book-to-movie list!

Here's the list again, folks, with a few additions and some different links. Mostly for re-circulation purposes, but here ya go!

A

Airborn (Kenneth Oppel)
Airman (Eoin Colfer)
Alchemyst, The (Michael Scott)
Amulet of Samarkand, The (Jonathan Stroud)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Louise Rennison)
An Abundance of Katherines (John Green)

B

Beastly (Alex Flinn)
Boggart, The (Susan Cooper)
Book Thief, The (Marcus Zusak)
Burning Time, The (Carol Matas)

C

Certain Slant of Light, A (Laura Whitcomb)
Chasing Vermeer (Blue Balliett)
City of the Beasts (Isabel Allende)
Cry of the Icemark, The (Stuart Hill)

D

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)
Dragonfire (Donita K. Paul)
Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey)

E

Eclipse (Stephenie Meyer)
Eddie Dickens and the Awful End (Phillip Ardagh)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
Everlost (Neal Shusterman)
Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, The (Rick Yancey)

F

Flipped (Wendelin Van Draanen)
Fly Girl (Omar Tyree)

G

Giver, The (Lois Lowry)
Graveyard Book, The (Neil Gaiman)
Great and Terrible Beauty, A (Libba Bray)
Great Gilly Hopkins, The (Katherine Paterson)
Guardians of Ga'Hoole (Kathryn Lasky)

H

Here Be Monsters (Alan Snow)
Here, There Be Dragons (James A. Owen)
Highest Tide, The (Jim Lynch)
Hobbit, The (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Host, The (Stephenie Meyer)
House of the Scorpion, The (Nancy Farmer)
Hunger Games, The (Suzanne Collins)

I

Inkspell (Cornelia Funke)
Interworld (Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeves)
If I Stay (Gayle Forman)

K

Killing Sea, The (Richard Lewis)
King Dork (Frank Portman)

L

Larklight (Philip Reeve
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
Little Girl Lost (Charles de Lint)
Looking Glass Wars, The (Frank Beddor)
Looking for Alaska (John Green)
Lost Years of Merlin, The (T.A. Barron)
Lovely Bones, The (Alice Seabold)

M

Magyk (Angie Sage)
Marked (P.C. + Kristen Cast)
Maximum Ride (James Patterson)
Monster Blood Tattoo (D.M. Cornish)

N

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)
New Moon (Stephenie Meyer)

P

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)
Peter and the Starcatchers (Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson)
Peter Pan in Scarlet (Geraldine McCaughrean)

R

Ramona and Beezus (Beverly Cleary)

S

Sisters Grimm, The (Michael Buckley)
Skellig (David Almond)
Spook's Apprentice, The (Joseph Delaney)
Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli)
Stoneheart (Charlie Fletcher)
Subtle Knife, The (Phillip Pullman)

T

Teen Idol (Meg Cabot)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (Holly Black)
Tomorrow, When the War Began (John Marsden)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, The (Avi)
Tunnels (Roderick Gordon)

U

Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)

V

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (Holly Black)
Varjak Paw (S.F. Said)

W

Wee Free Men, The (Terry Prachet)
When the Wind Blows (James Patterson)

Crazy, isnt it? Email or comment if you've got others for me to add!

SIMPLY NERDY BOOK REVIEWS

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Special Circumstances




Frighteningly beautiful.


Dangerously Strong.


Breathtakingly fast.


Tally thought they were a rumor, but now shes one of them. A Special. A super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down--and the pretties stupid.


But maybe being perfectly proggramed wiht strength and focus ISN'T better than anything she's ever known. Tally still has memories of something else.


But its easy for her to tune that out--until she's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes donw to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she was programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world may never be the same.


What i thought:Packed with action in the face of relentless danger, the stakes continue to increase with each unexpected plot twist. During Tally's quest she discovers one surprise after another, but when she arrives at her destination, she's in for the most shocking revelation ever.

Out of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, i feel this one has the most gripping start, and one that you will not have to fight. Specials is fantastic, and Tally's new transformation will frighten even the most impressive of readers. "Specials" are breathtakingly beautiful, but in a cruel. . . EERIE way. Tally, is a strong heroine throughout this entire story, something that kept ME reading, as i had wanted to know what the next daring move of hers would be. Also, different from the other books, Tally did not willingly sacrifice herself to become a Special, but, as in the other books, she grows to except it, and cure herself in a way unimaginable.


This stunning page turner continuously deals with things like government, cliques, humanity, appearance and differences in society and is a very well-written and surprising third installment in the fantastic Uglies series. Its shocking ending will leave readers hungry for more.


If you have not read any of these books yet, click here for my review on Uglies. If you HAVE read this book, and the first two, i recommend that you read Extras the riveting conclusion to this "scary-making" (bubbly; happy-making; awe-inspiring; remarkable; gripping. . . you name it) series.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license--for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixtenth birthdsay brings an opperation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive petty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isnt sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk her life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world--and it isnt very pretty. The cruel-pretty Specials present Tally with the worst choice she could ever imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes will challenge her world forever.

What i thought: I thought these books were amazing. they are filled with suspense, excitement, and even a bit of romance. This book, the first in a fantastic trilogy, asks engaging questions about the meaning of beauty, individuality, and betrayal. It teaches you how to be a good friend--even when it seems impossible. Tally learns that being beautiful isnt everything--and that even the seemingly greatest of things has dark secrets. . . ones that she never could have guessed. Uglies is HIGHLY readable with an extremely convincing plot that includes futuristic techonology and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. I loved Tally's character, and felt that Uglies very easily portrayed her. Tally acts tough through out the book, but the deeper you dig, the more you realize that she pushes away a lot of her feelings, and tries really hard not to show weakness, but there are times when it all comes crashing down on her: the guilt, the pain, the loneliness, the isolation, the longing for freedom. . . everything. And she learns that sometimes you need to be able to have someones shoulder to cry on, even when you dont want to admit it.

Westerfeld is a fantastic author, but i think that the begginings of every book in this series was very weak, and that caused many readers to stop and simply toss it onto their shelf--something i have seen first hand. I feel that the begginings of books need to be strong, because if there is a fantastic ending, and a thrilling middle, your readers will never know, if they cannot even get through the first page. I nearly put it down myself, but decided to give it a chance. This happened repeatedly to me during this entire series, and felt that it really ruined the amazing plots of each of these books.

I think that all this book needs is a chance; try not to put it down after you read page twenty-something; these books will not dissapoint. . . so long as you give them time. I really loved this series, despite those few problems.

If you like these, i would recommend Westerfelds other series, The Midnighters (which i LOVED) or Peeps (which i havent gotten up to reading yet) and Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

Grade: A-

SIMPLY NERDY BOOK REVIEWS