Emily the Strange

Emily the StrangeCosmic Debris.  Emily the Strange.  San Francisco:  Chronicle Books, 2001.
$12.95
ISBN 0811831477


Emily doesn't care what other think.  She does what she wants, when she wants too.  Emily the Strange is an emo tale of a girl who lives an unapologetic existence, completely void of any of the normal pleasantries that mainstream teenagers tend to enjoy--friends, sports, or shopping. She would rather be with her black cats, causing havoc, and living in the dark. Yet, Emily is who she is, and she is defiantly not looking to conform or censure herself.  Emily the Strange is a tale full of vivid imagery against a background that looks eerily like a White Stripes video--I'm thinking specifically of Seven Nation Army.



If you like Emily the Strange also try:
Emily the Strange: The Lost Days
Emily the Strange: Vol. 1: Lost, Dark, & Bored


You can also visit Emily the Strange's blog/website at  http://www.emilystrange.com/

New posts to come soon:

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley
The Treasure Map for Boys by E. Lockhart
Emily the Strange by Cosmic Debris

The Awakening

The Awakening (Darkest Powers, Book Two)

Kelley Armstrong. The Awakening. New York : Harper Collins Publishers, 2009.
$17.99
ISBN: 9780061662768
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation:
Chloe is fifteen and a necromancer--someone who can conjure up the dead and see ghosts. She is one the run from the Edison Group, an organization that wants to control her supernatural powers.

Book Talk:
Being a teenager is hard enough: school, boys, friends, parents, and bullies. But, Chloe is also a necromancer, someone who can see ghosts and conjure up the dead. She is one the run with some of friends who also have supernatural powers, as they all try to escape the Edison Group: a scientific organization that has used the teens for experiments. As Chloe runs, she also tries to control her powers. Will she be able to stay ahead of the Edison Group, or will she and her friends be captured and terminated? As Chloe looks for help, she is awakened to the forces that surround her and seek her out.

Awards:
The Awakening has been reviewed in Booklist.

You may also want to read, The Summoning, the first book in the Dark Powers series.
It has won: Notable Books- Texas Tayshas Reading Lists, Notable Books-- 2009

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L'Engle. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1962.
$17.99
ISBN: 0374386137
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation:
Meg's father disappeared while working on a secret government mission. Along with her brother and friend, Meg travels throughout space and time in order to find her father, and maybe help save the universe.

Book Talk:
Meg Murry feels like she doesn't fit in at school or at home. Her parents are scientists, her brothers are smart, and she is barely passing her classes. Meg's youngest brother, Charles Wallace, has always had the ability to know what she and others are thinking. What she soon discovers is, not only does Charles Wallace have physic abilities, he has also made friends with witches. They know all about Meg and her family, and seem to also know something about her father's disappearance. When Meg, Charles Wallace, and a friend travel with the 3 mysterious women they move throughout time and the universe. Will they be able to find Mr. Murry? Or will they succumb to the darkness that threatens to overtake the universe?

Awards:
Newbury Award Winner--1963.
ALA notable Children's Book
Flicker Tale Children's Book Award
Sequoyah Book Award

Blood and Chocolate

Blood and Chocolate

Annette Curtis Klause. Blood and Chocolate. New York : Delacorte Press, 1997.
$8.99
ISBN: 0385323050
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation:
Vivian is a teen who is stunning beautiful. She's also a werewolf. When she falls for a boy named Aiden, she is forced to chose between her love for him and her family.

Book Talk:
Vivian is a teenage werewolf. She has recently moved to a new town with her pack to escape a violent past. With each moon cycle the werewolves change their form. She is part of a very close famiy, who has deep-rooted feelings about how werewolves should always stay together and only associate with humans when they have too. Then, Vivian meets Aiden, a intriguing high-school boy . As their relationship progresses, Vivian has to constantly hide who she really is, while her pack puts pressure on her to stop seeing Aiden and find a werewolf mate instead. As the past comes back to haunt the pack, Vivian is forced to make a decision--give into her nature as a werefolf where kisses taste like blood, or try and make Aiden understand who she is and keep the kisses that taste like chocolate.

Awards:
ALA Best Books for Young Adults-1998
Black-Eyed Susan Award
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
SCASL Book Award (South Carolina)
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
Voluteer State Book Award

The Last Days

The Last Days

Scott Westerfeld. The Last Days. New York : Razorbill, 2006.
$8.99
ISBN: 159514062X
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation:
In the sequel to Westerfeld's Peeps, Moz and Pearl meet on the streets of New York and end up forming a band that has supernatural powers.

Book Talk:
Pearl and Moz have a mutual love for rock music and saving a 1975 Fender Stratocaster with gold pickups and hardware from falling into the streets of New York City, as a crazed woman throws all her personal belongings out a window. What Pearl and moz don't realize is that the band they create will have supernatural powers that may ultimately save human kind. As humans conduct life above the streets of the city, there is a growing dark and powerful force emerging from the dark hollows New York's underground tunnels. Citizens and friends of the city are also disappearing and exhibiting strange, vampire characteristics. Will this group of teens have the power to stop what growing under the streets, or are they living out their last days as the world is slowly comsumed by a dark plague?

Awards:
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers--2007
2007 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
This book was also reviewed in Kirkus (Starred,) Booklist, School Library Journal, and Kliatt.


Read Peeps, the prequel to The Last Days.

Bonechiller

Bonechiller

McNamee, Graham. Bonechiller. New York : Wendy Lamb Books, 2008.
$15.99
ISBN: 9780385746588
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ.)

Annotation:
Danny lives Harvest Cove, Canada with his dad. It's a popular resort town in summer, and a ghost town in the snowy winter. One night walking alone, Danny is chased by something he can't even describe, but it's huge, with large claws and very sharp teeth.

Book Talk:
"Not human, but some twisted freak-show nightmare. The face is deformed, like a reflection in a warped mirror, with the nose pinched tight with two long slits, and the mouth stretched so wide its edges touch the flattened bony curves of the ears . . . and the eyes. Nowhere near human" (Graham, pg. 26)

The winters in Harvest Cove are filled with bitter, cold air and endless amounts of snow. Walking home alone one night Danny encounters a creature unlike anything he has ever seen. He survives, but he may be living on borrowed time. With the assistance of his friends, Danny discovers that teens have been disappearing from Harvest Cove since the beginning, and maybe even before, the founding of the town. Danny knows from his dreams that it's only a matter of time before the Bonechiller revisits him. Will he be able to hide from the beast, or become another one of its meals?

Awards:
YALSA Best Books for Yound Adults--2009

Graham McNamee has also won awards for the following books:

Acceleration
Bluegrass Award
Edgar Allen Poe Awards
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
Garden STate Teen Book Award
Young Reader's Choice Award

Hate You
ALA Best Book for Young Adult

Sparks
Georgia Peach Award, Young Adult Category
PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship