BOOK TALKS/REVIEWS...

For our December meeting we decided to share books in an informal booktalk format rather than have an assigned reading.

Books discusses and shared at our December meeting were:

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick (Leah): Alex is not adjusting well to some things in his life. One night after getting drunk he takes his mom's car and heads over to his dad's girlfriend's house. If it wasn't bad enough that his dad has a new girlfriend, it also happens to be Alex's 3rd grade teacher! On his way, he crashes into the neighbors lawn and ends up throwing up on the policeman who comes to the scene. From there he gets sentenced to community service helping out at an old folks home working with one of it's grumpiest residences. Whether it's the 3rd grade teacher or the throwing up on the police officer, this book talk has Leah's kids grabbing for this book at the end of her presentations.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Heather):When it is announced in Miri's village that the next princess is to come from their village every young girl is to attend the princess academy Miri is less than interested, but attend she does. As things happen that put the girls into peril and isolation Miri must figure out if she really wants to be princess of the academy or stay with her other love interest. This is a Newbery honor book/Maude Heart Lovelace nominee.

Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published (Jenn B): This is not a YA book but could have ya interest for those interested in vampires. Over 80 stories from authors famous and non for their vampire stories. Several stories are actually Pre-Dracula. There are also a number of poems. Contains a bibliography – over 100 pages of reference. Perfect for reference and/or vampire fans.

John Dies at the End by David Wong (not YA): According to Publisher's Weekly review "...adroitly spoofs the horror genre while simultaneously offering up a genuinely horrifying story. The terror is rooted in a substance known as soy sauce, a paranormal psychoactive that opens video store clerk Wong's—and his penis-obsessed friend John's—minds to higher levels of consciousness. Or is it just hell seeping into the unnamed Midwestern town where Wong and the others live? Meat monsters, wig-wearing scorpion aberrations and wingless white flies that burrow into human skin threaten to kill Wong and his crew before infesting the rest of the world. A multidimensional plot unfolds as the unlikely heroes drink lots of beer and battle the paradoxes of time and space, as well as the clichés of first-person-shooter video games and fantasy gore films."

Bright Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich (Kim/not necessarily ya): Dark side of the positive thinking movement. If you’re not so positive about positive thinking this is for you. Breaks it down into parts, including how it got started.

Your Own, Sylvia by Stephanie Hemphill (Jenn T.): A unique and appropriate way of presenting a haunting biography of Sylvia Plath, this book is done all in poetry. Each poem is beautifully crafted to reveal a piece of Sylvia's life. Each poem notes whose viewpoint it is being told such as Sylvia's mother, father, psychiatrist, etc. After each poem is usually a prose note giving a bit more detail about the situation, person or event. The poems are as haunting as Sylvia's own and capture the darkness in a way simply writing the story may not.

Other horror suggestions for teens:
Peeps by Scott Westerfield
Thirsty by MT Andersen
Holly Black’s books are supposed to be pretty creepy: Tithe is suppose to be very unnerving
Vivian Van de Velde
Katie Maxwell horror with humor
Soulless by Christopher Golden
Joseph Burach Skeleton Man
Face in the Frost – building intensity

Next book for January: Going Bovine by Libba Bray