October Baby

I saw this Easter weekend with my mom, dad, and little sister. It's rated PG-13 and is 107 minutes long.

I went into the movie not knowing much about it other than this: A young girl gets hurt somehow, goes to the doctor, and finds out that she was an attempted abortion. (In other words, her mom tried and it didn't work.) That's all you really need to know about it in order to go see it. And from pretty much moment one, it hooks you and drags you in.

Hannah has had health problems her whole life- asthma, various surgeries, epilepsy- and she learns that they are all connected. She goes on a journey with her best friend (Jason) to find her birth mom and to figure out who she is. She meets various people along the way who help her figure out her story. (I mean, who can say no to a girl who says she is the survivor of an abortion.)

I thought the movie was very well done- it was tasteful, and probably only rated PG-13 for the sensitive topics. It's definitely a tear-jerker- the scenes between Hannah and her father got me almost every time. (Kudos to John Schneider for that.) It really makes you think about abortion and life and the whole deal with all of that. Obviously, it's a little preachy, but what else would you expect.

I highly enjoyed it, and my mom was a bucket of tears by the end of the movie (even my dad was sniffling!) My little sister liked it, but I don't think she "got" all of it- but then again, she's 12.

It's only available in a limited release right now- so you might have to drive a bit to go see it- we saw it in Des Peres. (Or just see it on DVD... it's one my mom says she'll want and the woman owns like 3 movies... Literally.)

Cool thing- it's based on a true story!

Movies, Life, and everything else

I decided I made it way too confusing on myself to do two blogs, so I'm condensing. That means a smattering of brand new posts!

SO there will be books, movies, life, school, and everything not included in one of those! :)

Author: Andrew Klavan

I stumbled upon Andrew Klavan when deciding which Truman nominee (11-12) to pick first. I was quickly sucked in and devoured all four of his teen series, Homelanders, in a matter of weeks. Upon perusing Amazon, I found that he actually has 16 other books in print and 1 on the way. Yay! Most of the other books seem to be adult novels, but I think I'll try one or two of them this summer and see if they are just as good as his teen series. One of the other novels is Don't Say a Word, like the movie with Michael Douglas- I know that one will be good!

The book that is coming out in May is called Crazy Dangerous. Here is the link to the Amazon summary: Crazy Dangerous.

Sounds pretty good huh? I know I'll be hunting for it at my library this summer!

The Final Hour (4th in a series)

The Final Hour is the fourth and final book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Finally! We get to figure out what happened to Charlie and how he's going to solve the whole mystery and clear his name. Charlie is in prison (after all, everyone thinks he is a murderer) and has a flashback of another planned terrorist attack. He has to figure out how to get out of jail and stop it from happening. Action follows every step- something Klavan is extremely good at.


Honestly, all you have to do is look at the cover and it just draws you in. A plane flown by Charlie through buildings that close? All I wanted to do was read quicker so I could get to that exciting moment. And, of course, I had to know how Charlie would finally clear his name. Klavan did a good job at summing up the story and tying up most of the loose ends. It's still a highly unlikely story... but it leaves you wondering, could it actually happen??? Another good "boy" book--done!

The Truth of the Matter (3rd in a series)

The Truth of the Matter is the third book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Charlie has (up until now) woken up with no memory of the last year of his life, gone home to try to discover more about his situation, found out he's wanted for murder, and found the girlfriend he doesn't remember. Waterman- that's the name that was whispered to him in secret. Now he has to find out who Waterman is and what he has to do with the mystery surrounding Charlie's life.We also get to find out what really happened to Charlie through memory flashbacks!

Suspense and action hang off of every page in this book. Charlie (and the bad guys) never give up trying to either find the truth or stop the truth from coming out. It definitely keeps you guessing. It's another good "boy" book and I'm glad many of my students kept going with the series. (It helped that I kept bugging them to read the books.) I like how we get to find out more about Charlie- I was eagerly waiting for the truth, and I'm glad Klavan finally gave it to us.

The Long Way Home (2nd in a series)

The Long Way Home is the second book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Charlie knows that he is wanted by the police as an accused murderer. He heads back home to try to get some answers. Charlie holes himself up in an abandoned mansion and gets some help from his best friends and the girlfriend he doesn't remember. They play detective and try to get to the bottom of the mystery solving the murder of Charlie's friend from childhood.

This story picks up really soon after The Last Thing I Remember. This wasn't as action-packed as the first book, but you learn a lot more about the Homelanders and Charlie's situation. It's definitely more of a "world-builder" and I appreciated that. There was too much about Charlie's world that we didn't know before. I do like how we learn things as Charlie learns them- it makes it more exciting that way.

Stay tuned for the next two books in the series.

The Last Thing I Remember (1st in a series)

The Last Thing I Remember (TLTIR) is the first in a four part series, The Homelanders, by Andrew Klavan. It's an action adventure series, and TLTIR is a Truman nominee for 2011-2012. Charlie wakes up one day strapped to a chair and has no idea what is going on and who is holding him captive. The last thing he remembers was being at school the day before. Little did he know, it had been a year since that last day at school. The whole book is a struggle for Charlie- trying to remember what happened over the past year and exactly who the Homelanders are.

Good book, full of adventure and action- it was the perfect gateway book for several of my students. The cool thing was that it appealed to both girls and boys. More of my girls actually stuck with the series and continued along. Definitely worth a read!