So B. It or Bust!

Two years ago I had a small fifth grade So B. It (by Sarah Weeks) book group in preparation for Sarah's visit to our school.  We were reading the end aloud together and Landon and I started crying. I clearly remember asking the kid sitting next to me to switch seats with Landon so we could have our emotional moment side by side.  The movie would be coming out eventually and Landon and I promised each other that we would see it together.  I had no idea that moment would be last night in New York City.

Castleton is a small town just outside of Albany. We have less than 900 students in our entire school district. But a small school does not equate anything when it comes to our fan love for Sarah Weeks.  So there we were six dedicated fans--along with Landon and I came Mrs. Kelliher, her son, Colin, Mrs. Warland and granddaughter and former student of mine, Emma-- piled into my van to drive the 150 miles to the premiere on 34th Street. We are SERIOUS fans:  audio book playing in the car, copies of the book in our bags AND a So B. It tied around Landon's neck and his brother's Honey (another Sarah novel) tie around Colin's.

I won't go into details how I thought the theatre was on the east side and we had to literally RUN across town to make it on time (we did), even with a couple of minutes to spare to leap with Sarah before the movie. Or how Mrs. Warland, speed walking through Times Square, nearly knocked a woman down and didn't make her too happy 😟 And then how we couldn't find the parking garage and if we had just listened to the kids we wouldn't have had a "Groundhog Day" moment at Grand Central Station. It was all good and added to our memorable evening.

Usually not a fan of movies made from books, but I loved this one.  I'm sure part of the reason, and we found out from the panel afterward, was that Sarah collaborated with screenwriter, Garry Williams on the script every step of the way and it was such a wonderful experience for all.  I believe it was Garry who said last night that he kept waiting to wake up from his dream and after a few weeks realized he actually was awake.

The Castleton kids with Sarah, her son, Nat, and star, Dash Mihok

The young actress, Talitha Bateman, gave a stunning performance in the film.  She was believable as Heidi and got us all weeping at the end.  Since Sarah got the most applause when introduced on the panel, my guess is most of the audience had read the book at least once and yet we were all sniffling.

It was wonderful to sit with Landon and whisper "I remember that from the book" or "That wasn't in the book."  Whatever was changed or deleted to make Sarah's six hour book become an hour and 40 minute film worked for all of us.

Landon's tie was a huge hit of the evening! Everyone needs one of those, right?

The Castleton crew at the NYC premiere!

I pulled into my garage at 3:00 am.  It was worth every minute and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Read the book, find the movie (fingers crossed it's closer to you than it was for us and if it's not, try and get it closer) and then hang tight because Sarah's sequel to the book is coming out next Fall! #SOOF

Our souvenir of the evening (besides our fond memories), a SOOF bracelet

PS--Here's the movie trailer: