Emma Wunsch

This is an early chapter book probably for girls about friendship. Miranda is a princess and Maude is about as far from a princess as you could get. At first they don’t like each other at all, of course they make no attempt to get to know each other either. When Miranda invites everyone from her class except Maud to her birthday party, Maud is hurt and upset. She convinces everyone in the class to boycott the party. When Maud puts herself in Miranda's shoes, things finally turn around for the girls. The story progresses well with some humorous twists and turns to show how they do become friends. Maud and Miranda each have a distinctive personality with certain traits that make them often infuriating, especially to each other. Miranda is the snooty, snobbish, scared, introverted princess. Maude is the impulsive, in your face, extroverted social justice activist. You would never think that they would become friends. When they get to know one another, they finally realize that even though they are very different, they have a lot in common. A great lesson in friendship. This would be a good story for primary or early junior readers, specifically if they are having a difficult time making friends, or if someone new is coming into their class. The publisher, Amulet books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own.

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Seventeen-year-old Amelia and her older brother Toby have always been more like best friends than brother and sister. They love watching all kinds of movies, and their movie quotes drive everyone crazy. Toby comes up with fun, silly ideas of things to do, is the life of the party, and always has an entourage of friends.

She and Toby have always been there for each other so, when he starts cutting school, smoking pot, staying in his room, and acting strangely, Amelia covers for him. She starts to put her own life on hold for him, getting mad at her boyfriend and best friend for suggesting something might be wrong with him. When Toby is diagnosed with schizophrenia, Amelia has to learn how to deal with his diagnosis and to live her life without her brother by her side.

It took some time before I could really get into this book. I started it, put it down for a few months, and then decided to try again one more time. The constant movie quotes, titles of movies I’d never heard of, and constant references to movies at inopportune times were very off putting. It wasn’t until Toby was diagnosed and Amelia decided to stop living her life like a movie that the book became bearable. Only then was I finally able to read without the constant distraction of movie titles and quotes. I also didn’t think the author needed to be so explicit when describing Amelia and her boyfriend’s sexual antics. I thought it was an unnecessary distraction, and the book could have stood alone without their relationship.

I wasn’t a fan of this book, and the only reason I gave it two stars instead of one was because I thought it important for readers to learn about how mental illness affects teenagers.

Book review link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2017/01/08/the-movie-version-emma-wunsc...… (plus d'informations)

In the movie version of Amelia’s life, the roles have always been clear. Her older brother, Toby: definitely the Star. As popular with the stoners as he is with the cheerleaders, Toby is someone you’d pay ten bucks to watch sweep Battle of the Bands and build a “beach party” in the bathroom. As for Amelia? She’s Toby Anderson’s Younger Sister. She’s perfectly happy to watch Toby’s hijinks from the sidelines when she’s not engrossed in one of her elaborately themed Netflix movie marathons. But recently Toby’s been acting in a very non-movie-version way. He’s stopped hanging out with his horde of friends and started obsessively journaling and disappearing for days at a time. Amelia doesn’t know what’s happened to her awesome older brother, or who this strange actor is that’s taken his place. And there’s someone else pulling at her attention: a smart, cute new boyfriend who wants to know the real Amelia—not Toby’s Sidekick. Amelia feels adrift without her star, but to best help Toby—and herself—it might be time to cast a new role: Amelia Anderson, leading lady. (source: Amulet Books)… (plus d'informations)