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 Booksmart (2019)
Booksmart (2019)
2019 | Comedy
"Superbad" For A New Generation
Booksmart is a 2019 coming-of-age comedy directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. It was produced by Annapurna Pictures and Gloria Sanchez Productions and distributed by United Artists Releasing. The movie stars Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, and Jason Sudeikis.


Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are high school seniors and best friends. Molly confronts some of her peers when she overhears them making fun of her in the bathroom and tells them how she got into a good school. They, however, reveal that despite partying, they too got into good colleges. Angered, Molly tells Amy that they should have enjoyed their time in high school more and convinces her to go to an end-of-year party. Determined to make up for lost time, they decide to cram four years of fun into one night.


This movie was hilariously funny and full of funny relatable characters. It reminded me a lot of Superbad, but a female version. The main characters had awesome chemistry and you wind up liking them right away and the situations they find themselves in border on the absurd. This film definitely delivers on the laughs but it also makes some solid points about friendship and acceptance. It's full of femininity being that both the main characters, the director, and writers were all women, but I'm sure anyone would think this film is humorous. Olivia Wilde did an amazing job in her directorial debut.
  
Making Friends with Alice Dyson
Making Friends with Alice Dyson
Poppy Nwosu | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I adored this book! When I saw the title and read the description I was immediately drawn to it: first, my name is Alice and the protagonist's name is Alice (probably a selfish reason but hey), I also saw so much of myself in this character even from reading the description that I knew that we would click because I was also kind of a nerd and an outcast at school. It's also Australian so that meant that I got to pull out my best Australian accent while reading it (I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's a good or bad thing). I related quite strongly to a lot of Alice's high school experiences and I loved how she was able to gain confidence and grow throughout the story. I think my enjoyment at the start was maybe hampered by me trying to read too many books at once because I ended up just sitting down and inhaling the rest of it in one sitting. I also LOVE Teddy Taualai but that goes without saying (I love almost all sweet but angsty teenage boy characters, they are the way to my heart)! I also love that it tackled first love, first friendships and just general high school drama. This book wasn't perfect but I related so strongly to it that I have to show it all the love!
  
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ClareR (5686 KP) rated Q: The Novel in Books

Jul 11, 2021  
Q: The Novel
Q: The Novel
Christina Dalcher | 2020 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Q is set in the near future - or even an alternative ‘Now’. To say that this made me feel supremely uncomfortable would be an understatement. I kept picking it up, reading a bit, and then putting it down - until I got to the last half of the book where I basically inhaled it.

As a parent and a teacher, I found this novel really disturbing. The author has taken where we are now in our education system, and ramped it up to its most exaggerated end point. And it still didn’t seem completely over the top.

In Q’s reality, children are divided up in to their academic ability and put into one of three tiered schools - Silver, Green or Yellow. It’s a relatively new system, and for teacher Elena Fairchild, it’s a dream to teach in a top tier school, where the children are all motivated and high achieving. But when Elena’s youngest daughter is demoted from a Green to a Yellow school, Elena’s loyalty to the education system starts to disintegrate. And when her husband, who works in a senior position in the education department, refuses to save his daughter from being sent hundreds of miles away to a Yellow State boarding school, Elena decides to act.

Ooh, how I loved this. Yes, it’s uncomfortable reading. Yes, it has Eugenics written large all over it (And Elena’s grandmother even warns her and tells her about her youth under the Nazi regime). And yes, it’s uncomfortably close to reality.
But it was a gripping read with a satisfying end. I would recommend it!
  
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Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Game in Books

Aug 4, 2020  
The Game
The Game
Linsey Miller | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

The game is known by many names - Assassin, Tag, Human vs. Zombies. The ways to "kill" vary greatly - water gun, dart gun, steal a spoon, steal a rag, etc. The one constant is the concept of the game - people join a game in which someone is ordered to "kill" either a specific target or a different team. The winner is the one left standing.

The Game by Linsey Miller is a YA version of a 1982 movie, Tag: The Assininasion Game. In both, the game becomes deadly, when one of the players decides to "kill" the players in real life.

Miller moves the age group to High School seniors playing the yearly game before graduation. Lia has been following in her brother's shadow and knows Assassin is her opportunity to outshine her brother's record in the game. She has been planning this for years by following and gathering information about her classmates' schedules, hobbies, paths to school, etc. She makes the perfect fall guy for a killer who uses Lia's detailed notes to track down their targets.

Readers in middle school would enjoy the story. While enjoyable, the story felt short and would need "more" to attract older YA readers.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/3/20.
  
    BasketEditor Playbook  Free

    BasketEditor Playbook Free

    Sports and Health & Fitness

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    "Every General needs a Map, Lead your Team" FUNCTIONALITIES * Easy Coaching Design your basketball...

A Celebration of Autumn (Mariana Books Rhyming #3)
A Celebration of Autumn (Mariana Books Rhyming #3)
Roger Carlson | 2020 | Children
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have you wanted your child or children to learn about the seasons? Most if not all children know there are four seasons in a year. I just read another book that deals with the season we call "Fall" called "Autumn." The book's name is "A Celebration of Autumn" by Roger Carlson.

The book talks about the month changing and temperatures drop. "A Celebration of Autumn" is the third book in the series. What a fun way for this book to start. The first paragraph in this book is below:

When August fades and turn to September,
and you start to feel a nip in the air;
it can only mean one thing:
Autumn is nearly there!

Children will learn about the season. They will also learn to rhyme as well. Kids will want their older siblings or parents to read this book repeatedly if it's not a favorite already. What fun activities can children come up with that goes on during this season. The illustrations are colorful and bright. The colors remain shown and represented nicely throughout the book.

I know they mention two autumn holidays that we celebrate during this time. Can you name them? We have fun and games for one and the other we get together as a family to have a meal. Autumn is when children are getting ready to go to school or started school for the year. I am surprised the school does not get a mention in the book. It deals with the different seasonal changes and temperatures that we deal with this season.
  
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    1+1

    Education and Games

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    1+1 helps to teach children how to add numbers from 1 to 10. The app doesn’t use any words, so the...

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Spider-Man is successfully integrated into the Marvel cinematic universe, teasing great future films and establishing an awesome first villain for Peter and giving him the normal high school struggles of a real teenager (0 more)
There is some frustration to be said about Spider-Man suit being too high tech and not solely created by Peter, but his webslingers and superstrength alone when his suit was taken is still redeeming for the film. (0 more)
Pretty Solid MCU Intro Solo Movie