I selected The Giver. Neither of them has read the book, though Molly has read and very much enjoyed other Lois Lowry works. (As a side note, when Goodreads hosted chat with her, I was selected to ask a question, and my question got answered!):
Do you ever do school visits anymore? I've been wanting to meet you since I was a girl reading 'Anastasia' books. (which my 10 yr old now loves) Thanks for all the wonderful hours of reading over my last 27 years or so!
No school visits anymore, alas! Too little time!
Cool huh? So, though I am careful about PG-13 films, I had heard enough about the adaptation that I felt confident taking my oldest two 10 & 11 to see it. And I was right. Though some important changes were made, I felt it captured the spirit and ideas of that great book very well. I really enjoyed it, especially when, about 15 seconds in, Roland leaned over to me and whispered, "I already like this movie". I did have a few teary moments, especially when hearing the name of a character, Rosemary, then I let out a sobby yelp that my children clearly felt came out of nowhere.
But I have a beef with the experience. Once we had our popcorn, and settled in to watch the trailers, the trailer for 50 Shades of Gray came on. Suddenly I hustled those kids out and sent them for mandatory bathroom breaks. I kept an eye on it from outside the theater, and though it was clearly the PG-13 trailer, I was steamed! Who do they think is coming to see The Giver? It is based on a Newberry award winner, and it's intended audience is no doubt young adults and their families. Now I know I took my kids before they were 13, but so what if they'd been 13? There is no trailer for a film like that that is appropriate to play before the movie I saw! I wanted to complain, but to who? Luckily my kids were blissfully unaware of the very adult content they almost got to see. I hate censorship, but I love good judgement!
They look ready for adult films, don't they?
