Tag Archives: alison can read

Feature & Follow #98 – Dream Cast of Under the Never Sky

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Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re a new follower, greetings! I hope you enjoy my blog, and I’d love for you to follow me via LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs, email or RSS. All follow options are in the sidebar. Be sure to let me know how you’re following in the comments so I can return the favor!

This week’s topic is simultaneously fun and super-hard. And here it is:

Activity: Dream cast your current read

Okay. I love playing this game in my head while I’m reading. I love movies, I love film adaptations of books, and I like to play the “what if” game with myself.

But good grief, the books I’m reading now do not make this easy.

First off, the one I’m reading now, I’m just not far enough into it to cast. I’m only about 1/5 of the way through The Knife of Never Letting Go, and I do not know enough about any of the characters to cast them. So I decided to move to the one I just finished, Under the Never Sky. And it is hard.

You’re going to need to forgive me now, because I am just not up on my teen/child actors and actresses. I tried to pick mostly from people I’d seen act in at least something (the glaring exception being Aria), but that means sometimes they’re a bit of a stretch. There’s probably some awesome actors/actresses out there that I’ve never heard of that could do a great job on these roles. And the two child parts – Cinder and Talon – would probably do better with unknown actors. But saying “unknown” is no fun! So here we go.

Aria: Emma Roberts

Photo Credit: http://worldhairstyles.com

Aria is 17, dark-haired, beautiful, and was genetically engineered to be an angelic operatic singer. I haven’t actually seen Emma Roberts in anything, but I’ve heard she’s good, and she looks like I picture Aria. The singing would have to be dubbed though. While Emma Roberts is a passable pop singer, you need to have some serious pipes and be classically trained to pull off Tosca.

Perry: Matt Lauria

Photo Credit: http://www.poptower.com

Perry is 18, blond-haired, muscular, and kind of scary. Let’s just ignore for a minute the fact that Matt’s actually nearly 28 years old. I looked him up thinking he couldn’t possibly be much past his early 20s. So apparently the boy (er, man) ages well. I really enjoyed him on his one season of Friday Night Lights, and while the rugged and savage character of Perry is extremely different from the squeaky-clean Luke Cafferty, I think he could pull it off.

Roar: Zac Efron

Photo Credit: http://www.details.com

PLEASE DON’T HATE ME. No seriously. Roar is described as being dark haired, with movie-star good looks, and is highly charismatic and charming.  So, High School Musical aside, I actually think Zac Efron is a pretty good fit.

Cinder: Joel Courtney

Photo Credit: Rob Sentz photostream at http://www.flickr.com/

Yup, that’s the kid from Super 8. Cinder is supposed to be 12 years old, skeletally thin (so Joel – or any kid cast to play him – would have to lose some weight), and carries around a wariness and sadness with him. I don’t really know of a lot of younger teen actors, but I thought the kids were the best part of Super 8 (the alien sure as heck wasn’t), and I think Joel would make a pretty decent Cinder.

Vale: Hayden Christensen

Photo Credit: http://img.getglue.com

Vale is the leader of the Tides, and Perry’s older brother. I’m pretty sure Hayden Christensen could be made to look related to Matt Lauria. Plus, Star Wars prequel suckage aside, he showed he could play both sympathetic and sinister. We’ll overlook the fact that he overacted a tad (okay, a lot) in Star Wars, because it’s been 7 years since then and I’m assuming he’s matured a bit as an actor.

Rose: Kristin Kreuk

Photo Credit: http://images.starpulse.com

Rose is described as striking, dark and long-limbed, with high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. Now, “dark” could also mean African American, but the almond eyes say Asian to me. I’ve always thought Kristin Kreuk is beautiful and exotic, and I think she could do justice to Rose’s small part.

Marron: Paul Giamatti

Photo Credit: www1.hollywoodreporter.com

Marron is described as round-faced, blond-haired blue-eyed, short, and portly but graceful. Obviously I took some liberties with that, since I couldn’t for the life of me think of anyone who matched that description. Marron struck me as kind and gentle, but also quick-witted and intelligent. Paul Giamatti is an excellent actor, and I’m pretty sure he could handle everything the role requires.

Talon: Jared Gilmore

Photo Credit: http://www.aceshowbiz.com

Okay, I know, he’s 12 and not 7. But he’s small and has dark hair, like Talon. And honestly, I don’t know many (or any) 7-year-old child actors. I actually think he’s mostly not-annoying on Once Upon a Time, and I’m going to assume that a 7-year-old living in a tribe under the Aether would look older than most 7-year-olds in your average 2012 second grade classroom. So I think it works.

Lumina: Julia Roberts

Photo Credit: http://cdn.blogs.sheknows.com

She’s Emma Roberts’ aunt! And they look so much alike! I think that would be a fun cameo.

Consul Hess: Clancy Brown

Photo Credit: http://images.wikia.com/

He’s supposed to be centuries old, but the only place you can tell is his eyes…which means the makeup department would have their work cut out for them. But what you can’t accomplish with makeup is the sinister darkness that needs to be part of the villain of the story. And Clancy Brown can do sinister darkness.

Phew. So those are all the major roles in Under the Never Sky. And that was ridiculously hard. I’m glad I’m not a casting director.

Feature & Follow #96: Books with Strong Mother-Child Relationships

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Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

I LOVED all the followers I gained last week as the feature. Thanks so much to all of you who participated and followed.

If you’re here for the hop, please follow via RSS, email, LinkyFollowers or Networked Blogs. All the options are in my sidebar. If you leave a comment letting me know you’re following, I’ll make sure to follow you in return. And if you decide to be SUPER-awesome and put my button in your sidebar, let me know and I’ll return the favor.

If you’re a pre-existing follower, hi! [waves]

And now for this week’s question:

This Sunday in the U.S. is Mother’s Day. In celebration, what are some of your favorite books with strong mother/child relationships?

This question was harder than it sounds. I’ve been thinking recently that most of the books I read lack strong parental relationships. It makes me kind of sad, especially since I’m a mom and would love for my kids to have some great books to read when they get older that exemplify a strong mother-child (and specifically mother-daughter) relationship.

That said, here’s a few I thought of:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The relationship between Marmee and her daughters is beautiful. The strong love between them is nearly palpable. She is their rock, their example, their leader, and their friend. This is one of the few examples I can think of where the children are never embarrassed or frustrated with their mother. They admire her and strive to emulate her as they grow up. I’d have a hard time coming up with a better example of what a mother-child relationship should be.

 

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. There are at least two excellent examples of mothers in this series. The first is the obvious example of Molly Weasley. She dotes on her children and their friends, loves them unconditionally, and protects them fiercely. The second is Lily Potter, who Harry doesn’t even remember, but who possessed a love for him that was so strong, it defeated the most powerful dark wizard who ever lived.

 

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. In this book, we learn that Claire willingly gave up her life with Jamie, the love of her life, to protect her daughter, Brianna. She left behind her husband and soulmate to face certain death, then raised their daughter for the next 20 years never knowing her father. It takes Brianna a long time to understand the extent of what her mother did for her, but we, the readers, understand the depth of Claire’s love for Brianna that led her to such a significant sacrifice.

 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. This isn’t a “real” mother-daughter relationship, as Marilla initially requests Anne from the orphanage as a hired hand, and not as an adopted child. However, as Anne gradually wins her over, the bond between them slowly grows and deepens. Ultimately, the loving relationship between Anne and Marilla becomes strong enough to rival that of any biological mother-daughter pair.

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Kind of like with Dragonfly in Amber, Tris spends the majority of this book having no idea what her mother has done, and is willing to do, for her. Their relationship isn’t bad, but it’s not great. However, by the end, Tris is astounded by the inner strength that her mother possesses, and what she has sacrificed in her own life in order to be the kind of mother she wanted Tris to have.

 

I realized after putting this list together that the main themes in all these mother-child relationships are selflessness and sacrifice, accompanied by unconditional love.  I’d say that’s a pretty good summary of what it takes to be a mother.

Happy almost-Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

 

Feature & Follow #95 (featuring ME!): One Thing to Tell My Favorite Author

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It’s an exciting day!

[Why is it an exciting day, Lauren?]

It’s exciting because I discovered that I was selected to be (i.e. volunteered/begged to be) the Feature for this week’s Feature & Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read! Huzzah!

I’m sorry. I’m not normally quite this cheesy, holding imaginary conversations with myself and all. I do actually yell “huzzah” pretty regularly, though.

Please don’t be sorry you’re following me.

Anyway, to Parajunkee and Alison, thanks so much for hosting and using your powers for good to drive traffic over here to my little blog.

If this is your first time here, welcome! I hope you like what I have to say. And if you’re one of my established followers (or The Elite, as I refer to you in my head), thanks for bearing with me through my rambling.

Follow via whatever method you’d like: email, RSS, LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs. They’re all over there in the sidebar like a little follow buffet. Be sure to leave me a comment letting me know how you’re following so I can return the favor. If you’re feeling really promote-y, you can also grab my button from the sidebar and put it up on your blog. That would be rad.

BEHOLD, THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

What is one thing you wish you could tell your favorite author?

Oh my word. *headdesk* This isn’t fair. It’s too hard. I don’t even know who my favorite author is, much less what I’d tell them. Who came up with this question so I can glare at them menacingly?

[glares at Ali]

*sigh*

Okay, step one is picking my favorite author, which is not so easy. Some of my favorite books are written by authors who have only written a couple books, or only one series. So how do I know if I like everything they write or just that small sampling? Some of my favorite books are written by authors who have written other books I didn’t like, so I guess that means they’re not my favorite authors. And how do I compare authors who write adult sci-fi to authors who write YA fantasy? Both are genres I love, but it’s apples and oranges.

You know what? Screw this. I’m not picking my favorite author. The question doesn’t actually say I have to reveal who my favorite author is, and in the spirit of living by the letter of the law (that’s an oxymoronic statement if there ever was one), I’m not going to. Let’s just say there is a whole slew of authors that I adore and whose brains I would pick to smithereens if I could.

(Can you pick something to smithereens? Let’s just assume that’s a thing).

They include J.K. Rowling, Lauren Oliver, Orson Scott Card, Robin Hobb, Suzanne Collins, Myra McEntire, Michael Crichton, and probably many others that I’m forgetting. I love the stories they tell, the characters they introduce, and the worlds they create; but what’s more, I love the way they use words to accomplish this. Lots of books can be enjoyable and have good characters and an interesting story, but not all are actually written in a way that draws me into the world. I don’t always care about the characters I read about. I don’t always feel immersed in the world they live in. I don’t always put down a book wondering what happened next, even though I know the characters aren’t real.

But these authors have all created worlds and characters that I miss when I finish the book. I wonder about them. I care about them.

So to take the question literally, “what do you wish you could tell your favorite author,” there’s actually not much I’d want to tell them, besides “You’re awesome.” But that’s probably nothing they haven’t heard before.

If I can modify the question slightly to “what do you wish you could ask your favorite author(s),” I would ask them, how do they write characters and worlds in a way that makes me care? How do they get inside their characters’ heads? How do they write a world that completely absorbs my senses? (I know, that looks like 3 questions, but it’s really just one: “How do you make readers care?”)

Maybe it’s just one of those intangible gifts, where there is no technique; it just comes naturally to them. But if there is a method to their glorious madness, I would like to know what it is.

Thanks for stopping by!