Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh

It seems to me that teen books are once more trending more towards realistic fiction.  This means that the books are turning more serious.  However, sometimes you just want to have a little humor in your stories.  So here are my favorite funny books for teens . . . .

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
In an attempt to find a cure after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen-year-old boy, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital.

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
When the beautiful Lucy prays to fall in love, God, an irresponsible youth named Bob, chooses to answer her prayer personally, to the dismay of this assistant, Mr. B who must try to clean up the resulting catastrophes.

Vampire High by Douglas Rees
When his family moves from California to New Sodom, Massachusetts and Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.


More Funny Teen Books --
All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Boys Don't Knit (in Public) by Tom Easton
Dark Lord, the Early Years by Jamie Thomson
Freshman: A Novel by Michael Gerber
Ghost Town by Richard Jennings
Hellhole by Gina Damico
Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn by Sarah Miller
Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Mothership by Martin Leicht
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Soul Enchilada by David Macinnes Gill
The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion by Chris McCoy
Trouble in Me by Jack Gantos

 Check these books out at the Arnold Branch.

Read These Books with the Lights On!

Horror books are always fun to read!  Even though Halloween is a couple of weeks in the past, we still like to get chills as we read a scary book.  Here are some of my favorite horror books for teens ...

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Prom Dates from  Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore
High school senior and yearbook photographer Maggie thought she would rather die than go to prom, but when a classmate summons a revenge-seeking demon, she has no choice but to buy herself a dress and prepare to face jocks, cheerleaders, and Evil Incarnate.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Sunshine is abducted by a vampire, and as she waits through the night, fearing the worst, she forms an unlikely bond with her captor.

Jinx by  Meg Cabot
Sixteen-year-old Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch, the descendant of a witch, must leave Iowa to live with relatives in Manhattan after the first spell she casts goes awry, but she will have to improve her skills to stop her cousin from practicing black magic that endangers them and the boy they both like.


More Teen Horror --
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Tucholke
Bonechiller by Graham McNamee
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein
Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters by Suzanne Weyn
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
In the After by Demetria Lunetta
A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine
My Swordhand Is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick
Nightmare City by Andrew Klavan
Pretty Monsters: Stories by Kelly Link
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through November 25, 2015.

Teen Summer Reading List - 2015

Every year, I like to come up with a list of books that I recommend teens at the library to read during the summer.  Here is the 2015 list . . . .

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things by Kathryn Burak
A new girl in Amherst, Massachusetts, comes to terms with her mother's suicide and her best friend's disappearance with the help of Emily Dickinson's poetry--and her dress.

Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn by Sarah Miller
Fifteen-year-old Gideon Rayburn becomes torn between two girls during his first year at a prestigious New England prep school--gorgeous Pilar Benitez-Jones and cute, smart Molly McGarry--and feels pressure to impress his two roommates with his choice.


More Recommended Reads for Teens --
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Mothership by Martin Leicht
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Wait for Me by An Na
William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through July 17, 2015.

Dare to Be Scared (Part 5)

On the night before Halloween, I'm going to share my all-time favorite horror books for teens . . .

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Lord Loss by Darren Shan
Presumably the only witness to the horrific and bloody murder of his entire family, a teenage boy must outwit not only the mental health professionals determined to cure his delusion, but also the demonic forces only he can see.

Unspoken by Sarah Brennan
Loving a boy she has never met but with whom she has communicated telepathically all of her life, Kami Glass investigates screams heard in the nearby woods and sees lights in a long-empty manor house only to discover that her hometown has been hiding a murderer.

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle
Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Brönte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.

Raising the Dead

 Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Samhain Corvus LaCroix is having a really bad day.  First he is threatened by a guy in a suit.  Then he is beaten up by a menacing thug.  Next his friend Brooke is killed and he is sent her head.  But worst of all -- he finds out he is a necromancer, a person who is able to control the dead.  And Douglas Montgomery the local necromancer is not happy to see him in his town.  Now Sam must figure out his powers before Douglas kills him and all his friends and family.


Hold Me Closer, Necromancer is a great story.  Sam is a typical teenager simply trying to figure out what to do with his life.  He is loyal to his family and friends.  He is disgusted by the idea of evil and especially evil in him.  The story is both funny and creepy at the same time.  Even better -- there is a sequel - Necromancing the Stone.

It Came from the Library . . . Monstrous Books

Do you like books that give you a few good chills?  Books that you need to read with the lights on?  Then try one of these . . .

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Lord Loss by Darren Shan
Presumably the only witness to the horrific and bloody murder of his entire family, a teenage boy must outwit not only the mental health professionals determined to cure his delusion, but also the demonic forces only he can see.

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle
Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Brönte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.

Bloodline by Kate Cary
Nineteen-year-old John Shaw returns from World War One and is haunted by nightmares of not only the battles but the horrifying discovery that his regimental commander is descended from Count Dracula.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.

More Monstrous Books
The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick
The Death Collector by Justin Richards
Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales by Deborah Noyes
Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
Bonechiller by Graham McNamee
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Summer Reading for Teens, Part 2

Here are a few more great books on our teen summer reading list . . .

 All Good Children by Catherine Austen
Seventeen-year-old prankster Maxwell Connors tries to maintain his identity in a mid-twenty-first century world where the children of his elite corporate town of New Middletown are treated with a drug to turn them into obedient, well-mannered citizens.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
During her last summer at home before leaving for college, Emaline begins a whirlwind romance with Theo, an assistant documentary filmmaker who is in town to make a movie.

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
An aristocratic girl who is a member of a warmongering and enslaving empire purchases a slave, an act that sets in motion a rebellion that might overthrow her world as well as her heart.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.