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In a new England where witches live silently amongst humans, there are two kinds of witches. Even amongst the small minority, there is prejudice. White and Black, the witches do not mix. Until, they do. In Sally Green's Half Bad, a young boy is the victim of his parentage, for White or for Black.
Nathan's father was the evilest Black witch in the world. His mother was a White witch who committed suicide. Every year, Nathan goes for an assessment to see if he has officially coded to one side or the other, but on his seventeenth birthday, the results will no longer be inconclusive. All witches must receive three gifts from an immediate family member and drink the blood of a family witch in order to come into their gifts. For a White witch, not receiving their gifts merely means they lose their opportunity for their gift. For a Black witch, it is said they will die if they do not receive their gifts. Nathan's grandmother has tried to raise him in a White witch household, but his heritage cannot be denied.
As a Half Code (Black and White), Nathan's final allegiance is still unsettled, but the council isn't about to let him roam about like a powder keg waiting to be lit. Decree after decree is handed down that specifically limit Nathan's comings and goings. Finally, just limiting his journeys from the house aren't enough, and he is captured and caged until his seventeenth birthday, which is years away. His captor doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, but Marcus, Nathan's father, killed her sister, so she isn't shy about her dislike of Black witches either. But nothing changes the fact that Nathan's birthday is fast approaching, and he has nobody to give him his gifts. Is he Black? Or is he White?
I know we have all lived through the Harry Potter era where witches are adorable like the Weasley clan. Sure you have a Malfoy or a LeStrange or a Voldemort in the mix, but for the most part, they are normal folks with some awesome abilities. These witches? A whole different world. I half expected a Potter-esque witch story going in, but I came out like I was ripped through the spin cycle. This is one seriously dark book! I mean, this kid is tortured. He is held in a cage and affixed with a collar full of poison. This is some pretty heavy, dark business here.
And Nathan? I am choosing to think he wouldn't be as dark as he turns out. I feel he was made Black by the very same people who feared his Half Code. By imprisoning him and torturing him, they have created a dark individual. In fact, the brutality, the violence, the dark in this story reminded me of a somewhat tamed version of The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the single darkest book I have ever read (makes The Road look like Goodnight Moon), and Nathan just made me think of that little boy the entire time I read it. That doesn't mean this is THAT dark, but it certainly isn't any Harry Potter. Instead, this is a truly unique story that will catch the attention of your students. Especially those who have a dark side!
The implications towards prejudice and racism in this story are very thinly veiled. The decrees about Half Codes and Black witches reek of Jim Crow. You can see the allegory here, and it is incredibly interesting when juxtaposed with historical racism. I think any student will be able to make those connections without any guidance, which will give them an added layer to the story. I was really bowled over by this story, even though it was so disturbing, and I will certainly be finishing the series.
You start a series and you love it. You read each book in the series hungrily, devouring it like it was your first meal in months. Then you come to the last book. You have been waiting for this book for years (literally!). You want to read it as fast as you can to find out what happens; you want to savor it and make it last since there are no more. What do you do? If you are anything like I was with Light by Michael Grant, that moment where you consider "savoring" it lasts about 24 hours until you can't take it anymore and rip into it like a ravenous beast!
Life in the FAYZ has never been easy, but now that the gaiaphage has taken a body, it is even more dangerous. No longer just a green blob controlling minds from the depths of a cave, Gaia can travel around, is growing exponentially, and can use the powers of any living kid in the FAYZ. The kids are scattered now that the wall has gone clear, and most are spending their time looking through the dome at their parents in the hopes that they will soon get out. In the meantime, no food is being harvested or fished, kids are starving right in front of their parents, and Gaia has a plan. If she can take a body, so can Nemesis (the disembodied Little Pete), and she must prevent him from doing what she did if she plans to escape the FAYZ. She must kill every kid possible to prevent him from taking a body.
What Gaia doesn't expect is that while her body allows her to to be more mobile and therefore more powerful, it also makes her more human, complete with the ability to be hurt and feel pain. Sure she can heal herself through Lana's power, but she can still weaken. This was unexpected, and it makes her realize she must be more careful in her plan. But Caine and Sam are out there, and although they never had a brotherly connection, there is one thing they can do together as the most powerful kids in the FAYZ. They can hunt Gaia. But how do you kill a creature with every power in her arsenal?
Oh Holy FAYZ Batman! I can't even take it. I want to cry knowing this series is over and I want to REJOICE with how it ended. I absolutely loved this book, this series, these characters, and everything in between. Part of me wants to BEG Michael Grant to write more about these kids, but the rest of me is so happy with the way it ended (despite it being bittersweet), I don't want to ruin the feeling of finality. I was so worried this ending was going to disappoint, but how silly I was. How could the author who wrote this brilliant series NOT come out with a heart-stopping conclusion? And oh boy, did he!
So here comes my plea. Put this series on your shelves of your classroom, your library, your kids rooms. This is a series that can get even the most reluctant students reading (and it has! I have seen it with my own eyes!). It is exciting, entertaining, heart-stopping, and you will not be sorry if you turn a student onto this story. It is mature and gruesome at times, but in a world where our teens can smell BS a mile away, this series will make them read and think like adults. They will know how much respect Grant has for them, because he isn't afraid to go dark with his stories. He isn't afraid to challenge teens to think about their lives, the privileges they enjoy, and the things they would fight to the death for. And that is the kind of stuff our young readers want to read. So do it. Put this series on your shelves. Peddle it to your teen readers. And make sure the kids of the FAYZ enter your heart too!
When you hear Alice in Zombieland, one would assume there was going to be either some Wonderland riffs, some brain eating zombies, or, better yet, an amalgamation of both! But with Gena Showalter's first book in the White Rabbit Chronicles, you shouldn't make any assumptions.
Alice and her sister are used to their father's crazy paranoia, but it doesn't mean they like it. Never allowed out at night, forced to live like shut-ins except for school, all of it makes for a very difficult childhood, especially when you know he is just plain crazy. But when a car accident kills Alice's father, mother, and sister, she is the only one alive in the car and the only witness to the creatures that crept through the darkness to rip them apart and eat them.
Shipped off to her grandparents' house, Alice encounters a very secretive group of kids. She is intrigued by them even though there is every reason to stay away from them. But when she is attacked, it becomes clear there is something dark and disturbing out there, and that group of kids are somehow connected. The answers are heavily protected, but Alice is determined to find out what the things are that killed her family, especially since now they seem to be after her.
Did you ever watch a movie after seeing the trailer for months that portrayed a hilarious comedy only to find out the movie was completely depressing? Do you remember that feeling of being cheated? Well, welcome to my experience with Alice in Zombieland. I would have been fine with no actual references to Alice in Wonderland if there were real zombies, but instead, the "zombies" are absolutely nothing like zombies. No resemblance save for death. Instead, they are more like malevolent spirits which feed and infect your soul with their malevolence, turning you into your own dead malevolent spirit. In fact, they are afraid of light, only come out at night, must be battled while the hunter is in spirit form, and are killed by a super-strong light a hunter emits from their hand over the "zombie's" heart. Sound like any zombie you have heard about? I didn't think so. So why would you even call them zombies and get my hopes up?!
I have no idea, but sadly, that ruined this book for me. It could have been halfway decent if I wasn't expecting something completely different. Instead I was terribly disappointed and struggled to finish the book. So, I am torn about reading the second in the series because it had potential, but I was so annoyed by the whole zombie debacle. I did, however, LOVE the grandparents who took Alice in. They were so wonderful and endearing, and I wished I knew them in real life (especially when they tried to use "hip" language to let her know they were "cool"!). So I will see if I can bring myself to read the next book in the series. Maybe if I forget my disappointment in a little while, I will realize the parts I actually liked were redeeming... but until that happens, I am swirling in my own bitter disappointment over here!
The Shadowhunters have a huge responsibility for such a young group of people: they must protect mundanes (you and I) from ugly nasties that go bump in the night. But life as a Shadowhunter isn't just dangerous because they hunt vampires, werewolves, and demons; it is dangerous because everyone they ever loved could be in danger because of their calling. Cassandra Clare's third book in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Glass is another thrill ride to keep you coming back for more.
Jace doesn't want Clary to go to the City of Glass on the hidden Shadowhunter island; she is determined to go even though it is illegal to travel to the city without being invited. Despite the dangers, Clary knows the answers to her mother's disappearance are on that island, and she isn't scared of the consequences. When Jace and the others leave without her, she drags Luke with her to the island, but the presence of a werewolf in the city is more than just illegal- it is dangerous. While the Shadowhunters Clary knows are comfortable working with some Downworlders like Luke and newly vampirized Simon, the Clave members and their families on the island have very different, very sheltered understandings of what it means to be a Downworlder.
In addition to her unwanted presence on the island and her missing mother, Clary is still reeling from the news that Jace is actually her brother. It was bad enough learning she is the daughter of Valentine, the maniac in league with demons to scare the Clave into waging full-scale war on the Downworlders, but to learn Jace was also his son was too much. She knows the island has deep answers, but the answers she has gotten so far have only made her life more complicated (and uglier). But everyone knows there is more dangerous evil out there than any Downworlder walking around: Clary's father.
The interesting thing about reading this book so late is that I know there are 3 more books in the series, but at the same time, this installment ended with such finality. It almost makes me think the next three books were just an afterthought for Clare who has been notoriously stuck in this world for 5 or 6 series at this point (most upcoming)! Still, the stories are exciting. You can't deny that. They are entertaining, they are exciting, and they keep you wanting more. So even if you think Clare needs to move beyond this world, you still find it your guilty pleasure to join her in it time and time again!
The series is great for a range of students. It is always action-packed, but the books are really long, and so could bog down a struggling reader. I once had a student who was very dyslexic but was addicted to these books, and he used to listen to the audio books. He loved them! Devoured them! So consider these books for a variety of ages and demographics, because they are just pure, easy fun!
A small, cold town in Maine. A creepy entity that has haunted the town for decades, despite the fact the townspeople refuse to acknowledge its existence. Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel transform a sleepy little town into a complete nightmare in After Obsession.
Aimee's town has suffered sea tragedies before with such a big fishing industry, but the most recent tragedy took her best friend Courtney's father. While they haven't found the fisherman, it is assumed they are lost, to everyone but Courtney. In danger of losing their house, Courtney's aunt and cousin Alan move from the midwest to help them stay on their feet. The tragedy is hard to deal with, but when the rest of town starts to act strange, the loss of the fishermen becomes the last thing on everyone's mind.
People start to act irrational and violent with little to no cause. Alan uses his Native American background to cleanse the house he shares with Courtney, but when she becomes moody, violent, and breaks out in seeping "acne", he suspects something is seriously wrong. Aimee, having lost her mother to mental instability, is worried her suspicions are symptoms of her own insanity. What they realize when they come together, though, is that the current events and past events in the town are no coincidence. Something is rotten in the state of Maine.
I went back and forth about this book before reading it, but I am glad I did. It was a really interesting stand-alone ghost story full if icky, creepy factors and mystery. I really loved Alan's character, who related to his Native American father despite never knowing him. I liked that his heritage was so important to him despite never being handed down to him. He researched his tribe, knew about their ceremonies and customs, and practiced on his own. It was a really interesting new type of character I had not seen before in YA. Sure he was swoon-worthy as well, but this inner conviction in Alan was really inspiring. It also brought this idea of the "modern Indian" out there in a way people haven't really seen before. I was glad the author's took Alan down this road.
The story itself is a medium kind of creeper with looming mystery and possession. Courtney's symptoms are gross and scary at times, but don't expect "The Exorcism". This would make a good upper middle reader through young adult book for those kids who are a little more mature than their age, but not ready for some heavy horror stories. I really enjoyed the story, and would like to see these author's team up again!
Vampires have been done. They have been done over and over again. Yet, we still find ourselves drawn to the vampire stories out there (or at least I do!). Maybe it is the vampire allure that helps them capture their victims... we just can't help ourselves! So even though vampires have already been done, K.J. Wignall had the right idea in giving us what we wanted- more vampires in Blood: Book One of Mercian Trilogy.
Will has "survived" the last 700 years by going through the motions. After he was bitten and succumbed to the "sickness", he awoke many years later in a grave. Fortunately, someone had created chambers for him to crawl out of the grave and into. Those chambers have been his home for centuries, and he assumes they will be for all of eternity. Each time he wakes from hibernation (sometimes 10 years, sometimes 100), he needs to feed. Everything this time is normal, but when he finds his victim, a vagrant who won't be missed, something happens. He puts the vagrant in a trance, but the victim says something- when people are in Will's trance, they never talk. The vagrant tells him Lorcan Labriad is waiting for Will. The problem is Will has no idea who Lorcan Labriad is.
Nothing about this time is the same. After the strange occurrence with the vagrant, he looks at the man's notebook only to find mentions of himself and pictures of a young woman. When Will heads out into the city, he comes across the woman, Eloise. It seems that something is happening that involves Will and Eloise is a part of it. As they try to piece together what is happening, they realize this Lorcan Labraid and anyone who is involved with him is pure evil. Now Will and Eloise, vampire and orphan, must risk everything to get to the bottom of the mystery. But who can they trust?
As vampire stories go, this wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't the best either. There were times when the story seemed to have too many clues and not enough answers and I started to lose interest a little bit. Luckily, being such a short book, it was able to collect itself quickly and get back to the story at hand. Some parts are a little hokey as well, and I found myself wishing Lestat would come by and show everyone what's what! I know this is a trilogy, but I will probably wait for the next book to go on clearance and my book pile to dwindle considerably before I continue with this story.
Since the story is a little juvenile at times, it might be best for the middle readers who are just starting to read young adult stories. It is a quick read and although there is some formal language (remember, Will is 700 years old!), the language is generally accessible. It wouldn't be my "go to" book, but I wouldn't stop anyone from reading it either. My only peeve, I have to say, is the title... Blood? Really? You couldn't come up with anything more creative for a vampire story?!
