Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

Cindy: Teen literature is full of stories in which teens are exiled from school or home for bad behavior. Hidden Talents by David Lubar, Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan, Holes by Louis Sachar, Bad by Jean Ferris, and The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Shrefer are just a few. But Lex Bartleby of Croak (Houghton/Graphia [...]

Cindy: What a deliciously creepy collection of ghost stories. On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave (Random House/Schwartz & Wade 2012) begins with a variation of the popular Vanishing Hitchhiker story that sets up the structure for the collection. Mike picks up a girl, she disappears before he gets her home, but leaves [...]

Cindy: Can I just steal Daniel Kraus’ review for my blog post of  This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein (Simon & Schuster 2011)? Okay, not the whole thing, I need to earn my keep, but how about the opening? That Victor Frankenstein must’ve been a handful as a teen, eh? The latest entry [...]

Cindy: Well, we can’t be at New York Comic Con this weekend, but we can blog about a graphic novel to join the party from afar. Anya’s Ghost (First Second 2011) is perfectly executed and is perfect for the pre-Halloween season although it will be enjoyed year-round. Anya has self image problems and struggles to [...]

Cindy: Holy cow, Lisa McMann! I’m glad I can’t experience your dreams if your fiction is any indication of what goes on at night in your head! McMann’s WAKE trilogy is very popular in our high schools, but I can’t wait to booktalk Cryer’s Cross (Simon Pulse 2011) with my eighth graders this fall. I [...]

Lynn: I’m sure readers have noticed that we don’t write about a book unless one or both of us likes it.  We try hard to post about a variety of genres and ages ranges but our favorites DO have a way of sneaking in.  Anyone notice the numbers of fantasy and sf we post about?  [...]

Cindy: My first experience with Wuthering Heights comes from a Classics Illustrated version of the title from my childhood. Still, Heathcliff haunts me and who wouldn’t be intrigued by the story behind this brooding, evil character living on the English moors. The House of Dead Maids (Henry Holt, 2010) is Clare Dunkle’s creepy prequel-of-sorts to [...]

Cindy: Can an author really scare me in 30 seconds or less? The answer is yes when it is Margaret Atwood or Jack Gantos or M. T. Anderson or Art Slade. Yikes! Each story, poem, or graphic story in this slim volume can be read in less than half a minute. Lynn brought Half-Minute Horrors [...]