Protect the zombies, people. Sadly, more of them are probably going to be turned into romantic interests after people watch Warm Bodies.
This zombie story, luckily, has none of that.

It's just a game, Josh thought. He doesn't understand why his mom is making such a big deal about the zombie game he's been playing. Sure, his aunt was turned into a zombie and died as a result, but that was way back. There have not been any zombies since the vaccine. So when Josh was approached by other online players to play a secret underground "live-action" virtual zombie game, Josh is all for it, but is it really just a game?

Z by Michael Thomas Ford is really not about defeating zombies who are terrorizing the world, but more about a group of teens uncovering some secret plot and fighting against it, and they have to kill some zombies along the way, and need to guts to kill some of their own who have turned. The book is neither good nor bad. Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing you can't predict. The text is sparse on the page, and since there are zombies and flamethrowers, this book may be a nice one to give to readers who are looking for a quick, easy read. It's likely that there is going to be a sequel, since the story is not resolved in the end.

More zombie reads to come.

What do you get when you combine the current two most popular themes in teen fiction? The Hunt, by Andrew Fukuda.


In Gene's world, everyone is a vampire, and humans, whom they call hepers, are protected just like endangered animals. They are only released once a year for the Hunt, an annual event that demonstrates and consolidates the power of "the Ruler" (Sounds familiar? Yah, I know.)  Only a selected few are picked by lottery to participate in this delicious feast, and Gene's name was chosen. It would have been his lucky day, except he is actually a human. Of course he is.  Can he survive among the bloodthirsty fiends?


For this book to work, readers will have to buy into the premise that Gene has successfully passed as a vampire for all this time until now. Since a good chunk of the book is spent on telling you all the things that you can and will do wrong that give you away as a human, the premise is a little hard to swallow.  There is also a crucial plot element that you wish you can't see from miles away. Having said that, it is nice to see the return to real vicious vampires. Like the ones in Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Killer (better movie than people give it credit I think).  The Hunt, when it finally happens, is actually pretty intense. The dynamics between Gene and the hepers is probably the most interesting part, and hopefully we'll see more in the next book.  What? You weren't expecting a sequel?


The Hunt is also available on audiobook. Check out a sample clip, courtesy of Macmillan Audio.

Something strange is happening in Santa Feliz. People -- particularly the teens -- have been changing into wild animals and back again. They've been coined "Wildlings" and the Federal Government is offering to help anyone with their new found "abilities". But none of those who have gone to the government facility for "orientation and training" have ever returned.

Josh is incredulous when he turns into a mountain lion and almost kills his mom's boyfriend. He wants to keep everything a secret and  live a normal life, but when he starts to meet other Wildlings and finds out what is happening to them, he realizes this might not be possible. Other kids at school are getting suspicious and it seems that he's being followed by not only government agents, but other mysterious strangers as well...

The story is told with alternating perspectives of the two main characters: Josh and Marina. This creates suspense as some details only get revealed through one perspective, but it also seemed slow down the movement of the plot sometimes. I felt like there could have been less talking and mulling over their situations and more action. Things started to move pretty good closer to the end of the books and I wish there was a bit more of that excitement throughout the book.

While the idea of being able to turn into animals is a pretty cool one, it personally kept reminding me of the children's series, Animorphs. However, I do think De Lint's writing and development of plot and characters will appeal to many readers who will most likely want to continue with the series after reading this first book.

Be sure to check out Razorbill's What Wildling Are You website where you answer a short questionnaire to determine which animal you'd turn into if you were a Wildling. (I was disappoint to discover that I am a boring rabbit...)

Charles De Lint is a World Fantasy Award winning author who has written plenty of other books (most of them adult titles). For a list of his work visit his website.

Cassel is from a family of Curse Workers -- people with supernatural abilities to influence others with a touch of their hands. Some can change others' emotions, luck, and dreams -- others can modify memories or even kill.
Because of their dangerous abilities, Curse Workers are feared and considered outlaws. Thing is, though, Cassel is the only one in his family who isn't a Curse Worker. He's always felt like an outsider and been torn between trying to lead a somewhat "normal" life and wanting to be like the rest of his family. He's also haunted by a horrifying event in his life -- the fact that he killed his best friend, Lila, but doesn't understand why and cannot remember the details of the event.
When Cassel has a disturbing dream about a white cat and wakes up sleepwalking, a chain of events follow which cause Cassel to question whether or not Lila is really dead and search for the truth about what really happened that day.
It's difficult to find any paranormal teen fiction that isn't about stunning vampires fighting over werewolf boyfriends or zombies competing for popularity at the local high school these days -- all plots that are too close to chicklit for my taste -- and probably plots that wouldn't interest most teen guys. I did find this story pretty intriguing though. The plot moves quite well, and certainly has a darker, more serious mood, without the superficial high school drama or brand name dropping you sometimes find in other YA novels. The idea of Curse Workers kind of reminds me of the mafia and mobsters of the early 1900s, and the book has some good action and seedy characters.

The problem is though, that the covers published in the US (especially the second and third books with photos of a female looking vacantly into space), might put off some guy readers.












I'm not sure if the covers published in the UK are that much bit better --the dripping red glove is kind of cool but the White Cat cover looks a bit drab.












I've only read the first in the Curse Workers series and reviews of the second and third books makes me fear that the story might morph into more of a romance... which would be a shame as this series really does have a good premise.

I have to admit I'm often suspicious of a YA novel written by a bestselling adult author. It seems to be the "in" thing to do these days and the result is sometimes mediocre at best.  And taking a quick look at Richard Paul Evans' bibliography leaves me to wonder how he's going to pull off a subject matter quite different from what's in his adult books, but I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series.

Much like Percy Jackson, trouble seems to follow Michael Vey. He's not on his principal's "good" list, and he's a magnet for bullies. Michael tries to stay calm and keep a low profile, because if he doesn't, bad things happen. Well, not to him, but to others, because Michael zaps people with electricity from his hand every time he loses his cool. It's a power his mom has wanted to keep secret, and Michael certainly tries his best to do so, but when he fights back one day against the school bullies, he catches the eye of a couple people. One being Taylor the hot cheerleader, who has more things in common with Michael than he ever would have imagined, but then there is the man who wears sunglasses at night. Just in case the interest is not mutual, he decides to kidnap Michael's mother to get his full attention.

The plot moves along and the mystery unfolds nicely, as Michael discovers the origin of his power and why all these people are after him and Taylor. The guys are very likeable in this book, especially Michael's powerless but loyal best friend Ostin, and the villain is just plenty crazy and scary. Great resourceful kids but not too invincible, and the ending wraps up the action in this book but also provides a good set up for the next one, without being an annoying cliffhanger type. Riordan fans will enjoy this one, and I think it can work for the upper elementary school crowd too.

» Visit the official website

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing an eGalley for this novel.

Does the age of the characters in a book affect whether or not kids and teens want to read the book?
I just finished The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander and it got me thinking about this question. In this book, Mac and his best friend, Vince, are running a business out of the washroom of their elementary school. They solve problems and do favours -- like getting test answers, R-rated movie tickets, forged hall passes, doctors' notes -- for a fee of cash and return favours. Business is going well and Mac is respected and popular, until a legendary bully, Staples, begins to take control of the school through extortion and violence. Mac sets out to bring down Staples but things get complicated when he realizes someone -- possibly his best friend --is informing his enemy of all his plans.
I definitely liked the premise of this book and the plot itself played out pretty well too. It's really a sort of parody on the GodFather and other mafia/mobster stories. (you might notice a resemblance between the cover of the book and the GodFather Movie poster... ) I found it a little strange that at many points the characters acted more mature than their age. Mac was hiring third and fourth graders to be "hit men" and he himself was only in grade six and talking like he was far older than that. (this was probably intentional and part of the whole parody thing) I wondered if high school would be a better setting for the book... and then wondered if teens would be willing to read this book regardless of the fact that the main characters were only in elementary school (it is also classed as children's fiction). The content and language are not childish and I do think Mac's covert mafia-like business would be interesting to teens. In general I think most kids/teens will read books with main characters that are older than them (in fact, some of them may prefer this), but what about the reverse?

Chaos Walking Series Book One

What if people can hear what you are thinking right now?  That you can be saying something and they can just look at you and know if you're telling the truth or not? That's the kind of world Todd Hewitt lives in. Noise, they called it. Everyone's thoughts are broadcasted to everyone else constantly. When the settlers first arrived on the planet, they fought a war with the natives, who released a germ that killed all the women and made the men hear each other's thoughts.  Animals talk too, but as Todd pointed out, there's a reason why they shouldn't. His dog Manchee seemed to only have a few things to say: "poo, Todd, poo", "squirrel", "run". That's pretty much it.
A month before he turned 13 and could finally become a man like everyone else in his town, Todd was taking Manchee for a walk and he heard a silence. A silence, like a hole, in all the noise. Excited, Todd tried to walk back home as calm as he could as if nothing had happened, but as you can imagine, there is no such thing as a secret in Prentisstown. As he walked past the church, he could hear Aaron the preacher asking for him in the Noise. Todd ran back home, and the minute his guardians Ben and Cecil saw him, they knew it's time for Todd to leave the town. They produced a bag that was packed long ago and told him to go. Run now, Todd, and don't come back!
A heart-wrenching read. A don't-talk-to-me-I'm-reading read.  Ness' writing is impeccable for the story. Nothing flowery, just raw emotions. All the characters are as good as you can get, and Booklist called Manchee "the finest talking-dog characters anywhere". It's also one of the best fugitive stories I've read. So good, you've got to read this.
And now I'm scared. I'm scared to read the sequels. What if it ruins it like other sequels do so often?
p.s. Came across Frank Cottrell Boyce's (author of Millions and Cosmic) review of this book in the Guardian. I like his comments about the young adult genre.