31 October 2014

Top 10 Books for Halloween

Top 10 List: 
Scary Halloween Reads


Beware of Long Lankin, that lives in the moss. . . .When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Byers Guerdon, little do they know that their arrival will reawaken an evil-a horrifying truth that devastated Auntie Ida's life the last time two young girls were at Guerdon Hall and has held the village in its dark grip for centuries.

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Will Henry is an orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.

In Mary's world there are simple truths: The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

 
Jasper Dent is the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view. And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod. In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows? 

Bridget Liu can hear demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king. 

There's a serial killer on the loose killing girls . With the entire city in a panic, Hannah Wagnor soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again. 

Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything. 

 
They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander's, Kansas—something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself.

This book follows seven teenagers, all with one thing in common: the love of Justin Blake's horror movies. All except for Ivy Jensen that is, still struggling with her past and numerous phobias, Ivy is certainly out of place in this haven for horror fanatics. As the seven teenagers arrive at the Dark House, the setting for some of the most horrific of Blake's movies, the teens are lead farther and farther from the safety of their own homes, and closer and closer into the the grips of the Nightmare Elf. By the time Ivy and the rest of the teens realize what exactly they have gotten themselves into, it is too late to escape the Dark House, all they can do is run and hope they can escape before it is too late.

Review: Legend

Legend by Marie Lu
Publication date: November 29, 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

The book LEGEND by Marie Lu was a great, action-packed book. It had a great storyline and was very suspenseful. I would recommend this book to any reader who likes action or fantasy books. In the book, the main characters Day and June are from nearly opposite worlds, June grew up in a wealthy military family, while Day grew up in the slums and is the countries most wanted criminal. When June's brother is murdered, Day is the prime suspect, and she decides to chase him down. Did Day do it? Read the book to find out. You will enjoy it!

29 October 2014

Review: Full Ride

Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Publication date: November 12, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

I would give this book 4.5 stars out of five because it had a wonderful plot throughout and a great beginning, middle, and end. Margaret Peterson Haddix spins an entrancing tale about a girl whose high school years are stripped away due to her father’s life of crime. As the story develops and we learn more and more about the protagonist, Becca Jones, we empathize with her plight and become even more drawn in to the story. By the end of this novel, you have a personal stake in the outcome of Becca, because she is so like everyday kids. Also, I would say that the perfect age to read this book would be anywhere from 12-16. This age group will be kept interested for hours by the fascinating story Haddix tells.



27 October 2014

Review: The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Publication date: May 7, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

A thrilling sci-fi novel, THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey, consists of aliens attacking the world in five different waves or sequences. It follows the personal stories of several different characters, but mainly stars Cassie, a sixteen-year-old girl. Cassie's parents died in a previous wave, however she is unclear about the fate of her five-year-old brother Sammy who was "saved" by the government. Cassie believes that she is the last human on earth. Then Cassie meets Evan, a mysterious boy who nurses her back to health. However, Cassie soon discovers that all is not what it seems.

This book was so exciting that I couldn't put it down! There are so many zombie apocalypse novels, but I had never read about an alien apocalypse. Throughout the story, there are many flashbacks and view point changes that were timed so well and made the story thrilling. I think the author executed his ideas quite well. Because of the subject, language, and violence, this novel would be most suited for 14 and up.


24 October 2014

Review: The Kiss of Deception

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Publication date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt

Mary E. Pearson's THE KISS OF DECEPTION is a story about a runaway princess who has to find her way in an unforgiving world without the advantages, or shields, that come with her upbringing in royalty. She finds herself at odds with the danger and uncertainty of her surroundings. As the novel progresses, Princess Lia grows from a dependent princess, to an independent young woman capable of making decisions for the better, not only for herself, but those around her as well. She learns about sacrifice, loyalty, and deception as she struggles with pursuit from killers, and hunters, and everlasting secrets. I loved the characters in this book and the complex relationships described. I felt like I struggled through my love and dislike of all of them along with Lia. I also really liked the details and imagery of the story making me feel like I was in the adventure, in a whole different society than our own.



22 October 2014

Review: Skink-No Surrender

Skink-No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
Publication date: September 23, 2014
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Richard and his cousin Malley have always been close, so when he learns she has run off with a guy she met in an Internet chat room, he is baffled that she left without letting him know. When Malley contacts him, however, he senses that her little trip may have skidded off track. Disappointed that the law seemed to have hit a wall in locating her and the guy, Richard teams up with an unlikely partner, a seventy-two-year-old eccentric called Skink who is really the former governor of Florida, declared dead after disappearing into the Florida swamp a few years back.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, because I am a very big fan of Hiaasen and some of his other books I read a while ago, such as Flush and Hoot. In SKINK NO SURRENDER, my absolute favorite parts were whenever Skink was involved. He provided the humor and most of the action in the novel. He is also such a bizarre character that reading about him doing even the most mundane things were all so interesting. Hiaasen’s novels always feature criminals who commit a series of crimes against the environment, and this novel is no exception. These parts are really interesting and quite different from most YA novels I've read outside of Hiaasen’s books.



20 October 2014

Review: The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Publication date: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion

This is the story of Ruby, a sixteen-year-old girl with special abilities living in a futuristic, dysfunctional America. After escaping Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp” for kids like her, she joins a group of kids who escaped from their own camp. Together they try to find East River, a safe haven for kids like them, but East River just might not be what it seems.

THE DARKEST MINDS is not your typical dystopian. Alexandra Bracken reels us in by starting the book off with a young, naive Ruby who grows and matures quickly throughout the first three chapters. She captures us within her story using her detailed writing style that makes us feel as if we are really there. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good dystopian series, great for all fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.