Book (Wonder) and Movie (Home Alone) Club’s Review

Dorlana Vann ♦ November 30, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

November’s 2016 Book and Movie Review Theme:  Children

Book/Movie Club Set Up:

Each member of our group (women ages 23-48) draws a month and a genre/theme. Whosever month it is, gets to choose a book and movie in their category. (They do not have to be one in the same.)

The group has approximately 3 weeks to read the book and then we get together to eat, discuss the book, and then watch the movie.

Quick Book Summary (from Amazon): Wonder by R. J. Palacio (2012): August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face.

Quick Movie Summary (from IMDB): Home Alone 1990: An 8-year old troublemaker must protect his home from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation.

The Itinerary:

We met at Laura’s apartment for a slumber party! We ordered pizza and also had some of our childhood favs: brownies, brownie cookies, chips and dip, candy, and juice boxes. And some of our current favorites: beer and wine. We sat on the floor in our jammies to discuss the book and then watch the movie.

Thoughts about the Book:

Pros: Everyone really enjoyed the book. Some of us shared that there were a few tears shed during the reading. We liked the switching of different points of view. The author did a great job of making you feel strongly one way or another about all the characters. We all liked Auggie, but there were other standout characters, especially Via and Justin. And no one liked Julian of course, but Miranda was another character who the group thought was unlikable and had questionable motives.

Cons: I got distracted a few times by the out-of-date references: Clint Eastwood, Sound of Music, The little Rascals, Close Encounters etc. I think today’s 10-year-old (even in 2012) would use a little more current entertainment references. The book was slow at times – there were a lot of every day conversations.

Thoughts about the Movie:

We had a blast watching the movie. I mean, it was Home Alone, what’s not to love – but the fun might’ve also been due to a group of women sitting around eating kid food and drinking adult beverages.

We thought the movie would benefit from pop-ups explaining certain fun trivia, which some of us added during the movie, e.g., John Candy ad-libbed all his lines, the gangster movie that Kevin watches isn’t a real movie, and Home Alone was inspired by a scene from the movie Uncle Buck.

We also played “Dead or Not Dead,” guessing which booby traps the crooks endured would have actually killed them in real life.

Girly Discussion:

We thought the family mistreated the little guy in Home Alone.

Interesting Discoveries:

Wonder will be made into a movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay.

Even the reviews for Wonder will make you cry.

The Group’s Average ratings (out of 5):

Book:  4 juice boxes

Movie: 4 juice boxes

The bottom line:

Wonder is perfect for all ages. It is touching, humorous at times, and has subtle lessons about the importance of acceptance, friendship, and family. Read it!

Home Alone is a Christmas comedy classic – but you gotta watch it with fun friends who don’t mind talk and laughter during a movie.

Next month’s Book and Movie Theme: Romance – We are reading Tailored for Trouble by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff – Movie TBA

Love and Laughter,

Dorlana