The 90-Second Newbery relies on donations to bring our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

This past weekend we closed out the 13th season of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival with two shows in Washington state: a “Best-of-the-Best” screening at the Galaxy Theater in Gig Harbor, and another screening at Grant Center for the Expressive Arts in Tacoma! (I haven’t posted about our May 11 San Antonio show yet, though. Next post.)

The picture above is of the young filmmakers at the Tacoma screening. (No pictures of the Gig Harbor screening, unfortunately.) Thanks to Geoff Bullock from Harbor Stone Credit Union for sponsoring the event, and thanks also to Gig Harbor Film and the “Excuse the Intermission” podcast. And an extra big thanks to Bryan Johnson and Grant Center for the Expressive Arts for putting this all together, and Francis for helping out! We had a particularly energetic crowd in Tacoma, full of the young filmmakers from many schools and their friends and families. I got to do an author visit on Friday at Grant (talking about The Order of Odd-Fish), which helped prime much of the audience for the show.

And of course thank you to Tacoma’s own Doug Mackey, who once again joined me onstage as my co-host! Here’s our opening skit, in which we both meet “Lil’ Newby,” a redesigned anthropomorphic Newbery Medal who can’t stop fibbing about past Newbery winners . . . what, didn’t you know about E.B. White’s shoplifting? or Arnold Lobel’s fondness for arson? Doug and I bring up the whole thing to a climax with a song-and-dance number based on a rewritten version of Aladdin’s “Friend Like Me.” It’s a banger, folks:

Okay, enough of preliminaries, let’s get to the movies that were made by kids in Tacoma and the surrounding area! This first one is based on Maia Wojciechowska’s 1965 Newbery Medal Winner Shadow of a Bull, as adapted by Anders, Arthur, Eva, Garyn, Noah, and Wilson from Mr. Johnson’s 5th Grade at Grant Center for the Expressive Arts:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “In the original book, Manolo’s matador father is killed by a bull in the ring, and Manolo reluctantly attempts to become a bullfighter himself; here, Manolo’s father is killed by a toaster, and Manolo must face his fears of a toaster to be on a cooking show! The twist was well-executed and the story told clearly enough that the audience could understand it even if they hadn’t read the book—a difficult feat to pull off . . . A tight script, good cinematography and editing, strong performances, and resourceful special effects all combined to make an entertaining watch!”

Also from Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, we have this adaptation of Russell Freedman’s 1992 Newbery Honor Winner The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane. In this creative movie, by Gilbert, Kira, Mariana, Maya, and Morgen from Mr. Johnson’s 5th Grade, it’s about the Wright sisters inventing something else entirely:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was an ingenious comedic twist: instead of the Wright brothers inventing the airplane, it’s the Wright sisters inventing the spork! (Or, as they briefly considered naming it, a ‘foon.’) . . . A clever twist, good production values, and excellent script and performances made this a pleasure to watch.”

Grant Center for the Expressive Arts is also behind this version on Mary and Conrad Buff’s 1952 Newbery Honor Book The Apple and the Arrow, here created by Emmett, Judah, Klaire, and Martin from Mr. Johnson’s Fifth Grade. They re-imagine the story of legendary archer William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head with an arrow in a Star Wars way, with a stormtrooper doing the shooting . . . but wait, don’t stormtroopers have notoriously bad aim?

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Stormtroopers are terrible shots, so in this movie, instead of hitting the mark in one zap, William Stormtrooper randomly blasts all over the place, while Vader and his son patiently wait . . . I appreciated the careful attention to the Star Wars details: the accurate John Williams soundtrack music, green screen backgrounds of various Star Wars locations (such as inside and outside a TIE fighter), the resourceful Darth Vader and Stormtrooper costumes (complete with masks!), the zapping and hologram special effects, and of course the Death Star blowing up at the end . . . Ambitious and entertaining!”

Here’s another movie from Grant Center for the Expressive Arts. It’s based on Patricia McKissack’s 1993 Newbery Honor Book The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural, and it’s by Brynn, Harper, Keaton, Rowan A., and Rowan M. from Mr. Johnson’s 5th Grade:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The creepy music did a good job setting the mood, and I was impressed by the ‘ghost’ special effect of the son and mother as well as the effective use of green screen . . . The cinematography and editing were brisk and focused . . . Everyone committed 100% to the horror vibe of the story, and the performances really sold the movie.”

The final movie we received from Grant Center for the Expressive Arts is Carson, Dexter, Ela, Rumor, and Sam’s take on Jerry Craft’s 2020 Newbery Medal Winner New Kid, which here is reset in a school of fish:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “An amusing abbreviation of the book with a refreshingly silly twist . . . The blue tint on all the well-chosen backgrounds made it feel appropriately underwater, and the loose, casual performances sold the characters’ personalities and conflicts. Instead of attempting to tell the whole story, this movie focused instead on two or three representative scenes, giving them room to breathe. Laid-back and entertaining.”

But hey, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts isn’t the only source of Tacoma videos this year! We also received videos from this special Tacoma family who, every year, makes a video based on the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel. Here is “A Lost Button,” created by Otto, Fletcher, Nigel, Simone, and Hansel:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Another earnest, well-crafted visit to the world of Frog and Toad by Otto, Fletcher, Nigel, Simone, and Hansel! The expressive voiceover narration complemented well the onscreen action of Frog and Toad hiking through the beautiful outdoor locations: romping through fields, navigating dense woods, and traipsing alongside a rushing river . . . all the way to joining their friends around a campfire at the end . . . A gently amusing, refreshingly straightforward retelling of the story, with a fanciful and yet sincere atmosphere.”

Every year, this same family also makes a movie based on a poem from Nancy Willard’s 1982 Newbery Medal Winning book A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers. This one is based on the poem “A Rabbit Reveals My Room”:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “As always with this group, the costumes are charmingly elaborate and rumpled, with a rabbit costume, a bear costume, and various others . . . and we are treated to the beautiful outdoor woodsy scenes as the players troop around, accompanied by excellent voiceover performances of the poem . . .The playful yet heartfelt tone of the performances, cinematography, and sound give the whole movie a beautifully dreamlike atmosphere.”

Rainier Elementary School at Joint Base Lewis-McChord adapted Laura Amy Schlitz’s 2008 Newbery Medal Winner Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was an ingenious twist on the premise of the original book, which is a compilation of in-character monologues set in medieval times: update the text so that the situations are similar, but set in 2024! The ingenious and often funny modern tweaks to the stories, and the exuberant performances for the characters, combined to make this an entertaining and fascinating movie.”

Alyssa, Casey, Tanwi, Yana, Anya, Shriyansh, Megha, Daniel, Paige, and Narashima of Sunny Hills Elementary School in Sammamish adapted Robert C. O’Brien’s 1972 Newbery Medal Winner Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was a swift, appealing, inventive retelling of the story! . . . The performances were engaging and convincing, particularly Mrs. Frisby’s earnest emotional reactions . . . Excellent work, entertaining and accurate to the orginal story.”

And finally, we received this adaptation of E.L. Konigsburg’s 1997 Newbery Medal Winner The View From Saturday by Asher F. of Port Orchard:

As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Done entirely in Roblox with AI voices, this movie efficiently tells the story of the book mostly with spoken exposition. The script lays out the story swiftly and accurately, introducing each character by having them describe their function in the story. The computer-graphic avatars of the various characters looked like how the characters were described in the book. There were some amusing bits (like Ham Knapp with the burp) and subtle touches (the thought bubble ‘How would they have known?’). A capable and proficient use of Roblox to make a movie!”

And that was the 2024 Tacoma 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen . . . and thanks most of all to the young filmmakers who created the movies, and the teachers, librarians, and family who helped them!

I hope we get more movies from the Tacoma/Gig Harbor area for next year! The movies are due in January 2025, but you can turn them in any time. You can find complete details about the film festival, including tips on how to make your own movies, at the 90-Second Newbery website. Go and do it!

The 90-Second Newbery relies on donations to bring our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

Ah, Dorothy Gale meets her nemesis the tornado again. On Friday I went to C2E2—the “Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo”—to speak on two panels to promote Bride of the Tornado. This was my second time at C2E2 (the first was in 2022, to promote Dare to Know). But this time I came in my tornado costume. I quickly learned that these conventions are much, much more fun if you’re in costume. People talk to you! You have an excuse to talk to others! People want to take pictures with you! It’s an extrovert’s paradise!

For instance, when I saw this woman dressed as the iconic ending of Midsommar, I had to get a picture. She saw that I was carrying Bride of the Tornado and it turned out she had read and loved the book! (But she also said, “I’ll never read it again. Too intense.” Fair!)

Crazy coincidences and reunions happened, too: I saw Britnee, who had made this gorgeous piece of fan art for The Order of Odd-Fish back in 2010 . . . a picture of Jo that hangs in my bedroom to this day! The picture of Britnee in the lower right-hand corner is from when she attended one of our Odd-Fish fan art gallery shows in 2011, where I had featured her work. How amazing it was to see her again!

I’m a sucker for Star Wars, so it was a treat to hang out with Jawas, X-Wing pilots, a remote-controlled R2 unit, and the fearsome Grand Admiral Thrawn:

Oh yeah, did I mention I was on some panels? In the morning I did a panel called “The Hero Doesn’t Always Journey,” about weird and alternative story structures, which is catnip for me. It was moderated by Stephanie Carr (with whom I did an interview later) and the authors Malayna Evans, Marc J. Gregson, and Kristen Simmons. The room was satisfyingly full, it was a substantial topic, and everyone had a lot of insightful things to say!

And in the afternoon I was on another happily well-attended panel, this one put together by the Chicago chapter of the Horror Writers Association called “Frightening an Audience: How Horror Writers Generate Fear.” It was moderated by Damian Serbu and I shared the panel with Aleco Julius and David Rider, and this was another freewheeling and fun discussion. Like the earlier panel, there were also many great questions from the audience!

But let’s look at more fantastic costumes! I liked it when friends came in group costumes, like Finn and Jake from Adventure Time:

Or Gandalf and Frodo (who gifted me with a potato sticker—if you know, you know):

And this group of bold adventurers:

It was April 26, which I didn’t realize was Alien Day, which makes sense because the planet where they first find the xenomorph eggs is LV426:

Who would win: a xenomorph, or steampunk cyborg Lincoln??

I loved the fanatical commitment of many of the costumes, like this armor made entirely of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards:

It was, in all, a wonderful and totally exhausting day. I got to talk to lots of folks, meet friends old and new, and sell and sign some books. Not bad for a day’s work. I’ll be back!

The 90-Second Newbery relies on donations to bring our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

After a four-year hiatus, we brought the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival back to Rochester, New York! We did it at the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman Museum, thanks to Eliza Kozlowski. Thanks also to the Irondequoit Public Library for sponsoring us, especially Amy Holland and Matt Krueger (and thanks to Amy and Arthur for putting me up while I was in town). Big thanks to Carol White Llewellyn and Deb Ross for promoting, and KidsOutAndAbout.com being our media sponsor. Major thanks to Shari, Alyssa, and Eric at the Dryden Theater, who fixed our last minute tech problems. And of course, thanks to our audience and the young filmmakers behind the movies, along with their families, teachers, and librarians who showed up. We had a lively, fun crowd of nearly 300 folks!

The screening was co-hosted by me and the legendary Bruce Coville (author of My Teacher Is An Alien and dozens more fantastic kids’ books). Being onstage with Bruce is always a treat—check out our opening skit at the top of this post, in which we meet “Lil’ Newby,” a redesigned talking Newbery Medal who can’t stop lying about past Newbery winners (did you know about Beverly Cleary’s stint in a criminal motorcycle gang?). Here’s Bruce and I arguing about the script before the show, and signing books for fans afterward! Thanks, Bruce!

In the days leading up to the screening, I spoke to students at Johanna Perrin Middle School, Martha Brown Middle School, Taylor Elementary School, Bernabi Elementary School, Canal View Elementary School, and Munn Elementary School (whew!). A few days before that, I also spoke at the Good Neighbor Bookstore in Lakewood, NY. A busy week!

One of the great things about returning to Rochester is seeing old friends. Eian-Gabriel Sinclair has been making stop-motion movies for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival for almost ten years now (you can see them all here). Here we are here:

And here’s Eian-Gabriel’s stop-motion movie for this year, a Claymation adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s 2013 Newbery Medal Winner The One And Only Ivan—done in the style of King Kong!

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Entertaining and adroit . . . The background music and voiceover narration were artful and felt period-specific, as well as the black-and-white cinematography. I thought it was clever how it swapped out the roaring lion in the iconic Twentieth Century Fox logo for a fluidly animated Ivan the gorilla.”

Speaking of stop-motion, we also received a splendid stop-motion version of Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon, by Opal Knight and her family in Rochester:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie had stupendous stop-motion animation with Calico Critters all throughout, and the well-designed intertitles did a fine job keeping the story clear and on track . . . I was also really amazed by the scene of the moon and stars, here ingeniously represented by white and yellow yarn that get entangled.”

The next movie is based on Christina Soontornvat’s 2023 Newbery Honor Book The Last Mapmaker, as adapted by Anna Mathews and her family in Savannah, New York:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie sprinted through the plot of the book with a lot of charm! All the actors were compelling and believable in their performances . . . I especially relished the combat scenes: an energetic swordfight on the boat, and a fistfight with dramatic music near the end!”

And hey, here I am with these great filmmakers after the screening!

The next movie is another adaptation of The Girl Who Drank the Moon, this time by the kids of Munn Elementary in Spencerport, New York:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “From the very beginning I knew this movie would be a banger, with a creative hand-drawn title screen and a dramatic first scene in which baby Luna is taken away from her mother . . . All the performances of the characters were fun to watch, effectively conveying each characters’ emotions and situations. Great work!”

Bernabi Elementary of Spencerport submitted this wonderful version of Erin Entrada Kelly’s 2018 Newbery Medal Winner Hello, Universe:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie worked well because of the strength of the performances: Kaori’s pushy confidence, Virgil’s frustrated timidity, Chet’s bullying snottiness, and Valencia’s tentative charm . . . This movie zoomed through the most important plot points of the story quickly and accurately, and making sense even if one hadn’t read the book.”

Taylor Elementary School in Spencerport submitted four great movies, including three different versions of Louis Sachar’s 1999 Newbery Medal Winner Holes, each with its own weird twist. For instance, this first one (by Isaac, Sean, Luca, Becca, Charlie, Greyson, and Chase) has Stanley going to a prison camp not in the middle of the desert, but on the moon:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “There was a creative use of green screen to put us in the various locations of the story: not just on Earth, but also in the spaceship, on the moon, and in a sci-fi space station . . . this movie zipped through many of the plot points from the story in an intriguingly sci-fi style, and it looked like everyone was having a great time making it!”

Also from Taylor Elementary, here’s another version of Holes—but in this one, instead of going to Camp Green Lake, Stanley goes to the North Pole! This one is by Noah, Henley, Carter, Sadie, Isaiah, Chloe, Penny, and Zachary:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Stanley’s amusingly over-the-top acting was fun to watch . . . this was a fun idea done with enthusiasm and infectious high spirits!”

The last version of Holes we got from Taylor Elementary was by Logan, Dom, Lylia, Dakoda, Chelsea, Tessa, and Heidi. In this one, when Stanley is given the choice between Camp Green Lake and jail, he chooses . . . jail!

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Resourceful and ingenious green screen work throughout, and I loved the fun costumes . . . Made with a lot of humorous energy, and even if it doesn’t really follow the book much, it is still entertaining to watch!”

Joel, Luca, Sadie, Andrew, and Willow of Taylor Elementary also did this version of Jerry Craft’s 2020 Newbery Medal Winner New Kid:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie resourcefully used computer graphics to represent the characters, which look very similar to those in the original book . . . The fight scene in the cafeteria at the end was well-staged, using a combination of visuals, dialogue, and narration to make it clear what is happening, and bringing the whole story to an effective climax. Great work!”

Finally, Canal View Elementary submitted this movie of Rebecca Stead’s 2010 Newbery Medal Winner When You Reach Me:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie made effective use of computer graphics to tell the story, brought to life with engaging voiceover performances from the kid actors . . . my favorite part was when the Laughing Man gets hit by the car, and flies up through the sky, out into space, and up to heaven! Very creative!”

And those were the local entries for the 2024 Rochester 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! I’m so glad that we’ve brought the screenings back to Rochester. Here’s to many more years of this!

The 90-Second Newbery relies on private donations to keep going! It’s only through your generosity that we can continue bringing our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.