The Dramatic Saga Behind Making ‘Children of Blood and Bone’
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Plus: The WNBA Star Who Became a MAGA Fixation
August 13, 2026 |
The aughts YA boom was in full flower in 2017, when Harvard grad Tomi Adeyemi sold her first book: a fantasy novel that would eventually be titled Children of Blood and Bone, inspired by West Africa. Before the book was even published, she’d also sold the film rights. It was a dream scenario for any debut writer—until this year, when Adeyemi began publicly and vehemently distancing herself from the Blood and Bone adaptation, calling it “the worst thing I have ever had to live through.” What happened? “The answer may trace back to a controversial casting and tension on set,” Rebecca Ford writes in her thorough investigation of the project’s behind-the-scenes drama. But don’t stop at this TL;DR—you’ll want to read the whole thing.
If that’s not intense enough for you, how about a play about Israel? Hannah Seligson talked to Tony winner Jonathan Spector about his new theater sensation Birthright, which might be the first work of fiction to capture the great rupture in the American Jewish community that’s happened since October 7, 2023. And for good measure, Kase Wickman also has a rundown of how WNBA player Sophie Cunningham became a MAGA darling. (Hint: It involves discourse about trans athletes.) I’m going to lie down for a bit. More tomorrow! |
HILLARY BUSIS,
FEATURES EDITOR |
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Magic and Mayhem |
BY REBECCA FORD |
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Tomi Adeyemi’s film deal was an author’s dream. So how did the adaptation of her best-selling novel turn into what she calls “the worst thing I have ever had to live through”?... Read more |
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From the Archive |
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The Gangster and the Goddess |
BY PATRICIA BOSWORTH |
The sensational 1958 stabbing of Lana Turner’s gangster lover, Johnny Stompanato, by her teenage daughter, Cheryl Crane, turned a harsh spotlight on the much-married star’s trail of dangerous liaisons. There are still questions about what exactly happened that April night in Turner’s sumptuous pink bed... Read more |
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posted by Francis Dwight at 3:20 PM

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