Most people apparently are as the most requested book in the Nassau County Library System, after Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, is Kathryn Stockett's wonderful debut novel, The Help.

If you are interested in learning more about the author and how she came to write this book club favorite, check out the article in the New York Times.

We got the new Star Trek movie! woot!

This is probably the most amazing thing I've seen made out of Legos that didn't come from a kit. A teenager from Hawaii made Howl's Moving Castle (from the movie of the same name) with some help from his mom - what awesome mother-son bonding! Check out this blog to see more photos.

A while back I posted about the 2009 ALA Teens' Top Ten polls which were open to voters. I just realized, I never posted the results.

So here goes:

1. Paper Towns by John Green
2. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins
6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
7. Wake by Lisa McMann
8. Untamed by PC and Kristin Cast
9. The Disreputable history of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart
10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I think it's a great list. It definitely includes some of my favorites. If you've read Gracling check out Cashore's latest Fire, it's newly published and it's great.

I saw the the premiere and it has some promise. The new show doesn't waste anytime to tell you that the visitors want to take over earth

It sounds like the same old story: classic children's book + hip director + big name stars doing voices = a rash of recent movies. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was a hit, Where the Wild Things Are was a critical darling, but was it really for kids? Fantastic Mr. Fox seems to have gotten the formula right. The book is by well-known author, Roald Dahl, but it's one of his lesser known books. The hip director is Wes Anderson, a personal favorite. And the big name voices include Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and George Clooney. (Can you say foxy?) Finally, the film is animated using classic stop motion techniques, which should remind you of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This is one kids' movie I might actually go see. It's out November 13.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold has been on the 'must read' list for many teens and adults for the past 7 years. Fans are now looking forward to the upcoming film adaptation next month from Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong).

If you haven't already read this touching & unusual novel, we strongly advise you to reserve your copy now before everyone finds out about the movie and wants to check out the book (remember My Sister's Keeper and The Time Traveler's Wife?)

The movie has an amazing cast ~ Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan. Check out the trailer here.

Check out this new PG-13 Horror film movie....The Gate!

I think the picture says it all, but if you want to read the whole post check out Entertainment Weekly's book blog: Shelf Life. This was a response to the movie version of Where the Wild Things Are being more for adults then kids.

Actually, we mean books about zombies.

To get you in the spirit of Halloween (this Saturday), we recommend the following scary, creepy and ghoulish books:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
World War Z: an oral history of the zombie war by Max Brooks
The Zombie Survival Guide: complete protection from the living dead by Max Brooks

If you are interested in more information about the 'zombie craze', check out these articles on the NPR website: Rules of the Undead:Zombies Invade Bookstore and Zombies: Still Undead and Suddenly Everywhere