On March 22, we screened the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival for the first time in a brand-new city: Salem, Oregon. Thanks so much to Sonja Somerville and everyone at the Salem Public Library for hosting the event. Thanks to Ashley Gruber and all the folks at Capital Community Television (CCTV) Salem for partnering with us on this event. And thanks to the Book Bin for showing up to sell books.

The screening was hosted by me and New York Times bestselling author Heidi Schulz (Hook’s Revenge, Giraffes Ruin Everything). Heidi was an amazing co-host! The CCTV folks made a video of Heidi and I singing the opening song, “What Would John Newbery Do,” in which we celebrate the bombastic legends surrounding the man for whom the Medal is named. Heidi nails it, she’s a true lady of the stage! It’s the video above. Watch it!

After the show, Heidi and I posed onstage with some of the young Salem filmmakers who participated:

Let’s check out some of those great movies from Salem that we featured at the screening! CCTV had a camp in which participants created movies to submit to the film festival, and that’s how we got this delightful retelling of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1963 Honor Book A Wrinkle in Time by Padraig T., Miles C., and Ben M. Watch closely to see how this group of three pulls off a script written for six actors:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A fun, anarchic, unhinged romp . . . I loved Meg’s punked-out blue wig, Charles Wallace’s helmet and a superhero cape, and the witches dressed as Chewbacca, Elmo, and some kind of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ outfit . . . I especially loved the special effect of the “tessering”—a gleaming whirlwind that raptures the witches and our heroes from place to place . . . it was especially fun that the ‘dad’ was portrayed by a giant weird inflatable stick-man—especially when Meg throws him at Charles Wallace!”

Mac C. and Cooper H. from the CCTV camp submitted this next movie. It’s Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Honor Book Hatchet in stop motion Lego . . . and in the style of Star Wars!

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “What a brilliant twist for a Hatchet adaptation: instead of the normal boy Brian, it’s a Star Wars stormtrooper; and instead of Brian surviving in the wilderness with only a hatchet, the stormtrooper must survive on an alien planet with only a lightsaber! I appreciated the attention to detail, like how the pilot was also an Imperial officer, and how their vehicle was an Imperial shuttle, and how our stormtrooper makes his shelter inside a fallen AT-AT (hey, just like Rey in The Force Awakens!).”

But that’s not the only Hatchet adaptation we received from the CCTV camp! Here’s another Hatchet, this time by Caden:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Imaginative, entertaining, and in some places quite impressive! The combination of Lego stop motion and green screen worked well to totally set the scene. I liked the fun twist this movie puts on the story: instead of a boy trying to survive in the wilderness with only a hatchet, it’s a unicorn trying to survive in the wilderness with only a horn!”

Caden also teamed up with Aniah for this final entry from CCTV. It’s an adaptation of Gail Carson Levine’s 1988 Honor Book Ella Enchanted:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A quick, fun retelling of the story! The graphics of the various characters and their backgrounds were well-chosen to indicate the corresponding parts of the story, and the onscreen text filled in the plot clearly and efficiently. The background music also felt appropriate to the quasi-medieval setting of the story. Solid work!”

We also received a movie from Maddie O’Donnell and members of the Salem Public Library Teen Advisory Board! It was a puppet-show adaptation of Sharon Creech’s 1995 Medal Winner Walk Two Moons:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This accelerated, comedic, borderline-lunatic puppet show was lots of fun to watch! It was creative and resourceful to make all the puppets out of paper bags, with hand-made backgrounds. I especially liked the various hairstyles (made of yarn?) that flopped around amusingly . . . A tight script, shot in a no-nonsense way, and performed with gleeful enthusiasm!”

Thanks again to all the filmmakers for these great movies! All in all, it was an exceptional first-year showing for Salem. I’m looking forward to bringing the screening back to town next year, hopefully with even more local entries. The deadline for next year’s film festival is January 2020, but don’t procrastinate! You can actually start making your movies now, and turn them in at any time. As alwways, complete details (including helpful tips) can be found at the 90-Second Newbery website.

And, if you don’t mind me asking . . . if you enjoyed the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival this year, please consider kicking a few bucks our way. This film festival is always free, but it costs money to put on. From year to year, it all depends on the generous donations of those who love it. And anyway, it’s tax-deductible! Our fiscal sponsor is Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

As a final cherry on top, here’s the final montage of all the movies featured that day, which we played at the end of the screening:

The eighth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival tour is almost complete. Fourteen screenings in fourteen cities, from February to May, yee-hah! We’re in the home stretch now. Last Saturday was our second-to-last screening of 2019 at the Boston Public Library, hosted by me and M.T. Anderson (author of Feed, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, and many other amazing books).

Check out the video of the opening skit above, in which the film festival is nearly shut down by order of the nefarious HIGH SUPREME NEWBERY COUNCIL, helmed by Newbery winners Kate DiCamillo, Jacqueline Woodson, E.B. White, and . . . uh, Meindert de Jong? Who’s that? Watch the video and find out. Can I escape execution from the High Supreme Newbery Council’s pitiless sergeant-at-arms? (Special thanks to Iman for playing that role.) And can we pull off the opening song, sung to the tune of “One Day More” from Les Miserables?

This is our third year bringing the film festival to Boston. Thanks first to Kate Gilbert for her tireless hustle in bringing the film festival to town. Thanks to Laura Koenig and everyone from the Boston Public Library for sponsoring the show and providing such a great space for it. Thanks to the Writers’ Room of Boston and ArtWeek Boston for the promotion. Thanks to Trident Bookstore for doing bookselling after the show. Thanks to M.T. Anderson for being a witty, generous, and up-for-anything co-host and friend. And thanks most of all to the young filmmakers, and the parents and teachers who helped them create their masterpieces!

Let’s take a look at some of the great entries we received from the Boston area. For instance, the Benali family (which includes Iman from the opening skit) created this inventive and entertaining adaptation of Adam Gidwitz’s 2017 Honor Book The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog. They put the events of the story to song—of “Summer Nights” of Grease—rewritten here as “Stupid Knights”:

Superlative! As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I loved how the movie cut between expertly-drawn animation and live-action storytelling . . . the lyrics hit all the major plot points clearly and vividly and with a lot of humor! This was a pleasure to watch, resourceful and fun!”

Homeschoolers Merrik, Canon, Lauder and Aldrin Moriarty of Holliston, Massachusetts submitted this enthralling movie of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s 2016 Honor Book The War That Saved My Life:

A triumph! As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I loved how thoroughly and carefully this movie recreates the time and place of the book, from the English accents to the period-appropriate costumes and sets . . . The cinematography was crisp and assured, with well-framed shots and brisk editing . . . and I was amused by the inclusion of the White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’!”

Agapi, Ramon, Jake, Nanette, Michelle, Ellen, and Ben of West Bridgewater Public Library made this engrossing stop-motion movie of Rebecca Stead’s 2010 Newbery Medal Winner When You Reach Me:

Delightful! As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The stop-motion animation of the dolls was expertly handled, and I like how the combination of green-screened images in the background and foreground sets combined to make effective sets . . . I like the sardonic, abbreviated tone: ‘Marcus, you are the Laughing Man! And now you are dead.’ A movie to be proud of!”

Last year I visited Eliot School in Boston’s North End because one of their students, Jordan, had made a 90-Second Newbery movie The One and Only Ivan. This year, Jordan and Zolie of Eliot School are back for another shot at 90-Second Newbery glory with this movie of Kate DiCamillo’s 2001 Honor Book Because of Winn-Dixie:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Energetic and resourceful . . . the crazy grocery store manager, grabbing Opal and shaking her by the shoulder and using the cat-grabbing robot arm all over the place, was well-played in the most over-the-top manner . . . Great performances throughout . . . Fantastic work!”

Also from Eliot School, Bea and Orson adapted Eleanor Estes’s 1945 Honor Book The Hundred Dresses . . . but with a twist. Instead of a hundred dresses, it’s a hundred pairs of Steph Curry athletic shoes:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I loved the creative idea of switching up the premise of the original story, so that instead of Wanda boasting that she has one hundred dresses in her closet, she instead claims to have one hundred pairs of Steph Curry shoes! . . . This movie has charm and inventiveness to spare!”

Fiona and Zoe of Melrose Avenue School traveled in all the way from Jamestown, Rhode Island to the screening! Their movie was of Matt de la Pena’s 2016 Medal Winner Last Stop on Market Street:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Great acting in this one, very natural and expressive! The greenscreen backgrounds and the resourceful costumes (like Nana’s shawl and the blind man’s dark glasses and cane) helped to make the movie feel authentic. The movie told the story quickly and accurately, hitting pretty much all the plot points, and it looked like everyone was having fun, which made it fun to watch.”

Thanks again to all the filmmakers for these great movies! I can’t wait to see what Boston comes up with next year. Remember, the deadline for next year’s film festival is January 2020 . . . but you can start making your movies now, and turn them in at any time! Complete details, including tips for filmmakers, can be found at the 90-Second Newbery website.

If you enjoyed the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, please consider kicking a few bucks our way! It’s tax-deductible. Our fiscal sponsor is Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

And here’s final montage of all the movies that we played at the end of the Boston screening:

Please donate to the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! It’s tax-deductible. Our fiscal sponsor is Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

Last Saturday and Sunday, the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival came romping through the Oakland Public Library in Rockridge and the San Francisco Public Library! As a winter-weary Chicagoan, I’m always delighted to come out to the Bay Area at this time of year, especially since it’s a chance to catch up with so many old friends.

And I’m extra-lucky to have as my co-host the hilarious and talented picture-book author Marcus Ewert of 10,000 Dresses, Mummy Cat, and Mr. Pack Rat Really Wants That! Watch the video above of me and Marcus, taken at the SFPL screening on Sunday, in which Marcus and I must struggle against the forced shutdown of the 90-Second Newbery by the fearsome HIGH SUPREME NEWBERY COUNCIL comprising Kate DiCamillo, Jacqueline Woodson, E.B. White . . . and Meindert De Jong? Who’s Meindert De Jong? Watch the video to find out some odd Newbery history, especially if you like Les Miserables! (And special thanks to Simran, who played the part of the Sergeant-At-Arms of the High Supreme Newbery Council to perfection.)

After the screenings in both Oakland and San Francisco, we had some of the filmmakers come up onstage with us for a picture (Simran’s the one who is about to fillet me with that sword):

Let’s look at some of the great videos we received from the Bay Area this year that we featured in the screenings! For instance, Simran and a lot of other young filmmakers in the San Francisco Public Library Video Production Club worked together to make this impressive version of Lois Lowry’s 1990 Medal Winner Number the Stars:

As the judges wrote on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was a compelling, creative, resourceful adaptation . . . The cinematography and editing throughout was artful and effective, from the closeup on the German soldier’s eyes, to the way the fleeing girls are framed by his legs, to the shifting perspectives of different emotional reactions during the hurried, anxious conversations . . . I appreciated that the movie took the time to show the kids having fun and being authentic children, so that when the soldiers came searching for them, we felt their terror in a much more genuine way . . . A real triumph!”

Noemi, Grant, Sage, and Athan of Orange County, CA did this fantastic movie based on Adam Gidwitz’s 2017 Honor Book The Inquisitor’s Tale:

As the judges wrote on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “What a knockout! This was a witty, crisp, and accurate sprint through the book. Not a moment was wasted . . . lots of goofy details and well-crafted jokes made this a pleasure to watch . . . I like the repeated use of the Charlie Brown Christmas music to indicate sad parts of the story, and especially how the movie accelerates as it goes on, mentioning the events of the book faster and faster as the appropriate images flash by . . . Charismatic actors, tight script, polished production!”

We were also proud to feature Astral and Defy’s movie based on Derrick Barnes’ 2018 Honor Book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut:

As the judges wrote on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie featured a great reading of the poetry of the book, with the power of the carefully-selected images to bring all the emotions and ideas together! I liked how the rapid-fire images of geography exam, honor roll, and brain were quickly connected to the thematic poem, and how the use of memes, emojis, and dolls made the movie sing . . . Well done!”

We also got a bunch of great movies from Oakland, too! For instance, Elliott, Henry, and Owen did this snappy stop-motion version of Richard and Florence Atwater’s 1939 Honor Book Mr. Popper’s Penguins:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “From the very beginning, the clear, confident, expressive voiceover performance told the story up with style! I loved the excellent and creative green screen work . . . The animations of the penguins emerging from the packages were particularly well done . . . It told the complete story entertainingly and ingeniously!”

Samarra, Mirella, Asha and Elza from Oakland made this fun and resourceful movie of Victoria Jamieson’s 2015 Honor Book, the graphic novel Roller Girl:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The cinematography and editing worked well, especially how it showed the schism between Zoe and Nichole. The intertitles did a good job keeping the plot on track, and I like how this movie uses actual roller skates . . . Good job putting this joyful, anarchic, fun movie together!”

Thanks to Erica Siskind and Liz Soskin of the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library, plus Lyn Davidson, Jim Jeske, Kenny Avila, Catherine Cormier and Megan Anderson from the San Francisco Public Library. And special thanks to Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library for doing bookselling after the shows. And of course a gigantic thanks to all the filmmakers who participated, plus the parents and teachers who helped out.

As usual when I come out to San Francisco, I stay with my good friends Alisha and Sharon, two of the nicest and most generous people you could ever meet. They took me out to Onsen Bath & Restaurant in San Francisco, which meant two hours of relaxing with them in a Japanese-style hot bath, sauna, and steam room, followed by an amazing meal. If you’re ever in San Francisco, hoo man, you should try this. Alisha and Sharon also have folks over their place after the show for an afterparty, and it’s always a treat. Here’s Alisha with me and Marcus and my friend Nick after the SFPL show:

Remember, it’s never too early to start making movies for next year’s film festival. The deadline is in January 2020, but you can turn them in anytime! Complete details, including tips for filmmakers, can be found at the 90-Second Newbery website.

Thanks so much, San Francisco and Oakland! I’ll see you next year! And if you enjoyed the film festival, please consider a donation to the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. It’s tax-deductible. Our fiscal sponsor is Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

To round out the post, here’s the final montage that we used at the San Francisco screening: