Read the Book First

Cinemas are full of adaptations right now. We’ve got some recommendations of books that have recently been adapted for the big screen. Whether or not you’ll be checking out the film version, we think you’ll love these original stories… 

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Reviewed by Children’s Library volunteer Marcia Lebre

The story begins when Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor of London, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow, an elderly reclusive widow in the small market town of Crythin Gifford on the east coast of the United Kingdom. While sorting through Mrs. Dablow’s papers at her home Eel Marsh House, he will be affected and terrified by strange noises and sightings.
The Woman in Black is a gripping ghost story with all the elements of the Gothic novel:  an oppressive winter atmosphere, a bleak and eerie landscape of marshes and gray sky, a house completely cut off from the mainland at high tide, the haunting by a woman dressed in black with a haunted wasted face contribute to the growing sense of approaching doom.  This is not a book for the fainthearted, but if you like a good scary story in the vein of Edgar Allen Poe, The Woman in Black will chill you to the marrow!
February 2012 will see the premiere of the feature film of the book, starring Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame), with screenplay by Jane Goldman and Directed by James Watkins. You can find the book in the with the young adult fiction on the Teen Mezzanine under YA HIL.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Reviewed by Children’s Library intern Elisabeth Chaumont

If you have not read  The Hunger Games yet, you should run to the nearest library and check this book out.  Suzanne

Collins will show you a future were you must obey the laws of the capital or die.  The story follows  Katniss Everdeen, a young sixteen year old girl that loves her sister more than her own life. When her sister is chosen to be part of  the hunger games, Katniss steps forward to take her place. Now Katniss must kill the other participants in order  to survive herself… But what will happen when she falls in love with one of her competitors… This is a deadly game and the only way out is to be the last survivor.
Can you imagine yourself  in the hunger games, where you could  die for trusting the wrong person? Would you agree to be part of a TV show were you could win fame and glory but the price would be killing people?  Suzanne Collins’ trilogy will make you question all of these things.
You must have heard that the first hunger games is coming out at the movies. Before you go see it you must read the book first – you won’t be disappointed. If you hate violence, maybe this book isn’t for you  (a lot of people die) but it is one of the best trilogies I have ever read.
You can find The Hunger Games (book 1), Catching Fire (book 2) and Mockingjay (book 3) with the young adult fiction under YA COL.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reviewed by Children’s Library volunteer Saskia Cohen