There's nothing Shmoop loves more than seeing our favorite books made into movies. Well, except for reading those books before the movie comes out so we can feel superior to everyone else sitting in the theater. We are so highbrow and literary.

Midwinterblood hasn't been made into a movie… yet. But seriously, someone needs to get on this. We even have some ideas for pitching it to those fancy movie studio execs. It's like Lost meets The Time Traveler's Wife. Or Cloud Atlas meets (500) Days of Summer. Or even Hot Tub Time Machine meets Twilight. Okay, maybe not that last one. (Though, admit it, you totally would go see that flick, right?)

The reason folks would love watching this 2013 novel by Marcus Sedgwick play out on the big screen is that it's got something for everyone. The book tells the story of Eric and Merle who are destined to meet, love, and lose each other in each of seven lifetimes. It's got romance, mystery, horror, and fantasy. For real—we're can already see lines forming around the block on opening weekend.

All of this is cool, but the biggest draw to the story is how it's told. The whole thing is set up in reverse chronological order. That just means that the first thing you read about is actually the last thing that happens. Cool, right? In this story, we start out with Eric and Merle who meet on a remote Scandinavian island in 2073 and end up with Eirikr and Melle who both die on a remote Scandinavian island sometime before the 10th century. Is it trippy? Yup. But it's also effective, and along the way, the whole thing reads like a weird and mysterious puzzle.

We're not the only ones who dug Midwinterblood. The folks over at the American Library Association liked it so much that they put an award on it. The book won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature in 2014. This means, that out of all the books that were written for high school(ish) aged readers that year, Midwinterblood was the absolute best one. That's a pretty big deal.

Don't you want to see it win an Oscar now, too? Seriously, Hollywood guys—Shmoop is available to write the screenplay if need be. Have your people call our people.

Ever get the feeling that you've done something before?

There's a fancy French name for this feeling—déjà vu—and lots of people have experienced this sensation. But what if this feeling is something more, a hint that we've lived other lives, had other experiences, even been other people? It's kind of mind-blowing stuff, and a big part of what Midwinterblood explores.

On the surface, this book is pretty much about reincarnation. After all, the main characters keep being reborn into new bodies and living new lives as new people after they die—that sure sounds like reincarnation to us. And lots of different cultures believe that this is a totally real thing that happens to people. So no judgment from us if you do or don't.

But more generally speaking, this book is about identity. Who are you? Are you just one person who lives and dies and that's it? Or do we get more go-arounds on this crazy ride called life? It can be sort of liberating to think that we have more chances to make things right. If we are other people, though, that opens up a whole world of possibilities. 

So, the next time you get that déjà vu feeling, just think what it could mean. Sure, maybe it's just one of those weird quirks of living, but maybe—just maybe—you've actually walked into this laundromat before. In another life. Carrying someone else's dirty clothes. Yeah. Spooky.