This article in Publishers Weekly mentions upcoming new movies adapted from children’s/YA books. Most likely to interest middle school students: Hoot, Stormbreaker, and Eragon.
Thanks to Ms. Peterson at Mercer Middle School for the link.
Interesting article on MSNBC about a plagiarism charge involving the novel Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. I read this book a few years ago and remember enjoying it, but I checked and it’s not in our library. I think I may have decided the content was too mature. (We do have books with mature content, but every now and then I decide against something.) I’m not sure, though, so I think I’ll re-read it and see. In the meantime it’s available through the public library for anyone who’s interested.
When C. came in and asked for the sequel to So Super Starry, I had to admit that not only did we not have the sequel, I’d never heard of the book. So I picked up SSS and its sequel, So Super Stylish, both now available in the library. SSS will definitely appeal to Princess Diaries readers, though I didn’t recommend it to my husband (a huge fan of the Princess Diaries), because it lacks the humor. Octavia is an upper-crust Londoner who feels awkward and out-of-place at her posh school where everyone, including her, is the child of celebrities. Sort of a coming-of-age story, with expensive shoes. Plus, it has a sparkly cover! It was a good spring break read.
Contemporary fiction
2004/2006
230 pages/280 pages
Here are some websites to begin your research.
o Edward Gibbon: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788)
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/gibbon_decline.html
o Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/courses/Hist221/
rise_and_fall_of_the_roman_empir.htm
o The Collapse of the Roman Empire: Military Aspects
http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/muhlberger/orb/milex.htm
o The Myth of Decline and Fall
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9708/forum/essay.html
o Church History: The Fall of Rome
http://www.thirdmill.org/files/english/html/ch/CH.h.Arnold.CH.16.html
o Why Rome Fell
http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/14romefell.html