Scott Westerfeld's new book

Scott Westerfeld, author of "So Yesterday" and the "Uglies" trilogy recently spoke at a conference for librarians and gave some details about his newest book "Extras." It is the fourth book in the "Uglies" trilogy/series and is set in Japan. It takes place three years after the end of "Specials" and has a different main character. There will be some guest stars from the "Uglies" trilogy in the newest book. He said in the world of "Extras," fame has replaced money and face rank is the most important thing (think FaceBook, MySpace, etc.) "Extras" is to fame as "Uglies" is to beauty is the way Scott described it. "Extras" looks like it will be out Oct. 2, 2007. For more information, check out Scott's blog at http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/blog/

The Golden Compass Movie

If you've ever read the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, you'll want to check out this website from the upcoming movie The Golden Compass, the first book in the trilogy. Find out what your daemon is, and if you're saying to yourself, "a what?," visit the website!

Princeton Teen Book Bash

The Princeton Public Library is hosting the Princeton Teen Book Bash on Saturday, May 5 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will be a bunch of young adult authors at the event. You can meet them, hear them read from their books and buy signed copies.

Some of the authors scheduled to appear are K.L. Going ("Fat Kid Rules the World"); Megan McCafferty ("Charmed Thirds"); Blake Nelson ("Paranoid Park"); Maureen Johnson ("13 Little Blue Envelopes"); Ned Vizzini ("It's Kind of a Funny Story"); E. Lockart ("Dramarama"); and more.

Go to www.princeton.lib.nj.us/teens/books/index.html for details.

Movie Review - Little Miss Sunshine

The typical American Family Comedy. We have seen it. A father who strives for his children to make him proud, a mother with depression and anxiety from god-knows what, a suicidal uncle ready to end his time on earth, a drug addicted grandfather who feels no shame in destroying his lungs, a nihilistic teenager who refuses to converse with his family because they are so “uncool”, and an adorable little girl who is more concentrated on her looks than anything else. Have we seen this before? Probably. The lack of unoriginality in such movies like “RV” makes the family comedy genre an Oscar- repellant.

But Little Miss Sunshine changed all that stereotyping once it came into theatres. We have all seen American families have major breakdowns on the silver screen before, but not as entertaining as this. Little Miss Sunshine, with it’s quirky, and out-of-the-box humor, keeps a smirk on its audiences’ faces from start to finish. The fabulous direction by husband-wife duo Jonathan Dayton, and Valerie Farris, and a superb debut screenplay by Michael Ardnt, make this family comedy a complete rival to the ordinary.

With 2 Golden Globe Nominations and popular bids for Oscars, Little Miss Sunshine is truly the surprise comedy of the year. An artsy look at a typical American family that delivers to America, one extremely important moral: No matter how different or weird the members of you family are, they are still your family and that’s all that matters.
By Soham