First things first… Anna and Tara both have really great recaps on their blogs so go check those out!
How I got to go:
A couple of weeks ago I happened to be on twitter at the right time! I clicked a tweet about a Divergent screening in Chicago and got free tickets! Of course when I think Chicago I think Tara and Anna so I sent them the link too. Luckily they got tickets and we were in! I had an extra ticket so I invited my friend Ashlee to join me for the trip down.
Before the Event:
Ashlee and I got there early. The line was super short so we decided to head over to Target for some snacks quick. I only bring this up because apparently Veronica Roth and some of the actors will be at the store signing books on March 11! If you’re in the Chicago area check it out! You can get wristbands starting at 8 AM.
We got back to the theater about an hour before they were opening the doors to let people line up inside. The thing I love most about YA related events is the way you can strike up conversations with random people! We chatted books with the teens in line around us.
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| Me and Ashlee |
Tara and Anna joined us shortly after the line moved inside. We spent some more time chilling and talking books. Finally we were moved to the red carpet area for our final leg of waiting!
As we moved we each got a wristband, our movie ticket and a Divergent Movie poster! It was finally starting to feel real!
Red Carpet:
As far as the red carpet part itself… it seem to fly by! Unfortunately I traded phones with the guy next to me. I took pics of him and the stars on his and he took pics of me on mine. This is what the photos he took look like:
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| Blurry Theo. |
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| Extreme close-up of Shailene’s Dress |
Thankfully Tara, Anna, and Ashlee were willing to share their photos. And there were a couple of mine that turned out.
Veronica Roth came out first. She recognized me from previous events/conferences and gave me a hug. She also signed my poster and a couple extra for me to give to my students! I adore her.
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| Photo from Anna |
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| Photo from Tara |
Next was Ansel Elgort. How adorable is he? This is the only photo that the random guy took that turned out!
Theo James and Shailene Woodley came out together and it was a bit chaotic. There was some guy behind me with a box of headshots of Theo. He kept holding them right over my head and in front of my face! Really annoying. So, even if I had had my own phone I don’t know that I could have gotten many good shots! This is the only one that turned out with me in it as well and it’s totally not flattering! Still, it’s photographic evidence that I had a conversation with Theo James! We talked about how I’m using the book with my students and the fact that they’re kind of obsessed with his back thanks to the movie poster of the tattoos. Yes, I actually said that to him.
Tara got a nice shot of Shailene.
And Ashlee wins with her Theo shot!
And, I’m not 100% sure but I’m pretty sure this is when we were talking about my students and their excitement for the movie. I still can’t believe it all really happened!
I was thrilled to get my poster signed by all four of the special guests. I’m totally not giving that one away to the kiddos!
Movie Thoughts: This won’t have spoilers for the movie but if you’ve never read the book I might give a little something away!!!
I don’t think I can express how relieved I was after seeing this one! It’s one of my favorite book to movie translations! After a number of recent disappointments I was just so thrilled to love Divergent as much as I did!!! Everything was just so perfect! The actors, the tension, the location… ahhh! So much awesome! I think my top three favorite parts were the ferris wheel, the zipline, and the scenes in Four’s room. But really, the whole thing. So. Freaking. Great. Well done.
Tara
SO. MUCH. FUN. xoxo