My all-time favorite Star Wars film is The Empire Strikes
Back. It is dark and foreboding and (in
my opinion) offers the best story of the Star Wars Saga.
It’s no secret that George Lucas is a master of commercial
merchandising. A large portion of his
profits for the Star Wars film is from the merchandise contracted with
publishers and manufacturers.
LEGO is known the world over and is famous for its
commercial property licenses-including Star Wars. But did you know that LEGO Star Wars have also
made it to the small screen as computer animated specials?
One of LEGO’s more famous adaptations of Star Wars was its
hilarious LEGO Star Wars the Empire Strikes Out. While staying true to the Star
Wars property the special still managed to poke fun at the films and please Star
Wars fans at the same time.
Scholastic Books has translated The Empire Strikes Out TV
Special to the printed page with screen captures accompanied by text easily understood
by young readers.
After the Death Star is destroyed Darth Vader and Emperor
decide to rebuild, but not without some opposition. Throw in a few memorable characters from the
recent Star Wars Trilogy such as Darth Maul and you wind up with a hilarious
new chapter in the Star Wars Saga--LEGO style!
What is it with the popularity of Zombies and the undead-especially
with teenagers!? You’d think the last
thing young people would be interested in is death, flesh-eating dead people
and the end of the world apocalypse.
Not so! The undead craze
continues to grow in popularity. TV
shows, movies and books about the living dead are extremely popular.
A new book: Undead by Kirsty McKay, published by Scholastic
Books, takes a slightly different take on the zombies phenomenon.
When teenagers Bobby and Smitty decide to stay on the bus while
their fellow bus passengers go off to eat the two teenagers have no idea the danger
that is about to happen
After several hours no one returns. Bobby and Smitty talk, joke and flirt with
each other-the beginning of a budding romance.
Snow begins to fall, the sky darkens and finally their fellow
passengers begin to return.
Only something has happened-they are no longer alive and
their muddled undead brains crave only one thing-human flesh! Skedaddling as fast as they can in the bus
Bobby and Smitty soon find themselves in the fight for their lives.
Somehow they manage to flee to safety only to realize that
zombies are everywhere and it’s up to them to do something about it. Reunited with family, the zombie fighting duo
embark on one the strangest and hilarious undead funfests imaginable--only to
wind up back on the bus-literally.
Undead is a fun romp amidst carnivorous corpses that is
seriously sick and a gory good time.