Book to Movie: The Frog Princess

So, I'm quite likely one of the last people to hear about this, but still. I'm so excited I have to share. E.D. Baker's The Frog Princess is being adapted into a Disney movie! As a huge fan of animated Disney films (especially the princess ones), I couldn't be more excited. According to Wikipedia the movie is going to be an

"American fairy tale, Broadway-style musical set in the French Quarter of New Orleans."

I can't wait! Granted, it sounds like it's barely based on Baker's book, only using the whole princess-turns-to-frog bit, but that'll be fine with me as long as I make sure not to compare the two. Anyway, the movie is due out around Thanksgiving (NY and LA)/early December (everywhere else). You can find out more information on Wikipedia, IMDB, and of course, the official site. Also, check out the trailer.

Feed Your Ears III: Fade

To start with, yay for designing a header for this. Also, I've decided that rather than doing Feed Your Ears posts just when I feel like it, I'm going to make Feed Your Ears my regular Friday post (on a side note, I'm also going to try partcipating in weekly memes such as Teaser Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday). For the origins of Feed Your Ears, check here.

Now, moving on to this week's content...

Fade by Lisa McMann

1. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand

2. Without You from RENT

3. Sleeping Lessons - the Shins

4. The Captain - Guster

5. Finding Out True Love Is Blind - Louis XIV

Updates

Please don't hate me, but I've decided to postpone the contest for The One. Instead, I'll be giving away The One as well as a few other books as part of Shooting Stars Magazine's YA Book Carnival June 21st through June 27th.

Also, I've decided to challenge myself this summer. Before I return to school at the beginning of September, I hope to read 100 books (any genre). You can follow my progress on the sidebar (well, you can once I figure out how to, which'll hopefully be soon). Also, this is mainly my way of trying to make up for how little I've read since January, but anyone is welcome to join me :)

And on a last note... reviews are coming for Terribly Twisted Tales and Perfect Fifths soon!

Win The One

And now, time for my first contest :)

I'm giving away a copy of Ed Decter's The One along with a mix CD I'm working on that goes with the book (I told you I love how music and reading work so well together).

So... to enter:
It's easy! Just comment on this post with your favorite band/artist (and e-mail so I can contact you if you win). And sorry, addresses in the US only.

For extra entries:
+1 if you become a follower
+2 if you already are a follower
+1 if you blog about or link to this contest (include the link in your comment)

This contest starts NOW and goes through June 8th. I'll announce the winner on June 9th.

The One: A Chloe Gamble novel

The One is the first in Ed Decter's Chloe Gambel series. The One follows Chloe along with her brother, Travis, and mother as they escape her father and their tiny town in Texas. Although Chloe is new to the California scene, she has fame on her mind and uses her naivety to her advantage, even using a disaster moment to get her name out. While learning the ways of Hollywood and fame, Chloe faces challenges with her mother regarding paying the rent, as well as the difficulty of finding an educational facility for her brother. The One offers insight into Chloe's determination, and how this impacts those lives around hers through her eventual agent Nika's manuscript notes and Travis's e-mails.

These insets from Travis and Nika that offer an escape from Chloe's point of view are the best part of the novel, as they introduce an outside perspective while keeping up the intensity Chloe establishes. In writing from Chloe's perspective, Ed Decter does a wonderful job thinking like star. His background in the industry definitely comes through, and I certainly appreciated this insider's edge to the story as it helped The One stand out from other books taking place around Hollywood. Also, as a reader, being aware of his involvement in "the business" definitely blurs the line between reality (or whatever reality is for the Hollywood crowd) and fiction. Though The One isn't really my type of book, what with all of the drama, I'll admit that I'll be keeping an eye out for the next installment of Chloe Gambel. From the very beginning through Nika's final manuscript notes, the reader is left hanging regarding Chloe's serious crime. Here's to hoping our questions will be answered soon, in VIP Lounge . Overall, 6 out of 10.

P.S. Coming up this weekend there might just be an opportunity to win a copy of The One!

Flashback of the Month II: Sam's Letters to Jennifer

Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson is a heartfelt book that connects Jennifer’s grandmother Sam’s love story to her own. Now as a grown woman, Jennifer returns to Lake Geneva where she spent her childhood summers. Her last living family member, her dear Sam, is in a coma. When she arrives at the lake house, she finds a collection of letters her grandmother wrote for her, telling her story. Jennifer knew little of Sam’s past, and became absorbed in her letters instantly. She is shocked when in the first letter she learns that Sam never did love her grandfather, but instead was passionately in love with another man. Over this summer, Jennifer continues to visit Sam in the hospital and reads her letters to learn the truth about her past. Early on, she meets Brendan whom she had spent her summer with when she was younger and who always seemed like a brother to her. It doesn’t take too long for her to notice similarities in Sam’s story and her own. Sam’s Letters to Jennifer is two stories of true love, discovery, and living life to the fullest.

At one point, Jennifer says to Brendan when crying, “I can’t help it. I’m not usually so sentimental.” I could say the same for my reaction to Sam’s Letters to Jennifer. It isn’t often that I cry while reading, but in this book I found myself choked up in two or three occasions. I love the duality between Sam and Jennifer’s stories. Both are very compelling and touching. I think you could really learn a lot from how Brendan was choosing to live his life. His opinion was to make the most of each day, “from the crack of dawn until you close your eyes,” and I think it’s a belief we all should make use of. With a glimpse into Brendan’s life, all of us see how life can be short, and you should cherish every moment. Patterson’s format, with quick chapters, made this book an easier read with plenty of places to take a break (not that I ever wanted to). I would recommend Sam’s Letters to Jennifer to everyone in search of a fascinating read that you’ll finish in no time. 9 out of 10.

P.S. See April's flashback of the month here.

This Full House

This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff returns to the lives of LaVaughn and Jolly as the conclusion of the Make Lemonade Trilogy. LaVaughn is now working to get into college and hopes that her involvement in the Women in Medical Science program with the famed Dr. Moore will help her reach this goal. It turns out that Dr. Moore has some secrets of her own, and, let's face it, LaVaughn can never help but be curious. In the meantime, while Jolly is absent for a good portion of the book, busy studying for her G.E.D., her children Jeremy and Jilly take on new importance in this novel that questions the role of mothers in the lives of children, and the meaning of their absence (also furthered by LaVaughn's pregnant friend Annie). Jody also returns in this last installment, adding to LaVaughn's general confusion and giving her a glimpse into the potential that college could hold.

Told in prose, This Full House is fast-paced and does not take long to read despite being nearly 500 pages in length. As LaVaughn's participation in Women in Medical Science is central to the book, it makes sense that there be a lot of science throughout the novel, but I have to admit that the amount was at times intimidating. The scientific details were remarkable, of course, but often too technical to be appreciated by a non-science person like myself. Still, Wolff's This Full House deals with teenage pregnancy and parenthood impressively, especially considering the current political side to this issue. Overall, a more than satisfactory conclusion for LaVaughn and Jolly, full of emotion, even despite the wait. 8 out of 10.

Feed Your Ears II: Art Geeks and Prom Queens

This time, the top five songs for my first (and favorite) Alyson Noel novel: Art Geeks and Prom Queens

1. Popular - from Wicked

2. California Waiting - Kings of Leon

3. All I Know - Matt Wertz

4. Last Nite - the Strokes

And of course...
5. Rio - Duran Duran

Seaborn

Yay for returning now that exams are done! Sorry I've been gone for such a long time. Anyway...

In Seaborn, Chris Howard explores a new dimension of urban fantasy. Rather than keeping to the city as the genre would imply, Howard delves into an undersea world. Seaborn weaves the tales of Kassandra, an exiled Seaborn royal desiring revenge while trying to free herself from her ancestry, Corina, a college student struggling to survive a Seaborn sorcerer’s possession, and Aleximor, the sorcerer working to possess Corina in order to enact revenge on Seaborn’s royalty. It is no surprise, then, that their worlds would collide, integrating pursuits of revenge, multiple fronts of war, and power struggles while splitting time on shore and under the water. Of the three narrators, Seaborn focuses on the heroines Lady Kassandra and Corina and their efforts to (re)gain control of their own lives.

Chris Howard’s first installation of this epic fantasy takes fantasy readers in a new direction. His passages are densely packed with detail and each chapter reads smoothly. His characters appeal to all readers, whether they are familiar with the genre or not. In particular, despite her inhuman characteristics, Kassandra is every bit as real as Corina, the Californian student whose main preoccupation until her possession was her latest break-up. My main complaint with this novel was the amount of names. With so many, Howard should have more gradually introduced each character, to make understanding the complex history an easier task for the reader. I would strongly suggest that fantasy lovers who are tired of vampire novels check this book out. One warning, though: the novel is quite graphic, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with a weak stomach. 7 out of 10.