until one eventful summer, when a convicted child molester moves back to town, and two restless parents begin an affair that goes further than either of them could have imagined. Unexpectedly suspenseful, but written with all the fluency and dark humor of Perrotta's previous novels, Little Children exposes the adult dramas unfolding amidst the swingsets and slides of an ordinary American playground.
Little Children
Directed by Todd Field ; screenplay by Tom Perrotta based on his novel.
Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley.
The "memoirs" of one of Japan's most celebrated geishas describe how she is sold into slavery as a little girl, her efforts to learn the arts of the geisha, the impact of World War II, and her struggle to reinvent herself to win the man she loves.
Memoirs of a Geisha by
A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Directed by Rob Marshall ; music by John Williams.
Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li.
Ready to put her divorce behind her, Sarah Hurlihy is not sure where she's headed, or if she'll survive the journey. It takes a few wrong men--and some tangles with a Saint Bernard--before Sarah appreciates the riotous ride she's on.
Must Love Dogs by
Claire Cook's beguilingly original Ready to Fall struck a vibrant chord with its "perky take on midlife angst" (Publishers Weekly). In Must Love Dogs she gives us a contemporary Everywoman in a big rollicking south-of-Boston Irish family-a zany novel with the flavor of Nora Ephron, Susan Isaacs, and Jeanne Ray's Julie and Romeo. Forty-year-old Sarah Hurlihy, a divorced preschool teacher whose life is her classroom, is about to meet her first date in more than a decade. It was the "Loves Dogs" that hooked her in the personal ad, and now she is scanning her neighborhood café for the man with a yellow rose. And find him she does, but he's the last person on earth she expects to find there . . . In Must Love Dogs, hilarious missteps abound. Sarah's widowed father, Billy Hurlihy, with six adult kids, is seeing at least two women. And he and Sarah aren't the only Hurlihys with romantic challenges. Her brother Michael, for one, has a rocky marriage that Mother Teresa, his St. Bernard, just may put over the edge. With self-deprecating humor and a laugh-out-loud view of the way we live now, including shar pei/Labrador crosses and a transgenerational body-piercing experience, Must Love Dogs is a perfect beach read that melts the heartache of dating with warmth and humor.
Must Love Dogs
Directed by Gary David Goldberg.
Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer, Stockard Channing.
When love-starved Kitty Fane's affair with a married man is discovered by her husband, she is forced to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic.
The Painted Veil by
Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love. The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.
The Painted Veil
Directed by John J. Curran.
Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Toby Jones.
In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose one another. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences.
The Prestige by
Set in 1878, this winner of Britain's James Tait Black Award is a haunting novel about two rival stage magicians. A masterpiece of illusion and storytelling magic, this fiercely compelling tale reads like The Alienist interpreted by Robertson Davies. Priest ventures beyond the boundaries of rational belief to illuminate human nature in its most altered states.--Christopher Fowler, Time Out.
The Prestige
Performers:
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis, Piper Perabo, David Bowie.
Elizabeth Bennet's chances of happiness are endangered by the foibles of human nature in this classic nineteenth-century novel.
Pride and Prejudice by
First published in 1813, this is the story of the Bennets, their five daughters and the men who come to stay in the neighbourhood. At the centre of the story are Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose marriage continues the moral values and class distinctions Austen most advocated.
Pride & Prejudice
Amusing story of a young woman's adventures and misadventures in the society of the 19th century English gentry.
Meet Evelyn Ryan, an enterprising woman who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the 1950s and 1960s.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by
"Angela's Ashes" meets "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in this inspirational, true story of an enterprising mother who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the '50s and '60s. "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" is the biography Evelyn Ryan, whose joy for life overshadows both lean times and her husband's alcoholism to raise children who seek out their own winning ways. Photos throughout.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Directed by Jane Anderson.
Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern.
The true story of a boy whose mother gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa and a lunatic into the bargain. An amazing chronicle of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
Running with Scissors by
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances... Running with Scissors Acknowledgments Gratitude doesn't begin to describe it: Jennifer Enderlin, Christopher Schelling, John Murphy, Gregg Sullivan, Kim Cardascia, Michael Storrings, and everyone at St. Martin's Press. Thank you: Lawrence David, Suzanne Finnamore, Robert Rodi, Bret Easton Ellis, Jon Pepoon, Lee Lodes, Jeff Soares, Kevin Weidenbacher, Lynda Pearson, Lona Walburn, Lori Greenburg, John DePretis, and Sheila Cobb. I would also like to express my appreciation to my mother and father for, no matter how inadvertently, giving me such a memorable childhood. Additionally, I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events described in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent, and hard-working people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of Running with Scissors. Most of all, I would like to thank my brother for demonstrating, by example, the importance of being wholly unique.
Running with Scissors
Based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is a wickedly funny, brave and moving tale of surviving a most unusual childhood. Augusten's (Joseph Cross) mother (Annette Bening) is a deluded aspiring post with bipolar disorder whose marriage to his dad (Alec Baldwin) is in ruins. Soon, she is seeing a very eccentric therapist named Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), while Augusten is left in the care of Finch's wacky family, including his tightly-wound daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow). Abandoned by his parents and adopted by the Finches, he finds a kindred spirit in youngest daughter Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood) and motherly support from Finch's long suffering wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh). Constantly recording the events of his life in his journals as a way to cope, Augusten finds himself avoiding school, learning about love from an older man (Joseph Fiennes), and making big decisions at the tender age of fifteen.
Working as a salesgirl at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus, Mirabelle, a beautiful aspiring artist, embarks on a love affair with Ray Porter, a wealthy, lonely businessman, and together they struggle to understand the meaning of love.
Shopgirl by
One of the most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin is quickly becoming recognized as a gorgeous writer capable of being at once melancholy and tart, achingly innocent and astonishingly ironic (Elle). A frequent contributor to both The New Yorker and the New York Times as well as the author of the New York Times bestseller Pure Drivel, Martin is once again poised to capture the attention of readers with his debut novella, a delightful depiction of life and love. The shopgirl is Mirabelle, a beautiful aspiring artist who pays the rent by selling gloves at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus. She captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy, lonely businessman. As Ray and Mirabelle tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love--with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Steve Martin incredible critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.
Shopgirl
Mirabelle oversees the seldom-visited glove counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. She's also a struggling artist who can barely pay her student loans. In steps Ray Porter, a handsome, rich, 50-something bachelor who sweeps her off her feet.
Two boisterous brothers, left on their own for an evening, find more excitement than they bargained for in a mysterious and mystical space adventure board game.
Zathura by
On the last page of the Caldecott-winning book Jumanji, young Danny Budwing is seen running after his brother, Walter, with a game tucked under his arm. Now after twenty years, Chris Van Allsburg is ready to reveal what happens when Danny and Walter roll the dice. This time the name of the game is Zathura and the battling Budwing boys are in for the ride of their lives. Zathura unleashes intergalactic challenges that require even the quarreling Budwing brothers to work as a team. Zathura hit bestseller lists when it was first published in 2002 and it's sure to visit them again this fall, along with an exciting selection of six movie tie-in editions when Zathura blasts into movie theatres nationwide!
Zathura
Performers:
Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robbins, John Alexander.
Ellen Kovarik
Reference/YA Specialist, Ridgefield Park Public Library