Libba Bray’s New Book Is Full Of Creepy Goodness!

17-year-old Evie is a handful.  She is too much for small town Ohio.  She is also hiding a strange ability.  When she holds something belonging to another person she can see things about them.  So when her drunken party trick tells the truth about the town’s favorite son and a chambermaid, her parents ship her off to her Uncle Will in New York City.  Uncle Will is an expert on the occult and operates a museum on all things creepy.  When a strange occult serial killer starts a murder spree, Will is brought in as an expert.  He had no idea how much Evie’s gift could help him.  The killings remind me of the last season of Dexter, which was awesome! Bray creates a cast of characters, each with a strange ability and fascinating history.  My favorite characters are Theta, a Ziegfeld Follies girl and the quiet and mysterious Jericho who has a surprising secret of his own.  Memphis and his brother Isaiah have powers too, that bring them closer to danger.  Bray takes us back in time with her detailed descriptions of the roaring 20s with flappers and prohibition.  I love hearing all the dialogue full of flapper slang.  This book is a fun and fast moving read.  It has a satisfying ending but also sets up the next installment in the series so you don’t feel strung along like some other series tend to do.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about each characters special abilities.  Which one would you want to have?

Talk about flapper culture and the slang the girls used.  Talk about prohibition.

Theta has feelings for Memphis.  At that time a mixed race relationship was taboo.  Discuss.

Talk about Evie and Theta’s fashion.

Have you ever played with a Ouija Board?  What was it like?

Discuss the Brethren.  Why do you think they believe that way?

Talk about New York City.  Have you ever been there?  If not, what do you think it would be like?  What would you do in New York if you were Evie?

Creepy Inventive Tale That You Will Think About Long After The Book Is Done

Ever since he was a small child, Jacob’s grandfather told him strange stories about being raised on an island in a home for children. Their caregiver was an old bird named Miss Peregrine. Now Jacob is a teen and realizes the stories are crazy and the pictures that go with them must be some kind of trick. Right before his grandfather dies, he gives Jacob a cryptic message. Jacob is the one to find his grandfather killed and is the only one to witness the frightening monster who murdered him. His therapist convinces his parents to allow him to go to this island to fulfill his grandfather’s wish. Searching for the home where his grandfather grew up may give him some closure. Jacob and his father go to the island. The father is busy watching birds and leaves Jacob to do his own investigating. Jacob finally finds someone who will show him the way, he discovers the old house. A bomb hit it during World War II, which raises plenty of questions. Why would Miss Peregrine write to Jacob’s grandfather and ask him to return to a bombed out house? Jacob is drawn to the house, knowing there is more to all of this. When one of the children, who has never aged, finds him in the creepy basement, his adventure with time begins. Ransom Riggs created a fascinating story based on some very peculiar and often creepy old pictures. The pictures add a dimension of intensity and helps make the story come to life. I was reading this book late at night in bed and came upon the part where Jacob’s grandfather is killed by the monster. I then turned the page to find a terrifying sketch of the monster. I didn’t expect that and it made me shriek. I stopped reading it late at night after that. This book pulled me in right away and there was plenty of suspense to keep me interested. Readers who love a light scare will really enjoy this book.

It has the best book trailer I have ever seen!
Book Trailer

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Discuss the pictures. If you have time, find old photographs and ask teens to make up stories using them.

What does the monster with the mouth tenticles represent? What would the monster of your nightmares look like?

Talk about similarities between the island and the escape of the Kindertransport during WWII.

Should Jacob stay to protect the children? What would you do?

What peculiar ability would you want to have?

Talk about the time the children live in. Would you want to be immortal, trapped in time?

More Zombie Attacks In Forest Of Hands And Teeth Companion Book

Carrie Ryan’s Dead-Tossed Waves picks up years after Mary escaped The Forest Of Hands And Teeth.  Mary is now older and has a daughter, Gabriella.  The Unconsecrated, or Mudo, as they are called in this ocean side community are still very present.  Mary’s job is to decapitate the ones that wash ashore.  Gabriella has a crush on Catcher.  So when he and their friends dare each other to climb the barrier and explore the old amusement park, she reluctently agrees.  Once inside the zombies attack, leaving Catcher infected and the group in huge trouble.  Gabriella breaches the barriers a few more times to try and help him before he turns.  But Catcher isn’t like the rest and his secret could mean even bigger trouble for himself and the ones who love him.  Elias, who is part of a cult that worships the Unconsecrated, helps her, creating a love triangle.  Who will Gabriella choose?  At the same time her mother, Mary decides to go back into The Forest Of Hands and Teeth to search for those she left behind in the first book.  All the events force Gabriella into the forest following the same fences, searching for answers about her past and her future. 

There are more zombie attack scenes in this one and less whiney pining.   One of the more frightening scenes involved a school bus full of child zombies when she and Catcher follow the gates into an abadonned city.  I was frustrated with Mary for wanting to go back to the forest.  That annoyed me quit a bit.  I found the plot line about the cult and what they do to the Mudo fascinating.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Gabriella says “I like to think there is a girl like me who stands in the night and wonders what else exists in the in the world but who is terrified to find out.”  Can you relate to that?

The fear of the Mudo keep people out of the forest.  Is there something that you are afraid of that keeps you from venturing beyond your comfort zone?

How are Gabriella and Mary different?  How are they the same?

Gabriella is in love with Catcher.  Talk about how he changed.  Is it worth the risk to be with someone you love?

Talk about how her relationship is different with Elias.

Was Mary right to keep the secret of Gabriella’s origins?

Would you have gone back into the Forest Of Hands And Teeth?

Talk about the cult that worships the Mudo.  They believe that they will have immortality.

Scary Short Stories From Popular Teen Authors!

This is a fun collection of short stories involving popular authors of young adult fantasy.  Sarah Mlynowski of Bras and Broomsticks tells a story about two girls going on a cruise.  They are scoping out guys so one of them can lose their virginity.  The two girls befriend another girl who warns them about a string of vampire attacks on cruise ships.  Bodies are found overboard drained of blood.  When Kristin finds the guy of her dreams  and they are finally alone, we find out she has a secret of her own.  Virginity has an entirely different meaning to these girls.

Claudia Gray, the author of the Evernight series, takes on a witches vacation filled with rivelry.  Every year this coven gets together to work magic.  Her mom’s coven from college and their families meet and the men in the family really have no idea that their wives and daughters are witches.  Cicely hates Kathleen.  The two have been rivals since they were little kids.  When Kathleen brings a new boyfriend on vacation, Cecily suspects the boyfriend has been bewitched.  Now Cecily must decide whether to risk performing powerful magic beyond her years.

Maureen Johnson of 13 Little Blue Envelopes fame writes about two sisters, the French countryside and a strange curse.  When people hear a story about the French Revolution they are compelled to commite murder. 

Cassandra Clare, author of City Of Bones & City Of Ashes,  writes about a family that vacations next to an ancient witch.  The villa staff’s warnings are not enough to keep two curious teens from approaching her beach house.

The story that was truely terrifying was saved for last.  Libba Bray, author of A Great And Terrible Beauty,  scared me to death with her “Nowhere Is Safe.”  A group of teens backpack through Europe and decide to go off the beaten path near Budepest for a little adventure.  They go to small village for a festival with a dark history.  They find ghosts, a frightening history of devil worship and a terrifying evil shrouded in mist and dense forests.  I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep after reading this one!

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

How is reading a collection of short stories different than a full novel?  Which did you like better?

Talk about which stories were your favorites?

Did you think the students in Nowhere Is Safe were brave or stupid?

Talk about superstitions and how legends can shape the way we think.

Desperate circumstances can make people do horrible things.  Talk about what would make a village sacrifice their own children.

The Most Intense YA Read So Far Of 2009!

Not since the Hunger Games have I been so engrossed in a book. I could not put Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands and Teeth down. I felt like I was there in the forest, full of fear of the character’s precarious situation and full of hope that there is another village somewhere that survived.

Mary lives in a post-apocalyptic world where much of humanity is infected with a type of disease which turns people into zombies. Some zombie books can be rather goofy. This book is not! She lives in a village surrounded by a dark forest. The setting very much reminded me of the M. Night Shyamalan movie, “The Village.” A series of metal fences and gates are the only thing keeping the living humans apart from the “Unconsecrated.” Harsh rules enforced by “The Sisterhood” are meant to keep the people safe and preserve humanity. The people of the village are led to believe they are the only humans left.

The story takes off running when we learn Mary’s father is likely one of the Unconsecrated. Her mother, in her grief decides to join him rather than stay alive. The description of her change and how she’s dragged into the forest by her ankle is great horror story telling! Mary must suffer the consequences when her brother hands her to the Sisterhood because the boy she loves has not asked for her hand in marriage. The story takes another fantastic twist when we learn someone from the outside has found their way to the village. Mary won’t stop until she has answers about the girl, Gabriella.

This book is about so many different themes woven beautifully together. It’s about wanting. The hunger and want of the Unconsecrated is unending. They keep going even as their bodies can no longer move. Mary’s mother wants her husband so much she is willing to become one of the Unconsecrated.  It is about dreaming of the great perhaps. Mary knows there is something out there. That curiosity never wavers. She puts herself in dangerous situations in an attempt to satisfy her curiosity. I could barely breathe as she hid in the basement of the Cathedral trying to find out what happened to Gabriella. She knows if she’s caught she’ll likely be tossed into the forest as food for the zombies. It is about love verses duty. Mary wants Travis, but Travis is willing to step aside because his brother loves her too. It is about how The Sisterhood withholds information and keeps the population ignorant, because they feel it will save lives. But mostly for me, this book is about the search for truth, even though everyone you know tries to stop you. Mary never stops believing. The ending, even though not a happy one, is satisfying. I love the way she figures out the gates and which one goes to the ocean. I love the struggle to survive and not accepting the status quo.

I can’t wait for Carrie Ryan’s second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, where we learn about Mary’s daughter. The Dead-Tossed Waves will be released in March 2010.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about how the strict enforcers of religious rules are women and not men. Does this change things?

Talk about Mary’s mother’s decision to join the Unconsecrated. If a loved one was lost, would you do the same?

Did The Sisterhood have a right to keep the villages away from the truth?

Talk about sacrifice. For example how Travis was willing to sacrifice himself to save the others. He was also willing to sacrifice his love for Mary so his brother could marry her.

Is duty more important than dreams?

Did The Sisterhood have a right to keep the villages away from the truth?

Talk about sacrifice.  For example how Travis was willing to sacrifice himself to save the others.  He was also willing to sacrifice his love for Mary so his brother could marry her.

How do you think Gabriella was infected?  Why was she so much faster than the others?  Any theories?

Talk about how Mary felt when she found the pictures of New York City.  She was amazed by the buildings and had no idea places like that once existed.

Why did Travis wait to long to share information about Gabriella?

Talk about the ending.  What should happen next?