The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Do you like bloody, visceral gore? Do you like your horror with a touch of effluvia, offal, disembowelment, and the (semi-frequent) decapitation?

Neither do I. I am neither a fan of the horror genre nor a fan of the gothic, Victorian-era novel.

But Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist has changed my mind.

It is 1888 and Will Henry is an apprentice to the enigmatic and irascible Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. Doctor of what, you ask? Well, Will Henry has been instructed to tell you that the doctor is a doctor of philosophy. In truth, however, he is a doctor of something darker, something much more terrifying. He is a Monstrumologist—one who focuses his life and learning on the study of creatures not generally accepted by science. Monsters.

It is 1888 and when twelve-year old Will Henry has finally become accustomed (or as accustomed as one can be) to his guardian’s grotesque profession, there appears a new threat that will plunge Will Henry and the Doctor into a maelstrom of danger, carnage, and fear. It is a threat with thousands and thousands of shark-like teeth. A threat with no head. A threat with claws that can puncture the hardest bones in a human body. A threat with the name of Anthropopagi: Human eaters.

Will Henry and Doctor Warthrop must confront the enemy (the true enemy) and the ghosts of history before they can stop the impending bloodbath that will befall their town. They must venture into the lair of the ultimate predators. Predators that only eat humans. They must survive--or die a most horrific death.

Rick Yancey has written a book that will enthrall young and old alike. The Monstrumologist is thrilling and horrific, exploring the moments and ways in which humanity crosses over into monstrosity. And amidst all the gore, the fear and the monstrosities, The Monstrumologist is also ultimately about the relationships between fathers and sons—and the sins that we inherit from our families.

If you think you won’t like it: give it a try. This is an excellent book with an excellent story. The violence and gore is not gratuitous, and you might learn some new vocabulary words (I certainly did). It goes without saying that fans of horror and gore will love this book, but all readers will definitely be hooked by this fast-paced gothic novel.

And there's even a sequel in the works!
(Just this: If you are easily spooked, do not read it before bedtime.)

Rick Yancey's Website

Yancey, Rick. The Monstrumologist. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2010.

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong

Ben was supposed to get a car when he turned 15. Instead, he finds himself on a sailboat in the Bahamas with his two younger brothers and his father. For a year, their father promises, they will sail from island to island, enjoying the high seas. What Ben’s father doesn’t say is that he is running away from the memory of their mother—recently deceased.

Ben doesn’t want to be on the boat where he, his brothers and his father are crammed tightly together. Ben doesn’t want to take orders from his father-captain who has uprooted the whole family, selling Ben’s childhood home and family sailboat, to live on the ocean. Ben is angry, furious, and sad—understandably so. But life goes on, and for a while it seems everything is going as well as it can go.

Until Ben’s father disappears. There’s no way to tell if he jumped or fell, and there’s no time to think about it because Ben and his brothers must survive a massive storm without their father, without a radio, and without a GPS.

As Ben slips into his father’s role, struggling to keep himself and his brothers alive, he learns something about love, family, devotion, and courage.

M. H. Herlong’s debut novel is at turns a thrilling, contemplative, and sad adventure story about a family dealing with the wounds of loss. Ben is a compelling and sympathetic narrator with a clear voice, while the rest of the characters are well-developed. Ben is never preachy and his love for his brothers palpable. The final scene might even bring some readers to tears.

The Great Wide Sea will especially appeal to fans of survival stories as well as readers who enjoy sailing. However, I think anyone who reads this book will be drawn into the well-written adventure and quiet family drama.

Although the sailing and nautical terms can get somewhat technical, M. H. Herlong has a wonderful companion site that provides lots of information about sailing, navigation, and the boys’ adventure. Teachers who wish to teach this book will find it an excellent resource.

Herlong, M.H.. The Great Wide Sea. New York: Viking Juvenile, 2008. Print.

Companion Website

Pop by Gordon Korman

Marcus Jordon is the new boy in town. As he practices football by himself one day, lonely and bored, he meets an eccentric middle-aged man named Charlie who, without invitation, joins Marcus in his football practice. Despite his age, Charlie packs a wallop and is perhaps the best football player Marcus has ever known. But apart from his name and his predilection for pranks, Marcus doesn’t know very much else about Charlie. And that’s a problem when Charlie has stuck Marcus with the bill of a broken car window.

That’s not Marcus’s only problem, though. The football team at his new High School is remarkably resistant to upstarts—and Marcus’s outsiderness is certainly not helped by the fact that the current quarterback’s ex-girlfriend begins a flirtation with Marcus.

Of course, the quarterback (Troy) has more than just girlfriend issues when it comes to Marcus. As it turns out, Marcus’s new friend, Charlie, is none other than Troy’s father, also known as The King of Pop: an NFL veteran. Unfortunately, Charlie also has early on-set Alzheimer’s due to the multiple concussions he suffered as a younger player.

Charlie’s condition is a secret from the town, and his family thinks they have it under control. Marcus, however, thinks otherwise, and he plans on taking matters into his own hands.

Pop by Gordon Korman is an enjoyable read that football fans will especially love. Marcus is a believable protagonist, and there is a full cast of likable characters. The star of the book is Charlie, of course, with his charismatic, quirky, and intense character.

Touching without being sentimental, poignant without being contrived, Pop is well-written and engaging. I think it would be particularly useful in appealing to reluctant readers and a male audience.

Korman, Gordon. Pop. New York: HarperTeen, 2009. Print.

In the Path of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith

Brothers Jonah and Simon head out across the desert to find their father who is about to be released from prison in Arizona. Their mother has been gone for days, weeks even, perhaps, and their older brother is fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. It is 1970.

Enter Mitch and Lilly, a mysterious pair from Texas, who pick the two hitchhikers up in a stylish and out-of-place convertible. Jonah is immediately drawn to the beautiful and flirtatious Lilly but feels wary of the unpredictable Mitch. Simon, on the other hand, is quick to please Mitch, enjoying his rakish intensity.

As Jonah struggles to put family first, he finds himself pitted against a man more dangerous than he could have ever imagined. The two boys soon find themselves hostage to a psychotic murderer and they risk their lives to save Lilly and each other.

And then, of course, there is the gun.

Andrew Smith’s In the Path of Falling Objects is an intense and nerve-wracking novel that intersperses Jonah’s account of his and Simon’s journey with letters from their older brother in Vietnam. The book begins with a shocking murder and the feeling of being trapped only increases the deeper you wade into this book. The tension is almost too much—I wish Andrew Smith had allowed for some space in the novel to breathe a sigh of relief and relax—but it all builds to a heart-stopping climax that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Be warned: there is much violence and death in this novel; Mitch is one of the most incredibly disturbing characters I have come across in YA fiction. Readers who like gritty, intense novels will want to give this a try. Everyone else should read this knowing it just might give you nightmares.

Smith, Andrew. In the Path of Falling Objects. New York: Feiwel & Friends, 2009. Print.

Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt

Henry Smith’s family has been living in the picturesque town of Blythbury-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts since 1678. His father has always told him: “If you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.” It is a motto that seems to have served the Smith family well, until the night a pickup truck runs down Henry’s older brother, Franklin, and puts him into a coma.

The driver of the pickup truck—a schoolmate of Franklin’s—is a young Cambodian refugee, and the tragedy quickly ignites racial tensions that have been slowly brewing beneath the pretty veneer of Blythbury-by-the-Sea. Amidst the fury of the town, the volatile relations between Blythbury-by-the-Sea and nearby Merton (known as Little Cambodia), as well as his family’s private grief, Henry sets out to find answers at the only place he thinks can yield him something—anything: Mt. Katahdin. The mountain he and Franklin had planned to climb before the accident.

With his best friend and his newly adopted dog, Black Dog, Henry sets off for Katahdin and runs immediately into the only person willing to give hitchhikers with a dog a ride: Chay Chouan, the driver in the pickup truck that fateful night. As they make their way to Katahdin together, Henry begins to realize that perhaps his father was wrong, that perhaps the more you run from Trouble, the closer Trouble exists, that perhaps his brother might not have been the perfect American Hero that Henry had thought him to be.

Gary D. Schmidt has written a lyrical novel dealing with grief, family, and the unpleasant truths that might lie within the people we love and admire. In Trouble, readers see how racism still runs rampant in the hearts of men and women. While I commend Gary D. Schmidt for tackling this subject, I could not find myself completely enjoying the book. It was slow in places and oddly paced. I found Henry’s (and his best friend’s) characters believable, but for the rest of the cast (including Henry’s family and Chay Chouan) I was disappointed. The secondary characters felt as if they had stepped straight out of a character template and into the novel. That said, Gary D. Schmidt is an accomplished writer with a beautiful sense of language.

I would recommend this book to patient readers and readers interested in books with rich description. Readers who are looking for multicultural perspectives will also be interested in this book. As much as I would like to recommend Trouble heartily, I can only give a lukewarm nod of approval for Trouble.

Schmidt, Gary D.. Trouble. 1 ed. New York: Clarion Books, 2008. Print.

Why I Fight by J Adam Oaks

Meet Wyatt Shreaves. He’s been out of school since he turned twelve and a half—and he hasn’t seen his parents (ma and Fever) since then either. Together with his itinerant uncle Spade, a traveling salesman with questionable morals, Wyatt crisscrosses the country, weaving in and out of cities, towns, trailer parks and suburbs.

One day, uncle Spade spots Wyatt throw a powerful punch and the dollar signs in his eyes light up. Thus begins Wyatt’s life as an underground fighter. As the wins, money, and injuries roll in, Wyatt begins to feel more and more estranged from his once-admired uncle. Without anyone to talk to and without anyone who truly cares for him, Wyatt withdraws deep into himself.

Wyatt’s voice is so authentic and gritty, his story so dark and heartbreaking, it’s near impossible to put the book down. The end is despairing—yet contains hope and optimism—and the reader is left with the question: What is Wyatt going to do now?

I highly recommend this book to everyone, but be warned that it will grip you tightly and wrench your heart. Filled with complex characters and ambiguities, the book will keep readers thinking of Wyatt and his fate long after the story is finished.

Oaks, J. Adams. Why I Fight. New York: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 2009. Print.

J Adam Oaks's Website

You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

Emma Healy has never really felt like she fit in with the rest of her quirky but brilliant family of academics and professors. All her life, she’s never felt quite whole, as if something was out of place in her life. Perhaps, she sometimes thought, it was because she was out of place. It’s hard to think otherwise when your parents throw birthday parties for you at poetry readings in New York City, or the invited guests are world-renowned professors of archeology, sociology, and anthropology (all of whom are your parents’ close friends).

One day, Emma comes across a birth certificate and a death certificate, both of which changes the way she sees herself, her family, and their shared familial history. Spurred by her discovery, she decides to go on a road trip to North Carolina—the place where she might find the grave of her recently discovered twin brother. Together with her neighbor Peter Finnegan—an unlikely car thief and civil war aficionado—and a three legged dog, Emma learns that there is a lot more to a journey than a destination, that there is a lot more to a family than meets the eye, and also, that the people who love you will always there for you.

As much Peter’s story as it is Emma’s, You Are Here is a well-written tale of two teenagers searching for answers to illuminate the unknown in their lives. Despite being well-developed characters, I occasionally felt that Emma and Peter’s lines were strangely adult, making them seem somewhat like talking mannequins. I also found the slow romance between the two teens unfortunately inauthentic, but Jennifer E. Smith manages to make it work towards the end of the novel, pushing towards a moving finish.

You Are Here is an accomplished book about family, grief, and love, and there is lots to like in the book. Yet despite its eloquence, I’m not sure it is quite authentic enough to find a place in my heart. I cannot bring myself to heartily recommend the book. Readers who enjoy slower-paced novels might be better able to connect with the story, but I could not find myself completely engaged.

Smith, Jennifer. You Are Here. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2009.

Jennifer E. Smith's myspace page

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Candor, Florida is more than the perfect place to live: it is the answer to all your problems. Have an eating disorder, drug addiction, or rebellious teenager? Not to worry, come to Candor and within weeks the deformities of your previous, imperfect life will vanish, free will and all.

At Candor, everyone is happy and no one wants to leave. In fact, the waiting list to move into Candor is years-long. That’s the way Campbell Banks, founder of Candor, wants it. And that’s the way he intends to keep it.

The only teen who knows the secret of Candor’s brainwashing Messages is Campbell Banks’s son, Oscar. He’s also the only person, besides his father, who knows how to fight the subliminal brainwashing that occurs everywhere and every second in Candor. Oscar himself is a minor celebrity at Candor, and he uses it as a cover for his more nefarious dealings in Candor: helping rich, new kids leave. No one suspects Oscar, model teen, until the arrival of Nia Silva, an exciting and individualistic artist. Nia’s free-spirited ways makes Oscar want to keep her close to him, at the risk of revealing his dangerous secret.

And it is a dangerous secret: those who rebel, who cannot be controlled by the Messages, are sent to the Listening Room, where their minds are erased, with horrific side effects. Things unravel out of Oscar’s meticulous control as the couple hurtles towards tragedy, and Oscar finds himself forced to make tough decisions, ones that might cost him his mind and his free will.

Readers of dystopic fiction might find Pam Bachorz’s Candor interesting with its social criticism and resemblance to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The characters are realistic and well-developed, but somehow the romance between Nia and Oscar seem forced and unnatural. While the last hundred pages or so are gripping and thoroughly engrossing, the novel takes its time to get into high gear. And as for the ending—readers will either find it chilling, or disappointing.

Bachorz, Pam. Candor. EgmontUSA, 2009.

Pam Bachorz Website

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy (short for Perseus) Jackson is a troubled 12-year-old. He can’t seem to last more than a year in any (and all) of his schools. He knows it’s because he’s special—ADHD and dyslexia cause most of his problems in school—but he never knew how special he was until the end of his sixth-grade year, the year he finds out he’s a descendant of the Greek gods. And that’s when his real troubles start. Accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt, Percy must go on a journey across America to find and return the bolt before a devastating war breaks out between the Gods. The summer solstice deadline looms ever nearer, but Percy is only beginning to master his newly discovered powers. To help Percy succeed on his dangerous quest, he will need to rely on the help of his friends, Grover (a tin-can-eating satyr) and Annabeth (the daughter of a rival Goddess). Traveling cross-country from New York to Los Angeles, Percy will meet charmingly modernized characters from Greek mythology, outwit monsters, and even battle Gods. Most importantly, Percy will also have to come to terms with his real father.

The first in a series of five books, The Lightning Thief is a clever mix of modern and classic worlds, all the more appealing for its likable characters and light humor.

I would recommend the book to younger readers because its conversational tone can occasionally come off to more mature readers as juvenile. That said, the story is fun and exciting, and will almost certainly arouse readers’ interests in Greek mythology.

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2005.

Rick Riordan's Website
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