2013 Kids Movie Preview

Movies to look for in 2013!

A new year brings new resolutions, new boy bands, new American Idol winners, and of course. . . new movies! There are a ton of cool movies coming out in 2013 from sequels, to remakes, to concert movies. So grab your popcorn and take a look. . .

The Savage Fortress

The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda

Ash Mistry has always loved Hindu myths: the awesome weapons, the brave warriors, the gods watching over all. Visiting his aunt and uncle in India, he finds the country just as fascinating. When wealthy Lord Alexander Savage asks Ash's uncle to work for him, the family is overjoyed. But Ash knows something is wrong at Lord Savage's fortress, where the bodyguards all seem to have strangely long teeth....

Then Ash discovers a golden arrowhead once possessed by the great warrior-king Rama. In their hunger for the weapon, Savage's bodyguards reveal their true natures: They're rakshasas, demons of Indian myth, defeated by Rama many centuries ago. But why are they working for Savage? And what do they want with the arrowhead? As the myths come to life around him, Ash teams up with a beautiful rakshasa girl in a desperate battle to save not just the world, but reality itself.

Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull, The Savage Fortress introduces a terrific new fantasy hero.

Read an excerpt.

What do you think? Are you excited about this new fantasy book? Leave a Comment.

The 2012 Person of the Year Is. . .

2012 PERSON OF THE YEAR!

Time Magazine has their Person of the Year, and we now present the first ever . . . STACKS Person of the Year!

Last week we asked you to nominate the person or group of people that have had the biggest impact in YOUR world in 2012. There were lots of amazing nominations, but the person (or in this case group of people) is . . . Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne, a.k.a. One Direction.

• ArtisticCat7 has personal reasons for nominating One Direction. "They have made a big impact on my life because it's the first time I was really involved in a band. It showed off a different side of me as a person." 
• Caroline nominated them "because they're just simply downright AMAZING!"
• ChattyAngel42 summed it up saying, "They're all so talented and nice! I think they should be nominated because they've gotten really popular this year."

Happy New Year, One Direction! You are the STACKS Person of the Year!

Writing Prompt: Word of the Year 2012

Writing Prompt: Word of the Year 2012

Have you ever noticed that the way people talk changes over time? Words that used to be popular start to sound annoying after a while, and new words that you never heard of before start to sound cool and fun. So today's Writing Prompt is a question for you. What was the most popular new word of 2012?

The American Dialect Society chooses a word every year that highlights what's prominent in the world of grown-ups that year. In 2011, the word was "occupy" because everyone was talking about the protest movements around Occupy Wall Street. In 2010, the words was "app" because apps were a new thing and everyone was going crazy for them.

The word of the year should be:

• new or newly popular in 2012 
• widely and/or prominently used in 2012
• OR about something that's popular in 2012

What's YOUR word of the year for 2012? Leave a Comment to tell us what word was on everyone's lips at your school in 2012.

Have a happy new year!!!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer