Anya’s Ghost, by Vera Brosgol
21 Oct 2011
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![When Anya falls into a well and comes out with a ghost hitchhiker, initially she is annoyed. Then, when she finds out all the ways the late Emily O'Reilly can help her—in class, and in catching the eye of the boy she likes—Anya is pretty pleased with her new friend. Emily seems happy with the arrangement, too... [Image shows a girl writing at a desk, listening to a small ghost whispering in her ear] The art in this graphic novel is excellent, and the story had some great twists and turns! A little slow-moving in parts.](/assets/img/anyasghost.png)
Spooky elements: Ghosts! I do not want to spoil this for you so that is all I am saying.
Good for: This is a great graphic novel for young adults. It has a lot of depth and the characters are really well crafted. I don't think it would be inappropriate for younger kids, but they might find the focus on high-school interpersonal relationships a bit boring.
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
19 Oct 2011
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![While exploring her new house, Coraline discovers that a door that once went nowhere now goes to another version of her home, with another mother and father—who have been waiting just for her. [Image shows a girl locking a door while a cat looks on] This incredibly spooky book is one of my favorites of all time. Spookiness: 4/5](/assets/img/coraline.png)
Spooky elements: Sewing. Buttons and sewing. I don't want to give too much away, but it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Also a thing that wants to take you from your parents and keep you forever, but that is nothing compared to the buttons.
Good for: This book is just excellent. I'd recommend it to anybody. While very spooky, the book is still good for the younger crowd—clever Coraline always keeps her head, and that makes it much easier to be brave on her behalf.
The Orphan of Awkward Falls, by Keith Graves
17 Oct 2011
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![When Josephine's family moves to Awkward Falls, she can't help but be intrigued by the rundown mansion next door—especially after she discovers its strange inhabitants: an automaton; a talking, stitched together cat; and one strange, brilliant little boy. [Image: a robot holds a plate of organs and chocolate] When a notorious cannibal escapes from the Asylum for the Dangerously Insane, Josephine and her odd neighbors could be in danger. This just utterly gross book is accompanied by great, spooky illustrations (also gross). Spookiness: 2/5. Gross-o-meter: 5/5](/assets/img/orphanofawkwardfalls.png)
Spooky elements: This book isn't very frightening, really, but it is DISGUSTING.
Good for: Middle school kids of a certain temperament should love it (you know, the ones who like gore and anything creepy, crawly, slimy, or oozing).
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
13 Oct 2011
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![Adam Gidwitz weaves several Grimm fairy tales together to tell the true story of Hansel and Gretel—and a deeply affecting allegory for growing up and learning that adults, while older, aren't necessarily wiser. [Image shows a silhouetted boy and girl walking down a starlit path into a forest] Some might be turned off by the author's very present, fourth-wall breaking voice (I found it charming).](/assets/img/taledarkandgrimm.png)
Spooky elements: This book is very gory, just like the fairy tales it's based on. The author inserts little warnings whenever anything gory or scary is about to happen, so there aren't any jump-out-of-your-seat scares, but the book is frightening and unsettling in the highly effective, primeval way of fairy tales.
Good for: This book is ostensibly written for the middle school crowd, but I thought it was excellent on a number of more advanced levels.
Read my review of In a Glass Grimmly
Zombie in Love, by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Scott Campbell
11 Oct 2011
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![Mortimer is a true romantic. He's looking for love in all the right places, but something about him seems to scare women off! [A pretty terrifying but very friendly looking zombie offers you dead flowers covered in spiders.] What will it take for Mortimer to find the girl of his nightmares? Spookiness: 3/5](/assets/img/zombieinlove.png)
Spooky elements: The romantically-inclined undead. Obviously.
Good for: This is a kids' picture book, but the pictures are so wonderful any grown-up could be proud to own it. Completely adorable and wonderfully creepy!
Halloween is All Hallow’s Read
07 Oct 2011
In honor of All Hallow's Read, I'll be reviewing scary books for the rest of the month! Last year I did three All Hallow's Read reviews—this year I'll do six... maybe more! A complete list of all the scary books reviewed here thus far can be found at this link.
For more information, please see this informative video with zombies.
Men and Cartoons, by Johnathan Lethem
05 Oct 2011
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![Men and Cartoons. [A thought bubble pops out of a brown-haird man's head, showing a brown-haired male superhero.] Short stories about, you guessed it, men and cartoons.](/assets/img/menandcartoons.png)
Good for: People who like short stories, superheroes, and cartoons. These stories mix together adult issues and drama with cartoon antics. Like many short story collections, some of the stories were quite good, while others were decidedly lackluster.
Banned Books
30 Sep 2011
I hope you enjoyed this year's Banned Books Week reviews as much as I enjoyed reviewing them! They have all been added to the complete list. Celebrate your freedom to read by reading a frequently challenged book (or classic)—or by completely ignoring those and reading whatever you want. That's why it's called freedom.
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
30 Sep 2011
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Banned Books Week!
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![In 2000 and 2001, Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich put her comfortable life aside and worked low-paying jobs, including as a waitress, a cleaning woman, and a Wal-Mart associate, and tried to see if she could make ends meet on minimum wage. [Images of a woman dressed as a journalist (with pen and paper), a waitress, a Wal-Mart employee (with blue vest), and a cleaning woman (with cleaning supplies).] It was a struggle that she didn't always win, and this story of poverty even in a time of prosperity can be eye-opening. Too bad Ehrenreich is judgmental, hypocritical, and spends a lot of time othering the people whose side she is supposedly on in this book.](/assets/img/nickelanddimed.png)
Challenged for: "drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint"
"Oh no, reading this will expose people to viewpoints different from my own!"
Good for: People who have never worked a cruddy job, nor known anyone who has, because behind how annoying Ehrenreich is there is an important message. But if you've ever worked for minimum wage, none of this will come as a surprise, so you can skip it! In fact, everyone skip this book and just read her 2011 10-year-anniversary afterward instead.
What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
28 Sep 2011
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Banned Books Week!
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![She knows what it's like to want to be with someone every minute, and what it's like to crave a kiss. She knows friendship, and the love for family that transcends disappointment. But has she ever really been in love? Sophie is about to find out. [Image shows a girl sitting on a bench looking at a famous painting (Renoir's Le Bal a Bougival)]](/assets/img/whatmymotherdoesntknow.png)
Challenged for: "sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group."
As far as I can tell, people who challenge books think "sexually explicit" means "the author admits sex exists and that teenagers sometimes think (very vaguely) about having it."
Good for: People who like young adult romance. I have a number of friends who would really like this book, I think! It's very cute and quite powerful for such a short thing. I wasn't actually expecting to like this at all, as I usually find books-in-verse to be kitschy, but this little story really won me over.