🐰📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘🐰: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Summary:

How to Train Your Dragon #1

7 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE SERIES THAT INSPIRED THE HIT MOVIES!

 

Action-packed, hilarious, and perfectly illustrated, How to Train Your Dragon is a beloved modern classic with millions of fans across the globe. Journey into the adventure that started it all for Hiccup and Toothless!

In the book that started it all, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb? Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons—and becomes a hero.

See How to Train Your Dragon come to life in the new live-action movie—coming to theaters June 2025!

Read all the books in the series!

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Be a Pirate

How to Speak Dragonese

How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse

How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale

A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons

How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm

How to Break a Dragon’s Heart

How to Steal a Dragon’s Sword

How to Seize a Dragon’s Jewel

How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero

How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury

For more fantastic stories from Cressida Cowell, don’t miss the out-of-this-world Which Way to Anywhere adventures, and The Wizards of Once series.

Chapter One

FIRST CATCH YOUR DRAGON

Long ago, on the wild and windy isle of Berk, a smallish Viking with a longish name stood up to his ankles in snow.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, had been feeling slightly sick ever since he woke up that morning.

Ten boys, including Hiccup, were hoping to become full members of the Tribe by passing the Dragon Initiation Program. They were standing on a bleak little beach at the bleakest spot on the whole bleak island. A heavy snow was falling.

"PAY ATTENTION!" screamed Gobber the Belch, the soldier in charge of teaching Initiation. "This will be your first military operation, and Hiccup will be commanding the team."

"Oh, not Hiccup," groaned Dogsbreath the Duhbrain and most of the other boys. "You can't put Hiccup in charge, sir, he's USELESS."

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, wiped his nose miserably on his sleeve. He sank a little deeper into the snow.

"ANYBODY would be better than Hiccup," sneered Snotface Snotlout. "Even Fishlegs would be better than Hiccup."

Fishlegs had a squint that made him as blind as a jellyfish, and an allergy to reptiles.

"SILENCE!" roared Gobber theBelch. "The next boy to speak has limpets for lunch for the next THREE WEEKS!"

There was absolute silence immediately. Limpets are a bit like worms and a bit like snot and a lot less tasty than either.

"Hiccup will be in charge and that is an order!" screamed Gobber, who didn't do noises quieter than screaming. He was a seven-foot giant with a mad glint in his one working eye and a beard like exploding fireworks. Despite the freezing cold he was wearing hairy shorts and a teeny weeny deerskin vest that showed off his lobster-red skin and bulging muscles. He was holding a flaming torch in one gigantic fist.

"Hiccup will be leading you, although he is, admittedly, completely useless, because Hiccup is the son of the CHIEF, and that's the way things go with us Vikings. Where do you think you are, the REPUBLIC OF ROME? Anyway, that is the least of your problems today. You are here to prove yourself as a Viking Hero. And it is an ancient tradition of the Hooligan Tribe that you should-" Gobber paused dramatically-

"FIRST CATCH YOUR DRAGON!"

Ohhhhhh suffering scallops, thought Hiccup.

"Our dragons are what set us apart!" bellowed Gobber. "Lesser humans train hawks to hunt for them, horses to carry them. It is only the VIKING HEROES who dare to tame the wildest, most dangerous creatures on Earth."

Gobber spat solemnly into the snow. "There are three parts to the Dragon Initiation Test. The first and most dangerous part is a test of your courage and skill at burglary. If you wish to enter the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, you must first catch your dragon. And that is WHY," continued Gobber, at full volume, "I have brought you to this scenic spot. Take a look at Wild Dragon Cliff itself"

The ten boys tipped their heads backward.

The cliff loomed dizzyingly high above them, black and sinister. In summer you could barely even see the cliff as dragons of all shapes and sizes swarmed over it, snapping and biting and sending up a cacophony of noise that could be heard all over Berk.

But in winter the dragons were hibernating and the cliff fell silent, except for the ominous, low rumble of their snores. Hiccup could feel the vibrations through his sandals.

"Now," said Gobber, "do you notice those four caves about halfway up the cliff, grouped roughly in the shape of a skull?"

"Inside the cave that would be the right eye of the skull is the Dragon Nursery, where there are, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, three thousand young dragons having their last few weeks of winter sleep."

"OOOOOOOH," muttered the boys excitedly.

Hiccup swallowed hard. He happened to know considerably more about dragons than anybody else there. Ever since he was a small boy, he'd been fascinated by the creatures. He'd spent hour after long hour dragon watching in secret. (Dragon-spotters were thought to be geeks and nerds, hence the need for secrecy.) And what Hiccup had learned about dragons told him that walking into a cave with three thousand dragons in it was an act of madness.

No one else seemed too concerned, however.

"In a few minutes I want you to take one of these baskets and start climbing the cliff," commanded Gobber the Belch. "Once you are at the cave entrance, you are on your own. I am too large to squeeze my way into the tunnels that lead to the Dragon Nursery. You will enter the cave QUIETLY-and that means you too, Wartihog, unless you want to become the first spring meal for three thousand hungry dragons, HA HA HA HA!?

Gobber laughed heartily at his little joke, then continued. "Dragons this size are normally fairly harmless to man, but in these numbers they will set upon you like piranhas. There'd be nothing left of even a fatso like you, Wartihog-just a pile of bones and your helmet. HA HA HA HA! So ... you will walk QUIETLY through the cave and each boy will steal ONE sleeping dragon. Lift the dragon GENTLY from the rock and place it in your basket. Any questions so far?"

Nobody had any questions.

"In the unlikely event that you DO wake the dragons-and you would have to be IDIOTICALLY STUPID to do so-run like thunder for the entrance to the cave. Dragons do not like cold weather and the snow will probably stop them in their tracks."

Probably? thought Hiccup. Oh, well, that's reassuring.

"I suggest that you spend a little time choosing your dragon. It is important to get one the correct size. This will be the dragon that hunts fish for you, and pulls down deer for you. You will catch the dragon that will carry you into battle later on, when you are much older and a Warrior of the Tribe. But, nonetheless, you want an impressive animal, so a rough guide would be, choose the biggest creature that will fit into your basket. Don't linger for TOO long in there-"

Linger??? thought Hiccup. In a cave full of three thousand sleeping DRAGONS?

"I need not tell you," Gobber continued cheerfully, "that if you return to this spot without a dragon, it is hardly worth coming back at all. Anybody who FAILS this task will be put into immediate exile. The Hairy Hooligan Tribe has no use for FAILURES. Only the strong can belong."

Unhappily, Hiccup looked round at the distant horizon. Nothing but snow and sea as far as the eye could see. Exile didn't look too promising, either.

"RIGHT," said Gobber briskly. "Each boy take a basket to put their dragon in and we'll get going."

The boys rushed to get their baskets, chattering happily and excitedly.

"I'm going to get one of those Monstrous Nightmare ones with the extra-extendable claws. They're really scary," boasted Snotlout.

"Oh shut up, Snotlout, you can't," said Speedifist. "Only Hiccup can have a Monstrous Nightmare, you have to be the son of a chief" Hiccup's father was Stoick the Vast, the fearsome chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe.

"HICCUP?" sneered Snotlout. "If he's as useless at this as he is at Bashyball, we'll be lucky if he even gets one of the Basic Browns."

The Basic Brown was the most common type of dragon, a serviceable beast but without much glamour.

"SHUDDUP AND GET INTO LINE YOU MISERABLE TADPOLES!" yelled Gobber the Belch.

The boys scrambled into their places, baskets on their backs, and stood to attention. Gobber walked along the line, lighting the torch that each boy held in front of him from the great flare in his hand.

"IN HALF AN HOUR'S TIME YOU WILL BE A VIKING WARRIOR, WITH YOUR FAITHFUL SERPENT AT YOUR SIDE ...

... OR BREAKFASTING WITH WODEN IN VALHALLA WITH DRAGONS' TEETH IN YOUR BOTTONI!" screamed Gobber with horrible enthusiasm.

"DEATH OR GLORY!" yelled Gobber.

"DEATH OR GLORY!" yelled eight boys back at him fanatically.

Death, thought Hiccup and Fishlegs, sadly.

Gobber paused dramatically, with the horn to his lips.

I think this could possibly be the worst moment of my life SO FAR, thought Hiccup to himself as he waited for the blast of the horn. And if they shout much louder, we're going to wake up those dragons before we even START.

"PARRRPRRRRRP!" Gobber blew the horn.

A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Release Date: March 26, 2010

Release Time: 98 minutes

Directors: Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois

Cast:

Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Randy Thom provides the vocal effects for Toothless, Hiccup's faithful Night Fury, and Stormfly, Astrid's Deadly Nadder

America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson

Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast

Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch

Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman

Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut Thorston, Tuffnut's quarrelsome twin sister

T.J. Miller as Tuffnut Thorston, Ruffnut's quarrelsome twin brother

David Tennant as Spitelout Jorgenson

Ashley Jensen as Phlegma the Fierce,

Robin Atkin Downes as Ack

Philip McGrade as Starkard

Kieron Elliott as Hoark the Haggard

Awards:

83rd Academy Awards - February 27, 2011

Best Animated Feature - Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois - Nominated

Best Original Score - John Powell - Nominated

68th Golden Globes - January 16, 2011

Best Animated Film - Nominated

64th BAFTAs - February 13, 2011

Best Original Music - John Powell - Nominated

Best Animated Movie - Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois - Nominated

Cressida Cowell

Cressida Cowell is the author and the illustrator of the bestselling How to Train Your Dragon book series. Her latest book The Wizards of Once is an international bestseller. Cressida is also the author of the Emily Brown picture books, illustrated by Neal Layton.

How to Train Your Dragon has sold over 8 million books worldwide in 38 languages. It is also an award-winning DreamWorks film series, and a TV series shown on Netflix and CBBC. The first book in Cressida's new series, The Wizards of Once (also signed by DreamWorks), is a number one bestseller.

Cressida is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency and a founder patron of the Children's Media Foundation. She has won numerous prizes for her books, including the Gold Award in the Nestle Children's Book Prize, the Hay Festival Medal for Fiction, and Philosophy Now' magazine's 2015 Award for Contributions in the Fight Against Stupidity.

She grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland and she now lives in Hammersmith with her husband, three children and a dog called Pigeon.

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🎭Week at a Glance🎭: 3/2/26 - 3/8/26

Monday Morning's Menu: Learning to Love by Felice Stevens

⏳Throwback Thursday's Time Machine⏳: Calm by K Evan Coles & Brigham Vaughn

📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Saturday's Series Spotlight: Romancing the . . .  by Clare London Part 1

Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: FemBot by EM Denning

📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Summary:

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #1

The first novel in the wildly popular #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, from the author of The Whole Thing Together and The Here and Now.

Some friends just fit together.

 

Once there was a pair of pants. Just an ordinary pair of jeans. But these pants, the Traveling Pants, went on to do great things. This is the story of the four friends—Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen—who made it possible.

 

Pants = love. Love your pals. Love yourself.

"Funny, perceptive, and moving." --USA Today

 “An outstanding and vivid book that will stay with readers for a long time.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred, Flying Start

 

 “The loving depiction of enduring and solid friendship will ring true to readers.” —The Bulletin, Recommended

 

 “A feel-good novel of substance.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

 

“Uplifting.” —Seventeen

"Can you close that suitcase?" Tibby asked Carmen.

"It's making me sick."

Carmen glanced at the structured canvas bag splayed wantonly in the middle of her bed. Suddenly she wished she had all-new underwear. Her best satin pair was sprouting tiny ropes of elastic from the waistband.

"It's making me sick," Lena said. "I haven't started packing. My flight's at seven."

Carmen flopped the top of the suitcase down on the carpeted floor. She was working on removing navy-blue polish from her toenails.

"Lena, could you not say that word anymore?" Tibby asked, wilting a little on the edge of Carmen's bed. "It's making me sick."

"Which word?" Bridget asked. "Packing? Flight? Seven?"

Tibby considered. "All of them."

"Oh, Tibs," Carmen said, grabbing Tibby's foot from where she sat. "It's gonna be okay."

Tibby took her foot back. "It's gonna be okay for you. You're going away. You're going to eat barbecue all the time and light firecrackers and everything.

Tibby had nonsensical ideas about what people did in South Carolina, but Carmen knew not to argue with her.

Lena let out a little hum of sympathy.

Tibby turned on her. "Don't make that pity noise, Lena."

Lena cleared her throat. "I didn't," she said quickly, even though she had.

"Don't wallow," Bridget urged Tibby. "You're wallowing."

"No," Tibby shot back. She held up hands crossed at the wrist in a hex sign to ward off Bridget. "No pep talks. No fair. I only let you do pep talks when you need to feel better."

"I wasn't doing a pep talk," Bridget said defensively, even though she was.

Carmen made her wise eyebrows. "Hey, Tibs? Maybe if you're nasty enough, you won't miss us and we won't miss you."

"Carma!" Tibby shouted, getting to her feet and thrusting a stiff arm at Carmen. "I see through that! You're doing psychological analysis on me. No! No!"

Carmen's cheeks flushed. "I am not," she said quietly.

The three of them sat, scolded into silence.

"God, Tibby, what is anybody allowed to say?" Bridget asked.

Tibby thought about it. "You can say . . ." She glanced around the room. She had tears welling in her eyes, but Carmen knew she didn't want them to show. "You can say . . ." Her eyes lighted on the pair of pants folded on the top of a stack of clothes on Carmen's dresser. "You can say, 'Hey, Tibby, want those pants?"'

Carmen looked baffled. She capped the polish remover, walked over to her dresser, and held up the pants. Tibby usually liked clothes that were ugly or challenging. These were just jeans. "You mean these?" They were creased in three places from inattention.

Tibby nodded sullenly. "Those."

"You really want them?" Carmen didn't feel like mentioning that she was planning to throw them away. Bigger points if they mattered.

"Uh-huh."

Tibby was demanding a little display of unconditional love. Then again, it was her right. Three of them were flying off on big adventures the next day, and Tibby was launching her career at Wallman's in scenic Bethesda for five cents over minimum wage.

"Fine," Carmen said benevolently, handing them over.

Tibby absently hugged the pants, slightly deflated at getting her way so fast.

Lena studied them. "Are those the pants you got at the secondhand place next to Yes!?"

"Yes!" Carmen shouted back.

Tibby unfolded them. "They're great."

The pants suddenly looked different to Carmen. Now that somebody cared about them, they looked a little nicer.

"Don't you think you should try them on?" Lena asked practically. "If they fit Carmen, they aren't going to fit you."

Carmen and Tibby both glared at Lena, not sure who should take more offense.

"What?" Bridget said, hopping to Lena's aid. "You guys have completely different builds. Is that not obvious?"

"Fine," Tibby said, glad to be huffy again.

Tibby pulled off her dilapidated brown cargo pants, revealing lavender cotton underwear. She turned her back to her friends for the sake of drama as she pulled on the pants. She zipped, buttoned, and turned around. "Ta-da!"

Lena studied her. "Wow."

"Tibs, you're such a babe," Bridget proclaimed.

Tibby tried not to let her smile get loose. She went over to the mirror and turned to the side. "You think they're good?"

"Are those really my pants?" Carmen asked.

Tibby had narrow hips and long legs for her small frame. The pants fell below her waist, hugging her hips intimately. They revealed a white strip of flat stomach, a nice inny belly button.

"You look like a girl," Bridget added.

Tibby didn't quarrel. She knew as well as anyone that she looked skinny and shapeless in the oversized pants she usually wore.

The pants bagged a little at her feet, but that worked for Tibby.

Suddenly Tibby looked unsure. "I don't know. Maybe somebody else should try them." Slowly she unbuttoned and unzipped.

"Tibby, you are crazy," Carmen said. "Those pants are in love with you. They want you for your body and your mind." She couldn't help seeing the pants in a completely new way.

Tibby threw them at Lena. "Here. You go."

"Why? They're meant to be yours, " Lena argued.

Tibby shrugged. "Just try them."

Carmen could see Lena glancing at the pants with a certain amount of interest. "Why not? Lena, try 'em."

Lena looked at the pants warily. She shed her own khakis and pulled them on. She made sure they were buttoned and sitting straight on her hips before she glanced in the mirror.

Bridget considered.

"Lenny, you make me sick," Tibby offered.

"Jesus, Lena," Carmen said. Sorry, Jesus, she added to herself reflexively.

"They're nice pants," Lena said reverently, almost whispering.

They were used to Lena, but Carmen knew that to the rest of the world she was fairly stunning. She had Mediterranean skin that tanned well, straight, shiny dark hair, and wide eyes roughly the color of celery. Her face was so lovely, so delicately structured, it kind of gave Carmen a stomachache. Carmen once confessed her worry to Tibby that some movie director was going to spot Lena and take her away, and Tibby admitted she had worried the exact same thing. Particularly beautiful people were like particularly funny-looking people, though. Once you knew them you mostly forgot about it.

The pants clung to Lena's waist and followed the line of her hips. They held close to the shape of her thighs and fell exactly to the tops of her feet. When she took two steps forward, they appeared to hug each of her muscles as they shifted and moved. Carmen gazed in wonder at how different was their effect from Lena's bland uniform of J. Crew khakis.

"Very sexy," Bridget said.

Lena snatched another peek at the mirror. She always held herself in a slightly awkward way, with her neck pushed forward, when she looked in a mirror. She winced. "I think maybe they're too tight," she said.

"Are you joking?" Tibby barked. "They are beautiful. They look a million times better than those lame-o pants you usually wear."

Lena turned to Tibby. "Was that a compliment somewhere in there?"

"Seriously, you have to have them," Tibby said. "They're like . . . transforming."

Lena fiddled with the waistband. She was never comfortable talking about the way she looked.

"You are always beautiful," Carmen added. "But Tibby's right . . .you look . . . just . . . different."

Lena slid the pants off her hips. "Bee has to try them."

"I do?"

"You do," Lena confirmed.

"She's too tall for them," Tibby said.

"Just try," Lena said.

"I don't need any more jeans," Bridget said. "I have, like, nine pairs."

"What, are you scared of them?" Carmen taunted. Stupid dares like that always worked on Bridget.

Bridget grabbed them from Lena. She took off her dark indigo jeans, kicked them into a pile on the floor, and pulled on the pants. At first she tried to pull the pants way up on her waist, so they would be too short, but as soon as she let go, the pants settled gracefully on her hips.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo," Carmen sang, hitting the notes of the Twilight Zone theme.

Bridget turned around to look at her backside. "What?"

"They're not short; they're perfect," Lena said.

Tibby cocked her head, studying Bridget carefully. "You look almost . . . small, Bee. Not your usual Amazon."

"The insult parade marches on," Lena said, laughing.

Bridget was tall, with broad shoulders and long legs and big hands. It was easy to think she was a big person, but she was surprisingly narrow through her hips and waist.

"She's right," Carmen said. "The pants fit better than your usual ones."

Bridget switched her butt in front of the mirror. "These do look good," she said. "Wow. I think I may love them."

"You've got a great little butt," Carmen pointed out.

Tibby laughed. "That from the queen of butts." She got a troublemaking look in her eyes. "Hey. You know how we find out if these pants are truly magical?"

"How?" Carmen asked.

Tibby jiggled her foot in the air. "You try them on. I know they're yours and all, but I'm just saying, scientifically speaking, that it is impossible for these pants to fit you too."

Carmen chewed the inside of her cheek. "Are you casting aspersions on my butt?"

"Oh, Carma. You know I envy it. I just don't think these pants are going to fit over it," Tibby explained reasonably.

Bridget and Lena nodded.

Suddenly Carmen was afraid that the pants that hugged each of her friends' bodies with loving grace would not fit over her upper thighs. She wasn't really chubby, but she had inherited her backside directly from the Puerto Rican half of the family. It was very nicely shaped, and most days she felt proud of it, but here with these pants and her three little-assed friends, she didn't feel like standing out like the big fatso.

"Nah. I don't want them," Carmen said, standing up and getting ready to try to change the subject. Six eyes remained fixed on the pants.

"Yes," Bridget said. "You have to."

"Please, Carmen?" Lena asked.

She saw too much anticipation on her friends' faces to drop it without a fight. "Fine. Don't expect them to fit or anything. I'm sure they won't."

"Carmen, they're your pants," Bridget pointed out.

"Yeah, smarty, but I never tried them on before." Carmen said it with enough force to ward off further questions. She pulled off her black flares and pulled on the jeans. They didn't stop at her thighs. They went right up over her hips without complaint. She fastened them. "So?" She wasn't ready to venture a look in the mirror yet.

Nobody said anything.

"What?" Carmen felt cursed. "What? Are they that bad? She found the courage to meet Tibby's eye. "What?"

"I . . . I just . . ." Tibby trailed off.

"Oh my," Lena said quietly.

Carmen winced and looked away. "I'll just take them off, and we'll pretend this never happened," she said, her cheeks flushing.

Bridget found words. "Carmen, that's not it at all! Look at yourself! You are a thing of beauty. You are a vision. You are a supermodel."

Carmen put her hand on her hip and made a sour face. "That I doubt."

"Seriously, look at yourself," Lena ordered. "These are magic pants."

Carmen looked at herself. First from far away, then from up close. From the front and then the back.

The CD they'd been listening to ended, but nobody seemed to notice. The phone was ringing distantly, but nobody got up to get it. The normally busy street was silent.

Carmen finally let out her breath. "These are magic pants.

Four lifelong friends share one very special summer.

Release Date: June 3, 2005
Release Time: 119 minutes

Director: Ken Kwapis

Cast:
Amber Tamblyn as Tabitha "Tibby" Tomko-Rollins
Alexis Bledel as Lena Kaligaris
America Ferrera as Carmen Lowell
Blake Lively as Bridget Vreeland
Bradley Whitford as Carmen's father, Albert "Al" Lowell        
Jenna Boyd as Bailey Graffman
Nancy Travis as Lydia Rodman
Kyle Schmid as Paul Rodman
Mike Vogel as Eric Richman
Michael Rady as Kostas Dounas
Kristie Marsden as Soccer Pal Olivia
Emily Tennant as Krista Rodman
Leonardo Nam as Brian McBrian
Rachel Ticotin as Christina
Erica Hubbard as Soccer Pal Diana

 

Ann Brashares
Ann Brashares is the New York Times bestselling author of the phenomenally bestselling series of young adult novels, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Her first adult novel, The Last Summer (of You and Me debuted on the New York Times list, in both hardcover and paperback, where it stayed for months.

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📚🎭Week at a Glance🎭📚: 8/26/24 - 9/1/24

📚Monday's Mystical Magic📚: Cold Light of Day by Charlie Cochet

📚⏳Throwback Thursday's Time Machine⏳📚: Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon

📚📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘📚: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

📚Saturday's Series Spotlight📚: Lindenshaw Mysteries by Charlie Cochrane Part 3

📚Sunday's Short Stack📚: Seth & Casey by RJ Scott

📚📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘📚: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Summary:

“A timeless story for every young person who needs to understand that they are not alone.” —Judy Blume

“Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books.” —R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder

This #1 New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story with millions of copies in print takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory.

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, adapted into a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson (and written and directed by the author), and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), this novel for teen readers (or wallflowers of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.

August 25, 1991

Dear friend,

I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. Please don't try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don't want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don't want you to find me. I didn't enclose a return address for the same reason. I mean nothing bad by this. Honest.

I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist.

I think you of all people would understand that because I think you of all people are alive and appreciate what that means. At least I hope you do because other people look to you for strength and friendship and it's that simple. At least that's what I've heard.

So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.

I try to think of my family as a reason for me being this way, especially after my friend Michael stopped going to school one day last spring and we heard Mr. Vaughn's voice on the loudspeaker.

"Boys and girls, I regret to inform you that one of our students has passed on. We will hold a memorial service for Michael Dobson during assembly this Friday."

I don't know how news travels around school and why it is very often right. Maybe it was in the lunchroom. It's hard to remember. But Dave with the awkward glasses told us that Michael killed himself. His mom played bridge with one of Michael's neighbors and they hear said that he suspected that Michael had "problems at home" and didn't feel like he had anyone to talk to. That's maybe why he felt all alone and killed himself.

Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder. He tried to calm me down by saying that he meant an adult like a teacher or a guidance counselor. But it didn't work and eventually my brother came by the middle school in his Camaro to pick me up.

For the rest of the school year, the teachers treated me different and gave me better grades even though I didn't get any smarter. To tell you the truth, I think I made them all nervous.

Michael's funeral was strange because his father didn't cry. And three months later he left Michael's mom. At least according to Dave at lunchtime. I think about it sometimes. I wonder what went on in Michael's house around dinner and TV shows. Michael never left a note or at least his parents didn't let anyone see it. Maybe it was "problems at home." I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more clearly. It might have made sad sense.

One thing I do know is that it makes me wonder if I have "problems at home" but it seems to me that a lot of other people have it a lot worse. Like when my sister's first boyfriend started going around with another girl and my sister cried for the whole weekend.

My dad said, "There are other people who have it a lot worse."

And my mom was quiet. And that was that. A month later, my sister met another boy and started playing happy records again. And my dad kept working. And my mom kept sweeping. And my brother kept fixing his Camaro. That is, until he left for college at the beginning of the summer. He's playing football for Penn State but he needed the summer to get his grades right to play football.

I don't think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football player and likes his car. My sister is very pretty and mean to boys and she is in the middle. I get straight A's now like my sister and that is why they leave me alone.

My mom cries a lot during TV programs. My dad works a lot and is an honest man. My Aunt Helen used to say that my dad was going to be too proud to have a midlife crisis. It took me until around now to understand what she meant by that because he just turned forty and nothing has changed.

My Aunt Helen was my favorite person in the whole world. She was my mom's sister. She got straight A's when she was a teenager and she used to give me books to read. My father said that the books were a little too old for me, but I liked them so he just shrugged and let me read.

My Aunt Helen lived with the family for the last few years of her life because something very bad happened to her. Nobody would tell me what happened then even though I always wanted to know. When I was around seven, I stopped asking about it because I kept asking like kids always do and my Aunt Helen started crying very hard.

That's when my dad slapped me, saying, "You're hurting your aunt Helen's feelings!" I didn't want to do that, so I stopped. Aunt Helen told my father not to hit me in front of her ever again and my father said this was his house and he would do what he wanted and my mom was quiet and so were my brother and sister.

I don't remember much more than that because I started crying really har d and after a while my dad had my mom take me to my room. It wasn't until much later that my mom had a few glasses of white wine and told me what happened to her sister. Some people really do have it a lot worse than I do. They really do.

I should probably go to sleep now. It's very late. I don't know why I wrote a lot of this down for you to read. The reason I wrote this letter is because I start high school tomorrow and I am really afraid of going.

Love always,

Charlie

September 7, 1991

Dear friend,

I do not like high school. The cafeteria is called the "Nutrition Center," which is strange. There is this one girl in my advanced english class named Susan. In middle school, Susan was very fun to be around. She liked movies, and her brother Frank made her tapes of this great music that she shared with us. But over the summer she had her braces taken off, and she got a little taller and prettier and grew breasts. Now, she acts a lot dumber in the hallways, especially when boys are around. And I think it's sad because Susan doesn't look as happy. To tell you the truth, she doesn't like to admit she's in the advanced english class, and she doesn't like to say "hi" to me in the hall anymore.

When Susan was at the guidance counselor meeting about Michael, she said that Michael once told her that she was the prettiest girl in the whole world, braces and all. Then, he asked her to "go with him," which was a big deal at any school. They call it "going out" in high school. And they kissed and talked about movies, and she missed him terribly because he was her best friend.

It's funny, too, because boys and girls normally weren't best friends around my school. But Michael and Susan were. Ki nd of like my Aunt Helen and me. I'm sorry. "My Aunt Helen and I." That's one thing I learned this week. That and more consistent punctuation.

I keep quiet most of the time, and only one kid named Sean really seemed to notice me. He waited for me after gym class and said really immature things like how he was going to give me a "swirlie," which is where someone sticks your head in the toilet and flushes to make your hair swirl around. He seemed pretty unhappy as well, and I told him so. Then, he got mad and started hitting me, and I just did the things my brother taught me to do. My brother is a very good fighter.

"Go for the knees, throat, and eyes."

And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying. And my sister had to leave her senior honors class and drive me home. I got called to Mr. Small's office, but I didn't get suspended or anything because a kid told Mr. Small the truth about the fight.

"Sean started it. It was self-defense."

And it was. I just don't understand why Sean wanted to hurt me. I didn't do anything to him. I am very small. That's true. But I guess Sean didn't know I could fight. The truth is I could have hurt him a lot worse. And maybe I should have. I thought I might have to if he came after the kid who told Mr. Small the truth, but Sean never did go after him. So, everything was forgotten.

Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don't decorate my locker, and I'm the one who beat up Sean and couldn't stop crying after he did it. I guess I'm pretty emotional.

It has been very lonely because my sister is busy being the oldest one in our family. My brother is busy being a football player at Penn State. After the training camp, his coach sa id that he was second string and that when he starts learning the system, he will be first string.

My dad really hopes he will make it to the pros and play for the Steelers. My mom is just glad he gets to go to college for free because my sister doesn't play football, and there wouldn't be enough money to send both of them. That's why she wants me to keep working hard, so I'll get an academic scholarship.

So, that's what I'm doing until I meet a friend here. I was hoping that the kid who told the truth could become a friend of mine, but I think he was just being a good guy by telling.

Love always,

Charlie

Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.

Release Date: September 21, 2912

Release Time: 103 minutes

Director: Stephen Chbosky

Cast:

Logan Lerman as Charlie Kelmeckis

Emma Watson as Samantha "Sam" Button

Ezra Miller as Patrick Stewart

Mae Whitman as Mary Elizabeth

Paul Rudd as Mr. Anderson

Nina Dobrev as Candace Kelmeckis

Johnny Simmons as Brad Hayes

Erin Wilhelmi as Alice

Adam Hagenbuch as Bob

Kate Walsh as Mrs. Kelmeckis

Dylan McDermott as Mr. Kelmeckis

Melanie Lynskey as Helen

Joan Cusack as Dr. Burton

Zane Holtz as Chris Kelmeckis

Reece Thompson as Craig

Nicholas Braun as Ponytail Derek

Landon Pigg as Peter

Tom Savini as Mr. Callahan

Julia Garner as Susan

Trailer

Clips

Stephen Chbosky

Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.

He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.

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