Jacquelyn Stolos's "Asterwood," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Asterwood by Jacquelyn Stolos.

The entry begins:

Asterwood, my first middle grade novel and first foray into fantasy, follows Madelyn, a ten-year-old who discovers an enchanted world through a shimmering rift in the forest behind her New Hampshire home. After learning that she might not be who she's been raised to think she is, Madelyn joins up with The New Hopefuls, a group of rag-tag child activists resisting the social, economic, and downright evil adult forces harming this enchanted forest. While honing the tone of the novel, it was important for me to balance my respect for young readers and their desire and ability to engage with some serious themes with the way a child's perspective sprinkles an iridescent dust of magic and wonder on everything, especially interactions with the natural world. Hayao Miyazaki is the master of this duality, and so, for Asterwood, the movie, I would want to call this animation great out of retirement to direct.

My favorite film moment of all time is...[read on]

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My Book, The Movie: Asterwood.

--Marshal Zeringue