Coming Soon to a Theater Near You…But First, Check Your Bookshelf!

The holiday season often includes the release of heavily marketed, family-friendly films, many of which are based on popular and award-winning juvenile and young adult fiction. The movie version of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass grabs the spotlight for the month of December, but the coming year will bring a number of film adaptations of children’s stories. The translation from page to screen is tricky, and can draw gasps of delight or spark angry outcries from loyal fans. Even the best adaptation often cannot encompass all of the magic of its print counterpart.

So before you head to the theater, grab a blanket and a bowl of popcorn and curl up with a copy of the original story. The Education and Social Science Library’s School Collection includes copies of most of the juvenile and young adult books being made into films next year, and all of the titles can be found within the University of Illinois library system.

Now Playing (2007 film adaptations)

Blood and Chocolate
Klause, Annette Curtis
Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.
[Education S-Collection: S.K668B]

Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine.
Ten-year-old Jesse Aarons, who has lived all his life on a farm in Virginia, becomes friends with Leslie Burke, a “city girl” who has moved into a farmhouse down the road and opens doors to culture and imaginative play. But then tragedy strikes (Novelist).
[Education S-Collection: S.P273B]

Nancy Drew
Keene, Carolyn
Follow the adventures of the popular young sleuth as she cracks case after case. The first four books of the original series are listed here, and others may be found by conducting an author search in the UIUC online catalog.
The Secret of the Old Clock [Center for Children’s Books: S.K251so1987]
The Hidden Staircase [Education Storage: S.K251hi1930]
The Bungalow Mystery [Education Storage: S.K251B]
The Mystery at Lilac Inn [Education Storage: S.K251ml]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter’s fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is complicated by persecution from a nefarious witch from the Ministry of Magic, Hagrid’s unexplained absence, and an inexplicable and frightening link to Voldemort.
[Education S-Collection: S.R797ho]

Stardust
Gaiman, Neil
In the tranquil fields and meadows of long-ago England, there is a small hamlet that has stood on a jut of granite for 600 years. Just to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here, in the hamlet of Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. And here, one crisp October eve, Tristran makes his love a promise — an impetuous vow that will send him through the only breach in the wall, across the pasture…and into the most exhilarating adventure of his life.
[University High School: Fiction G141st2000]

The Dark is Rising
Cooper, Susan
On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.
[Education S-Collection: S.C787DA]
Coming Soon (Late 2007-2008 film adaptations)

The Golden Compass
Pullman, Philip
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
[Education S-Collection: S.P967n2006]

Persepolis
Satrapi, Marjane
The great-granddaughter of Iran’s last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran in a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life (Novelist).
[University High School: GN Sa83p]

The Spiderwick Chronicles
DiTerlizzi, Tony and Holly Black
When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda’s worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences.
The Field Guide (Bk. 1) [Center for Children’s Books: S.D634f]
The Seeing Stone (Bk. 2) [Center for Children’s Books: S.D634s]
Lucinda’s Secret (Bk. 3) [Education S-Collection: S.D634l]
The Ironwood Tree (Bk. 4) [Education S-Collection: S.D634i]

Horton Hears a Who
Seuss, Dr.
A city of Whos on a speck of dust are threatened with destruction until the smallest Who of all helps convince Horton’s friends that Whos really exist.
[Education Storage: Q.SE.G27ho]

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
Lewis, C.S.
Four children help Prince Caspian and his army of Talking Beasts to free Narnia from evil.
[Education Storage: S.L584PR]

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)
Brashares, Ann
With a bit of last summer’s sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the Sisterhood that wears them embark on their 16th summer. Bridget: Impulsively sets off for Alabama, wanting to both confront her demons about her family and avoid them all at once. Lena: Spends a blissful week with Kostos, making the unexplainable silence that follows his visit even more painful. Carmen: Is concerned that her mother is making a fool of herself over a man. When she discovers that her mother borrowed the Pants to wear on a date, she’s certain of it. Tibby: Not about to spend another summer working at Wallman’s, she takes a film course only to find it’s what happens off-camera that teaches her the most.
[Education S-Collection: S.B736se]

Inkheart
Funke, Cornelia
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can “read” fictional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capricorn, freed from the novel “Inkheart” years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story.
[Education S-Collection: S.F964i]

City of Ember
DuPrau, Jeanne
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
[Education S-Collection: S.D928c]

Where the Wild Things Are
Sendak, Maurice
A naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the wild things where he becomes their king.
[Education S-Collection: SE.SE5W]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince brings us Harry Potter’s sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Lord Voldemort becomes ever more powerful with his followers increasing day by day in this continuing battle between good and evil. Harry searches for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort, and thereby finds what may be his only vulnerability.
[Education S-Collection: S.R797hh]

Tale of Despereaux
DiCamillo, Kate
The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.
[Education S-Collection: S.D547t]

A Note to Eager Fans:
More information about the film versions of these stories, including release dates, cast, trivia, trailers, photos, and more can be found by searching the Internet Movie Database