Yesterday we had the privilege of hosting Pelican House Productions, the film company behind General Education. If you’re a fan of quirky comedies, this is one that you will want to see in August.

One of the reasons that we hosted Pelican House is that a founder, Elliot Feld, used to be a student at our school and it’s great to see a Hurricane come back to share experiences with current students. Their group did a great job of talking to students about how to pursue goals and how to work as a professional. Over and over again they talked about taking opportunities as they came, but also learning how to say no to things that didn’t line up with their goals.

They were very approachable and related well with the students. They put on a marathon presentation schedule yesterday, but were good sports about it and were happy to meet with as many students as they could. More than once they mentioned to me how much they wanted to give back to the community.

As co-writers of the screenplay, they had great insight into how to create a story that would not only translate well to the screen but would emotionally connect the audience to the subject matter. A big lesson for the students was that planning is free and crucial. The more effectively you plan, the more money you save. Each day filming translates into money. These guys had a budget to shoot for 18 days, not 90 like a blockbuster. Also, you have to be super-planned because it’s not just you and some friends messing around with a video camera. When filming the graduation scene in General Education, 500+ people were on set. Without planning, the movie would have  ground to a halt in the chaos. It was great hearing the producer talk about his role in organizing things ahead of time.

Check out the movie trailer here and marvel at the cast they have listed at IMDB. They can be reached on Twitter at @PHPfilm and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pelicanhouseproductions. Message them to schedule a visit. It’s well worth your time.

This matches up extremely well with Lost Boy, Lost Girl to compare fiction and nonfiction about the Second Sudanese Civil War. While Linda Sue Park says this is fiction, she does mention how closely she based it on the real Salva Dut’s life. Like in Lost Boy, Lost Girl, the depiction of human perseverance in spite of horrible circumstances is amazing.

The really cool part about Long Walk is that it has an interwoven story from 2009 with an update on how southern Sudan is doing. What I love is that Salva Dut, just like John Bul Dau, hasn’t just enjoyed his time in the United States; he has gone on to found Water for South Sudan, an organization to install wells for clean water. Go check them out.

I am convinced that Ken Oppel is required by contract to have at least one weird creature in his books. We’ve had flying cats, lonely bats, and maybe even mutated rats (that last one I may be wrong on, but it rhymes, so I’m keeping it).

In This Dark Endeavor, though, the creatures are real. Some are rare, but they still exist. That’s what I love most about the book. Yes, it’s a prequel to Frankenstein and it’s all about alchemy, but the chemistry and the biology stay pretty realistic.

Victor Frankenstein, creator of the famous monster, is the protagonist and the narrator. What is interesting is that Victor is deeply brooding – which, little known fact, is also a requirement by contract for YA characters. Oppel does a good job setting up the man who will try to conquer death itself through science. I guess that’s part of the trend of the “when they were young” books that are coming out; we get to see the origins of well-known characters.
The downside of that trend, though, is that those books sometimes rely too heavily on prior knowledge from the original source. While I benefited from having read the original Frankenstein, students that have read only This Dark Endeavor were still able to understand and appreciate what was going on. In fact, some went on to check out the original.

Having a semi-villain for a protagonist makes for an interesting romance. Normally, you cheer for the hero to win their love, but this time he’s trying to steal from his brother, we know he’s making things worse, and can’t quite endorse what he’s doing. It’s definitely not your normally love story.

Oppel succeeds in making the Frankensteins seem like a real family from history and the characters are the backbone of the story. Students who like adventure stories and won’t be daunted by an 18th-century setting will enjoy it.

To find your second article, log into Destiny and click on EBSCO Host and then Biography Reference Center. Search for your person there.

Read the article found here and be prepared to summarize the main points about the important leadership characteristics. While your class is reading The Girl Who Owned a City, you’ll be looking for these characteristics in the children who have survived the plague.