Teen Fiction
Aurelie: A Faerie Tale by Heather Tomlinson
The Twilight Zone: The After Hours by Mark Kneece
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Catering to teens with a taste for horror, this carefully plotted occult thriller set in 1969 1970 combines genre staples with creepy period particulars. Raised on a commune, 14-year-old Bliss Inthemorningdew has been dumped by her hippie parents with her grandmother, a disapproving Atlanta matriarch who promptly enrolls her at the prestigious Crestview Academy. As Bliss watches The Andy Griffith Show for its insights into conventional interactions (dialogue from the show and other ephemera separate the book's short chapters), she observes the social scene with fascination and confusion, understanding neither the pull of the most popular girl nor the taboos against the class pariah (fans of Rhymes with Witches will recognize one of the girls). Meanwhile, she keeps receiving extrasensory messages from spirits. Interspersed with Bliss's first-person narrative are sinister journal entries from a student identified only by her initials, and these eventually dovetail with rumors about a long-ago suicide or murder at Crestview. Myracle throws in the Charles Manson Family murders, racism, ghosts, blood sacrifices and prom queens and, remarkably, supports this outré mix with clever timing and well-placed red herrings. Ages 14 up. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Catering to teens with a taste for horror, this carefully plotted occult thriller set in 1969 1970 combines genre staples with creepy period particulars. Raised on a commune, 14-year-old Bliss Inthemorningdew has been dumped by her hippie parents with her grandmother, a disapproving Atlanta matriarch who promptly enrolls her at the prestigious Crestview Academy. As Bliss watches The Andy Griffith Show for its insights into conventional interactions (dialogue from the show and other ephemera separate the book's short chapters), she observes the social scene with fascination and confusion, understanding neither the pull of the most popular girl nor the taboos against the class pariah (fans of Rhymes with Witches will recognize one of the girls). Meanwhile, she keeps receiving extrasensory messages from spirits. Interspersed with Bliss's first-person narrative are sinister journal entries from a student identified only by her initials, and these eventually dovetail with rumors about a long-ago suicide or murder at Crestview. Myracle throws in the Charles Manson Family murders, racism, ghosts, blood sacrifices and prom queens and, remarkably, supports this outré mix with clever timing and well-placed red herrings. Ages 14 up. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Catering to teens with a taste for horror, this carefully plotted occult thriller set in 1969 1970 combines genre staples with creepy period particulars. Raised on a commune, 14-year-old Bliss Inthemorningdew has been dumped by her hippie parents with her grandmother, a disapproving Atlanta matriarch who promptly enrolls her at the prestigious Crestview Academy. As Bliss watches The Andy Griffith Show for its insights into conventional interactions (dialogue from the show and other ephemera separate the book's short chapters), she observes the social scene with fascination and confusion, understanding neither the pull of the most popular girl nor the taboos against the class pariah (fans of Rhymes with Witches will recognize one of the girls). Meanwhile, she keeps receiving extrasensory messages from spirits. Interspersed with Bliss's first-person narrative are sinister journal entries from a student identified only by her initials, and these eventually dovetail with rumors about a long-ago suicide or murder at Crestview. Myracle throws in the Charles Manson Family murders, racism, ghosts, blood sacrifices and prom queens and, remarkably, supports this outré mix with clever timing and well-placed red herrings. Ages 14 up. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Chalice by Robin McKinley
Starred Review. Fans and new readers alike will greedily devour McKinley's latest, a high fantasy as perfectly shaped and eloquently told as Beauty and The Hero and the Crown. Humble beekeeper Mirasol has been chosen to take on the key ceremonial role of Chalice, the woman charged with maintaining the province's well-being by communicating with the (sentient) land. She is keenly aware of the suffering brought on by the misrule of its former Master: [The province] Willowlands was restless, hurt and unhappy... delirious as a child with a bad fever. Hope flickers when the former Master's brother returns and assumes the role; but because he is now an Elemental priest of Fire, he may not be able to perform the duties. Mirasol and the new Master are drawn to each other, even though she suspects their union is prohibited, and their smoldering attraction plus the gorgeously evoked magic and the escalating threat that Willowlands will be usurped gives this tale its sizzle. In the best McKinley fashion, the fantasy realm is evoked in thorough and telling detail, with the energy of the narrative lending excitement to descriptions of even the most stylized rituals. A lavish and lasting treat. Ages 12 up. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Things That Are by Andrew Clements
The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie
Sibling relationships form the core of Lurie's (Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn) busy novel, but with so much diffuse action and so many half-sketched characters, readers might have trouble finding a focal point. Dylan Fontaine, the 15-year-old narrator, lives in chaos: his mother has moved out to live with Dylan's art teacher; his older brother, Randy, gets stoned all the time and might drop out of school to tour with his band, The Dead Musicians Society; his father, an obstetrician, is never around, making their Brooklyn house the 24-hour gathering place for the band and, maybe, a spot to stash drugs. Dylan also struggles with girls-the one he wishes were his girlfriend has tapped her ex-boyfriend to help her shoot a documentary about Dylan, and the one in the band flirts with both Dylan and his brother. By the time Dylan steps out of the little brother/sidekick role to take center stage in his own life, the author wraps up remaining conflicts so tidily that she seems to cheat (Why would the boys have thought their mother had left for another man? Didn't they know the art teacher was just a friend?). Ages 14-up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie
Sibling relationships form the core of Lurie's (Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn) busy novel, but with so much diffuse action and so many half-sketched characters, readers might have trouble finding a focal point. Dylan Fontaine, the 15-year-old narrator, lives in chaos: his mother has moved out to live with Dylan's art teacher; his older brother, Randy, gets stoned all the time and might drop out of school to tour with his band, The Dead Musicians Society; his father, an obstetrician, is never around, making their Brooklyn house the 24-hour gathering place for the band and, maybe, a spot to stash drugs. Dylan also struggles with girls-the one he wishes were his girlfriend has tapped her ex-boyfriend to help her shoot a documentary about Dylan, and the one in the band flirts with both Dylan and his brother. By the time Dylan steps out of the little brother/sidekick role to take center stage in his own life, the author wraps up remaining conflicts so tidily that she seems to cheat (Why would the boys have thought their mother had left for another man? Didn't they know the art teacher was just a friend?). Ages 14-up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi
