Celebrity Videos: In case you missed it!

Summer on the Splot may have ended. . . well, a while ago, but that doesn't mean it's the end of our great celebrity coverage! POP-Corn writer extraordinaire Gerri Miller has been out on the town getting shout-outs (and book recommendations) from all your favorite stars. You can always catch the latest celebrity videos in the STACKS Video Hub. But in case you missed them. . .

Gerri caught up with Selena Gomez and the Disney D23 Expo where she let us in on how she creates her character, Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place:

Also hanging out at the D23 Expo was Nicole Anderson. Nicole might not be a household name yet, but it's okay because she has the best job in the world. She gets to spend all day with the Jonas Brothers, playing Macy Misa on J.O.N.A.S. But when she's not acting, Nicole loves to read:

The boys were more forthcoming about what they're reading. So if you ever need something to talk about with Sterling Knight, from Sonny with a Chance, – first off, lucky you! – but secondly, it's good to know you can always strike up a conversation about The Boy Who Lived. Sterling re-read the Harry Potter books this summer to get ready to see the movie. Check it out:

Lucas Cruikshank from "The Fred Show" is also a Harry Potter fan:

If you're more into sci-fi mysteries than fantasy, Trevor Gagnon, who is in The New Adventures of Old Christine and the movie, Shorts has a book recommendation for you. He loves Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix:

And last, but not least, is Jason Dolley, from Corey in the House:

He loves the adult classic Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle. If you're not quite up to reading them, you can also check out the series Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars by Tracy Mack & Michael Citrin (suggested for 3-5th grades). Both series are filled with mysteries and intrigue.

For more book recs from celebrities to you, make sure to keep your eyes peeled to the STACKS Video Hub!

And just 'cause I'm curious, what books would you recommend to your favorite stars?

—Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Get Goosebumps Webcast

Well, everyone, I've got a lot to do to get ready for my Goosebumps HorrorLand webcast. I've got to press my black cape. . . sharpen my fangs. . . practice my terrifying wolf howl. . . and drink lots of warm blood to keep my strength up. . .

Is it possible for the full moon to show itself at one in the afternoon (ten a.m. Pacific time)? Don't worry. It will be as scary as midnight once we start sharing ghost stories and telling our scariest Halloween tales.

We'll talk about my scary books and I'll tell a scary story. And I hear that maybe a few of my scary friends might drop by. Slappy the evil dummy wouldn't dare come alive and interrupt our fun—would he?

We'll see. I'll be waiting for you.

What: Get Goosebumps Live Webcast Event
When: October 28, 1-1:30pm (ET) / 10-10:30am (PT)
Where: scholastic.com/goosebumpswebcast

Make sure your teacher tunes in, or watch the video recap afterwards.

Readers, beware—see you there!

— R. L. Stine, Goosebumps Author

My Imaginary Baby-Sitter's Club Movie Cast

When the news broke that in 2012 Hollywood will be releasing a feature film version of Sweet Valley High, I thought, HOLD UP. Wait a minute!

I liked Sweet Valley High. Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield reminded me of my twin sister and me, only we were brunettes growing up in New Jersey, not blondes in California, and there was no Unicorn Club at my school (despite my best efforts to start one). But when it comes to my favorite book series, it's no secret where my loyalties have always remained: I am firmly on Team BSC. And yes, if it were up to me, there'd be a big screen version coming soon to theaters near you!

BSC (or The Baby-sitter's Club for you newbies) is Ann M. Martin's best-selling series about a group of middle school girls who, well, baby-sit. A lot. Like, a LOT. And even though I myself wasn't big on baby-sitting, there's just something about the characters that keeps me going back to them. Even now, at my ripe old age, I still pull out my favorite BSC titles when I have a half an hour to kill and need some comfort food. (For the record, I always go back to: Boy-Crazy Stacey, The Ghost at Dawn's House, BSC Super Special #7: Snowbound! and my favorite of all, BSC Super Special #2: Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation.)

So as the movie and book industries talk about who should be cast in the Sweet Valley High movie, here on Ink Splot 26 we're going to do a little casting of our own. Here are my picks for the theoretical BSC movie, if it were to be filmed today. Agree or disagree? Cast your own picks in the comments!

Kristy Thomas:

Miranda Cosgrove(iCarly)

Mary Anne Spier:

Emma Roberts (Unfabulous; Nancy Drew)

Claudia Kishi: Hayley Kiyoko (Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins; singer)

Stacey McGill: AJ Michalka (The Lovely Bones; singer)

Dawn Schaefer: Dakota Fanning (Coraline, Twilight: New Moon)

Mallory Pike: Emily Osment (Hannah Montana)

Jessi Ramsey:

Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP)

Logan Bruno: Sterling Knight (Sonny With a Chance)

And just for fun, Karen Brewer: Kiernan Shipka (Sally from Mad Men)

Cast away!

— Morgan, Scholastic staffer

Emma Roberts photo courtesy of Gerri Miller
Keke Palmer photo courtesy of Nickelodeon

Book Review Breathe: A Ghost Story

If your home had a ghost, what would you do? I know I would certainly get the heck out of there and convince my parent to move faster than you could say “Trick or Treat” five times. Well, I suppose that's where Cliff McNish's character, Jack, and I differ.

In the book Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish, the reader is taken into many different worlds through just one boy, Jack, as he is a medium between the world of the living, the world of lost souls, the world of the other side, and the world which exists between the living and the non-living.

When Jack's father dies, and Jack and his mother move into a new home out in the country, Jack hopes to contact him through some supernatural occurrence, but instead Jack finds himself in direct contact with another non-living soul in the home. At first Jack presumes his connection with the ghost – aka the Ghost Mother – will lead him to contact his dad, but he soon discovers the evils that lie within this home and the dangers that await.

You will want to read Breathe with the lights on for fear that a ghost may be lurking in your own home. Even more frightening than the ghosts were the parts of the story describing the world of the lost souls. McNish's description of this terrifying and unsettling world will have your hairs standing up on your arms, and you'll reach for a blanket due to the chills you'll be feeling!

I want to thank lucca4 for recommending this book in the entry Get ready, get set and RECOMMEND!

I give Breathe: A Ghost Story 4.5 out of 5 stars.

—Carly M., STACKS Staffer

Trivia Tuesday: Farmer Boy

I don't think it would come as a shock to any Ink Splot 26 readers that I love the Little House series. I list it as one of my favorite books and way back when, I wrote a blog entry asking the character/author Laura Ingalls Wilder three questions (three questions that will never be answered that is, because she lived from 1867 to 1957).

And, you should know I loved horses growing up because of my FIVE listing of the greatest horse books of all time (IMHO*).

Which is all just a long way of saying that my 4^th-grade self would have been all over this week’s trivia question on Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

What is the name of the colt that Almanzo gets at the end of the book?

Happy guessing! Check back next Tuesday for the answer.

—Carly H., STACKS Staffer

*IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

Trivia Tuesday Answer: Pet Trouble

Last week I asked two trivia questions about the series Pet Trouble by Tui T. Sutherland. And no one's commented with the right answer yet :(

So for all of you who were stumped, here are the questions and answers:

1. In the first Pet Trouble book, Runaway Retriever, Parker gets Merlin from his sister who is going away to college, because she's afraid that Parker and their dad will be lonely without her. But what's her name?

ANSWER: Camellia

2. In the second Pet Trouble book, Loudest Beagle on the Block, Ella is preparing two songs to play in the school talent show. But her new beagle, Trumpet, won't stop barking long enough for her to practice them. What instrument does Ella play?

ANSWER: Piano

If you want to get the full stories behind these trivia questions, make sure to read Runaway Retriever and Loudest Beagle on the Block. And, if you've already zoomed through these two, books three and four, Mud-Puddle Poodle and Bulldog Won't Budge, are waiting for you!

—Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Trivia Answer: Guess the Book

Two weeks ago, I put up a second Guess the Book trivia question. And I have a second round of virtual cookies for those of you who got the answers right (and there were a lot of you). But no one got (or bothered to mention) [Edited to add: Oops! Rachel got this right. I just missed it in the comments before.] what all of these books have in common! These are all the second books in their series!

In case you need a reminder, here's what you were guessing:

And here are the answers (and shout-outs to the first person to get each book right!).

#1

Congrats Crystal!

#2

Congrats to Crystal again!

#3

Way to go Rachel!

#4

Third time's a charm: Congrats to Crystal once more.

#5

Awesome job, Dramateller!

Until next time, happy reading!

— Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Cookie photo credit: WITTY234/Shutterstock

YOU Write the Book Blurb: Spooky Edition

I totally loved all the descriptions you guys came up with for my first fake book cover, so I thought I'd do another one. [cue applause — thank you, thank you]

This time I went dark and spooky, since Halloween is right around the corner. Any aspiring horror writers out there?

Or, since October is Mystery Month, why not turn this into a case for a master sleuth?

Either way, have fun with this cover for a completely nonexistent book by an absolutely nonexistent author:

Now it's up to YOU to write the description for the back cover. If this were a real book, what would it be about? Leave a comment with your book blurb — if you dare. . .

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Book Review: Daughters of the Sea #1: Hannah

Gather 'round, readers, and let me tell you a story.

There once was a young orphan girl named Hannah who, upon turning 15, was assigned to work on a farm in Kansas. As she traveled from the Boston orphanage to the wide pastures of the farmland, the strangest things began happening: she began shedding her skin like a snake, leaving behind crystalline rocks of salt in her wake. The condition was so perplexing that she was sent back to Boston.

It was the turn of the 20th century, and Hannah was then assigned to suitable employment as a scullery maid at one of the grandest houses in Boston. She tried to fit in, to disappear, as her job duties required. But she felt a longing for something greater, a longing she couldn't name except when she caught a rare glimpse of the ocean. Through the drudgery of the day-to-day work, through tiptoeing around the issues of the house's eldest daughter (not to mention her strange, sinister cat), through the unexpected connection with a famous painter employed by the master of the house, Hannah felt the sea calling to her. And soon, after she and the servant staff were sent to a remote island in Maine for the summer season, she began answering its calls, and the life-changing secret of her existence was revealed.

Daughters of the Sea: Hannah, by Kathryn Lasky, is a gorgeously written and completely captivating book for ages 12 and up. From its beautiful cover to its intriguing premise (“The tide is turning,” warns the back cover), I was immediately taken with Hannah's journey and found myself anxiously flipping through the pages to discover what would happen. While I guessed the truth about Hannah fairly early in the book (I won't ruin it here!), I had to keep reading to find out how the painter, the cat, and the rich eldest daughter all tied into the premise. And I'm glad I did; the book really picks up in pace once Hannah relocates to the cottage in Maine, and the descriptions of the island and the sea made me long for a turn-of-the-century New England summer of my own.

So tell me, commenters, does Daughters of the Sea: Hannah sound like something you’d like to read? Let me know in the comments!

—Morgan, Scholastic Staffer