Something’s rotten in the halls of Nighshade High, and to junior sleuth Daisy Giordano, it smells suspiciously like the undead! For Daisy, fighting the powers of darkness is nothing new—after all, her mother works for the police as a psychic investigator, and her big sisters Poppy and Rose employ their abilities of telekinesis and mind-reading respectively whenever mom needs some assistance. The only “normal†in the family is Daisy, who’s determined to show her sibs that she has crime-fighting talents, too—even if they are just your average surveillance-and-stakeout skills. Members of the Nightshade High cheerleading team are suddenly falling prey to a mysterious illness that leaves them wasted and, well, CHEERLESS. Prime suspect is head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who seems to have caught a serious case of O-My-Goth over the summer, trading her pink & green prepster duds and Jansport backpack for black fishnets and a tiny, made to order wheelie coffin. Has Samantha turned into a jealous vampire draining the cheerleaders of their vital peppiness? Or is there a more sinister force at work? To find out, Daisy will have to join the squad and date football hottie (and son of the police chief) Ryan Mendez—all in the name of solving the case, of course. And if she happens to fall in love on the way? Well, that’s just one of the unexpected bonuses of being “deadâ€icated to your job! This lil’ bit of fuschia-colored fluff was an enormously satisfactory way to wile away a Sunday afternoon, and chock-full of entertaining lines like these: “She was a soul-sucking vampire and I was a sixteen-year-old cheerleader, but I was damned if she was going to suck the life out of my friends. High school is hard enough!†It is indeed, but fun stories like this make infinitely more bearable. Follow the further adventures of Daisy and Co. in Dead Is a State of Mind
Category: Spectacular Speculative Fiction
Science fiction and Fantasy Reads for Teens
Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories edited by Owen King and John McNally (Illustrations by Chris Burnham)
This generous helping of superhero soup will quickly sate the appetites of those of you who continue to crave tales of men (or women) in tights outside of comic books. Going way beyond Superman or Wonder Woman, these superheroes range from the bizarre to the merely banal, each one unique in his or her own quirky way. The opener, “Girl Reporter,†tells how one famous superhero’s initial rough edges were smoothed by his unsung journalist girlfriend, creating the classy crime fighter we know and love today. In “The Quick Stop 5,†several slacker convenience story employees discover they have been granted powers by a particularly aromatic batch of diesel fuel, and become a national brand faster than you can say “Hannah Montana.†I also quite enjoyed the stories of America’s most disgusting superhero, The Silverfish (“Remains of the Nightâ€) and it’s most unusual (“The Meerkatâ€â€”I know, I’m still scratching my head over that one, too. But trust me, it works). And then there’s “The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children,†where one womanizing superhero has left behind all his red-headed airborne offspring to be raised by a forgiving woman of God. In the darker themed “Roe #5,†a woman discovers that her past has come back to haunt her in not-quite human form, and in “Man Oh Man, –It’s Manna Man,†one man uses his powers of persuasion to make crooked television evangelists donate to the needy instead of themselves. But my favorite stories may have been in the last section, “Super Ordinary.†There, David Yoo relates the tale of “The Somewhat Super,†those who have the dubious ability of not having to go to the bathroom (EVER), or the less than impressive power of…static electricity. Kelly Braffet explores what it feels like to have the power of bad luck in “Bad Karma Girl Wins at Bingo,†while Jennifer Weiner tells of the story of a down-and-out writer who suddenly discovers she can speak to dead people—and find missing children. Finally, David Haynes ends the collection with “The Lives of Ordinary Superheroes,†which explains what happens to old superheroes—do they retire, or just fade away? Awesomely illustrated by Chris Burnham, this super-sized collection (22 stories in all) should keep you busy at least until the sequel to Ironman comes out!
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Thirteen-year-old Mau is devastated when a freak tsunami takes out his entire island village, leaving him with only shy tree octopi and the less than charming, projectile-vomiting Grandfather birds for company. But not for long. The same storm that destroyed his people also shipwrecked the Sweet Judy upon his island’s shore. The lone survivor is Daphne, a properly bred English lass who appears to be a “ghost girl†to the dusky-skinned Mau. Together they form an unlikely friendship as they attempt to rebuild Mau’s lost “Nation†with the straggling survivors from nearby islands who continue to wash up on the beach. While working to raise food, create laws, and build defenses against the local cannibals, each teen struggles to overcome their own personal demons. Daphne learns that manners don’t help when it comes the necessary murder of a charming, yet psychotic pirate, while Mau discovers that after the tragedy of the tsunami, he no longer believes in gods he grew up with, and refuses to accept that only the gods have the answers: “I want to know why. Why everything. I don’t know the answers, but a few days ago I didn’t know there were questions.†The only thing that’s certain is that one day Daphne’s father will come looking for her. But if he finds her, what will happen to the newly minted Nation? Will Mau and Daphne’s created community just end up as another British colony? Or will the two inventive teens find a way to send everyone home happy? Daphne reminds me of Pratchett’s other headstrong heroine, Tiffany Aching of Wee Free Men
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Fifteen-year-old village girl Liga, emotionally and physically battered from bearing two children, one beget through incest, the other through rape, is given a well deserved respite when the Universe smiles on her by magically transporting her to her own personal Heaven, a gentle, patient version of the rough medieval-like world she once knew. Here, there are no brutal fathers, no leering village boys, no stone-faced grummas to judge her. There is only a beautiful little cottage in the middle of a wood populated with friendly beasts, (including a gentle enchanted man-bear who treats Liga’s children like his own cubs) and a welcoming village full of kind and smiling people who never lie or betray. Here, Liga raises her two sweet daughters, fair Branza and dark Urdda, in perfect peace. But the membrane between Liga’s heaven and the real world has grown thin over the years, allowing some who are not as pure-hearted as Liga and her daughters to enter. And likewise, the girls discover they can pass through into the real world of Liga’s tortured past. When teenage Urdda accidentally pushes through into the material world one day while exploring, she finds a place of passion and pain that is completely opposite of her woody haven. She doesn’t want to leave, but she also can’t bear the thought of leaving her beloved mother and sister behind. With the help of a powerful sorceress, she attempts to bring them to her, and sets into motion a chain of events that shakes her family to their core and irrevocably changes the path of their combined destiny. What I have described here barely scratches the surface of the captivating, complex world Aussie author Lanagan has created. Pushing the boundaries of YA literature, this dark, violent fairy tale, containing elements of everything from The Color Purple to the Grimm Brothers’ Bearskin, is rife with themes of memory, identity, lost childhood, family and what it means to grow up. You will need to digest these Tender Morsels for yourself to discover the magnetic power of her dense, gorgeous prose. Deeply imaginative and beautifully written, this is easily one of the best books of 2008.
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier
In a world where everyone gets his or her own special talent, courtesy of an invisible fairy, fourteen-year-old Charlie is pretty bummed to have scored a parking fairy. I mean, she doesn’t even drive. As a freshman at an elite sports school, she really could have used a no foul, shooting or throwing fairy instead. Determined to discourage her parking fairy, Charlie starts walking everywhere. And I do mean, everywhere. Which is making her late. Which is causing her to collect demerits at her punctually obsessed school. Charlie is so busy slaving away at community service jobs to work off her late demerits that she has very little time to flirt with new cutie Stefan. But its not like he would notice her anyway, because Stefan seems to be under the sway of Charlie’s most hated classmate Fiorenza, she of the “all-the-boys-like you†fairy. What do you do when the fairy you have isn’t the fairy you want? Why, ditch it of course! Even if Charlie is able to shake the parking fairy, there’s no guarantee that her new fairy will be any better. But that’s the risk she’s willing to take for a chance at Stefan’s love and an end to being thrown into the nearest back seat anytime someone needs a good parking spot! I’ll admit, it took me some time to get used to Larbalestier’s odd slang (“doos?†“pulchy?†“spoffs?†) but since she was kind enough to tuck a glossary in the back, I soon got into the swing of things. Funny and whimsical, this isn’t just a fantasy, but a romance, sports, and even bit of a mystery novel. Larbalestier threads sly pokes at celebrity obsession and adolescent self-centeredness throughout Charlie’s snarky narrative, which will delight close readers and us “older†teens who fancy ourselves above all that☺ Personally, I could use a “no one ever sits too close to me on the subway†fairy, or a “write brilliant book reviews in no time at all†fairy. But one thing’s for sure–Labalestier certainly has a “good book writing†fairy! Or maybe not—read her blog post about the roles of muses in the writing process.
The Good Neighbors, Book 1: Kin by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh
Holly Black leaves the land of Spiderwick for a while to gift us with her first graphic novel, a dark faery tale more along the lines of her gritty Tithe series. Sixteen-year-old Rue (a broody alterna-chick who strongly resembles a “My So-Called Lifeâ€-era Claire Danes, except raven-haired instead of red) has been down in the dumps since her beautiful mother disappeared several weeks ago. What makes matters worse is that her devastated professor dad has just been accused of murdering one of his favorite students. Rue has maintained her cool so far by sticking to her usual routine of urban exploring with her best buds and playing groupie at her rocker boyfriend’s shows. But what she can’t ignore are the things she’s starting to see out of the corner of her eye: bubble-blowing nymphs by her locker, goat-headed guys at the local coffee bar, sharp-eared dudes in the alley. When she tries to explain to her friends what’s happening to her, her skeptical boyfriend begins to pull away, and Rue starts to wonder if she’s going a little lulu. So she decides to prove she’s not crazy by conducting her own investigation around her mom’s disappearance and her dad’s alleged crime. And what she discovers is that no one in her family are who they seem to be—and that her own origins are just as mysterious as the faery visions that have begun haunting her day and night. Who are these ephemeral beings? And what do they want from Rue? Book One is only the beginning of Rue’s quest to find her mother and discover her true identity. Ted Naifeh’s edgy, outsider art partners well with Black’s forbidding fairytale, his sharp angles and deep shadows lending anxiety and menace to Rue’s search. Black also includes in Rue’s research about the “good neighbors†one of my favorite lil’ nuggets of supernatural lore: in 1895 Ireland, a woman named Bridget Cleary was murdered by her husband and his brothers because they came to believe that she was a fairy “changling†and not the true Bridget. Of course, they were arrested and imprisoned, as we all know there’s no such thing as fairies. But suddenly Rue’s not so sure…be sure to follow Rue’s adventures in The Good Neighbors, Book 2: Kith.
The Mystery of the Fool & The Vanisher by David and Ruth Ellwand
One day while exploring the South Downs, author David Ellwand saw a will-o’-the-wisp that led him to a dilapidated shack and a mysterious padlocked chest. After taking the chest home and breaking the rusty old lock and chain, Ellwand discovered the box was full of curios, and the crumbling journals of one Mr. Issac Wilde. Wilde was a photographer who helped document the excavation of a famed “faery hill,†in the late 1880’s, coincidentally the same hill Ellwand often visited on his rambles through the English countryside. Wilde’s journal told of a greedy archaeologist named Gibson Gayle who was determined unearth a Neolithic flint mine, despite the claims of the locals that the site was sacred to the Faery folk. Wilde heeded the villagers’ warnings as more and more evidence of the faeries’ existence materialized under the worker’s spades, while Gayle scoffed at all of Wilde’s efforts to dissuade him from digging any further. Dig Gayle did, and what he eventually found caused his mysterious disappearance and an open end to Wilde’s journals. Using clues from the journal, Ellwand tries to find Wilde’s last, great daguerreotype, which would irrefutably support his claim that faeries do indeed exist. But is Elllwand ready to face his fears and travel deep into the woods of the South Downs to look for the missing piece of Wilde’s legacy? Does Ellwand believe in faeries? After reading about what happened to Gayle and Wilde, can he afford not to? I leave it up to you to decide if Ellwand’s gorgeously wrought book, which evokes both Griffin & Sabine 
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
It’s 1969, the war (excuse me, “military actionâ€) is raging in Vietnam, Charles Manson is on trial for mass murder, and fourteen-year-old Bliss In-the-Morning-Dew is fresh off the commune. Her hippie parents have fled to Canada to escape the draft and left Bliss high and dry with her prissy southern grandmother in Atlanta. But this is not a tragedy. Bliss discovers that she actually likes real soap, clean sheets and remote-controlled television. She’s even looking forward to making friends at the chi-chi private school her grandmother has enrolled her in. That is, until she steps on campus and hears the otherworldly voice that keeps whispering in her head, speaking of blood, death, and sacrifice. Until she explores the abandoned third floor of the school’s oldest building, once a convent, and discovers the room of the young novice named Liliana who plunged to her death to escape the soul-cleansing whip of a sanctimonious Mother Superior. Until she finds out that one of her new chums actually plans on becoming a vessel for the vengeful Liliana and needs Bliss’s blood to seal the deal! OMG, Lauren Myracle, who knew you were hiding a bloody butcher knife behind that Mayberry smile? Myracle, lately she of the sweet, pastel-covered stories of girlhood has returned to her darker, a la Rhymes with Witches roots with this delicious package of scary goodness all wrapped up in a blood-soaked bow. Lately I have been pissing and moaning about the fact that there is not enough true YA horror to fill the desperate need of teens everywhere for some good old-fashioned thrills and chills. Well, I’m here to tell you that YA horror is BACK because Lauren Myracle has BROUGHT IT with this spine-tingling nightmare that is 1/3 Carrie, 1/3 classic Lois Duncan, and the rest gorgeously gory urban legend. The YA horror gauntlet has been THROWN my adolescent, Stephen-King-reading friends, and I can’t wait to see how many YA writer-peeps start penning their own terrifying tales in order to reach the bar raised by this bloody Myracle!
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
The main character of Nancy Werlin’s latest novel, seventeen-year-old Lucy Scarborough, happens to be a pregnant teenager, but this shockingly original hybrid of fantasy and psychological thriller is like no pregnant-teen-story you’ve ever read. Besides dealing with the same problems as any young mother-to-be, Lucy also has to contend with the conditions of an age-old curse that landed her in this situation in the first place. See, in Lucy’s family, all the women get pregnant as teens, give birth to daughters, and then promptly go insane. The daughter grows up and the cycle starts all over again. This is all due to the fact that one of Lucy’s ancestors refused to return the romantic affections of the evil Elfin King, and he in turn cursed her and all her future generations with schizophrenic madness that kicks in during late adolescence. There is only one way to break the curse: perform the three impossible tasks described in the balled Scarborough Fair. For hundreds of years, no Scarborough woman has been able to solve the puzzle. But this is the twenty-first century, and with the help of the Internet, a supportive family and a solid boyfriend who believes in her, Lucy may just be the first Scarborough with a real shot at banishing the Elfin King forever. This perfect blend of contemporary teen angst, romance, and myth had me racing through the pages to find out if Lucy beat the clock on going crazy while simultaneously Googling the lyrics to Scarborough Fair to see if I had any better luck at solving the riddle. And the climax, well, you’ll just have to see for yourself, but it literally gave me goosebumps. (For the record, evil fairies scare me!!) But you shouldn’t be afraid to look for this impossibly good book at your local library or bookstore.
Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey
In a world where evil magicians called Danisoba steal away small children who display any hint of mystical talent, orphan pirate girl Kestrel works hard to hide her ability to whistle up the wind. But she may be forced to show her hand when her beloved Captain Binns is arrested by the Royal Navy and sentenced to hang for his dastardly deeds. Kestrel is frantic to save him. But if she allows her talent to show, any sailor worth his salt will sell her out to the nearest Danisoba for top dollar. So instead she relies on more earthly means to orchestrate the save of the century. Hampered by a mutinous crew, a disappearing ship, and a double-dealing jack o’ napes named Philip McAvery, (who may or may not be on her side but is far too good looking to be trusted either way) Kestrel has to decide if she’s willing to risk life and liberty to save the man who has been like a father to her. Shiver me timbers! This thrilling paperback original reminded me of my all-time favorite series, Bloody Jack
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sixteen-year-old Katniss knows what it is to be hungry. Ever since her father died in a mining accident, she has been the sole breadwinner for her family, teaching herself how to hunt with snares and arrows in the dark woods that surround District 12. Now it’s time for the annual Reaping lottery, when Kat’s futuristic fascist government forces each District to send one girl and one boy (known as Tributes) to compete in the Hunger Games, sort of like Survivor—except, to the DEATH. When her sweet little sister Prim’s name is called, Katniss immediately volunteers to go in her place, along with Peeta, the brawny baker’s son. Thrown into a harsh landscape with little resources, each Tribute fights to stay alive as the cameras track their every move for the entertainment of the crowds back home. No one expects the scrawny girl from the poorest District to last very long. But Katniss is tougher and smarter than she looks. She knows how to hunt and forage, and she cunningly builds an alliance with the physically stronger Peeta. But there can be only one Tribute left alive. Does Katniss have what it takes to wipe out the competition, including loyal Peeta? This disturbing, fascinating novel is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by Dave McKean
Meet Nobody Owens. He hasn’t had a haircut in well, ever, his usual uniform is a gray winding sheet, and his best friends are a vampire named Silas and a long-dead girl named Liza. That’s because Nobody (or Bod for short) has been raised in graveyard with ghosts (Mr. and Mrs. Owens, to be specific) for parents and tombstones for playthings. When Bod was a toddler, an assassin known only as Jack crept into his house and murdered his entire family. While the monster was at his diabolical work, Bod quietly wandered out of his room and into the nearby graveyard. He was discovered by the Owenses, who decided to raise him themselves with the help of Silas, who could move about in human society and and secure food for the child. As Bod grows, he learns many useful things from his adopted family, like how to Fade, Dreamwalk, and make Fear, all the while knowing that the man who killed his family is still out there—and eventually he will have to face him. While the creepy quotient is not quite as high as Gaiman’s insta-classic Coraline, The Graveyard Book has a certain Burton-esque Nightmare Before Christmas quality that gives it an all-ages appeal. Both frightening and funny (and sometimes frighteningly funny) this latest supernatural goody from Master of Magic Gaiman is hopefully haunting a library or bookstore near you.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just woken up after being in a coma for a year. Disoriented and confused, she remembers nothing of the horrible car accident that caused her imposed sleep. Her parents are strangers, her memories full of holes. Gradually, she gets to know the Jenna of the past through the hundreds of hours of film her parents shot of their beloved only daughter. Who is that perfect smiling creature? Jenna can’t even begin to imagine knowing her, let alone being her. Slowly, she begins to reclaim her life by starting school again, making new friends, and sparking a romance with shy boy Ethan. But even as she plunges into her new life, she is plagued by questions about her old one. She used to be a ballerina. So why, after weeks of being out of bed, is her walk still so ungraceful? How is it that she is regaining memories she never even had her first time around—like her infant baptism? When Jenna gets a bad cut, she suddenly understands with hideous, perfect clarity exactly how far she has come from the girl she used to be to the person she is now. Pearson’s gradual revealing of Jenna’s true identity is masterful, as she teases readers with a shocking revelation that is just out of reach. Reminiscent of Eva
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Sometime in the near future, silvery parasitic aliens infiltrate the human population, bringing peace and love but causing their hosts’ personalities to be erased. Melanie Stryder is a seventeen-year-old post apocalyptic street fighter with a bad attitude who also happens to be stunningly gorgeous. Wanderer is a 1,000-year-old well-traveled female alien soul who, despite being parasitic, is altruistic to the point of martyrdom. The two of them are both attempting to occupy Melanie’s body and making a sorry hash of it. (Souls are surgically inserted into the base of the neck by doctors who have already been Body-Snatched.) Melanie is trying to keep the location of her small rebel human outpost a secret from her parasite, but eventually the soul breaks through and seeks out Melanie’s man, Jared, her little brother Jamie, and a rag tag assortment of other folks who have managed to evade having their brain stems coated with memory-wiping silver silly-putty. When Melanie’s body first shows up at the secret desert camp under the direction of Wanderer, the insurgent humans are all for murdering her on the spot, but Wanderer wins them over by giving voice to Melanie’s thoughts and discovering to her own surprise that she actually digs these passionate, violent, lusty life forms. Things get complicated when two of the men in camp both fall for the dystopian Sybil—Jared, Melanie’s hot, older-man savior-type, and Ian, a brooding bad boy who has lost his heart to the selfless Wanderer, who he calls “Wanda.†Sound familiar? It should–Meyer treads some of the same supernatural romantic love triangle ground she traveled so well in her enormously popular Twilight series. If you liked those books, you’re gonna love this one. Personally, Meyer’s melodramatic dialogue drove me a little nuts, but I did dig her descriptions of Wanderer’s past worlds, and the sympathetic alien’s fascination with this planet. Clocking in at over 600 pages, it’s also not going to be easy to stuff in your backpack. If you prefer your interspecies romances with a few less pages and a bit more grit, you may want to pick up a copy of the now classic Blood and Chocolate, one of my all time fav romantic horror stories, instead.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
In a San Francisco of the near future, seventeen-year-old Marcus Yallow is a master hacker with a monster grudge. When the San Fran Bay Bridge is blown to smithereens by terrorists, Marcus and three of his best friends are hauled away as suspects by the Department of Homeland Security. They are interrogated, beaten, and denied food—FOR DAYS–just for being in the vicinity of the blast. After finally convincing his captors he knows nothing about the bombs, Marcus is released after signing documents swearing he’ll tell no one about his terrifying experience. He goes home to parents who are so happy that he’s alive that they buy his story of being quarantined due to possible exposure to biological toxins. But the world is not the way he left it. His beloved hometown has turned into a place where 24/7 surveillance is the name of the game. Law-abiding citizens are routinely shaken down if they deviate from their usual patterns by one iota. The DHS treats everyone like a potential terrorist threat. But Marcus refuses to accept the new police state and instead hatches a radical plan to jam the government’s circuits and return power to the people once and for all! How he manages to pull that off is the basis for this amazing sci-fi novel by tech-blogger Cory Doctorow. Clearly influenced by the events of September 11, 2001, stories from Guantanamo Bay, the PATRIOT Act and George Orwell’s classic 1984, Doctorow gives us a frighteningly contemporary glimpse at how easily the government can take away our civil liberties under the guise of keeping us “safe.” Totally timely and full of fascinating techno-talk that even the Google-challenged can understand, Little Brother is a fast-paced, thought-provoking read that will leave you searching for your own way to “jam” the Man! Want to know how Marcus does some of his techno-tricks? Check out Doctorow’s LB blog or connect with him on MySpace or Facebook.
