The Book and its roots

Hi My Name is Thomas I'm from Savannah, Georgia where this book takes place...

My personal opinion is that the book was much better then the movie, as it is in most book-to-movie cases...I do have information about both book and movie...But let me say that though I liked the book better, the movie in its own right was good…

Book:
~One of the characters in the book, the science teacher, was based of a teacher that taught me several times through out school...her name was Mrs. Jerry Horne, she’s quite old but still has a sharp tongue...taught me in 4th grade from January to May because my teacher was out with a slipped disk...taught me religion in 7th grade and 8th grade and helped with confirmation and graduation...she also taught my brother sister, 7 cousins and taught a couple of the teachers at the school now...

~The school in the book...Blessed Heart Catholic School...was based off of the school I went to...Blessed Sacrament School...

~The book talks of many key points of the school...such as the breeze way which connects the church and older classrooms to the new school built back in the fifties...the bulletin board that the boys had to draw on was located just to the side of my 4th grade math teachers classroom...and directly in front of the bulletin board was an ugly tan colored railing that looked out to the gym from the 2nd floor but now has been in a way boarded up, more like paneled shut, because of the noise carrying through the gym and disturbing the classrooms and safety hazards with children and railings..."paneled" around the late 70s early 80s...the railing was probably used for seating people during basketball games or banquets

~The book speaks of a field trip that the school 8th graders go on...called Oapland Island...this island was a wildlife kind of park to see animals in a supposed natural habitat, locked up in cages more like it...anyways the real place is Oatland Island...with the same description and everything except...the name...I've been to this place a few times...quite interesting...but not my thing

~The park in which Francis sees Margie near the bleachers or something...that location is right across the street from the school and its home to my many recess days...its like a playground park located off of the real actual Daffin park- this park I speak of is where many events to do with sports or fund raisers are held and is widely know around savannah.

~Also the church in the book is home to my church for some 18 odd years and its connected to the school and in my 5th-8th grade years I was right above the church so when they had mass we had to be quiet...you know pick your feet up, softly put your chairs away, be extra quite and other stuff I'm trying to forget

And moving on to the movie:

~The production was suppose to be set in Blessed Sacrament School in my 5th grade teachers class room but I thought that the school thought that the movie put the school in the wrong light...but actually its was mainly the diocese of savannah who is held responsible

~The actual production took place in Wilmington, North Carolina...you know where Dawson’s Creek was filmed and One Tree Hill and all that good stuff

~In the movie there is a nun that is atop of a tower at the school that the boys grab their crotches at and steal...this nun is actually a representation to the statue at my school...the statue at my school is a statue of Saint Francis Cabrini...the statue is quite frightful it has eyes that never chip- compared to the rest of its body- and look insanely real...many are scared of it and it resides in the breezeway where it looks out into the parking lot (the breezeway is glass by the way) the statue has frighten many burglars away a few number of times (we usually get break ins during events and banquets and such)

Well as much as id like to of given you more information I cant cause there is no more to think of...

have fun and read the book,
Thomas