Even if you’re not yet old enough to vote in the 2008 presidential election, you may still be curious about the “race to the White House“. What’s the difference between a primary and a caucus? What’s a “superdelegate”? Perhaps you’d just like to learn more about the personal history of your favorite candidate.
For books about each of the candidates who are still in the running, your local CADL branch can help! Many of these books are in the “J” section, so you might think they’re geared towards younger children. But these books can be useful to teens and older students — and even adults — in the way they present information in a concise and readable fashion.
And did you know that all of the leading presidential candidates are also authors? In alphabetical order (by last name), Hillary Clinton (Dear Socks, Dear Buddy, An Invitation to the White House, It Takes a Village, Living History), Mike Huckabee (From Hope to Higher Ground, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knif and Fork), John McCain (Character is Destiny, Faith of My Fathers, Hard Call, Why Courage Matters, Worth the Fighting For) and Barack Obama (The Audacity of Hope, Dreams from My Father) have all written (or co-written) multiple books.
There are also lots of books about the political process, and many others that focus on a particular issue (such as the death penalty or stem cells). With the road to the national conventions still heating up, and the November election drawing ever-closer, it’s a great time to dive in!
P.S. If you support a candidate for president, feel free to post who and why — just remember to stay positive and use civil language.
February 16, 2008
Recent news about the upcoming films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (see the next blog entry down) got me thinking about other books that would make great movies … and the actors and actresses we might choose to star in them.
For example, I recently finished the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen — plus a short story in the collection Across the Wall). This is a terrific, brilliantly original fantasy series about a young girl named Sabriel who must follow in her father’s footsteps — sending the returned Dead back into Death, while contending with Necromancers, treacherous politicians, Free Magic beasts, and evil forces beyond imagining! Any fan of fantasy or horror will not want to miss this series.
Assuming the first book were made into a movie, who would I cast as Sabriel? It’s hard for me to think of a known teenage actress who would be exactly right for the role — I’d prefer to see a talented unknown. But it might be an interesting vehicle for Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger) — assuming she’d be willing to risk genre typecasting after Harry Potter!
There’s one casting choice that would be very easy for me to make. Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legend) narrated the audiobook versions of the trilogy, and he would be my only choice for the voice of Mogget, an incredibly powerful Free Magic entity with ambiguous motives, imprisoned in the form of a small, white cat who is forced to serve as Sabriel’s guide and companion.
What books have you read recently that you’d like to see translated to the big screen? And who would you cast in the leading roles?
February 6, 2008
