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March 2008 Book Picks
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The Restless Dead edited by Deborah Noyes
“Whether motivated by shock, sorrow, self-preservation, or more subtle ambitions . . . the dead in this anthology are all restless, all awake when they shouldn’t be, all conspiring to keep you up at night,” writes Noyes in her introduction to this collection of terrifying stories from some of the most well-known authors writing for teens, including M. T. Anderson, Holly Black, Libby Bray, and Annette Curtis Klause. From vampires to vindictive ghosts, this diverse anthology has it all, and then some. In Kelly Link’s wryly humorous entry, “The Wrong Grave,” a young man digs up his dead girlfriend’s corpse, only to find another girl in her grave. In Libby Bray’s poignant “Kissing Dead Boys,“ nearly every reaction to death is explored, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with deliciously gruesome detail. Booklist May 15, 2007 |
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Deadline by Chris Crutcher
"After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, 18-year-old Ben Wolf elects to forgo treatment and keep his illness secret from his family and friends in an attempt to have a "normal" senior year at his small Idaho high school. Free from long-term consequences, he connects with his crush, frustrates his biased U.S. Government teacher, and tries out for football. However, Ben's illness slowly exacts its toll on him, and he begins to realize the consequences of keeping his condition hidden."
School Library Journal September 1, 2007 |
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Everlost by Neal Shusterman
Following a fatal car accident, teenagers Nick and Allie collide with each other on the way toward the light and are shoved into an alternate state of existence. No longer living but not yet at the end of their journey, they land in Everlost, a color-bleached plane populated with child and teen spirits. There are rules in Everlost that new "greensouls"must learn to survive: keep moving, don't fall into a routine, don't seek the living, watch out for gangs, and steer clear of the McGill, Everlost's resident monster. Such rules are immortalized in the many books on Everlost penned by Mary Hightower, the leader of a large community of souls residing in the inanimate ghosts of New York's Twin Towers. Enamored of Mary, Nick begins to settle in, while Allie fights to escape.
Booklist September 15, 2006 |
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Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
"I'm getting younger? But it took me so long to get to fifteen!" In her debut young adult novel, Zevin offers a strikingly original answer to the eternal question: what happens when we die? Lizzie Hall, almost sixteen, has everything to look forward to: getting her driver's license, going to college, falling in love. But all that changes when she's killed in a hit-and-run accident. After a dreamlike and disconcerting journey aboard the SS Nile, Lizzie arrives in Elsewhere, where her grandmother, who died before Lizzie was born, greets her at the dock. Peculiar? Lizzie thinks so, too. In Zevin's afterlife, "everyone...ages backward from the day they died."
Horn Book September/October 2005 |
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