The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

So, you think you know everything there is to know about vampires, right? They are sexy, fierce, and sophisticated, lusty, smoldering and dangerous, and you even know one thing or two about how to defeat one. After all, you’ve picked up a lot of good information from all the books you have read. A stake through the heart, a crucifix in their snarling face, garlic draped around your neck will do the trick of disintegrating any vampire out into nothingness.  Well, you are dead wrong! Unless you are a vampire and want to avoid being staked for attacking other people, you have to admit you have a problem and join a support group. 

Meet Nina Harrison, a new addition to the vampire family. Actually, she is no longer that new. Fanged at fifteen back in 1973 and still living with her mother, Nina’s arrested development reveals an awkward teenage body in a fifty one year old mind, and she defies anything there is to know about vampires. Forever hungry and sick, she struggles to survive among us humans without infecting anyone else and without being detected. Half the time, she is nauseous, weak, tired and miserable. She spends her days locked up in her mother’s basement to avoid being turned to ashes by sunlight, and at night…. Well, at night she does what every other teenager does…sometimes. Aside from spending way too much time watching television sprawled on her couch, Nina is also a published author and wants to set the record straight. Her fiction may not be as popular as that of Stephenie Meyer, but then again, Nina does not want to attract too much attention due to her, let’s just say, special situation.  The highlights of her life are the Tuesday meetings of her support group when she joins a motley crew of reformed vampires. Much like at an AA meeting, Nina sits in to listen or talk about other people’s, uh, vampires’ problems. Led by Doctor Stanford Plackett, the oldest and wisest of them all, Dave, George, Horace, Casimir, Gladys, and Bridget get together to alleviate the loneliness of their existence and to come up with new ideas about how to deal not only with the isolation, but also with the indignities and the constant health problems they all face. After all, it is very difficult to cope alone as a reformed vampire. 

Their lives are as dull and depressing as it can get, until one day when they discover Casimir turned to ashes in his coffin. Faced with the terrifying possibility that all of them could be taken out one by one, Nina decides to prove once and for all that not all vampires are such pathetic losers. Along with Dave and Father Ramon, the human priest that caters to their needs during daytime, Nina embarks on a long journey into the Australian Outback to discover at the end of the trail an even more terrifying situation. Could she resist temptation and not succumb to the blood lust? 

A Top Ten 2010 Best Book for Young Adults winner, Catherine Jinks’ The Reformed Vampire Support Group published by Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin is a suspenseful mystery that would be gobbled up in no time by a ravenous high school crowd of readers. Not only the novel provides the entertaining value of the typical vampire books, but also it does so with a tongue and cheek, self-deprecating humor. Nina’s teenage awkwardness reverberates with any of today’s issues faced by young adults. Acceptance of one’s identity without admitting defeat and at the same time finding your place to belong appears to be the underlying theme of the novel.  Just because you are a sick vampire who has to take enzyme supplements to curtail the digestive cramps you suffer from does not mean you cannot lead a normal life. The novel’s well-paced action is peppered with some slower and somewhat superfluous scenes perhaps to reveal that just like real life, a vampire’s existence is not all that is cracked up to be.  The setting is rather dark and depressing, especially when Nina reveals the gory details of their eating habits, including the fact that they all have to clean up after themselves in order to avoid the wrath of her non vampire mother.  After all, if Nina would have listened to her mother and avoided the party that fateful night when she got drunk, she would not have gotten herself into such a conundrum. All in all, the novel tackles some deep and dark issues without talking down or preaching to its audience.

How to Survive Anything: Shark Attack, Lightning, Embarrassing Parents, Pop Quizzes and Other Perilous Situations by Rachel Buchholz and Illustrated by Chris Philpot

Face it! Sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter how much effort and time you put into that yearlong project, your assignment partner, that pesky girl you did not want to know at the beginning of the year who ended up being your best friend in the world, just turned her back on you after you have failed to deliver the speech your grade was hanging on! You freeze, you stop breathing, and you choke on your sobs. What do you do? What do you do? Well, look no further than a book packed with much needed advice for this type of situations.

A 2012 Quick Pick Nominee for Reluctant Readers in the nonfiction category, How to Survive Anything by Rachel Buchholz with illustrations by Chris Philpot and published by the National Geographic is a must have guide for anyone trying to survive the middle school years. Packed with fun but serious facts, the book is a humorous survival guide to help the youngest of the adults navigate the scariest years of their lives. Divided into thirty one easy to read chapters accompanied by brightly colored and often funny illustrations, How to Survive Anything is a self-help book combining advice that would help anyone acquire both survival skills as well as life skills. Not only Buchholz reveals how to survive chance encounters with a volcanic eruption, a tornado, a shark attack, a hurricane, or falling through ice, but she also delves into circumstances that are more common and scarier for today’s middle school grader, from how to survive embarrassing moments to how to survive a mean teacher, cyberbullying, or stressing out. Both sets of chapters are peppered with sound advice and fun filled factoids that explain little known phenomena or myths that have been debunked. Who knew that in the case of lightning, the intense heat emanated causes the surrounding air to expand very fast, and when it does, it creates the noise we call thunder? The explanation about how lightning is generated is both factual and also relatable to young audiences. The theory behind lightning formation becomes a metaphor for the greatest love story of all times: Romeo and Juliet. With Romeo representing the larger particles (within a cloud) that become negatively charged, and Juliet representing the smaller particles positively charged, the attraction or electrical potential becomes too strong for the aforementioned particles to stay separated any longer. When they cannot keep apart anymore, they charge towards each other and the attraction becomes literally electric. All the pent up electricity is released as lightning. 

Aside from enlightening the young adult reluctant reader on earthquakes, avalanches, snakebites, or wildfires, Buchholz alternates these chapters with advice on how to survive the daily grind of middle school. Packed with plenty of advice, the author reveals how to deal and minimize the damage of stressing out by taking the reader through a step by step method on how to take control of the situation before it gets out of hand. From making a to-do list and keeping a calendar to breaking big projects into little chunks, or even cleaning one’s room, Buchholz reveals that it is all about prioritizing and organizing, not only your time but also your space. The conversational tone of the book makes it an easy, breezy and fun read. The photos and illustrations on each page make it appealing as they draw in any reluctant reader. It would be a great addition to any social studies class in middle school. Anyone from grades 5 to 9 would find the easy to follow tips and humorous illustrations a compelling and fun read. So, if you want to find out how to survive your embarrassing parents, a fight with your best friend, or being the new kid on the block, alongside tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards, this is the book for you!

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To - A Novel by DC Pierson

What would you do if you could and never had to sleep? Catch up on homework and assignments, check off everything on your To Do list and still have plenty of time to spare for the things that you really like to do? Imagine how much you could accomplish while others are sleeping their lives away! DC Pierson’s 2011 Alex Award Winner Novel The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To is a wildly imaginative story delving into the awkwardness of the high school years complete with sleepless nights, girls and otherworldly mutants.

When Darren Bennett meets Eric Lederer, the two young adolescents strike up an instant friendship based on their mutual obsession with drawing and mutants from other galaxies. Darren lives with his dad and older brother in a house that for the most part seems abandoned to a male dominant way of living: coming and going as each one of them pleases, eating from a fridge stacked with premade, packaged foods, checking up on each other just to make sure they are still around. Eric comes from a traditionally caring family. Yet both of them are alienated from any high school cliques, living mostly suspended between their classes at school and their imaginary world. Soon after they meet, they decide to dedicate their time creating the most amazing alternate galaxy complete with Agtranian Berserkers, Yerum Battlebeasts and Tllnar Defenders. The project is their dream to make it big as they start to visualize a successful series of comics, television series, and even a motion picture. Everything is as normal as it should be. Until Eric tells Darren his secret: he cannot sleep and does not have to. Putting their friendship to the test, Darren needs convincing, but as soon as Eric proves it to him that he is the real thing, they embark upon the adventure of their lives. Peppered with sci-fi talk and outlandish, grandiose plans, their made-up world is shattered when both fall in love with Christine. Seized by a jealous rage, Darren tells The Man about Eric’s secret thing and as word leaks out, everything starts to unravel. They find themselves fugitives on the run. Is the government trying to snatch Eric away to explore his ability, or is there something else more sinister lurking about? As Darren finds himself privy to yet another one of Eric’s mind’s side effects, the two friends are thrown together into the battle of their lives.

Inhabiting a world laden with teenage lingo, in which love, drugs and music find their way to color their adolescent days, Darren and Eric are the embodiment of the typical 16-year-old ‘free-floating nerds’ who spend most of their time dreaming up made up worlds to satisfy their overworked imagination. The alienation not only from their families and friends at school but also from their own selves serves as a base for the growing pains of both characters. Alternately philosophical and downright decadently funny, Pierson’s novel is a reflection on the contemporary male tormented teenage psyche. Overwhelmed by fantastical imaginations, school, peer pressure and a lack of guidance, the two friends represent the awkward, alienated teenagers who struggle to make it through their high school years with profound implications not only on their own individual lives but also on the society at large. The twist ending leaves one bewildered, bemused and wondering.

Despite a tightly developed action, there are a few strands left unexplored which in hind side could have provided useful information regarding the ending. While Pierson does not reveal anything new in terms of teenage alienation and rebelliousness, the novel rests on its wild originality. Although funny and smart, the novel carries a much deeper and serious underlying message. It could be very well part of a teaching unit alongside classics such as JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, with The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To as thoroughly representative of some of our most pressing contemporary issues.

Teenreads Best Books Invite

Please go to this website if you would like to participate in a process sponsored by Teenreads.com for deteriming the best books of 2009.

TP

Why did Devon throw IT in the Garbage?

IT was her baby only a hour old!

Devon was a straight A high school student and a soccer goalie that was heading for the Olympics - but right now she is sitting on trial for attempted murder of an infant! Her infant!

One morning a dog walker opens a dumpster and opens a bag of garbage - one with newspapers, a chip bag, a juice can, bloody towels and a living newborn baby! The police start canvasing the neighborhood for answers. Devon's mother arrives home from her night shift job to find her daughter wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa staying home from school because she was feeling sick. Mom flirts with the cute police officer that comes knocking (the police want to know if Devon heard or saw anything since she was home all night and the baby was found earlier that morning in the dumpster behind her apartment building)and lets him in. When Devon stares blankly at the officer questioning her, Devon's mother tells her to stop being rude and rips off the blanket Devon is wearing. Devon is soaked in blood and promptly passes out.

Devon awakens as she arrives in the ER and can't figure out what is going on. Everything is hazy and bloody images of IT keep floating into her mind. The next thing Devon is in an orange prison jumpsuit in court for attempted murder and sent to juvenile detention to away further judgements.

Dom, a female defence attorney takes her case and starts to help Devon piece together what happened. Throughout the story, we hear Devon's memories of the last nine months.



Was she pregnant without knowing it?

OR

Was she in denial of the pregnancy?

OR

Did Devon knowingly cover up the pregnancy and purposely try to kill IT,the evidence?



This book is told through Devon's present situation with flashbacks of events that happened over the last nine months. The three questions above are the main reason for the story of AFTER. The reader is presented information through flashbacks, Dom's courtroom evidence and is presented Devon's emotional instability/confusion over her whole situation. The flashbacks cause the reader to try to also figure out what happened - did or did she not know she was pregnant? Did she knowingly hide the pregnancy from the world AND HERSELF? What about the extra hard soccer trainings to get rid of the stomach, use of stretch clothing, faked soccer injuries, and a misleading doctor's physical!?!

In 350 pages, AFTER by Amy Efaw, shows the the emotional confusion caused by an unplanned pregnancy that resulted from one sexual encounter during a quick summer romance. Throughout this book Devon is completely confused and at times so is the reader. There are only females in this storyline, males aren't really present in this book. I also think males would be turned off by this book's discussions and flashbacks about sanitary pads, bloody birthing, oozing breast milk and uterine cramping. This book would be better as a selected read than a mandatory read. The book could be used to discussed denial, mother/daughter hardships, teenage mothers, body changes in pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, unwanted babies and dumpster babies.

I was turned off by the legal doings of Dom trying to get Devon out of her crime. Dom used the legal system to get the charges lessened and dismissed due to the way the police entered Devon's apartment. She was Devon's attorney so she was trying to get Devon's case dropped without holding Devon responsible for her actions of dumping the baby in the dumpster without remorse or concern for the baby.

I'm still deciding if I liked this book or not - there is a definite ending with moral so the reader isn't completely left hanging.


Here is a quick article and news report about a real dumpster baby and the psychological reasons as to why she might have done it:

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local_wane_auburn_psychological_reasons_for_baby_in_dumpster_200911092142



Here is an article about the misused Nebraska child dumping issue:

http://www.wowowow.com/post/dumpster-babies-law-leads-abandonment-nebraska-teens-116014



Here is the website for safe surrender laws - the law allowing newborns to be giving up to prevent dumpster babies:

http://www.safesurrendersite.com/load/safe-surrender-law



Unwanted baby stories that shock you into discussions in a classroom:

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/3151/CWA/life/index.htm

The True Enemy!

Imagine living in a dystopia society where everything is ruled with a stern iron fist. There is no such word as freedom, but instead all of your actions is monitored and controlled. Sounds terrifying right? Well, the book Truancy by Isamu Fukui explores this very concept. For Tack and his sister Susie this is the harsh reality of their life. In their chaotic society the mayor seeks full control over his city. He desires control over the way his people sleep, eat, and learn. Yes, that is right, I did say learn.

For Tack and Susie school is dreadful. The mayor uses schooling to brain wash kids to conform them into his control. At a very early age, children are taught the value of following rules and conforming to superiors. Education as we know does not exist. Instead school is embedded with dreadful laws and policies. However, the only thing that brings Tack comfort in this cruel society is his loving, sweet, and tender sister. Nonetheless, war is wedged when Susie is killed in their district 20 school that is governed by Zyid. Zyid is the leader of the Truancy. The Truancy is a group of rebels who are fed up with the mayors strict educational rules. Consequently, they decide to no longer sit, but fight back. In the mean time, Tack vows revenge on the one who killed his sister. However, things become tricky as Tack plans to conquer the enemy, especially since he does not know who the true enemy is. Unfortunately, it is Zyid who is responsible for Susie death. In trying to kill a chief Educator, Susie is caught in a car explosion created by Zyid. Unconsciously, Tack becomes a member of the Truancy, killing educators trying to revenge his sister. In fact, he becomes the leader. Eventually Track will have to cook up a new plan, but who is the enemy? Moreover who will he wage war aganist?

Overall, I thought the book was a good read. I feel that elementary kids would love this book, likening their school system to the confined one they read about. in this book All though anyone could read the book, I personally feel it is more geared toward boys because of all of the graphic fight scenes. However, though I think kids would read this book merely for fun there are some good themes within it. I think the most prevalent themes that youthful reader could learn from reading this book are fighting for what you believe in, and the tragedy of acting out of revenge.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Mudbound tells the story of two families; one white, the other black, both living in Jim Crow South's Marietta, Mississippi in 1946.

Henry McAllan chooses to move his wife, Laura, and their daughters to a cotton farm in Delta Mississippi; closer to his family. He becomes so wrapped up in maintaining his land and crops that Henry is oblivious to the fact that his family is falling apart. His wife, Laura is infuriated with him for forcing her out of urban Memphis to a rural shack in the middle of Mississippi.

Jamie is Henry’s younger brother. He feels that he is constantly living in the shadows of his older brother. He returns from World War II and goes to live with Henry and his family. His sinister and demeaning father awaits his arrival and praises his war victories, but soon turn cold; demeaning and ridiculing Jamie as he’s always done. Jamie secretly turns to liquor as an escape from war trauma and reality.

Hap and Florence Jackson live in a shack on the McAllan’s farm. Both Hap and his wife Florence work for the McAllans. Hap dreams of purchasing his own land and having his eldest son, Ronsel, helping him keep the property up. Hap can not dream of working for whites any longer than he has to. Florence is strong-willed and is the glue holding the Jackson family together.

Ronsel returns home from the war only to find that to the white folks of Marietta, he is still just another Negro. They do not seem to care that he risked his life and nearly died saving his country. Ronsel knows that rural Mississippi is no place for someone like him: educated, opinionated, and filled with ideas. Despite of the fact that his family is in Mississippi, Ronsel’s heart is somewhere else.

Ronsel and Jamie develop a secretive friendship. They are brothers; soldiers of war, who fought for the same cause. In the Jim Crow South, a friendship like this is dangerous and can even be deadly. Can people of different races really ever be friends and if so at what costs? What role will each of these characters plays into the tragic fate of these two families?

Hillary Jordan delivers a novel that brings back all the anguish, discuss, and hatred associated with the Jim Crow South. The development of each individual character is amazing. Jordan allows the reader into the mindset of each of the main characters. Readers are able to get every perspective of the same story, as Jordan creates a dialogue and analysis for each character. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end, with a conclusion that resonates as all too familiar in the 1940’s.

Mudbound contains some explicit and racist language and violent content. This is an excellent book for mature teens interested in World War II, the Jim Crow South, and reading a novel that challenges people to stand strong on their beliefs.

Stitches by David Small

Ahhhhhhh!!! If he could scream, he would, but he can’t. Fourteen-year old David Small is practically unable to speak. He has awakened from what was supposed to be a routine follow-up surgery without a voice. What is even weirder is the way that everyone around him is acting. Every since the day he arrived home from the hospital, his parents have begun acting secretive. What are they hiding and why?



David Small lives with his parents and older brother. Their family is similar to the typical non-functioning family. His great grandfather tried to kill himself by drinking poison, which instead, ironically, damaged his vocal cords and caused him to be mute. His grandmother is in insane asylum for trying to kill her boyfriend by setting their house on fire. Then there’s his immediate family. His father, Edward, is a doctor who spends as much time as possible away from home, avoiding his wife and family. His absence angers David’s mother so much that she is constantly slamming doors and cabinets throughout the house. David’s mother, Betty, is bitter and stingy, replacing her problems with materialistic possessions.

David’s health problems began when he was a child. He had problems with his sinus and digestive systems. Since he was a doctor, it was not uncommon for Edward to attempt to remedy David’s sinus problems by giving him a series of countless x-rays. When David was eleven, his parents notice that he appears to have a bulging skin protruding from his neck. A trip to a specialist, one of Edward’s friends, confirms that David has cyst that needs to be removed. Betty is infuriated when she finds out that her son has a cyst that needs to be surgically removed. But her fury is not because doctors will be poking and prodding around inside her little boy; it’s because of how much money the surgery will cause. Betty decides that the surgery is unaffordable and can be put off until next year; she then goes on a shopping spree.

David is home from the hospital, recovering from his surgery. No one can hear David when he tries to speak, not because he barely has a voice, but because this is the way that it has always been. David has always been invisible to his parents and everyone else. He submerges and loses himself in his drawings, escaping into his dreams. No one has told David that the lump in his neck is cancer; he just stumbles upon a letter written by his mother to his grandmother and finds out on his own. David’s anger causes him to rebel. Can he be saved from his destructive and rebellious behavior? Will he learn to forgive his father for all of the x-rays that exposed him to the disease? What will become of David Small?

A picture really is worth a thousand words. If you have never read graphic literature before then you are in for a surprise and a well-awaited treat. David Small quickly moves you through this movie-like novel filled with vivid pictures. What is not expressed through words is shown in pictures. For those who think that picture books are just for children, think again. The graphics tell the story better than the few words used throughout the novel. Small captures expressions and actions that show emotions indescribable by words. Flipping through the pages of this novel was like a breath of fresh air

Swallow Me Whole

This graphic novel by Nate Powell, is about two step-siblings and how they cope with their debilitating mental illness. The story is told through Ruth's and Perry's eyes and experiences. Ruth is the main character in the story and suffers from delusions, paranoia, schizophrenia and OCD. Her brother Perry's illness is not as severe, but he suffers from delusions. Ruth and Perry have above average intelligence and get good grades in school, but due to their illness they seem a little weird and have trouble making friends. They are very lonely kids and have only each other to confide in. The family has a lot to deal with, two mentally challenged kids and a grandmother that has also moved in with them. She is ill and can no longer care for herself due to dementia and old age. The grandmother has also suffered with mental illness and has learned to cope with it by painting.

Ruth and Perry are aware of their condition, they've always felt different from normal children. Ruth knows that no one else can see, hear or smell the things that she does. Ruth tries to get some control of her life by collecting, and sorting her insect collection. Perry hallucinates a small gnome or wizard that appears on everything he writes with, and orders him to draw until he's exhausted. Perry tries to cope with his hallucinations by drawing. As the children get older their illness worsens. The parents seek medical help, but the medications aren't very effective. When the children are older they are able to build relationships and live a somewhat normal life, at least for a short period of time. Ruth gets a job at a museum, working in the insect section. Her obsessive behavior takes over and she ends up stealing an insect exhibit for her collection. After this incident she begins to lose control at school and home. Her condition worsens and she begins to lose grip with reality. Can Perry save his sister from losing complete control?

The black and white illustrations give us insight into Ruth and Perry's minds.

The reader is able to see the challenges that Ruth faced just to make it through the day. The tiny words in each page represent the reality that Ruth is unable to hear. The book is written in a comic style, which makes it interesting for YA readers. I found the book interesting, but a little difficult to follow.

Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

“I pop back into my body then, to share this thought with myself: The world doesn’t make any sense at all. People tell you it does, try and pretend it does. But I know now what kind of place this is, what kind of world we live in. And my breath catches in my throat, and my heart rips apart not just for me, not just for Nina, but for all of us.”

- Wherever Nina Lies

Each day sixteen-year old Ellie relives her nightmare. In her dreams her and Nina, her older sister, are laughing and sharing jokes, but in reality Nina is gone. She disappeared two years ago, leaving her younger sister Ellie, with many unanswered questions. How could she just leave like this? Sure their father had abandoned them and their mother is always working, but they still had each other.

Now it is just Ellie and her mother. Her mother does not speak of Nina; she assumes that Nina has runaway with someone to start a new life. Ellie feels all alone. Nina’s presence stills feels so close. Her scent resonates throughout the bedroom that her and Ellie once shared and there are even strands of her “graduation blue” hair in the shower. Ellie still holds out hope that one day Nina will climb through their bedroom window and reappear. She knows that her sister is alive, but has no idea about where she should begin to search for her.

Amanda is Ellie’s best friend. They spend every free second together partying and hooking up with boys. Amanda has become a replacement for Nina. She and Ellie share secrets and she even give into some of Ellie’s attempts to find her sister. After two years, enough is enough. Amanda wants Ellie to stop chasing after random clues and face the fact that her sister is never coming back. Ellie begins to believe it too, she has relinquished her search for almost a year when she finds another clue as to where her sister may be. One of Nina’s drawings mysteriously appears at a used goods store where Amanda works. Ellie and Amanda follow this clue to a wrecking party where Ellie meets the mysterious and handsome, Sean.

Sean is a gorgeous and mysterious seventeen-year old. He seems so perfect and polite. Ellie confides in him about Nina and her search to find her. Sean immediately tells Ellie that he will help her find her sister. She has finally found someone who believes that she may actually have a chance at finding her sister. This chance encounter takes Ellie on a romantic cross-country road adventure that she will never forget. Together she and Sean follow clue after clue, each time getting closer and closer to where Nina may have traveled.

What if Ellie never finds Nina? What is Nina is not the Nina that she knew? What if Nina is… dead? Ellie may find more than she bargained for as she sets out in search of her older sister, Nina. Will what she uncovers be more shocking than what she has expected to find?

Weingarten keeps you on the edge of your seat as you flip through the pages of this novel. Her vivid details of Ellie’s flashbacks of Nina pull the reader into the novel. Readers become captivated by the exquisitely detailed drawings, those pictured throughout the novel as Nina’s artwork. Ellie possesses an unwavering spirit and determination to her sister. This spirit evokes sympathy from readers causing them to empathize with her pain and suffering. There was never a dull moment and the story ends with a twist that readers may never see coming. This novel may not be suitable for all audience because there are minor references to drugs, suicide, and murder. It is recommend for those ages fifteen and older.