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Introduction

Books and Movies

From Page to Screen 2

February 2008


More books and the movies that have been inspired by them.

Recommended Titles

All the King's Men

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.

Aquamarine

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.

Because of Winn-Dixie

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.

Bee Season

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.

Black Dahlia

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 Bridge to Terabithia

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.

Brokeback Mountain

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.

Derailed

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.

The Devil Wears Prada

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.

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. (Book One of the Inheritance series)

Freedom Writer's Diary

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.

Friday Night Lights

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.

A Good Year

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.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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.

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.

How to Eat Fried Worms

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.

In Her Shoes

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.

Jarhead

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.

The Last King of Scotland

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 Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

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)

Little Children

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.

Memoirs of a Geisha

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.

Must Love Dogs

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.

The Painted Veil

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 Prestige

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.

Pride and Prejudice

Elizabeth Bennet's chances of happiness are endangered by the foibles of human nature in this classic nineteenth-century novel.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

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.

Running with Scissors

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.

Shopgirl

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.

Zathura

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.

List Created By

Ellen Kovarik

Reference/YA Specialist, Ridgefield Park Public Library

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