My favorite sites

Here's a list of my favorite places to go on the net... when I'm supposed to be blogging here... heh heh...

www.thelionscall.com is a place for crazy, random, Narnia fans like me! If you want to get in touch with me there, my username is Fireflower. *waves to TLC buddies*

www.narniaweb.com I mostly use for their Image Gallery, and to find out the latest in Narnia movie news.

www.kidviewpoint.blogspot.com hey, y'know what that is, right? (Right?)

Coming up or our more Narnia-inclined readers, a review of "Believing in Narnia", a devotional based on the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

INSIDE JOKE DISCLAIMER!!! My Family Reunion.

Hey, to all of you who weren't at my family reunion, just skip past this post. It's one big inside joke. Just a disclaimer.

Our family reunion was insanely great! We had crazy jokes, mint juleps, (not me. Too young, they say) and Katie Combos. Not to mention the $70 I won on Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby! Olivia bulked up on steak and cake and watched some boxing with our as-insane-as-us cousins. Uh, there's not much more for me to say... but I had a great time and caught up with some great family.

Okay, people, that's the end of the inside joke. Sorry for leaving y'all out but I had a special request for this review at the reunion. As you were!

Ever

The themes in this book are confusing at least. The first thing you see in the book is a bible verse (great), then a quote from some freaky Greek religion (horrible). This book, though well written, is not a book I would recommend, as it makes God seem like the bad guy.

For these reasons, Not only can I not recommend the book, but I desperately want to warn you away from it!





Zero stars

"Ever" by Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine (author of Newbery Honor book "Ella Enchanted" and New York Times bestseller "Fairest") Is preparing to release her newest book "Ever", scheduled to release May 6, 2008. "Ever" tells the story of Kezi and Olus, the starstruck couple from two different worlds. Olus is the god of the winds and of lonliness. When he decides to visit the mortals of Hyte, he falls in love with the beautiful Kezi. But when Kezi is doomed to die in but a month, she and Olus must face their worst nightmares to survive.

While "Ella Enchanted" and "Fairest" are set in the same world, sometimes intertwining, "Ever" is not. It is set in a mythology-type world where there is a god or godess for everything (including cleanliness and laundry). While the story was good to begin with, the characters fall in love a little too quickly for my taste. In "Ella Enchanted" and "Fairest" the heroines fall in love somewhere near the halfway point of the book. A night and a day is all Kezi and Olus seem to need. Even though the book was a decent 256 pages, it felt like a light read.

All in all, an adequate read for people looking for a light, easy read.

Enchanted? Enchanting!

I am truly disappointed to see the old fashioned fairy tale fade in today's society. Really the only fairy tales we get now feature wimpy guys getting in trouble, forcing a lady to save him ( and she usually marries him anyway). But Enchanted, the newest fairy tale from Disney, has helped to bring a little old fashioned fairy tale to our society of wimpy men and nosy ladies.

Enchanted tells the story o Giselle, a fairy tale girl from the kingdom of Andalasia. Giselle falls in love with a prince after a one day relationship, she's sent to our world by an evil queen. Giselle gets a huge reality check when she realizes true love can exist anywhere.

This DVD features some hilarious bloopers, deleted scenes, a short called "Pip's Predicament" telling a story about the adorable chipmunk that helps Prince Edward in the movie, and an easter egg showing just some of the similarities between Enchanted and the classic Disney Princess stories.

Despite some adult content that was a little unnecessary, I enjoyed Enchanted, a good old fashioned fairy tale.

Mind Like a Steel Trapp

Steel Trapp has the memory of a elephant. On the way to The National Science Challenge, a contest for teens like Steel, a woman leaves her briefcase on the train, and (wanting to do a good deed) Steel tries to give it

back, only to find himself tangled up in a terrorist plot.

This is a wonderful book, with even more wonderful characters (new and old).

Five Stars

I look forward to more Steel Trapp books, and more of Mr. Pearson's stories.

Framed; A True Masterpiece

I have to say, Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce is my favorite book to listen to (as an audio book) on the road. Hands down!

Framed tells the story of Dylan Hughes and the small town of Manod, where he lives. When some paintings from the National Gallery are housed in Manod Mountain for safekeeping, things go, as Dylan would say, completely hectic! Everyone is changed in one way or another. Everyone from Daft Tom, the adult who's obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to Dylan's sister Minnie, the criminal mastermind-in-training. But there are good and bad sides to these changes. For instance, why has Dylan's father suddenly vanished? Why is Dylan's other sister Marie so upset? And one huge change that could involve Dylan in the crime of the century...

This is a FANTASTIC book for families to read together. My whole family agrees that it desperately needs to be a movie (hint hint).

Holes: The Book

Yes, I've finally finished Holes!

I was delighted to find that Holes by Louis Sachar is the only book I've read that is spot on, exactly like the movie.( You can view my review of the movie here) Or should I say the movie is just like the book? Just goes to show that Mr. Sachar has written a story that is magnificent in any form of storytelling.

This book was so entertaining, I read it for about 40 minutes until I had to go to bed last night, and finished it in one two hour stretch this morning. I really could not put it down.

So, congratulations, Mr. Sachar, on a story well written. You are the only person so far who has made me rave about a book/movie on this blog such as I have today.

Holes movie

Holes is a good movie, very fun, though I would only recommend it for ages 10+


Five Stars

Note: I think Viola really, really likes the Dig it song/rap by some of the cast (fondly known as the D-tent boys). I don't know why I said that, maybe I just thought it needed mentioning.

Holes: The Movie

Recently, I've had the pleasure of watching Disney and Walden Media's film Holes starring the great Shia Lebeouf. Twice. Really, that's how good it was! Also, I was very pleased to see that the author of Holes the book was the screenwriter for Holes the movie.

Holes tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, a kid who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Stanley is falsley convicted for petty theft, he's sent to Camp Greenlake to "build character." Now, Camp Greenlake isn't your ordinary boot camp. In order to build character, each boy must dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter in the Texan desert sun. But suspiscion arises when Stanley and his newfound friends discover parts of the puzzle that is the real reason for all this digging...

If you want to look for Louis Sachar's cameo in the movie, look for the bald man to whom Sam sells a bottle of onion hair tonic!

The next time I visit my local library I am going to pick up a copy of Holes the book, and as soon as I finish, I'll tell you all about it. (Please give me a week or two, because I don't get much time to read.)

Read my book review here.

Lizzie? Emma? No, Jane!

"Becoming Jane" was not a very good movie. In my mind it is PG13 Rather than PG.
Okay I am a bit tough on the movie makers. It was okay. But still PG13 to me.


Three Stars

I Blame Jane!

For those of you who don't already know, I am a HUGE Jane Austen fanatic. That's why I was so excited when I heard Miramax Films was making a motion picture based on Jane Austen's life (Becoming Jane).

While the film was marvelously cast, with Anne Hathaway as Jane and
James Mcavoy as Tom Lefroy, I would not say it is appropriate for families to watch together. Very few things that happened in the movie actually occurred in Jane's life, but I was pleased to see nods towards her six novels (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion) tucked into the film. The costumes and scenery were also beautiful and accurate to the 19th century time period.

All in all, a good film for adults.

I Am David, book and movie review

I am David is a wonderful book (other names for this book are David and North to freedom, in case you are looking for a older copy.) chocked full of bittersweet moments and action, This is a good book for all ages.





Five stars






However,
The movie exclueded some of my favorite parts ( I won't tell you which ones in case you have not read the book, YOU NEED TO READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU WATCH THE MOVIE!!!!!!) the movie was okay, all and all

Four stars

I Am David; Great Book, Great Movie.

Anne Holm's novel I Am David is one of my favorite books of all time. It's a story about a boy named David who has lived in a post WWII concentration camp all his life. When he gets the chance to escape, he siezes it.

I Am David was recently made into a motion picture starring the magnificent Jim Caviezel (playing David's mentor Johan, known in the book as Johannes) and unkown Ben Tibber (Wonderfully cast as David). The only drawback I have about this film is that there are strong Christian themes in the book that fail to present themselves in the movie. Although leaving this out altogether would be understandable, David prays to St. Elizabeth, the patron saint of bakers, instead of to God as he does in the book.

Despite its faults, I thouroughly enjoyed I Am David in both its forms. Book and movie.

(By the way, for those of you who might be hunting for an older version of the book, I Am David was first published under the title North to Freedom, then as David, and finally, I Am David.)

Olivia post Aristocats

The wonderful music, cast, and all around charm, makes The Aristocats one of my top rated Disney films.
The interview with the Sherman brothers was fun and informative, but the "Virtual Kitty game" was not much to write home about. I would probably pay for this movie (my dad got this for us).

Five stars.

Viola review: The Aristocats

The Aristocats is one of my favorite Disney animated classics. What with the charming artwork, wonderful story, and great music by the Sherman Brothers, this film is almost irresistible. It’s a story about four cats, Duchess and her three kittens, who live in the lap of luxury. When they find themselves stranded in the outskirts of Paris, their only hope of returning home is the assistance of Thomas O’Malley the alley cat.

I’ve had the pleasure of viewing the recently released DVD before it hit the shelves. The film has been brilliantly restored and the bonus features are wonderful. There’s also a deleted song called “She Never Felt Alone.” There is also a DVD-ROM feature called “Virtual Kittens”, which was boring for a preteen such as myself, but would be entertaining for younger children.

All in all, this DVD is great family fun.