Category Archives: Books

Matched Movie Director: David Slade Out, Jon Chu Steps In

Posted by fandomnet on
Jon Chu

Jon Chu

David Slade is no longer set to direct Disney’s upcoming adaptation of Matched. Though there’s no news as to why this change occurred, Heat Vision is reporting that Jon Chu is about to seal a deal to take his place in the director’s chair!

Jon Chu is mostly known for more modern-day, highly-choreographed films like Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D (both of which he worked on with Matched producer Adam Shankman) as well as the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation. It will be interested to see what he does with a heartfelt futuristic romance!

The article also confirms that the script written by Michelle and Kiernan Mulroney (who also penned Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows) is complete! Hopefully, this means the project will start rolling along quickly from here on out!

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Reached (Die Ankunft) Scores Big in Germany

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Ally Condie has hit Twitter to thank her German fans for the huge success of REACHED– aka DIE ANKUNFT– in their nation!

DIE ANKUNFT

Die Ankunft is currently #3 on Der Spiegel’s German Bestseller List. This includes all hardcover books, not just Young Adult series! Last week it was at #2!

To show just how hyped up the books were right now, German Matched Trilogy fan Emmy Neal sent Ally this picture from her local train station:
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Reached’s “Mud Bird” Brought to Life

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If you’ve not read Reached yet, this post contains minor spoilers!

Ally Condie posted a picture of her own “mud bird”, as created by her friend Brook Andreoli:

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On her blog, Allysaid:

I’ll keep this quite spoiler-free, but basically it’s a scene where a girl makes a bird out of some materials (one of those materials is mud, and one is glass). It’s a scene about creation and making something out of what you have.

I’m working on a new mud bird right now. Several of them, actually, and boy, are my hands dirty. And I am certainly getting lots of little cuts as I work with what I have and try to repurpose new things. I’m not just talking about writing projects (though I do have some of those!). Creation can be exhilarating. It can also be painful.

Ally Condie’s First Event of 2013

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Ally Condie has taken to Facebook to announce her first event of 2013: She’ll be taking part in the Orem Writes: YA Writers author panel with Rob Wells and Jen Nielsen!

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Here are the details:
Thursday, January 10th
Orem Public Library
Orem, UT
7 p.m.

There will be no formal sale or book signing at the event, but as Ally mentioned in her Facebook comments “…I’m sure if you came up to me with books after I would be unable to say no. ;-) “

The Associated Press Profiles Ally Condie

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w620-5f1b9452c335c19ca28823c8bd1c0d9aAlly Condie is the subject of a fun new profile in The Washington Examiner written by the Associated Press that discussed the success of the Matched Trilogy, but also pays homage to how the best-selling author made her way into the business:

So, with three best-selling books in three years, it appears that Condie, 34, has just suddenly hit the jackpot. In an interview before a recent program for teens in Bethesda, however, Condie is quick to correct the record, noting that she earlier had published five novels for teens with a small, religious-focused publisher, Deseret Book Company in her home state of Utah, before even beginning “Matched.”

In fact, Condie now credits those early novels as a type of apprenticeship that gave her the skills to eventually write her best-selling trilogy.

“The editors there [at Deseret Book] were the first ones to see some promise in me, and I’m grateful,” Condie added.

Read the full profile here!

Ally Condie’s Book Suggestions for the Holidays

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Do you have a Matched trilogy lover in your life who might appreciate some books suggested by Ally Condie? Check out Ally’s favorite book ideas for children and adults!

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FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund. I’ve posted about this book before, but it bears repeating–this book is a lot of fun. It’s a dystopian retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, and it’s extremely well-written, AND you could give it to anyone from age 9-90. It’s fast-paced and cultured and clean and gorgeous.

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IN A GLASS GRIMMLY by Adam Gidwitz. I’m giving this to friends with kids who will love a gory, glorious read-aloud. And, frankly, I should give this to some adults too, because it’s hysterically funny. In addition to the impeccable pacing and excellent humor, the writing is also extraordinarily beautiful, with passages that you’ll want to underline. Yes, it’s hilarious, but there is also so much heart.

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PAPER TOWNS by John Green. Yes, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and LOOKING FOR ALASKA are both dominating the NYT list right now (as they should be–both wonderful books). But I have always found PAPER TOWNS particularly haunting, and there’s a particular passage near the end that I love so much it ranks up there with the opening line of Stegner’s CROSSING TO SAFETY as a beautifully written description of what it means to be human.

See the full list here!

Hollywood Crush Poll: Best YA Novel of 2012

Posted by alyssaindia on

MTV’s Hollywood Crush recently posted a poll asking you to pick your favorite book of the year and Reached happens to be an option!

From series enders (Ally Condie’s “Reached;” Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s “Beautiful Redemption”) to debut efforts (Kiera Cass’ “The Selection,” Julie Cross’ “Tempest”) to the book that left us all quivering in a puddle of our own snot and tears (John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars”), it’s been another great year to read young adult. Though it may be tough to play favorites, that is the task before you. Cast your vote for the best YA novel of 2012 after the jump (or else we’ll send a hydra demon after you!).

Make sure to cast your vote here!

Matched Fandom.Net Interview with Ally Condie!

Posted by anniemarie89 on

Hello, fellow matched fans! You asked, and Ally answered. Three student librarians from the Bethesda Library asked if they could join in on the interview that we set up. Lily, Erica and Tara joined me at the table, Ally Condie sat with us all and awesomeness ensued.

I can not emphasize enough just how awesome Ally was for this interview. She was so welcoming, and truly interested in answering our questions. All in all, we got to talk with her one-on-four for a good 30-35 minutes.

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A bit blurry, but Ally Condie looks about 5 years younger than me! And of course, we have a lovely backdrop of stuffed bears in various colors for your viewing pleasure.

There were some truly hilarious moments and lots of laughing. But the amount of insight you can gain from reading this will blow your mind! Yeah, I went there. Did you know a character in the series is based off of Ally’s mom? Or that the Matching ceremony is based off of the idea of a prom taken to the extremes?

During the interview, Ally touched on a little bit of everything.

(Me) The majority of our fans, their number one question was – now that you’re done with the trilogy they all seem to want more – we had a user Audra ask, “Now that the trilogy is complete, have you ever wanted to go back and write a novella about some aspect of the trilogy you weren’t able to touch before, a prequel, or is it complete for you?”

It’s complete for me right now; but that said there are certain characters and things that I could see revisiting in the future. There’s no contract or plans or anything started, but I wouldn’t ever rule it out. I mean, it feels really complete but I can also see the potential for maybe something later.

(LILY) Can you tell me who your favorite character was?

My favorite character to write is Indie, because every time she was on the page it was really unexpected and she was making a mess and I liked that a lot. So that’s my favorite character to write.

Poetry, symbolism, Ry Bradbury and a heart-warming story of children eating Easter egg dye after the cut!

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