Prom Nights From Hell

Age Level: Teen

Format: Book

 

Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer, and Lauren Myracle take bad prom nights to a whole new level in this collection of short stories.  There’s vampires (and slayers), demons, the grim reaper, a boyfriend coming back from the dead, and a girl with superpowers.  If you think your prom was bad with people breaking up, the rain and bad hair - it’s nothing compared to these!

 

This is a fun read.  Of the stories within, I probably enjoyed Meg Cabot’s “The Exterminator’s Daughter” the most, followed by Lauren Myracle’s “The Corsage”.  In “The Exterminator’s Daughter”, we find Mary whose best friend is under the spell of a vampire.  She feels that it’s up to her to kill the vamp and save her friend.  In “The Corsage”, all Frankie wanted to do was go to prom with Will.  Unfortunately, there was an accident and Will died before prom.  What will Frankie do when he comes to escort her?

 

Don’t expect the stories to have concrete endings.  These stories end rather abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more.  Your imagination will run wild.  Mine did.

 

Reviewed by Sara.

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book

Thanks to being struck by lightning, Harper Connelly has the ability to find dead people and to discover what actually killed them. Along with her manager/bodyguard stepbrother Tolliver Lang, Harper travels the United States locating the dead. Hired to find the body of a missing teenage girl in Sarne, Arkansas, Harper and Tolliver discover a lot more than the body of the dead girl. Conspiracies and murders are uncovered in the small town, and Harper and Tolliver find themselves the targets of enraged and disgusted townspeople. However, getting out of Sarne is not as easy as it seems...This is the first of the Harper Connelly series.

Many readers may remember Charlaine Harris from another series she writes, the Southern Vampire series. Grave Sight is actually the first book I have read by Harris. It makes me wonder how exactly Harris came up with the concept of a main character who makes a living by finding dead people. Harper's profession itself really made me interested in reading the book, and I am glad I did.

The reader discovers during the story that Harper and Tolliver's family life is horrible. They were raised by negligent parents, who once had great professions until they threw it all away for alcohol and drugs. Harper's and Tolliver's lives up to this point certainly help to explain the closeness they feel for each other. Harper's injuries from the lightning strike (feeling weak, pounding headaches, and a right leg that does not always support her weight) make her feel vulnerable; she relies heavily on Tolliver, and Tolliver is always there for her. I thought at first that their close relationship was a little unhealthy until Harris began describing their teenage years and the stuff they faced growing up in an unsupportive household. It is great to have someone to lean onto even in the worst times of your life.

The mystery storyline is fantastic. It kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end, when everything fell into place perfectly. And yes, there is at least one unpredictable twist at the end.

Reviewed by Jessica

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book

In 1975, sisters Sunny and Heather Bethany disappeared in broad daylight from a mall near their home in the Baltimore area. Despite following various suspects and leads, the Baltimore police cannot find a trace of the girls anywhere. Thirty years later, a woman involved in a freak traffic accident claims to be the younger sister, Heather. What unravels is a story full of truths and lies, with the Baltimore police wondering if she could be one of the Bethany sisters. And, if she is, what happened to her sister? Moving back and forth between the past and the present, Lippman's storytelling fills in gaps and shows how the Bethany family and individuals involved in the case change and grow as a result of the disappearance. This is a story of survival and sacrifice and a story of forgiveness and hope.

Lippman is probably best known for her Tess Monaghan series. She has also written a few stand alone (non-series) novels; this book is one of her stand alone novels. I had not read any of Lippman's books prior to this one. What the Dead Know is incredible, storytelling at its finest. With twists and turns throughout the book, I had to keep reading long into the night to find out what happened next in the story. Lippman does not base her story on an actual case, though in her notes after the story, she does mention a specific case that triggered her interest in writing a story about the disappearance of sisters. After reading this remarkable story, I am anxious to read her other works.

What the Dead Know is definitely a must-read book.

Reviewed by Jessica

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Age Level: Teen
Format: Book

Tyler Miller is a nerd. A senior in high school, Tyler is the guy no one notices. He's invisible. With only one real friend, Yoda (whose religion is Star Wars), Tyler is lost. Wanting attention, Tyler did a prank - spray-painted some graffiti and became a legend. Sentenced to physical labor and on probation, Tyler is struggling with life. He has a major crush on one of the untouchable girls in his class, an explosive father, drunken mother. He's being buried in schoolwork - with a semester full of calculus and 3 AP classes. And then, he's implicated in a drunken crime and his precarious balance on life starts to fall apart.

The description on the front flap of this book is simple: "Everybody told me to be a man. Nobody told me how." That truly is what this novel is all about. Tyler is on the brink of manhood, but he doesn't know how to step forward and grab hold of his life to make it what he wants. He's alienated. He's betrayed by someone he thought he could trust - a girl he thought liked him back. Because of one stupid prank, he's thrust into the spotlight and implicated in a crime that he knows he didn't commit, but very few people believe him. This story is honest. It's a brutal examination of what a typical suburban teenage male may go through. And though this novel is very real and can be disturbing, it's also a book of hope. Will Tyler's inner demons eventually win? With the help of his best friend, his sister, his English teacher and the high school janitorial crew he realizes that there are people who do care and understand him.

This novel is definitely not for children. But it is definitely a must read for high school and over.

Reviewed by Sara.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Age Level: Teen
Format: Book

Meet Annabel Greene. On the surface, it looks like Annabel has the perfect life - a girl with everything. In truth, however, Annabel is the girl who has nothing: no best friend, malicious rumors flying through school about her, no peace at home, and no ability to tell anyone what's going on.

Meet Owen Armstrong. A son of divorced parents, Owen is an intense, music-obsessed loner who always tells the truth (no matter what the consequences are). And, he's the only person at school who will talk to Annabel.

How is it that these two polar opposites can meet in the middle and form a tentative friendship? Can Owen's friendship help Annabel to find the courage to finally face (and talk about) what happened on the night she lost everything?

Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite teen authors. I have never been disappointed in any book I've read of hers, and this is no exception. The great thing about Sarah Dessen's novels are the details found within. You can easily see what Annabel is seeing and feeling. In all of the characters, there is an emotional complexity that simply draws you in. Even though there's not a whole lot of action in this book, it is truly a page turner. Though all of Dessen's novels are stand-alones, characters from one of her earlier novels, This Lullaby, do appear briefly in this book.

Reviewed by Sara

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book

In this ninth installment of the Hannah Swensen mystery series, Hannah is asked to judge the baking contest in the Tri-County Fair. She gets more than she bargains for when one night she hears a loud thumping noise and discovers the dead body of fellow baking contest judge Willa Sunquist, a student teacher at Lake Eden High School. Who would want to murder Willa? The disgruntled student she failed? The wannabe beauty queen who Willa disqualified from the Miss Tri-County Beauty Contest? Her mysterious boyfriend? Hannah once again puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test with help from the quirky characters that make up Lake Eden, Minnesota. And, as always, the book contains delectable recipes that will truly make your mouth water.

I enjoy reading "cozy" mysteries or "funny" mysteries from time to time - these are good ways to "escape" reality. Years ago I picked up the first book in this series, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, on a whim and really enjoyed it. By this ninth book, the characters and situations are becoming a little predictable, though the story is still a quick and fun read. The books in this series can be read out of order, though I always suggest to patrons to start from the beginning. Even if the author only mentions an event from a prior book in passing, reading the books in order helps to follow the main characters in their growth and development. The recipes in this book, as well as in the other books in the series, sound delicious. Don't read this book on an empty stomache!!


Reviewed by Jessica

Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Text Adaptation: Richard Appignanesi
Illustrated by: Emma Vieceli
Age Level: Teen
Format: Book

The year is 2107. Earth is now a cyberworld always at the brink of war. Hamlet is an angst-ridden teen. His father, the King of Denmark, has just died. His mother immediately remarried - his uncle who has taken the throne. He doesn't know how to deal with his grief. Could his uncle have murdered his father? Slowly he starts to believe that is true, seeing his father's ghost twice. Hamlet doesn't trust anyone, on his own, he sets out to prove that his father was murdered, and begins by acting crazy so that adults, and everyone else, will just leave him alone.

I will admit that I love Shakespeare, with Hamlet being one of my favorite plays to watch and read. I was a bit skeptical of this new way to present the text of the play, but it does work quite well. None of the intensity, intrigue, or danger found within the original Shakespearean text is lost. If anything, especially for teens in today's world who don't understand or want to take the time to understand the language of Shakespeare's plays, this adaptation will work better for them. The pictures help to reinforce the text (which is in Elizabethan English). While reading, if you don't understand exactly what Hamlet may mean or be feeling when saying, "What a piece of work is man. In action how like an angel. In apprehension how like a god!" there is always the panel behind the text to refer to - to get a better clue and to just what is going on.

Well done in both text and illustrations. Give it a chance. You may just be surprised.

Reviewed by Sara