From Director Tim Burton comes this adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ young adult novel. Is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children the YA sensation or is it just a weak derivative of the X-Men? Continue reading
Young Adult
Doug Reviews: Insurgent
Basically, if you read my review of Divergent from last year, a lot of the criticisms still apply to its sequel, Insurgent. There is a point in the film where Tris (Shailene Woodley) literally turns to Four (Theo James) and says, “I know this doesn’t make any sense.” Truer words were never spoken, sweetheart. Continue reading
Great Big World: The Trouble with Dr. Beamo
Great Big World: The Trouble with Dr. Beamo, available NOW!
Doug‘s first novel, Great Big World: The Trouble with Dr. Beamo, is available NOW!
Great Big World: The Trouble with Dr. Beamo will be available in multiple formats. The print edition is available NOW from Doug’s personal store at Createspace! Just click the picture above and the Internet will whisk you over to his site. The digital editions are coming very soon and will be available before Christmas. Thanks for reading!
The summer leading up to sixth grade was supposed to be quiet and easy for Jake Baker. Instead, he finds himself trying to save the world. A series of strange events in his neighborhood leads him and his Greene Street Gumshoes into something far more dangerous than the usual lost dog case. An ageless sorcerer named Count Sugar Cain and his associate, a mad scientist called Dr. Beamo, are on the verge of conquering the town of Avalon and after that, the Earth. A returning contestant to the world-conquering game, Sugar Cain plans to win this time and rule with an iron fist, while bringing magic back to prominence.
The Gumshoes are standing in his way.
Jake and his friends are pulled deeper into a world of magic and mystery as they try to stop the nefarious Sugar Cain before he can turn Avalon into a hotbed of dark magic. Along the way, Jake discovers secrets about his own family that will forever change both his life and the lives of those around him.
Will the Gumshoes defeat the powerful Count? Will Jake live through the summer to make it to middle school? And why does his best friend Shellie keep trying to hold his hand?
Find out in GREAT BIG WORLD: THE TROUBLE WITH DR. BEAMO – Available NOW!
Suitable for Middle Grade Readers and Up
Doug Reviews: Mockingjay Part 1
A few years ago, Warner Brothers started the trend of taking the final volume of an adaptation and splitting it into two films. That film/adaptation was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Lionsgate has continued this questionable trend with the final volume of the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. Harry Potter was 759 pages, while Mockingjay was 400. The former probably deserved the split film treatment, while the latter just feels like it’s milking the audience. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Maze Runner
It seems like every week there is a new film adaptation of a young adult book series. Thanks to The Hunger Games, the majority of these films are future dystopias and The Maze Runner is no different. No really, it’s basically The Hunger Games crossed with Lord of the Flies. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Giver
It’s funny that audiences are finally getting a film adaptation of The Giver now that all of its imitators in the publishing world have gotten their chance to shine—I’m looking at you, Divergent. However, does the original prove to be the master or just another wreck on the rough seas of young adult film adaptations? Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Fault in Our Stars
The adaptation of author John Green’s bestselling novel, The Fault in Our Stars, has hit theaters and while the film does a lot of things right, there were a few major qualms I had with the story that kept me from loving it.
The Hodgepodge Podcast 