Stitches by David Small

Do you ever remember reading Imogene’s Antlers as a child? It’s about a girl who wakes up with an enormous pair of antlers on her head one morning?  Well David Small the author and illustrator of that book, woke up one morning when he was fourteen and found that instead of antlers on his head – he couldn’t speak.  Turns out that his parents had decided not to tell him he had cancer and could die, which is why he had to have surgery to remove one of his vocal cords. 

In his graphic novel memoir David Small reflects on his childhood and how his parents’ unhappiness in their own lives was transferred on to his own, from how they approached his cancer – with his dad, a doctor, trying his very own treatments of radiation for David’s cancer, to his mother’s anger which was often released in angry rages at David.  What’s a boy to do in a family like this? David Small shows how he survived his family, overcame all the craziness life brought him, and how a little artistic expression can work wonders.

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Gentry, a nice small town in the United States, filled with loving families, friends, community.  Not quite- Gentry has something horrible dwelling underneath it, full of mayhem and misery.  Two feuding sisters lurk just beneath the nicely cut lawns.  One sister, who wants nothing more than to be loved, rules the House of Mayhem and the other sister, who thrives on cruelty, torture and blood, rules over House of Misery. The sisters rule a mash up of people, if you can even call them that, which live in between dead and undead, some with mouths full of maggots and others with horrible scars.  An unspoken agreement between Gentry and these two houses exists- every seven years one child of Gentry is taken a replaced with a child of the House of Misery, the Gentry child is sacrificed to please the House of Misery.  If all goes as planned then both Gentry and the House of Misery live happy and content.  These “replacement” children usually don’t live long in Gentry- the families they're stuck with just can’t bring themselves to love the replacement children – except for one- Mackie. Mackie  is a replacement that has lived longer than almost any other- but now he finds himself in a weakening state- he’s dying and after his sister strikes a deal with the House of Mayhem to get Mackie a cure for what ails him- Mackie must reunite with his real family in the depths of the House of Mayhem.  As Mackie gets more and more involved with the House of Mayhem he begins to uncover secrets about his family, the town of Gentry and how the houses of Mayhem and Misery really began.  This very twisted and disturbing tale is reminiscent of a good horror movie and will keep you on edge as Mackie digs deeper and deeper in the creepiness of Gentry, Misery and Mayhem. 

 

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

If you’re not a big fan of blood and gore- then this is not the book for you.  If you like blood, guts, gore, suspense and nightmare provoking monsters- then the Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is like winning the lottery for you!  It takes place back in 1800’s, where Will Henry is an assistant to Dr. Warthrop- a Monstrumologist- someone who studies and sometimes kills monsters.  The story begins with a knock at the door in late one night revealing a grave robber with a very special delivery…a dead monstrous beast- with its last meal still in its mouth- the beast is known as an Anthropophagi, a headless monster complete with a mouth in its chest full of skull crushing teeth.  Soon the doctor and Will Henry begin to realize that this Anthropophagi appearance wasn’t random- when more gruesome killings are discovered.  Extra hands have to be called in to launch a great hunt for these blood thirsty creatures- and Will Henry finds himself at the dangerous forefront of it all – as the victor – or perhaps just monster bait. 

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri

Robert Sandifer, was real boy living in Chicago, also known as Yummy because he couldn’t be without candy and cookies,  a killer, a victim,  a shorty, a boy who still curled up with his teddy bear, a gangster.  In 1994 Yummy graced the cover of Time magazine- after he shot a fourteen year old girl in his neighborhood while trying to prove himself to a local gang the Black Disciples.  Robert, the narrator, will show you how the neighborhood, the schools, the city and the whole country reacted to the events and he’ll give a peak into Yummy’s life and how he ended up in the horrible situation he found himself in at 11 years old.  Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty  by G.Neri pulls you in right away and leaves you wondering if Yummy was a cold blooded killer or just a boy who had been led astray?

Leverage by Joshua Cohen

Recommended for 9th grade and up-

The brutal, intense, harsh world of..football..gymnastics..bullying...horrible secrets..meeting expectations.. Joshua Cohen pulls together all of those things in excellent but painfully harsh at times read.  Leverage throws you into the world of Danny and Kurt, two completely different guys or maybe not so different.  Danny is small athletic and dreams about getting himself a full ride to college for gymnastics. His moves on the uneven bars make audiences gasp.  Kurt is a beast, a football playing beast, who was recruited from another high school by his coach. But Kurt has much more to him, a nightmarish past and a future that greatly depends on his success in his new spot on the hardcore  and hard hitting Oregrove Knight’s high school football team.  A team with some members, pumped full of steroids, who bully and brutalize the seemingly small and weak, and when this bullying goes beyond just teasing to terrible cruelness and evil Danny and Kurt find themselves coping with the terrible repercussions and a unlikely friendship that helps them through it. 

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

“It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.”  In 95 days seventeen year old Lena is scheduled to have the procedure, which ensure she will never become infected with amor deliria nervosa or love, the deadliest of all diseases. After her procedure she’ll be paired with a boy whom the evaluators have chosen for her.  She won’t have to worry about love affecting her mind so she cannot think clearly, or rationally.  After the procedure she will be safe and free from any pain that love might have brought her.  Except- one day when Lena and her best friend Hana are up for their evaluations, Lena sees a boy.  Their eyes meet for a moment and then everything changes.  A whole other version of the world she lives in is revealed to her because of this boy and her best friend Hana. Lena finds herself making choices that may seem irrational and she’s definitely not thinking clearly.  Where do Lena’s choices lead her? Delirium by Lauren Oliver will infect you once you start reading it and you will find it very hard to put down.  Your stomach will flutter with anticipation of what’s coming next and you might even find yourself falling in love with it.  It’s  quite contagious. 

Keep up to date with author Lauren Oliver here : http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/

-Renee N., Teen Outreach Librarian

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Bridge- a card game for your grandma and grandpa- or is it?  In his latest book The Cardturner, Louis Sachar, author of the extremely popular, Holes, takes his love of playing bridge to the next level by writing a book about it and it works because this book not only focuses on bridge, there’s also two girls, a questionable best friend and a lot of mixed up family history involved, which make the story engaging. 

                Seventeen year old Alton has recently been dumped by his girlfriend, who his best friend just so happens to be dating now. Alton doesn’t have a job or money.  Insert Uncle Lester Trapp, the “rich” uncle, who Alton’s parents have been trying to impress for years in hopes of getting into his will.  Uncle Lester Trapp has recently gone blind and now needs someone to drive him to his weekly bridge games at the club, insert Alton who becomes his chauffer and cardturner during the bridge matches.  While playing it up with Trapp, Alton meets Toni, the granddaughter of Trapp’s sister in-law and former bridge partner, who was rumored to be crazy. According to Alton’s parents that craziness runs through the family, but Alton begins to see the truth as he spends more time with Toni.  As Alton spends more and more time with Trapp he begins to find out bits and pieces about his past and family.  Alton slowly sorts through the mysteries surrounding his uncle, his former bridge partners, Toni’s family and his feelings towards Toni.  All in all The Cardturner ends up being quite the page turner because you want to get to the bottom of all the tricks. 

-Reviewed by Renee N., Teen Outreach Librarian