Go-Go-Go-Godzilla Word Game!

Hollywood

Just the word "Hollywood" brings to mind sparkly stars. That's what we call "word association" and for my blog today, I think it would be awesome to play the WA game! Did you know that actors take Improv classes where they have to create the script on the spot? They often do this through WA-style games.

Here's the rules: You MUST type in the word that first comes to mind at the moment you see the last one on the page. So if Bandit is the last word and you automatically think of a hairdryer, then you have to write "Hairdryer" in the comments. That's why this game can be so funny and how so many professional comedians like Jim Carrey, Drake Bell, Josh Peck and Miranda Cosgrove can ad-lib with hilarious results.

Okay, so I'll start here to give y'all a look at how this works and let you finish in the comments:

Twilight: Vampires

Vampires: Lestat

Lestat: New Orleans

New Orleans: Flood

Flood: Disaster Movie

Disaster Movie: Godzilla

Godzilla:


Okay, now it's your turn! Have a blast!

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Twilight - Fantasy or Horror?

The big word for 2009? Twilight.

While vampire stories used to be strictly considered horror, lines between genres seem to be blurring. But Stephenie Meyer's Twilight still didn't make the top 25 with fantasy readers. (It came in at #31.)

According to this list of the Top 100 Fantasy books, the real favorite was -
Ta-da! The Lord of the Rings, which ranked at #1.

I admit, I didn't read many from the list either. How many did you read? (Well, seeing the movie counts for something, right?)

And what is Twilight - horror or fantasy?

Here's the top 10 Fantasies with older and some new authors:

1 Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein
2 Harry Potter series, JK Rowling
3 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkein
4 Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan
5 A Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
6 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
7 The Belgariad Series - David Eddings
8 Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind
9 Magician - Raymond E. Feist
10 His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman

** Your turn: What's your favorite fantasy book? (Or movie?)

Challenged

Pam's terrific post on Huck Finn got me thinking. I'll bet there are many other challenged books that would surprise people. It's not just small towns from a decade ago doing the banning, either, as in the movie Footloose (Does anyone still know that movie?) - I get several challenges each year on materials for teens in the library. While I do respond in a nice way to patrons who complain, I have not yet removed an item, and am lucky to have support in that decision from my director. But - lots of school and public library folks lose their jobs over this kind of thing - even today!

The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom publishes a list each year of the most challenged books from the year before, and the reasons the books are challenged. Here's the most recent one - how many have you read?

The 10 most challenged books of 2007 (ranked in order) reflect a range of themes, and are:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language
4. The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain Reasons: Racism
6. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,
7. TTYL, by Lauren Myracle Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou Reasons: Sexually Explicit
9. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

There's Huck Finn at #5! This is the first year in a while that Harry Potter has not made the list, and I think Golden Compass took its place with the popularity of the movie. I'd be surprised if Twilight did not make the list for 2008. I've found that tell folks a book is challenged only makes people want to read it more!

-Amy Alessio

Editor, Missing: A Mysterious Gathering of Tales (Echelon Press, 2008)