Enchanted

Walt Disney Productions (Producer) & Lima, K. (Director). (Released November 21, 2007). Enchanted. [Motion picture]. United States: Walt Disney Studios.

· Plot Summary
Princess Gisselle dreams about finding the prince that will give her true love's kiss, one with whom she can spend her happy ever after. Unfortunately, when she crosses paths with Prince Edward and assumes he is this oerfect mate, his step-mother has other plans. Gisselle is jettisoned from her ideal existence in Andalasia to the scary streets of New York City, where she is rescued by six-year-old Morgan and her father, Robert. As Gisselle attempts to find a way back home, and the cast of Andalasia ends up in New York along with her, she shows cynical Robert that there can be such a thing as a happy ending. Even if it occurs with the most unlikely of men, and under the most bizarre of circumstances.

· Critical Evaluation
Suitable for this age group because of the comedic content, and the satirical slant on Disney's line of previous "Princess" films. A wonderful cast really brings the characters to life, the songs are engaging, and some of the lines are the sort you'll be quoting for days after watching. Case in point: "It's good!" as only a chipmunk can say it.

· Reader’s Annotation
Not recommended for children under the age of 10, because they won't understand a lot of the humor, and not advisable for tweens that have been involved in recent divorce proceedings, because sometimes things don't always work out as they do for the couple Gisselle meets in Richard's firm.

· Genre
Fantasy

· Booktalking Ideas
Satire and parody as a literary art form.
Musicals in modern film.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 5 and Up

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
I'm a huge fan of satire, and while I refrain from seeing every movie Disney produces because I have issues with their cooperate slant, this comedy seemed like it might have a higher calibre of humor than most movies for this age group.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (DVD)

Yates, D. (Director) (Released December 11, 2007). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. [Motion picture]. Great Britain: Warner Brothers Studios.

· Plot Summary
Whereas Hogwart's used to be Harry's refuge, in this installment of the world-famous series, the Quidditch-playing protagonist is forced to come face-to-face with his greatest adversary, Lord Voldemort. Still suffering from the death of his friend Cedric, Harry finds Hogwart's a much different place. Dumbledore is forced out of his position as Head Master, replaced by the wicked Dolores Umbridge, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic. Due to the reemergence of Voldemort, the secret organization to whom Harry's parents once belonged is revived, and gives the film its name. Characters met in the fourth installment are brought back, new ones introduced, and Harry's godfather, Sirius, finally murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. In the end, it is up to Harry and his fellow students to save their beloved school.

· Critical Evaluation
In this adaptation of the novel, we see many of the special effects that have carried the films thus far, somewhat at the risk of the original story. Several of the implements used by the Ministry of Magic, devices that made the novel a lively read, are absent from this adaptation. The movie was the shortest of its kind, although the book was the longest in the series. The battle of wands between Voldemort and Dumbledore is meant to be the exciting climax of the film, but comes across as something better left to B-movies than this series.

· Reader’s Annotation
More or less truthful adaptation of the book, though lacking in some of the finer elements. Suitable for someone that has already read the books and just wants to enjoy an amusing film or fantasy enthusiasts.

· Genre
Fantasy

· Booktalking Ideas
Importance of friendship.
Wizards and magic in legend.
Mythical creatures and cryptozoology.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 4-9/Ages 8-14

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
This was my favorite book of the series, and I had hoped the movie would be truer to the novel. I had not seen this film in theaters, because my daughter was not in town when it came out.

Hotel for Dogs

Freudenthal, T. (Director). (Released January 16, 2009). Hotel for Dogs. [DVD]. United States: Dream Works Pictures.

· Plot Summary
Siblings Andi and Bruce are stuck in a foster parent nightmare, living with rocker couple wannabes Carl and Lois Scudder. This is their fifth attempt at living with a foster family, and their social worker, Bernie, is starting to lose hope. The two are not the only ones without family though, and have been hiding a rat terrier named Friday away for three years. While looking for their runaway pet, Andi and Bruce meet local pet shop employees Dave and Heather, but it comes to light that Friday has been taken in by the pound.
Just as Andi tries to convince her brother that they need to find Friday a new home, the two flee police and wander into the abandoned Francis Drake Hotel. The place is a treasure trove, and also the hideout for the local homeless dog population. Eventually enlisting Dave and Heather in their plan, along with another local kid (Mark), the two are able to turn the hotel in a canine playground.
In the end, the dogs teach the entire neighborhood about the nature of family. The siblings are taken in by Bernie and his wife, and many of the dogs find homes with residents that learn of the dog's plight as they are hunted by over jealous pound employess.

· Critical Evaluation
What starts out as two kids trying to help those less fortunate than them, turns into a lesson in honesty and love. Andi resorts to a series of elaborate lies to cover for her dog family, and the fact she lacks a human one. Overall, a much better film that I first expected, with valuable lessons.

· Reader’s Annotation
Great movie for all animal lovers, as well as adults seeking positive, motivated, representations of tweens.

· Genre
Fiction

· Booktalking Ideas
Animals and dealing with the homeless population.
Effect of the family welfare system on siblings.
Problem with placement of older orphans.

· Interest Age
9-14

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
DVD was released during a period when I had the flu, and needed to be entertained. My daughter enjoyed the movie in the theatre, and thought it would be a pick-me-up. I was skeptical, but this film turned out to be more than just another cheesy tween comedy. I was especially glad to see that while there were moments of romantic humor, it never became a movie about two characters falling for one another. It remained a movie about determined tweens on a mission to help animals.

Hocus Pocus

Ortega, K. (Director). (Released June 4, 2002). Hocus Pocus. [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney Studios.

· Plot Summary
Max Dennison and his little sister (Dani) are new in Salem, the town that has become synonymous worldwide with the idea of witchcraft. Max believes it's all a joke, especially when it comes to the legend of the Sanderson sisters, a trio executed in 1693 for sucking the life out of children. The legend goes on to say that Winifred cursed the town, and that if a virgin were to light a notorious black flame candle held in their home, the witches would return. Unable to resist the temptation of seeing the house for himself, Max breaks in with his sister, and the prettiest girl in Max's class, Allison. When Max lights the candle, and the sisters do return, it turns out to be a Halloween to remember.

· Critical Evaluation
An oddly macabre/enjoyable twist on the horrifying event that was the Salem Witch Trials. Max, Dani, and Allison must fight the Sanderson sisters in almost every corner of Salem, but the sequences at the Halloween party attended by Max's parents and the confrontation with Winifred's ex lover (Billy), are almost enough to make the movie worth watching. Best of all, Max and his fearless hunters are able to reunite Thackery Binx (who Winifred cursed into being an immortal black cat), with his little sister, Sarah.

· Reader’s Annotation
Good film for seeing how tween boys interact with their younger siblings. Max and Binx are both positive role models for boys, a rare thing in today's cinema. The young cast is gifted, and often fare better with their lines than the adults, with the possible exception of Bette Midler.

· Genre
Fantasy

· Curriculum Ties
History (Point out actual events v Hollywood dramatization)

· Booktalking Ideas
Halloween
Paranormal
Boy interests

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 9-14

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
I've always been keenly interested in the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, and in fact when I was able to choose the family vacation destination at age 15, Salem was one of the places I insisted we visit. The sad circumstances of the victims aside, however, Salem is a beautiful location. I wanted to see if again, and film was the only way. The scenes in this movie didn't disappoint, and the story is delightful. I plan to purchase it on DVD so it can become a part of my annual Halloween tradition.

The Golden Compass

Weitz, C. (Director). (Released April 29, 2008). The Golden Compass. [Motion picture]. United States: New Line Cinema.

· Plot Summary
Lyra Belacqua lives in Oxford, but in an alternate version of the world where people's souls live outside their bodies in the forms of animals known as daemons. As children, these souls are constantly changing their animal forms from one to another, and stabilization only happens upon the reaching of adulthood. Lyra is an orphan, but her uncle (Lord Asriel), a visiting professor at the organization known as the Magisterium, has come to present startling evidence as to the existence of a substance known as Dust. When the college agrees to fund an expedition in search of the substance, Lyra is given permission to accompany the beautiful Mrs.Coulter, as her assistant. Lyra is giving the last remaining device known as an alethoimeter, which in the hands of a trained reader, can provide the answer to any question. Unbeknownst to Lyra, Mrs.Coulter is in league with the Gobblers, a group of individuals that are kidnapping children in order to run experiments in the hopes of separating the children from their daemons. Lyra escapes from Mrs.Coulter, but must now rescue her uncle before the Magisterium officials can complete their plans, and kill him. With the assistance of her best friend, an armored polar bear (Lorek Byrnison), an aeronaut (Lee Scoresby), a witch (Serafina Pekkala), and a group known as the Gyptians, Lyra manages to infiltrate the lab where the children are being held, and destroy the separation machine. The children are returned to their families, and Lyra has learned that Mrs. Coulter and Asriel are her parents, but she must now go save her father from the people still assisting her mother.

· Critical Evaluation
An interesting interpretation of the nature of humanity, and the idea of the human soul. The Magisterium is a hierarchal organization that is modeled after the Catholic Church, although it is unlikely that most tweens would immediately make the connection. Having the soul in the form of animals is a key concept.

· Reader’s Annotation
The director considered this film to be a watered-down adaptation, and the last three chapters from the novel are removed from this film version to be used instead in the next film. The obvious correlations between the Church and the Magisterium caused some amount of controversy when the film was being made, but Nicole Kidman (one of the film's stars) is a follower of the Catholic religion and chose to take a starring role when offered.

· Booktalking Ideas
Hierarchal organizations and their influence on history and people.
Worldwide views on the soul.
The role of animals in literature.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 7-9/Ages 12-14

· Challenge Issues
As shown above, issues surrounding the novel also followed the motion picture when it was being created. The abuse of power by a hierarchy and the rejection of religion that be said to result, are two controversial topics. As with many other fantasy productions, it may be pointed out that this is a work of fiction, and not meant to convey any special or hidden meaning to the viewer.

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
From the reviews I saw when the movie came out, it looked visually stunning. The characters appeared to be out of the norm, and Lyra stood out as a positive role model for this age group.

Coraline

Selick, H. (Director). (Released July 21, 2009). Coraline. [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Studios.

· Plot Summary
Based on the book by the same name, Coraline is the story of a tween girl that has moved into a dilapidated house in a rural area with her parents, authors that write gardening books. With nothing else to do, she begins to roam the property surrounding the house, meeting a circus performer that lives upstairs, a pair of sisters who once worked on Vaudeville, and a boy around her own age named Why Born. Wybie, as he is called, finds an old doll in his grandmother's attic and gifts it to Coraline. Unknown to them, the doll once belonged to the grandmother's sister, who went mysteriously missing when they were children. When Coraline finds an equally mysterious door to another dimension in her living room, she comes face to face with the eery dopplegangers of her own parents, beings that called themselves "Other Mother" and "Other Father". Unlike Coraline's real parents, however, the Others possess buttons for eyes. They give Coraline everything she wants, and try to convince her to change her eyes as well, but it is left to a wily cat that haunts the gardens to save Coraline from the Other Mother and her scheme to imprison Coraline unto death, as she has several other children.

· Critical Evaluation
A true adaptation of the book by Neil Gaiman, an eery and fascinating film made all the more so by stop-motion photography. The vivid colors and whimsical scenes are in striking contrast to the dark natures of the characters.

· Reader’s Annotation
Good for those readers that enjoyed the original novel, though some tweens might have trouble with the content in this form.

· Booktalking Ideas
Neil Gaiman lovers event.
Horror for tweens and effects in the genre.
Concept of the Other in literature.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 4-9/Ages 9-14

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
I read the novel when it first came out, and enjoyed it a lot more than I had anticipated. I was amazed it took as long as it did for the film version to come out, but was delighted with the use of stop-motion.

Nim's Island (DVD)

Flackett, J. & Levin, M. (Directors). (2008). Nim's Island. [Motion picture]. United States: 20th Century Fox.

· Plot Summary
Since the death of her mother, Nim has lived on a remote island in the South Asiastic Sea with her father/scientist, Jack Russo. Her friends are the animals that populate the island, and enjoys the shipments from the mainland that her father orders, particularly the action novels of Alex Rover. When Nim convinces her father to let her remain on the island while he seeks a species of plankton he calls Protozoa Nim, and Jack fails to return as planned, she is dismayed. Believing her father's stories of pirates to be true, a group of cruise ship tourists fall victim to Nim's inventive means for protecting her island from their settling. In the meantime, the real Alex(andra) Rover is living in New York, but refuses to leave her own house-a victim of agoraphobia. Alex contacts Jack regarding the volcano on the island as part of her research for a new book, and ends up in communication with Nim. With no other resource, Alex manages to leave her home, board a plane, and brave the wilds of the nearby villages to find Nim's location. After reaching the island, Nim does not at first believe Alex is who she claims to be, but eventually warms to the slightly rattled author. Jack returns with his sample, but only after being aided by a wily pelican, and the duo becomes a trio.

· Critical Evaluation
Eleven year-old Nim is spunky and brave, the kind of girl that can survive the wilds, but is naive to the world outside her own. Her "rescue" by Alex makes for first rate humor, and the reunion at the film's end is heartwarming without being gratuitously so.

· Reader’s Annotation
One of those rare films for tweens that does not try to make the main character act as though she is less than nine or more than sixteen. Nim is enjoyable, and her reactions in keeping with the events as they unfold.

· Booktalking Ideas
Asiatic Sea and life within it
Famous island discoveries

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 4-8/Ages 9-13

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
Honestly, I watched this film because of the actors and actresses in it, more than the plot. That this movie turned out to be a gem was just the icing on the cake.

Aquamarine (DVD)

Allen, E. (Released June 13, 2006). Aquamarine. [Motion picture]. United States: 20th Century Fox Studios.

· Plot Summary
Hilary and Claire are lifelong friends, but at the end of the Summer, Hailey finds out that her mother plans to move away from their beloved Florida. The girls make a wish that will enable them not to be separated, a tropical storm hits the region, and fills the swimming pool at the hotel owned by Hilary's grandparents. When the girls discover that the storm has landed a real mermaid in the pool, they resort to keeping her a secret. Aquamarine has legs everyday until sundown, except on those occasions when she is in the water, and eventually falls literally head over heels for local hunk, Raymond. Finally, Aquamarine returns to her oceanic home, but grants her friend's wish in a way that will allow all three girls to be reunited in the future.

· Critical Evaluation
A quirky romp suitable for girls in the early tweens years. A good resolution to the dilemma faced by all three girls. Suffers some by lack of acting experience on the parts of some of the thespians, but probably not sufficiently to keep tweens from being amused.

· Reader’s Annotation
Based on information gained about the novel, this adaptation does not seem true to the original source material. If the reader of Hoffman's novel is hoping for a true version, they will not find it in this film.

· Genre
Fiction, Fantasy

· Booktalking Ideas
Mermaids and other sea creatures in myth and legend.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 4-6/Ages 9-11

· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
This was a DVD my daughter owned, but I had been previously disappointed by the adaption of Hoffman's novel, Practical Magic, so I was in no rush to see this when it came out. From what I can determine, Hoffman's novel may again be far removed from this version, in that Aquamarine begins to die from her time outside the ocean, and must be moved about in a wheelchair.