As Easy A Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins

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Ry is a regular teen on his way to summer camp.  He gets off the train to make a phone call, but the train leaves the station.  Granpa is watching the dogs, but takes a bad fall and looses some short term memory.  Mom and Dad are on a romantic vacation, when they loose their cell phone and encounter their own challenges.  The whole family is in different locations around the world, and out of communication with each other.  Ry meets a stranger who helps him.  This is the story of a family trying to get back together and the individual journeys that each member must make.  

The story was ok.  I liked the idea, but the way that each disaster and mistake compounded got old after a while.  the lack of frustration and the over all feeling of hope in the face of disaster got a little trying.  I kept waiting for at least on e of the characters to give in just a little to despair.  It would have made them seem a little more human and realistic.  I didn’t like the book, but someone else might.  It’s well written and has a unique point of view.  

Nobel Genes by Rune Michaels

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The boy spends his life taking care of his manic depressive mom.  He can’t tell anyone about it, because they might take him away from her and she can’t live without him.  She has always told him that his father is a Nobel prize winner, but when new facts are revealed he starts to question who he is and everything that he knows.  

The boy, who’s name we never learn, narrates the story.  We learn about his mothers "episodes", and how hard it is to live up to Nobel genes.  The story is intense and heartfelt.  I recommend this book to readers who like to take a look into the human condition.  Michaels is also the author of Genesis Alpha; a must read for fans of thrillers. 

Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks

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Cadel and company are back.  Cadel is trying to live a normal wife with his adoptive parents Saul and Fiona.  Things are going great until Prosper English shows up again.  When something happens to Sonja and everyone he knows is in danger, Cadel feels like he has no choice but to do whatever it takes to fight Prosper.  

This is the third book in the series.  I love Cadel and I worry about him.  In this new book he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and he feels like he has no control over what’s happening to the people he cares about.  This is a great series featuring a main character that the reader cares about and want to protect to spite his bad behavior.   The first book in the series is Evil Genius.  The second book is Genius Squad.  I recommend the whole series.  

Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney

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Some vampires are good.

Some Vampires are evil.

Some are faking it to get girls.

Finbar Frame is a twin, but no one would ever mistake him for his athletic and charismatic brother. Finbar never gets the girls, can’t climb the rope in gum class, and is always the object of jokes at school. When his family moves it’s the perfect opportunity for him to start over and reinvent himself. Who will he be: a Goth, a jock, a bloodsucker?

This book is great! It’s funny and exciting and Finbar reads true as a regular teen guy. If you love vampires or are tired of the vampire craze this is the book for you. If you think librarians are sexy and books can be better than most people this book is for you. Filled with humor and sincerity this is the book that “Fat Vampire” by Adam Rex was trying to be. Read this book you won’t be disappointed.

Fear : 13 stories of suspense and horror edited by R.L. Stine

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Fear : 13 stories of suspense and horror edited by R.L. Stine

Are you the kind of person who likes to be scared?  Do you love that moment when you turn out your bedroom light and have to walk, in the dark, to your bed.  Do you get a little thrill when you hear a noise in the night?  If you enjoy a little fear this book is for you.  Each story is crafted to instill the maximum amount of fear in the reader.  Some stories feature the supernatural, while others remind us that the most scary things we can read are those stories that could be true.  Read the book and then try to get some sleep; in the night; with all the lights out; Mwha!

Skeleton Creek: The Crossbones by Patrick Carman

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Skeleton Creek is back and better than ever.  In this third installment of the series we find that Sarah has moved and Ryan is working at his dad’s new fishing store.  Old Joe Bush has left Ryan a clue that he and Sarah must follow to solve the true mystery of The Crossbones.  Told in a series of journal entries written in the book and videos that you watch online, this is a true horror / mystery story.

I loved this book.  The 1st Skeleton Creek was fantastic.  The journal entries suck you in and the videos scare the heck out of you.  The 2nd book wrapped up one mystery but the ending left me feeling flat.  This 3rd book has redeemed the series.  Ryan’s journal is compelling and Sarah’s videos are so frightening that I thought Old Joe Bush might be outside my window.  There is no blood and guts, but the shadows and glimpses of possible ghosts give the videos and erie and frightening quality that you don’t get from seeing gore.  This book is a must read for anyone who likes ghost stories and mysteries.  

Zombie Penpal by Ken McMurtry

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This is a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  You control the story by choosing different paths through out.  Your old penpal Sam has moved to town several years after you last heard from her.  You and your friends follow her into a cemetery near your house and that’s where the adventure begins.  You have to navigate your way around crazy teachers with a Dr. Frankenstein complex, gerbils with out back legs, and zombies.  

This book is meant for 5 and 6th graders, but when I saw it on the shelf I had to get it.  If you like zombie stories, and you read choose your own adventure books when you where a kid you will like this story.  Just watch out you don’t become a zombie.

Notes From a Totally Lame Vampire by Tim Collins

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Nigel is a perpetual teen aged loser who happens to be a vampire.  He has no  vampire strength, no ability to hypnotize people with his eyes, and no Robert Pattinson big haired alure.  He lives with his parents (the vampire who turned him) and his little sister (a girl they also turned into a vampire).  Because of the age that he appears to be, he is required to attend school for all eternity.  When a new girl starts at school, Nigel finds true love and sets out to make her his.  

The story is told in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” diary style complete with drawings in the margins.  The story was okay and geared toward guys 12-14.  The presentation, a book in diary style with drawings, made it seem like it was for younger guys.  “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” was a fun book for elementary kids, but the translation to teen fiction is not really there.  I love the idea of a lame vampire who is weak and unattractive, but I thought Catherine Jinks did it better in “The Reformed Vampire Support Group”.  I want to think the unrelenting teen angst in this book is meant to be a spoof of the Wimpy Kid books and the Vampire genre in general, but if it is I missed the joke.  

This book isn’t for me but maybe you loved it.  Send out a comment if I just trashed you favorite book.  Not every book is for every person so I won’t tell you not to read it, but I wish I skipped it.

Zombies Vs Unicorns Edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black

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Team Zombie Led by Justine Larbalestier:         Team Unicorn Led by Holly Black:

Alydia Dawn Johnson                                             Garth Nix

Carrie Ryan                                                               Naomi Novik

Maureen Johnson                                                    Margo Lanagan

Scott Westerfeld                                                       Diana Peterfreund

Cassandra Calre                                                     Meg Cabot

Libba Bray                                                                Kathleen Duey

Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black have an ongoing feud about which creature (unicorn or zombie) reins supreme.  Something that started as friendly banter on Justine’s blog has now become a battle royal to answer once and for all the question of what creature is better. The overall merit of zombies and unicorns are being judged based on social commentary, usefulness as a plot devise in stories, mythology throughout history and the all important total coolness factor.   The two authors gathered supporters for their respective causes and enlisted them to write stories featuring zombies and unicorns.  This anthology resolves the question once and for all.  

I highly recommend this book.  I’m a member of Team Zombie; I’m even thinking of getting a t-shirt made.  Putting aside that unicorns haven’t been cool since a bedeviled Tim Curry tried to kill one in The Last Unicorn (If you haven’t seen the movie you should go to Blockbuster and get it.  This is Tom Cruise before he was crazy.)  the idea for the book is a great one.  In spite of the fact that I’m not a fan of rainbows or horned beasts I love the book.  Even the unicorn stories where good.  Of course the Zombie stories are better, but that’s to be expected.  

This is a great book for older teens, and for zombie or unicorn lovers everywhere.