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
The third time I read this book, it captivated me just like the first time. It’s written like a journal, from the perspective of an honest, introverted and very witty teenager named Charlie. Charlie is dealing with his first year of high school in a way that everyone can relate to—he’s engulfed by the noise in hallways, befriends his first crush, feels awkward at the beginning of dances, and goes on adventures with his friends past curfew. His family life is the other half of his story. He loves his parents and siblings but why they do what they do can be a mystery to him. He finds great comfort in writing letters addressed to “dear friend,” which makes us feel as if we’re the special person he’s addressing—and we just want to read more and wish him the best.
The film is set for release in September of 2012, in the meantime, you can find the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower with the young adult fiction on the Teen Mezzanine under YA CHO.
