KidLit Forum

Freak Friday

(mother-daughter dysfunctional relationship)

The wide generation gap between Tess Coleman (J.L. Curtis) and her teenage daughter Anna (L. Lohan) is more than evident. They simply cannot understand each other's preferences. On a Thursday night they have a big argument in a Chinese restaurant. Both receive a fortune cookie each from the restaurant owner's mother which causes them to switch bodies next day. As they adjust with their new personalities, they begin to understand each other more and eventually it's the mutual self-respect that sorts the things out.

The great thing about this movie is to see J.L. Curtis act out like a crazy teenager and there's so much you need to learn...

Hotel Transylvania
(vamp-racism, overprotective father, Dracula hates humans because they hated vampires once)

In 1895, Dracula builds a resort in Transylvania, hidden from the humans, to raise his beloved daughter Mavis in a safe environment. In the present days, the place is the Hotel Transylvania, where monsters bring their families to spend vacation far from the frightening humans. Dracula invites his friends - Frankenstein and his wife Eunice; Wayne and Wanda, the werewolves; Griffin, the invisible man; Murray, the mummy; the Bigfoot, among others - to celebrate the 118th birthday of Mavis. When the party is ready to start, the 21-year-old Jonathan is walking through the forest and stumbles at the hotel. Dracula sees Jonathan and disguises him as a monster to hide Jonathan from the guests. But Mavis also sees Jonathan, and Dracula forces him to pose of a monster. Soon Mavis believes that Jonathan is the "zing" (the one) of her life despite the advices of her father about the humans.

It is really nice to see a new and funny perspective about the ugly world of horrors. It's not ugly at all, they just don't get along with humans, their monstruosity is not understood by humans and so, the war between them lasts for ages. Dracula is very shocked to see that humans love vampires in this century and he is a real icon, and humans help him find his precious little Mavis (even though she's 18).

How to Train your Dragon

(racism, disability, difference)

Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world.

- prejudice against dragons: people raised their children with the belief that dragons are bad and need to be destroyed.
- Hiccup, different from all the warrior types, discoveres that all you need is a smoothing hand and the dragons will :fall: like puppies at your feet.
- when Hiccup downs, by luck, the most wanted dragon, he wounds his tail and he can't fly anymore, more time to spend with Hiccup to learn about friendship.
- Hiccup loses his leg in a battle and now it's the dragon's turn to help him manage.
- Hiccup's father didn't accept the idea that his son is not a warrior, he feels ashamed.

Coraline

(dysfunctional family)

When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the "Other Mother" invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.

Kung Fu Panda
(body image)

It's the story about a lazy, irreverent slacker panda, named Po, who is the biggest fan of Kung Fu around... which doesn't exactly come in handy while working every day in his family's noodle shop. Unexpectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Po's dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five -- Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey -- under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu. But before they know it, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way, and it's up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat. Can he turn his dreams of becoming a Kung Fu master into reality? Po puts his heart - and his girth - into the task, and the unlikely hero ultimately finds that his greatest weaknesses (his fat) turn out to be his greatest strengths.

His biggest nightmare: the stairs

Charlie & the Chocolat Factory

(dysfunctional family, class difference)

When Willy Wonka decides to let five children into his chocolate factory, he decides to release five golden tickets in five separate chocolate bars, causing complete mayhem. The tickets start to be found, with the fifth going to a very special and poor boy, called Charlie Bucket. With his Grandpa, Charlie joins the rest of the children to experience the most amazing factory ever. But not everything goes to plan within the factory...

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

(body image, mental illness)

Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.

Mean Girls

(bullies, teen issues, body image, being popular)

Raised in African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron thinks she knows about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 16-year-old enters public high school for the first time and encounters psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teenage girls face today.

Cady is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

My Sister's Keeper

(leukemia)

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that maybe will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

The movie shows the heartache and the pain, but also the beauty in how tragedy can bring families together.

The movie is about a boy with a unique aging disorder: one that makes him age 4 times faster than normal. It picks up when Jack (Robin Williams) is 10 years old, but looks 40. He tries to go to public school for the first time, and to become friends with kids his own age. His physical appearance causes him lots of problems, however.