The Monstrumologist

Yancey, Rick.  The Monstrumologist:  William James Henry. NewYork: Simon & Schuster: BFYR, 2009.  ISBN: 9781439152614.  $21.99.
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library)

monstrumology n.
1. the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore.

2. the act of hunting such creatures*

*(Yancey, Rick.  The Monstumologist:  William James Henry, 2009:
http://www.rickyancey.com/monstrumologist/home.php)

What if there was truth in the childhood belief that there monsters underneath your bed and things that go bump in the night?  The kind of creatures that only come out in the darkness to violently feed off the living, the human race.

When the journals of William James Henry, a man who claimed to be 136-years-old, are discovered, their pages reveal a dark tale.  Will Henry was once the assistant to Pellinore Warthrop, a monstrumologist.  He knows the doctor studies bizarre and mysterious creatures, but it's not until there is a knock on the door late in night, when Will soon learns how the world is a dark, dangerous, and deadly place.

Anthropophagi are thought to be monsters of myth and folklore.  When a local graverobber brings Dr. Winthrop something he discovered in the local cemetery, it becomes painfully obvious that these nocturnal creatures exist and they hunt humans.  They are unlike any other documented animal.  The stand at least seven-feet-tall.  Although, human-like in appearance, they have no head.  Their eyes are in their shoulders.  They have a large, vicious mouth in their torso, with equally sharp claws.  From a scientific-point-of-view, they are a perfectly engineered human killing machine.

But how did a creature native to the African plains, end up in 19th century New England?  As Will Henry follows and assists the montrumologist in his quest to reveal the truth of their existence in a new country, he also learns about the lies and secrets that the ones closest to us may carry.  Are Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry able to uncover the truth before the Anthropophagi feed again, or are they a beast that has evolved to overtake man with its insatiable appetite for human flesh?

This is one of the best books I have read in quite a while.  It is an engrossing tale, with gripping descriptions that haunt the mind, well after the book is finished.  It is not a read for the squeamish, but if you are looking for a tale that evokes horror, repulsion, curiosity, adventure, and suspense, then I highly recommend this work.  --Melissa Brisbin, Librarian

Awards:
2010 The Michael L. Printz Honor Award Winner for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.
Booklist Star-Reviewed Best Horror Novel.
ALA Best Books for Young Adults.

Hamlet: A Novel

Marsden, John.  Hamlet: A Novel.  Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780763644512 $16.99.
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library)

Before I go into my view of this book, I think it is a huge undertaking to try and novelize a tragic Shakespearean play.  That said, James Marsden tries to breathe new life into a 400-year-old Hamlet.  The novel starts out strong, giving life to the characters of Elsinore.  He makes Hamlet and his best friend, Horatio, relatable as they discuss the recent death of Hamlet's father, the King of Denmark, as well as the recent marriage of his mother to his uncle.  Hamlet is full of rage.  His prose is peppered with anger, confusion, and sarcasm.   To many of those around him, Hamlet seems to be slowly losing his senses, but underneath his twisted words he often speaks a truth that many would not be willing to speak about. 


Hamlet is not alone in his doubts over his mother's marriage to his uncle, two months after his father's death.  Most of the royal court does not know how to handle the change.  Hamlet no longer trusts his father's old advisers, such a Polonius.  He doubts the motives of all that surround him, yet he cannot find proof to support his thoughts.  That is, until he is visited by the ghost of his father, who reveals to Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother, Hamlet's uncle, and his current step-father.


While exploring the idea of revenge, Hamlet's actions begin a downward spiral that effect of those who closely surround him.  Without considering the price he would pay for murdering his uncle, Hamlet lets the idea of revenge consume him.  With a cloudy vision and a hateful heart, he takes actions that cannot be undone nor mended.  Soon those that mean the most to Hamlet will fall.  Yet, once the circumstances have been set forth and actions taken, there is no way to take them back.


Overall, Hamlet: A Novel tries to make a complicated play relatable to a modern audience.  Marsden starts off with a strong interpretation of Shakespeare's vision, but he also tries to spice up the novel in areas that do not seem to fit.  Although the novel begins well, I also felt that the ending was a bit rushed.  In the beginning of the tale there were often some details that, I felt, were unecessary, as well as somewhat haphazard.  Marsden tried to make the tale of Hamlet more sexual.  He would use scenes of sexuality that, I believe, were meant to support the confusion Hamlet had about himself; however, they did not flow with the text.  They seemed to be more small shots of sexuality that did not quite fit the rest of the novel.  Overall, the were fractured pieces of descriptive information.  I also would go so far as to think that the as the beginning of the novel started out with unecessary details, the end of the novel was equally lacking important descriptions.  In the places where I thought the author could expand dialogue and narrative, he did not.  The end of the novel felt rushed and incomplete.


Hamlet: A Novel would be a good read for someone who wants to become familiar with the play, but does not want to spend the time deciphering Shakespeare's complicated prose and vocabulary.  In fact, for a teenager, this book could be a good starting point to get the gist of the tale, and then re-read the actual play.   The novel does give an overall description of Shakespeare's version, but in order to truly appreciate the tale, I believe it is equally necessary to read the original work. 

John Marsden is a best-selling author who has penned over thirty novels, including the popular Tomorrow Series and the Ellie Chronicles.

Tombstone Tea

Dahme, Joanne. Tombstone Tea. Philadelphia : RP Teens, 2009.  ISBN:  9780762437184. $16.95.

(Image Credit: Cape May County Library)

Laurel Hill Cemetery sits high above the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It contains thousands of graves, including some of Philadelphia's most prestigious and famous residents.  But not of Laurel Hill Cemetery's residents stay in the ground.  In fact, many of them are not ready to cross over to the other side and would rather remain dwelling within the well-kept grounds of Laurel Hill.   

Jessie is new to Phildelphia.  She's attending Laurel Hill Charter High School and she doesn't know a single student.  Feeling like a complete outsider and lonely, Jessie decides to take up a dare from three of the school's most popular girls.  She must spend a night in Laurel Hill Cemetery.  Jessie sees the dare as an oppertunity to find some friends as well as explore a new place.  What Jessie doesn't know, yet, is that she won't be the only being roaming the cemetery that night.

During her night at Laurel Hill, Jessie meets Paul and he guides her around the cemetery.  He also informs her that she has chosen the perfect night to visit the cemetery.  Tonight there is a Tombstone Tea.  Jessie soon finds herself mixed up in a world tangled between the past and present, with both the living and the dead.

However, Jessie also discovers something that she has known, but ignored for a long time.  She is a spiritualist, someone who can communicate with the dead.  When she meets Paul, a current and former employee of Laurel Hill Cemetery, she begins to understand her ability.  She is soon confronted by the wrath of Jenny, the angry spirit of a woman who is desperately seeking her long-lost daughter.  Paul and Jessie, along with some of the cemetery's ghostly residents must combine forces to fight Jenny's powerful rage, before Jessie becomes overtaken by the spirit world.   Is Jessie strong enough to overtake Jenny and unite a broken and painful past that keeps her from moving on? If she is able to do so, Jessie will need to count on the assistance of the other ghosts that remain in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Joanne Dahme has also written The Plague and Creepers.

Tombstone Tea has been in both Publishers Weekly Review and Booklist Review.

Beautiful Creatures

Garcia, Kimi & Stohl, Margaret.  Beautiful Creatures. Boston:  Little, Brown and Company, 2009. $17.99.  ISBN: 978316042673.  (Image Credit: Cape May County Library.)

Ethan Wate feels he lives in a average South Carolina community with the typical high school, friends, and family.  He dreams of escaping Gatlin's normality.  He seeks a life that goes beyond the ordinary.  He knows that he wants more than a mediocre and predictable existence. 

When Ethan sees Lena Duchannes, the new girl at school, he knows that she is unlike anyone the small town has ever seen or experienced.  When he learns she is the niece of the town's mysterious and feared recluse, Macon Ravenwood, he is intrigued.  Ethan also recognizes Lena.  She is the girl who plagues the dreams he's been having about a girl he never met, but knows he loves.  She is also the girl that he loses at the end of each dream.  It's a nightmare that continuously haunts him each night.

Yet, Ethan's dreams hint at the undeniable connection he and Lena have between each other.  Ethan begins to learn that there is more between Lena and himself.  There is an almost electrical connection, along with the ability to talk to one another without saying a word.  He also learns that the inhabitants of Ravenwood Manor, Lena's family estate, are anything but normal.  It is a place where things are not quite what they seem and where everyone possesses special powers.

Ethan's dreams are more than a connection to Lena; they are a warning of events that are soon to become reality.  The more he falls for Lena, the more he finds himself in a situation that is bigger and deadlier than he could have ever imagined.  Ethan will have to fight for he girl he undeniably loves, even if it means going against all he has ever known and all that he is beginning to learn.  It seems that the town of Gatlin is far from ordinary.  It is a place where humans co-exist with powerful Castors.  It is up to Ethan and Lena to discover the truth, as well as find a way to battle the dark forces that are mounting against them. It is time to learn how destiny and choices are intertwined within the darkness and the light.

Beautiful Creatures was reviewed in both School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly and Booklist.

Awards and Recognition:
New York Times and International Best Seller. I
Amazon Best of 2009 as a #1 Teen Pick and a #5 Editor's pick. 
Indie Next List Teen Pick Winter, September 2010.
ALA William C. Morris Ya Debut Award Finalist, 2010.
Wall Street Journals Best Books to Give as Gifts Starred Selection.

You can also read more about Beautiful Creatures and its authors at:
http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/ 

You can also view the book trailer from the website:       

--Melissa the Librarian

Dracula

Stoker, Bram.  Dracula. New York : Signet Classic, 1992. $4.95. ISBN:  0451523377.  (Image Credit: Cape May County Library)


In the wake of popular vampire fiction, I thought I would take a step back and read the classic, Dracula.  Bram Stoker is the author of this macabre classic, setting the tone for today's modern tale of blood-sucking entities.  Stoker weaves a Victorian epistolary tale, where a group of friends unites in a fight to bring down the monster they know as Count Dracula.

Stoker takes the reader from the outskirts of Transylvania to England's Whitby and London, and back to the Carpathians.  He never truly describes Dracula's motives, outside of contaminating the modern world with his venom. He depicts the creature and powerful and calculating. Stoker focuses mainly upon the characters who set out to bring their revenge and death to the vampire, Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, Professor Van Helsing, Dr. Serward, Quincy Morris, and Lord Godalming.  It is their unity and belief in justice that solidfy their motives and direction, as they pursue a creature they are afraid will be the end of all mankind.

Bram Stoker envisions vampires as hell-born creatures.  They look for helpless victims, in particular, women.  Once Lucy and Mina are infected by Dracula, they begin to lose their pureness.  They become seductive, volumptuous and sexualized.  They slowly lose the values that make them ideal Victorian women, even though they struggle against the changes that occur within themselves.  The men in the novel set out to stop Dracula from corrupting virutous women into sexual, killing creatures.

Stoker has cemented many of the characteristics we now associate with the modern vampire, shape-shifters, blood-sucking, sexual, and powerful monsters.  Humans are lured in by their overwhelming and seductive power.  They are almost helpless to fight against it.  Humans are easily transfixed by the vampires beauty, thus becoming a victim its lust and needs.  Although, the novel was written in 1897, it manages to convey both the Victorian's moral standards, as well as a strong sexual undertone that makes the idea of vampires so alluring.  It is a tale that has been told, and re-told, in many ways, and yet, it still has the power to capture the attention and imagination of today's modern reader.  Before Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris, Bram Stoker envisioned a world where vampires lurk in the dark waiting to find their next seductive meal.  He has created a tale that never seems to die out, just as the vampire itself.  It is a story that constantly captures the imagination with the possibility that such beings exist.  With elements such as death, sex, power, and adventure, it is not hard to see why the idea of vampires continues to be a modern obsession.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

Bartlett, Allison Hoover.  The Man Who Loved Books Too Much:  The True Story of a Thief, a Dectective, and a World of Literay Obsession. New York:  Riverhead Books, 2009.  $24.95. ISBN:  9781594488917.

For the first time in quite a while I am not reviewing an audiobook, since this particular title is not available in a listening format.  Instead, I have decided to relay one my recent reads.  I found it intriguing and thoughtful, especially in the way the author portrays the thief, John Gilkey.  Allison Hoover Bartlett sets out to uncover the workings of a book thief, John Gilkey, who in his short career has managed to acquire over $100,000 worth of stolen rare books.  In addition to Gilkey, she depicts the perspective of Ken Sanders and his colleagues, the owners of rare book stores.  They are also many of Gilkey's victims.

By exploring the world of book thievery and the obsession those have with old books, Bartlett is able to describe the mania and fixation of those who must own important literary works.  She illustrates how this is a realm filled with a plethora of  problems that surround capturing book thieves, since many in law enforcement do not see stolen books as a true investment of their crime-fighting time.  Gilkey is able to evade law enforcement for quite some time.  It is not until Ken Sanders decides to take the initiative and begin to connect the crimes together, bringing book dealers and collectors into a collective awareness of this thief's particular habits.

Barlett also tries to delve into the mind of Gilkey and into understanding his lack of conscious.  He is strictly driven by his bibliomania.  He is only governed by the need to acquire books, in order to declare and establish himself as a cultured gentleman.  A man worthy of prestige and respect.  He never admits that what he does, "stealing.,"  is wrong.  He merely sees himself as a man getting even with book collectors, who  deprive the public the means to acquire important books through their price gouging.

There is no ultimate ending to this book.  Barteltt follows Gilkey around for years, accruing information  and personal accounts of his crimes.  The book peters out at the end, with Gilkey released from jail and scouring libraries for literary gems.  He never seems to want to give up his obsession.  Instead, he continues to try and find ways to steal books in his personal mission to become what he feels is a cultured, worldly, and literary gentleman.

Ghostgirl

Hurley, Tonya. Ghostgirl.  Boston : Little, Brown and Co., 2008. $17.99.  ISBN:  9780316113571 
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ.)

Are you dying to be popular?  Would you do just about anything to have the boy you've been crushing on to notice your existence and be completely devoted to you?   That's the approach Charlotte Usher had towards her latest year at Hawthorne High.  All Charlotte wants is to be accepted as the ever popular Petula Kensington and to be noticed by Damen Dylan, the handsomest guy in the entire school.  Although Charlotte comes to school with a new plan to change her social status among her peers, what she doesn't foresee is her death the first day of high school--on the girls' bathroom floor, choking on a gummi bear.

Charlotte's story doesn't end with her death.  In fact, that's when her story truly begins.  She finds herself still enrolled Hawthorne, but on the other side where she can't be seen by the living.  Amongst other dead students Charlotte discovers that she must learn some rather tough lessons before she can move on.  She must give up her feelings for Damen and her quest to be popular. Charlotte doesn't take the news easily, and when she discovers that Petula's sister Scarlett can see her, she finds a new way to contact Damen.  Will Charlotte ever see beyond her crush, or will she be forever trapped within her one-sided-lack-of-a-relationship with Damen?  You will have to read Ghostgirl to find out?

--On a side note, I thought the layout of this book was quite creative, although, physically, it wasn't the easiest book to hold on to.  I found the quotes at the beginning of each chapter really supported and enriched the point Hurley was trying to make.  She also used a broad spectrum of quotes at the start of each chapter, each of which emphasized where the story was going or how Charlotte was feeling.  This was a creative, fun book to read.  Not only did it depict how desperate Charlotte was in her quest to become popular, it also illustrated how far one may be willing to take his or her feelings or sacrifice their own needs, in order to see a bigger purpose outside of themselves.

Check out Hurley's second Ghostgirl book, Ghostgirl:  Homecoming.