Lunedì Letterario

New Movies from Kid's Books

This season there are two movies out that are based on novels for young readers.

Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
Young Adult Novel
2005

A couple of girls in my class are really caught up in the movie hype and the text of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. (They are reading it in Italian.) I read it in English over the New Year holiday, and while I enjoyed the plot with it's unfolding storyline, it did not grab my interest enough to want to read the other three books in the series. One volume of a teenage human and vampire love story set in 21st Century rural Washington State in the US was enough for me. I don't anticipate seeing the movie. However, throughout the book, the values of family, respect, integrity and purity are all very important. I suspect that the author is a Mormon (she graduated from Brigham Young University and has three sons with Old Testament names) and these are values that are at the core of her tradition.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

by John Boyne
Young Adult Novel
2007

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas has been called a parable by the author John Boyne The jacket blurb states: "When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences." 

I encourage everyone over the age of 12 to read this novel. It is a fast read and will give you many things to ponder. I am looking forward to seeing the movie.