For some reason, we're perfectly ready to accept stories about vampires, werewolves and wizards. But whenever I've mentioned to friends the premise of Lauren McLaughlin's "Cycler" and its sequel "Recycler" — it's about a teenage girl named Jill who turns into a boy named Jack for four days every month — I've received a lot of question-mark faces. And to be fair, I thought "Cycler" would either be A) a weird, uncomfortable story, heavy on the embarrassing scenes played up for comedy (like "Tootsie" or "Just One of the Guys"), or B) a weird, uncomfortable look at gender identity and sexuality ("Crying Game" or "Boys Don't Cry"). Happily, it's neither, which is probably why it's been snatched up to be made into a movie. (McLaughlin, a veteran screenwriter, is adapting it herself, and she'll be blogging about the process right here tomorrow.)
"Cycler" is actually a warm-hearted, honest, genuinely funny story with an amazing cast of characters — all of whom you can identify with in some way, despite this very weird, uncomfortable situation they find themselves in. Jill has had this condition since she was 14, and after many fruitless consultations with baffled doctors, she and her mother decided that the only way to deal with it is to hide it from the world. So Jack spends his four days locked in the house, and Jill tells her friends and teachers that she has a weird blood disorder that requires in-patient treatment every month. She also does some amazing self-hypnosis so that not even she remembers her days as Jack — and they truly act and think like completely separate people.
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I can't be the only Twilighter who's experienced this: A year and a half after telling everyone about my new obsession, friends and family are just now coming up to me and asking, "Have you read 'Twilight'?" Welcome back to the world, cave-dwellers. I'll forgive them for not listening to me the first time, but now that they've all caught Cullen fever, maybe they'll pay attention to my other recommendations. After "New Moon" comes out this month, we're all going to be serious V-juice withdrawal. So, I'm going to stock the Book Report with plenty of bloodsucking novels to feed your addiction for the months to come.
And if, like me, you were constantly frustrated with the fact that, for all her bravery, Bella always had to rely on others to protect her from dangerous vampires, Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" is the perfect antidote. In this book and its three sequels, the vampires are the ones who need protecting from the likes of Rose Hathaway. She's a Dhampir, half human and half vampire, in training to be a guardian of full-blooded vampires called Moroi (yeah, all these special terms are annoying at first, but you get used to 'em), who are constantly in danger of being attacked by Strigoi — the evil, undead bloodsuckers along the lines of Dracula (you know, red eyes, kill people, can't go out in sunlight). But when we first meet rebellious Rose, she and her best friend, vampire princess Lissa Dragomir, they've been on the run and living among humans for two years. And though Rose hasn't finished her training, she's got an extra skill that helps her take care of her friend, she can slip inside Lissa's head, seeing what she sees and feeling her emotions.
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"Catatonic" is how author Maggie Stiefvater describes her reaction to the news that her novel "Shiver" had been optioned for a movie just a month after the book's August release. "There was a lot of staring at the wall and blinking."
But now that Stiefvater has snapped out of that shocked state, she has some definite ideas about what she'd like to see in the movie version of her story about the doomed love between a human girl and a werewolf boy.
"I'd love to have a director who would do it at a slow pace, more 'Benjamin Button' than 'Tomb Raider,'" she told us. "More of a mood piece, just because I think so much of 'Shiver' 's action is more internal in setting."
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Every new young adult novel with some kind of supernatural element in it that gets optioned for a movie is inevitably labeled "the next 'Twilight.' " But Maggie Stiefvater's "Shiver," the screen rights to which were just picked up by Unique Features, actually has very little in common with the vampire saga. Except for one thing: After finishing it, I had that same dazed, achy feeling of loss and longing.
That's particularly fitting this time around, because what on the surface is the story of a girl who falls in love with the werewolf who saved her life is really a story about loss and longing. The book's title and setting, in northern Minnesota during the fall and winter, don't make it any cheerier. Warning: Do not read this while listening to mournful music (say, Bon Iver) on a cloudy day — the consequences are painful. But I mean this all as praise. After devouring dozens of fast-paced, very plot-centric books, you sometimes need to settle down and sink in to something slower and more contemplative. You need to be reminded that sometimes words can reach into your chest and wrench your heart.
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Now that the CW's "The Vampire Diaries" has won over many an undead-loving heart, there's one question both fans and entertainment execs should be asking: What other L.J. Smith novels could provide juicy material for a TV show or movie?
In addition to "TVD," the author has written a nine-book (and counting) series called "Night World," which is all about the teenage vampires, witches, werewolves, shapeshifters and spirits that live among us. There's also "Dark Visions" (a trilogy about psychics), the witch trilogy "Secret Circle" and "The Forbidden Game" (a trilogy about a board game that leads its players to a nightmarish other world).
"I've thought that 'Soulmate' in the 'Night World' series would make a really nice TV-movie or just a movie," L.J. told MTV News, referring to the series' sixth book, about a girl who realizes that the strange nightmares she's been having are actually memories of her many past lives, in which she's reunited with her vampire soul mate, only to be murdered again and again. "I even thought of perhaps, after I'm done with the current books that I'm contracted for, of trying my hand at doing a screenplay. I've always thought that would make a good movie, because you could do all the period pieces."
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L.J. Smith, author of "The Vampire Diaries," wasn't immediately jumping for joy when she heard her novels were being optioned for a TV series.
"I've had other things optioned before [that haven't been made], so my reaction was at first, 'OK, another one of those,' " Smith told MTV News. "But then when they said it was by Kevin Williamson, I realized it was probably a little bit more serious."
Now that the CW series is about to air its third episode tonight at 8 p.m. ET, Smith isn't holding back any praise, regardless of the changes producers have made to her stories and characters.
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There's kind of a built-in curse for second books in trilogies — even masterpieces like "The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers." No matter how good they are, there's going to be some element of disappointment, because they won't match the excitement you had when you first began the story and met its characters, and by definition, they're going to leave you hanging. But if you know this going into "Catching Fire," the second book in Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" trilogy, you'll be much better primed to enjoy a lot of thrilling action and intrigue, but not much character development and no conclusion of any kind. And of course, you will be left hungry (sorry) for more.
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read further if you haven't read "The Hunger Games" yet! Read more...
It seems rather silly to add my two cents of praise to a book that's been 1) acclaimed by Stephenie Meyer and Stephen King, not to mention a whole lot of other book reviewers; 2) snatched up by Lionsgate to be made into a movie, written by its very author; and 3) sitting in the New York Times best-seller list for 48 weeks. I'll just say that if you haven't yet read Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games," then I'm kind of jealous of you. You get to discover the dark, post-apocalyptic world of Katniss Everdeen and then jump right into "Catching Fire," the second book in the trilogy, as soon as it comes out on September 1.
Just a quick primer: Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living in Panem, a country (which used to be North America) made up of 12 districts under the dictatorial rule of the very Big Brother-like Capitol. Since the death of their fathers in a mining accident, she and best friend Gale have been supporting their mothers and younger siblings by sneaking out of the electric fence that surrounds the district and hunting, trapping and gathering food to eat and trade on the black market. Since the districts' failed rebellion decades before, the Capitol has held the annual Hunger Games, a sadistic reality-TV show in which a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district is selected via lottery and sent into an arena to fight to the death (against "natural" obstacles created by the game makers and against each other). The last kid standing earns a lifetime of wealth and fame. When her little sister, Prim, is selected from the lottery, Katniss doesn't think twice before offering to go in her place. Read more...
There can't be a better way to get good buzz about your book than having a star like Miley Cyrus attached to its movie adaptation, which just so happens to be connected to the production company behind "Twilight." Oh, well, maybe also placing a large-font quote from "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer on both the front and back covers. Yes, those are the reasons I picked up Aprilynne Pike's "Wings" for this week's Book Report. But they're certainly not why it remained in my hands until I drank up every last word of it.
Nope, credit for that goes to Pike's imaginative mythology, cleverly disguised by easygoing prose and what at first seems like a simple YA plot. After being home-schooled her whole life and living blissfully with her parents in an isolated, country home, Laurel is not entirely thrilled when her dad decides to buy a bookstore and move the family to a small town. And she just doesn't get why her mother insists that she has to go to a regular high school now that she's a sophomore. Read more...
If you haven't yet read Carrie Ryan's "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," clear your schedule, go pick it up, find yourself a well-lit room and then get back to me. The rest of us are going to play fantasy casting director for the movie adaptation of this awesome zombie book, which has already been set into motion by Seven Star Pictures. Since Kristen Stewart's mother is a senior VP at that production company, rumor is that Ms. Bella Swan herself might be taking on the role of Mary. But nothing official's been said, and we still have time to play, right?
By the way, I had a chance to e-mail Carrie Ryan about this subject, and here's what she said: "To be honest, I had no idea about who I'd cast in the movie! I always wished I had a list of actors, but I don't tend to see my characters like that when I write them, so I've always had a hard time choosing someone to play the parts in my head. Of course, that doesn't stop me from loving to see who other people choose!" Read more...
