Most of 'The Hunger Games' Cast (So far...) On Twitter

Most of the cast of The Hunger Games is on Twitter thanks to a new statement from the Hunger Games Facebook and Twitter.
You can follow:
Amandla Stenberg (Rue) : @amandlastenberg
Dayo Okeniyi (Thresh) : @DayoOkeniyi
Jackie Emerson (Foxface ) : @jackie_emerson
Ian Nelson (Male District Three Tribute) : @iNelson15
Jack Quaid (Marvel) : @Jack_Quaid
Elizabeth Banks (Effie) : @ElizabethBanks
Chris Mark (Male District Five Tribute) : @ChrisMark2X
Josh Hutcherson (Peeta | Doesn't update a lot...really) : @jhutch1992
Willow Shields (Prim) : @imWillowShields

--Riley

'The Hunger Games' Film Budget Bumped Up

The production budget for The Hunger Games has been bumped up to 75 million dollars. The budget will allow a greater increase in special effects, but I hope they don't focus on that too much. I hope that the film is a very raw, true film.

--Riley

Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, and Woody Harrelson Offered Roles for 'The Hunger Games'

We received word that Academy-Award winner Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, and Woody Harrelson have been offered roles in The Hunger Games.

I really have no clue who any of these actors could play in the film. Thoughts?

--Riley

District 5 Tributes Cast in 'The Hunger Games'

The Tributes from District Five have been cast. The Male Tribute will be played by Chris Mark, and Foxface will be played by Jackie Emerson.
I was looking forward to seeing who'll play Foxface, so it's nice to know! She looks good!


--Riley

District 4 Cast and Effie Trinket Confirmed

The Tributes from District 4 have been cast. Ethan Jamieson and Tara Macken will be playing the unnamed Tributes. Also, earlier this month we reported Elizabeth Banks was in talks to play Effie Trinket in the film adaption of The Hunger Games, and we can now confirm she will be playing the character.

--Riley

'HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART II' TRAILER NOW AVAILABE FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!!!

OHMYGODHOLYCRAPYES!!!
No need to explain...just...just click here.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TRAILER(SPOILERS):

-Snape walking towards the Potters' home in Godric's Hollow
-Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem
-Young Lily and Petunia in a field, Lily is showing Petunia some magic
-A shot of the destoryed diary
-Two arms reaching out to eachother
-Voldemort's eyes opening
-Harry at Dobby's grave
-Voldemort's speech at the beginning of the "Prince's Tale" sequence.
-Fenrir Greyback being pushed back against a window by a curse(it is Fenrir, I just happened to pause at the right time to see)
-A water scene...
-A wizard falling
-Voldemort walking through Malfoy Manor, dead bodies laying around him.
-The Gringotts dragon blowing FIRE
-Snape in front of the Potters' house
-A shot of the students in-file in the Great Hall
-A Hogwarts statue leaping to life
-Snape walking through the Potters' house
-Death Eaters flying into Hogwarts
-Kingsley guarding the trio from an oncoming jinx
-Narcissa Malfoy regarding what is presumably Voldemort about Harry
-Students flying into Hogwarts on brooms
-The Hogwarts knights
-Nagini leaping at the screen
-Fred lying dead on the ground
-Remus and Tonks reaching to hold hands
-Harry reciting, "Come on, Tom, let's finish this the way we began: together," and pulling Voldemort off of a cliff
-Snape twirling his cloak and turning into the bat-like figure
-Ron and Hermione running through the Room of Requirement
-A birds-eye shot of the Hogwarts courtyard under attack
-Harry trying to block the Fiendfyre
-The bridge being destroyed as Scabior and the Snatchers fall off.
-Molly and Bellatrix dueling in the Great Hall
-The Gringotts dragon flying over London
-Harry running through a corridor as it collapses
-MANY wizards shooting balls of light towards Hogwarts
-Voldemort and Harry casting spells at each other, but it doesn't seem to be the final duel, as the spells aren't green and red, and Harry seems to be looking at Ginny.

Jeezum, there's a lot! We ARE covering this on the podcast, so stay tuned!

--Riley

ABC Family Reveals New Photo From 'Deathly Hallows: Part II'

Tonight, the U.S. trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will premiere on ABC Family during Happy Gilmore, which is showing from 7 to 9 ET. ABC Family released a new photo of Harry during the final battle on their website.

To view the photo, click here.

--Riley

Questions for the Canon | Grindelwald

Gellert Grindelwald was one of the most powerful Dark wizards of all time, second only to Tom Riddle. This QFTC is all about his life earlier on in life effecting his life later on in life. Our first point is that Grindelwald was taught at Durmstrang Institute, where he was a brilliant, bright student. His skills obviously rivaled those of Albus Dumbledore. Grindelwald was engrossed in Dark Arts rather than the actual aspect of magical education, and killed fellow students. When Grindelwald was sixteen years old, he was expelled from Durmstrang, and went to live with his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, in Godric's Hollow upon learning more about the Deathly Hallows. Once in Godric's Hollow, Gellert became great friends with Albus Dumbledore and they both searched for the Hallows while promoting 'the Greater Good'. Grindelwald, however, was driven insane with power and was not partial towards Dumbledore's family, and dueled with Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore. Grindelwald was imprisoned his own fortress, Nurmengard. Voldemort confronted Grindelwald inside of his Nurmengard cell and discussed the Elder Wand's whereabouts with Grindelwald. Voldemort then killed Grindelwald.

Now that we've covered the basis of what we know about Grindelwald, let's delve into what we don't know:

-We don't exactly know his blood-status, but he definitely was not Muggle-born. Grindelwald reflected views of pure-bloods but then, so did Tom Riddle, a half-blood. 

-Grindelwald could have grown up in a strict, prejudiced family and being told that dabbling in the Dark Arts would improve his life. 

-Grindelwald had a certain charm on Dumbledore, despite the fact that Albus was infatuated with him. Albus followed Gellert for a long amount of time, even leaving his family. This may be an outcome of Gellert's early life with a very powerful, strong family. 

-Grindelwald was a very manipulative wizard, and this could be expressed from his life at Durmstrang, and maybe releasing the fact that he either had no friends, or had a lot of friends.

--Riley

The District 3 Tributes Have Been Cast

The actors for the two unnamed District Three Tributes have been announced. Ian Nelson is to play the male Tribute, and Kalia Prescott as the female Tribute.
Congrats to the both of you! They both look great as District 3 Tributes!

Once again, the film is released March 23rd, 2012.

--Riley

Logan and Alexandra Out and About | Filming 'Sea of Monsters'?

Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario(Percy and Annabeth from the film series for Percy Jackson) were seen leaving a hotel in NYC. Are they filming Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters ? I know Logan's filming The Perks of Being a Wallflower(squee!) but that would definitely not take as long as PJ. Let's hope demigods!

--Riley

BEDA #1,000,000?

So, as you probably know, this month is either VEDA or BEDA for most bloggers. I have, as far as my knowledge lets me know, blogged multiple times each day this month concerning news, books, films, and reviews. Does that count for BEDA?
If not, here's some stuff making up for it:
This past Sunday, I went to this revamped Wal-Mart in a city twenty minutes from mine. I had to go back and get my mom's jacket from the car, and on my way there, a group of druggie Wal-Mart custodians offered to help me look for her coat. I declined the offer; sorry guys, I'm a big boy. Then, on my way back, I walked past this massive white van and I hear a screaming of some Asian language. I know it's Asian because inside the car was a huge group of Asian-Americans angrily yelling at each other in their native tongue. I wish I could understand what they were saying. That would have been supermegafoxawesomehot. Later on in the store, I was finishing walking down the frozen breakfast isle when I see this tall, lanky girl randomly dancing around a large pile of wheat bread. Then, I turn around and a man whose skin is completely red is running around in the shortest shorts I have ever seen a man wear.
Later on in the store, my mom and I were trying to get down the snack isle, and this lady was just standing there, looking distantly into space. She turned around and gave us a dirty look then walked off. Up at the check out lane, a no-doubt-drunk mother walked up with her children. Her REALLY young son, who stood text messaging on a Samsung Epic, squirmed past my mother and asked the clerk to scan his Whoppers before finishing ringing us up. When it came time for them to pay, the mother screeched at him to put the Whoppers on the conveyor belt. The cashier said, "I can just scan them now. He asked me too." The lady immediately flashed a stink-face at the cashier then looked at my mother, who nodded. She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fine,"
Then, on our way out, three different people squeezed in front of our cart through the automatic doors. Oh, the places you go.
Oh, well. The more you know.
Another thing you may already know is that Thursday I read Water for Elephants. My friend, who has a strange fetish for reading sensual scenes in books, asked me if there were any sex scenes in the book. I told her no, but I DID tell her about the scene where Jacob sees Barbara strip at the beginning of the book. She read the scene, being the creep she is, and told everyone in our Science class that Water for Elephants is a sex book and that I was reading it. Thanks, Megan.
I also realized how excited I am to see Michael Gambon in DH2. I have no clue why this all of a sudden just popped into my mind, but I was like, "Holy Hermione, we haven't seen Dumbledore in the movies since Half-Blood Prince." So, upon making that revelation, I am now even more pumped for the next movie in the series.
Also, the past two weeks, 500 text messages have been spent with Alejandra discussing our dream The Hunger Games and City of Bones casts. We also discussed our many trips--with Isaac--over the course of the next few years. Here's how it all plans out:
This year, I'm going to Seattle.
Summer 2012 | Chicago
Summer 2013 | Florida. Diagon Alley and Gringotts are expected to be open then, if they will come to fruition at the Wizarding World.
Summer 2014 | New York City.
Summer 2015 | London.
The summer of 2015 is also the summer after we graduate from High School. I feel really weird saying that I graduate from my needed schooling in four years. Strange.
In other randomness, I unleashed my closet-love for Florence + the Machine this week. I always loved 'Dogs Days Are Over', and her 2nd album, Lungs, has always been on my iPod, but I never really listened to it all until I hear 'Cosmic Love' on the TV Spot for Water for Elephants.
I need a cool catch-phrase for every time I finish a blog...hmmm...
The more you know, the more you show. How's that? Corny, I know. That's the point.

'Deathly Hallows: Part II' Trailer To Be Released Wednesday.

This JUST in!

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will be screened during ABC Family's showing of Happy Gilmore on Wednesday night from 7 to 9. The trailer has been said to include footage from Gringotts, the Room of Requirement, and Molly Weasley facing Bellatrix Lestrange.

AAAHHH!! Looking forward to Wednesday which is usually my least favorite day of the week, but...now I have something to look forward to that day.

--Riley

Mrs. Everdeen Cast in 'The Hunger Games'

Paula Malcomson(Battlestar Galactica: Caprica), has been cast as the depressed mother of Katniss and Primrose Everdeen in the film adaption of The Hunger Games.

I think that, along with Leven Rambin, this is the best casting yet for the film. She looks like a great Mama Everdeen.

--Riley

'New York Times' Bestselling Highlights

Topping off Children's Chapter Books is, once again, The Lost Hero. The only new additions to the list are Where She Went, The Emerald Atlas, Moon Over Manifest, and Between Shades of Grey. 'The Mortal Instruments' has topped off the Series list. No surprise considering City of Fallen Angels was recently released.
 So congrats to you list-making authors. Best of luck in the future.

--Riley

'Water for Elephants' Book Review

Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen
335 pg., U.S. Paperback
Algonquin
5/5


One Star for Character Development
One Star for Plot
One Star for Flow
One Star for Conflict & Resolution
One Star for Ending

i. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
The main characters in this book are Jacob Jankowski, Marlena, and August. Jacob is a shy boy who studies veterinary training at Cornell College, but leaves the school upon finding his parents were dead. He finds himself sucked into the world of the circus, and meets August, an abusive trainer, and his wife Marlena, the equestrian trainer. Marlena strays from August, her abusive husband, and comes to love Jacob. The characters in this book show temptation, angst, but also sincerity, love, and compassion.
ii. PLOT
The plot of this story is told from a series of memories from an older version of Jacob Jankowski of his life in the circus at a young age. He encounters love, hate, abuse, neglect, yet also a new sense of happiness and joy in his new occupation.
iii. FLOW
Not much to say when describing the flow and how it deserved a star. So--it flowed perfectly.
iv. CONFLICT & RESOLUTION
The main conflict of this story is the building tension between circus members. The book is not really conflict-driven, but the conflict is definitely there. In the end, Marlena leaves August for Jacob the night that Jacob meant to kill August.
v. ENDING
Stated in the previous prompt, Marlena ends up with Jacob. Rosie the elephant kills August, which is seen at the beginning of the novel, but brought around to the end of the timeline.

The film adaption of this book is in theatres today.

--Riley

'Incarceron' Book Review

Incarceron 
Catherine Fisher
442 pgs., U.S. Paperback
Firebird
4/5 Stars


One Star for Plot
One Star for Flow
One Star for Conflict & Resolution
One Star for Ending

i. PLOT
The main plot of this story is that Finn has lived in the live prison, Incarceron, for a long period of time. Claudia, the Warden's daughter, has lived out of the live prison for a long period of time. Finn's interested in getting out, and Claudia's interested in getting in. The plot was a riveting, fascinating one filled with twists and turns and unexpected alerts.
ii. FLOW
The book weaved well between Claudia's perspective and Finn's perspective. There was nice transitioning between chapter to chapter, leaving you anticipating what was to come next from the characters.
iii. CONFLICT & RESOLUTION
The main conflict of the story is that Finn needs to find a way to escape Incarceron, and once he does: he needs to find a new way out. Claudia enters the prison and takes Finn, Keiro, and Attia out, but new problems are left for the group.
iv. ENDING
The ending was a nice, calm one, but you can really tell that there is another book in the series.

The sequel to this book, Sapphique, is now in stores.

--Riley

'Bran Hambric', 'Brisingr', 'World's End' Reviews

Bran Hambric: The Specter Key
Kaleb Nation
339 pg., U.S. Paperback
Source Books
4/5 Stars

Brisingr

Christopher Paolini

Knopf

3/5 Stars

World's End

Jake Halpern/Peter Kujawinski

Houghton Mifflin

3/5 Stars

Sorry for the really crappy arrangement of this book review. Also, sorry it's very rushed. Good books, not enough time to review them.

Willow Shields Cast as Primrose Everdeen in 'The Hunger Games'

Hey, Potter People!

Today we've been notified that newcomer Willow Shields has been cast as Prim in the film adaption of The Hunger Games.

I don't really know about this one. I can't be too vocal about my opinion, because my opinion is rude. :).

Expect for another member or two to be cast tomorrow, if not tonight, and the full cast is on the track to being released by the end of next week, or in the first week of May.

--Riley

Glimmer and Marvel Cast Revealed for 'The Hunger Games'

Leven Rambin(CSI, Wizards of Waverly Place) has been cast as Glimmer, and Jack Quaid has been cast as Marvel in the film adaption of the bestseller, The Hunger Games.
Leven is the closest to the character as far as looks go. I mean, Josh doesn't look like Peeta, Liam not like Gale, Amandla not like Rue, but WHATEVER,
Casting is definitely picking up for this project, and expect to see Cato, Clove, Foxface, Avox girl, Haymitch, and Cinna cast within the next week to two weeks.

--Riley

Elizabeth Banks "In Talks" To Play Effie Trinket in 'The Hunger Games'

Elizabeth Banks is in talks to play Effie in The Hunger Games. "In talks" will obviously lead to her being cast, so we might as well say she is.
I really disagree with this casting. She is the exact opposite of how I pictured Effie. I pictured Effie to look like Umbridge but with different hair. Imelda Staunton = Effie 100%

--Riley

Rue and Thresh Cast in 'The Hunger Games'

Hey all you Tributes!
Lionsgate recently announced that newcomers Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi have been cast as Rue and Thresh in the film of adaption of Suzanne Collins's novel The Hunger Games. Congrats to you two for achieving these coveted roles!

--Riley

'The Amber Spyglass' Book Review

The Amber Spyglass
Philip Pullman
465 pg., U.S. Mass Market Trade Paperback
5 of 5 Stars

One Star for Character Development

One Star for Plot

One Star for Flow

One Star for Conflict and Resolution

One Star for Ending

i. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Being as this is the third, and final, book in the His Dark Materials series, the characters are pretty well developed. I know Lyra and Will's character almost like the back of my hand. I use a method where, if I put the characters of a book in a whole new scenario, I would know what they would do, how they would do it, and why they would do it. Lyra and Will, I feel, are two totally opposites that morph together to make one entity in this book. Lyra becomes a much more aware and less-instictive in this book, whereas Will gains more instinct and seems to be the hero who saves the day, like Lyra originally was. Mary Malone, Mrs. Coulter, and Lord Asriel's characters have not really changed. Mary is still the inquisitive, yet competent, scientist she's always been. Marisa Coulter does show a side of love for Lyra, but in a way most odd to anyone not in her situatuon. Lord Asriel still maintains that feeling of authority.

We are introduced to several new characters in this book: the Gallivespian spies, Tialys and Samalkia, the Regent angel, Metatron, No-Name, and later Gracious Wings, the harpy, and we see the Authority.

ii. PLOT

The main plot of this book varies from Lyra and Will's perspective, to Father Gomez's perspective, to Mary Malone's perspective, to Serafina Pekkala's perspective. Lyra and Will are focusing on thwarting Lord Asriel's plans to separate daemons from their masters and study Dust in more depth, going to the Clouded Mountain, where the Authority and Metatron are.

Father Gomez has a quite morbid role in this book, killing things and people, and believing that God will be grateful for the killings he has done.

Mary Malone finds herself in a new world inhabited by creatures called mulefa. She studies these creatures, and stumbles upon the Amber Spyglass, a spyglass that can identify Dust.

iii. FLOW

The story had nice flow, but there was one thing I didn't like. Say we were in Mary Malone's perspective and then there is a break between paragraphs, implying that there will be a change in subplots, which there should be. In this book, many breaks only faulted different lines in one plot, separating a dialogue between Mrs. Coulter and the king Ogunwe to Mrs. Coulter with Lord Asriel ten minutes later.

Lyra and Will stay in the Land of the Dead for a while, which was nice, but I was happy that they escaped when they did, otherwise the story would have dragged.

iv. CONFLICT & RESOLUTION

The main conflict in this book is that Asriel has plotted to confront, and destroy, the Authority and take over the position as the Head of the Magisterium, and conquer Dust. Lyra and Will, on the brink of adulthood in their world, must stop Asriel.

In the end, Asriel, Coulter, and Metatron end up tumbling off of a cliff and into an abyss in a fight they were consumed in. Lyra and Will attempt to free the Authority from the crystal prison that Metatron has contained him in, and once he is free, he dies of frailty.

Lyra and Will end up in the same world as Mary Malone and discover Dust is slowly beginning to stop flowing when Lyra and Will kiss ever-so-passionately, and we find out that throughout the whole series, they seemed to be the answer.

v. ENDING

I feel like I described the ending above, but like I said: Lyra and Will love each other, but are forced to go back to their own worlds for the sake of Dust, but meet every year in the Botanical Garden in Oxford.

It was a very bittersweet ending: not everything was fixed, but not everything broken. Will and Lyra are torn from eachother, and Pantalaimon(Lyra's daemon) and Kirjava(Will's daemon) settle into their final forms, something we've been alerted to since The Golden Compass.

--Riley

'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' Chapter Recaps 1-5 Up on YouTube

The first few chapters in our new series of Chapter Recaps for the Harry Potter series are up on the YouTube, so go check them out.

--Riley

'New York Times' Best-sellers Highlights

Hey guys, we're back with another post about the highlights from this weeks New York Times Best-seller list.
Topping of the list for Children's Chapter Books is the second book in the Chronicles of Nick, Invincible. The book is followed by last week's winner, A World Without Heroes, and trailed by The Lost Hero, I Am Number Four, and The Red Pyramid.
At the head of Children's Paperback Books is Beastly by Alex Flinn, with nothing really new trailing behind it.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid remains to be the number one series, followed by the Hunger Games, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, the Alex Rider series, and the House of Night series.
To view these, and more full lists, check out http://www.nytimes.com/

--Riley

'PLAGUE' Book Review

Plague
Michael Grant
512 pg., U.S. Hardcover
ARC Review
6/5 Stars


One Star for Character Development
One Star for Plot
One Star for Flow
One Star for Conflict and Resolution
One Star for Ending
*One Star for Anticipation*

CAUTION : SPOILERS AHEAD.

i. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
In the fourth book of the GONE series, the characters have been through a massive amount of development. Astrid Ellison has gone from the kind, sweet, genius girl who everyone wanted to know, to a vicious, protective matriarch figure who pulls a giant no-no in this book: killing Little Pete.
Little Pete is another character that I wanted to touch-up on. He goes through a new mental state we have never seen from him. The book takes us into his mind and we see the way that he looks at the world from inside of his mind. His importance to the FAYZ influences Astrid to shoot him, only we do get a chapter from his perspective at the very end that states that Little Pete had never felt more alive.
The characters of Mary, Orsay, and Nerezza are obviously not featured in this book since they died in the previous one, but we also do not see Mary's brother, John.
Taylor is brought to a much more important role, becoming a love interest to the drunken Sam who was denied by Astrid at the beginning of the story. Sam begins to feel guilty for his selfish act of groping to Taylor at the beginning of the story, and doesn't maintain romantic feelings for her.
Brittney and Drake switch places as the same entity. Brittney tries to persuade people to kill Drake and trust God, while Drake is carrying out the Gaiaphage's orders. Dekka, Sam, Taylor, and Jack, along with the new truth-teller, Toto, spend most of the book searching for food and water for the FAYZ. Dekka develops one of the plagues, a skin infection with viruses literally eating away at her skin, the other plague being when children throw up their life...
Lana is angry and angsty once again, but develops a relationship with Sanjit. Diana and Caine have the most interesting subplot of all, to me. Diana, with hair, has basically had her life torn apart. Penny has her legs bent completely out of shape, and she is in the worst physical condition possible from the waist-down. Diana has to constantly help her and also pay attention to Caine. She convinces Caine to tell her that he loves her, even though it doesn't come out that specific way, and the two make love. This affair continues throughout the book and Diana discovers that she can read people's power levels without touching them, and gains suspicion.
On the very last line of the story--excluding Little Pete's final chapter--Diana confesses that she is pregnant, and she hopes that a baby is all that it is.
ii. PLOT
The main plot of this book is that the FAYZ is having a shortage of food and water, and young children are coughing horribly and dying, giving Dahra Baidoo a lot of work to do. The two plagues, as discussed above, involve a skin infection caused by these giant bugs, and the other is when children cough up their lungs and blood, and they die.
The subplots include Astrid staying with Little Pete and confronting other members of the FAYZ, including Orc and the Human Crew. Another subplot is of Sam, Jack, Taylor, Dekka, and Toto finding food and water to bring back to the FAYZ. Another is of Albert taking control, the one I mentioned of Caine and Diana, and one involving Edilio losing his health.
iii. FLOW
The story flowed from paragraph to paragraph, and this is the only one of the GONE books that had a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter and the end of the book. The other books flowed well, but the ending of the books had much more closure than this one. We are left hanging at the end, finding out Diana is pregnant. There is also fantastic spacing between each subplot. You aren't secluded from the subplot for too long, but they don't continue back to back.
iv. CONFLICT & RESOLUTION
Each subplot has its own conflict and resolution, so I will break each one down.
SAM -
Conflict : No water or food for the FAYZ, horrible bugs infesting people
Resolution : Finds a lot of food and it rains in the FAYZ. They battle the worms.
ASTRID -
Conflict : Many different issues going on in the FAYZ, most caused by her brother, Pete.
Resolution : She kills Little Pete.
DIANA/CAINE -
Conflict : Out of power. Diana is neglected.
Resolution : Caine becomes King of the FAYZ, Diana and Caine make love, only to become pregnant.
ALBERT -
Conflict : He needs to maintain business and financial order within the FAYZ
Resolution : --
v. ENDING
Holy magoly this ending. I LOVE this ending, and it is possibly my favorite ending in history. I wasn't expecting for anybody to get pregnant in this book, maybe down the line in Fear or Light, but definitely not this one.
But at the end of the book, we find out that Diana is pregnant, and that what is inside of her may not be a simple child.
I don't know if the baby will be born in the next book, unless a lot of time elapses between this book and the next, then I can see the baby being born.
vi. ANTICIPATION
I was waiting for this book ever since I put Lies down. I avoided as many spoilers as I could, but let the floodgates open when we interviewed Michael. My anticipation built as the months grew closer.
I received this book as an ARC, not a finished copy, a week before the book came out, and I read it in less than a day.
I believe that this is the best book in the GONE series, and I am ecstatic to put out this review.
Thanks for reading!

--Riley

100 Days Until 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II'

Going to go see the next Harry Potter film at midnight? Well, good news: we only have to wait 100 more days until the film is released!
This post, declaring the 100 day mark to DH:2, is very ironic because this is the 100th blog post for this blog! This was not planned for us to correlate these two, but I found it rather ironic.
Anyways...now onto posting my review for PLAGUE which I've been waiting and waiting to post for you guys.

--Riley

Book Releases for Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Hey guys, here's a list of books that were released today.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
PLAGUE by Michael Grant - I received an ARC of this book, and can now post my review

Sorry to say that those are the only two YA books that I can find that were released today, so...yep. Special post for Potter AND the blog next!

--Riley

Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne Cast in 'The Hunger Games'

I also learned that Peeta Mellark will be played by Josh Hutcherson, and Gale Hawthorne will be played by Liam Hemsworth in the film adaption of The Hunger Games. Yuppyupp. Word came from Lionsgate.

--Riley

ALL 'Deathly Hallows: Part I' Deleted Scenes LEAKED

As I'm sure this video will soon be removed by Warner Bros., I am scurrying to post this:

This morning, I was searching on YouTube for the term 'Harry Potter', like I do everyday, and came across all of the deleted scenes from 'Part I', all except for the scene wherein Yaxley enters the Grangers' house. But I posted that earlier this week.

Check out the scenes here. Quick!

'Deathly Hallows: Part II' Screened in Chicago

THIS JUST IN :
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II' was screened in Chicago TODAY just around the same time 'Part I' was.
This is out-of-the-blue news, but I was expecting it to happen.
Check out PotterCast and Mugglenet for more info and reviews of the movie!

--Riley

Personal Blogging

I've always been a fan of personal blogging, but have never got around to actually doing it. So here goes...something...

So this summer I plan to go to Seattle. My aunt lives there and I really want to meet some of the biggest Potter fans like Kayley Hyde(owlssayhooot), Kristina Horner(italktosnakes), etc. I really love watching both of their videos, and it would be really fantastic to visit them. Speaking of visiting, if you wanna meet me in Seattle, e-mail us or tweet us. I don't know when exactly I'll be there, but I'm pretty sure it'll be sometime between June and the  second week of July. I want to be back in time to see 'Deathly Hallows: Part II' with Isaac and Alejandra, and even though my aunt is a huge fan, I just can't picture seeing the movie without those two.
When I'm in Seattle, I also want to visit the AVATAR exhibit...I know it's sort of far-fetched and that I'm not nearly as big of a James Cameron fan as some people, but who cares. It'll be a great life experience.
I also want to visit the MASSIVE Seattle Public Library and stay there for like three hours. That'd be pretty cool and stuff like that...
Obviously, I want to visit the *rainy* beaches in Seattle. I love beaches when they aren't sunny. I have no clue why, but I love rain. I love the way it looks, feels, smells, tastes... I just love rain.
I also want to run around downtown meeting new and random people. I'm not very good at making friends, but it's something I want to do in Seattle. I want to call up Isaac and Alejandra and talk to them because I will miss them so much, and tell them about my new Seattlean friends. I want to do any sort of festival going on at the time. I think that would open me up to new and fun experiences.
I really want to go to the first Starbucks. That would be heaven, and make my older brother really mad, because he worked at Starbucks for a long time.
Just like reaching the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, a feat I DEfeated in 2006, I want to go to the top of the Space Needle. It would literally be a dream come true, because it's one of few heights that I want to see the view from the top of.
I also think it would be pretty neat to see Jimi Hendrix's grave. That may sound morbid...
I wanna see Bill Gates's house...if at all possible. I know it's on the shore of the lake, so I may just stumble across it.
I do wanna see Mount Rainier, which I'm pretty sure is a very easy thing to do in Seattle, but hey, I live in the Midwest.
I wanna unleash my inner nerd and go to the Battlestar Galactica Exhibition. Yeah.
So, I can already tell that personal blogging is not going to be difficult. I mean, just look at that ^^^^^
I'm really excited to go to Seattle, and there will be dates and info coming realllllly soon.
*NOTE*  - I am participating in the BEDA program(B.log E.very D.ay A.pril). It shouldn't be that difficult, since I do provide news almost daily.

--Riley

Entertainment Weekly Summarizes CinemaCon Footage of 'Deathly Hallows: Part II'

On Thursday, Warner Bros. and CinemaCon premiered a four-minute look at the final installment in the Harry Potter films.
Highlights from a summary article by EW are:

-We learn that the trio do bicker about their plans, and how they always seem to backfire.
-Ron and Hermione have a little spat in Gringotts before Hermione leaps onto the back of the dragon.
-Harry confronts Snape, who stands at the podium-type platform in the Great Hall, accusing him of killing someone who trusted him, and demanding "How dare you stand where he stood?!"
-We get a view of the hallway, wherein dead bodies lay, and we hear the magnified voice of Voldemort declaring, "You have allowed your friends to die rather than face me yourself. Meet me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate."
-We do get a look into the King's Cross discussion between Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Dumbledore tells Harry that he is a brave man and is the true master of death.

I really DO hope that the footage, or maybe just a clip of the clip, is posted online somewhere, even if it's for a few minutes.
To check out the full blog post, visit this link.

--Riley

New 'Deathly Hallows: Part I' Deleted Scene revealed. OMG THIS JUST IN: Read the blog for more on the OPENING SCENE(!!!) from 'Deathly Hallows: Part II'

Today, Warner Bros. released the newest--and most talked up!--deleted scene from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I'. The scene is the highly-praised one of Ron and Hermione skimming stones by a lake. The two seem very casual and I love the scene, but I love it as a little reward. I don't see where it would have fit in with the rest of the movie, but I love it anyways.

So, you can check that out here.

And THIS JUST IN:

The 10-minute opening sequence from 'Deathly Hallows: Part II' HAS BEEN RELEASED ONLINE. The scene features amazing acting from John Hurt(as Ollivander) and Daniel Radcliffe(as Harry). Check that out here

Also, you can check out a new deleted scene featuring Yaxley entering the Granger home. View it here.

Thank you so much, MuggleNet, for these tips.

--Riley and Alejandra.