Life As We Knew It

Students often come in asking for “scary books.”  Deciding what is “scary” varies from person to person, but this story is very scary to me.

A large meteor is on track to collide with the moon.  Shouldn’t be a huge deal since it’s the moon and not Earth, right?  But then it happens and day by day they began to find out how the moon’s influence on the Earth through tides being messed up and the resulting tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions  around the world, turns everything into chaos.  Communication was affected when cable TV went out and cell phones stopped working.  Then real problems began when they realized the climate was affected and winter was coming on sooner than usual.

This is the kind of book where I put myself into the story and wonder how I would react as a mother trying to take care of my family.  When supplies of food, fuel and other necessities get low, how will people behave so that they can all get through the crisis and on to hopefully better days?  Read this book and find out.  Then read the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, to see what happens next!

Don’t Read This is a collections of short stories. Three stories stand out as particularly entertaining although they all are tales to be read. In one story a boy kills his grandmother in order to inherit her money and go to a private school. Another story talks of a boy moving to a new house only to find a ghost his own age. A third story talks about a girl being pulled into a mirror. These stories are scary, creepy, and a bit odd.

Readers who have enjoyed the Scary Story books will like this collection of short stories.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

One can count one Neil Gaiman to come up with something weird and creepy. The Graveyard Book fits with his other books such as Coraline although I believe it is better than Coraline. As a baby Bod (Nobody) survives as his entire family is killed by Jack. He somehow escapes to a graveyard where is he is raised by its inhabitants who let him live in their tomb. The story takes Bad from a baby to a teen and follows his adventures as he lives in and sometimes leaves the graveyard. Jack, however, has been looking for Bod since he was an infant and appears to cause problems for Bod.

Ali is 13 years old and has a chance to spend the summer at the lake with her artist Aunt Dulcie and babysit her 4-year-old cousin, Emma.  But Ali’s mom, Dulcie’s sister, doesn’t want her to go. She says the weather at the lake place is rainy all the time, and that the lake is deep and dark and dangerous! What is she so worried about? And who is that third person torn out of the photograph Ali found in the old Nancy Drew book?

Ali runs into more questions when they all get to the lake, but even more when strange little Sissy shows up out of nowhere wanting to play with Emma. Who is Sissy, where does she live, why is she so mean, and what kind of answers might she have to Ali’s questions that no one else will answer?

Mystery, suspense, a terrible secret (and are there really ghosts?) all make this a pretty compelling story.

Bruchac is also the author of The Skeleton Man. Both books are somewhat frightening and suspenseful, but I found Whisper in the Dark to be more realistic.

But, the story starts with Parker Baer being really interested in his new nextdoor neighbor, Tara. Tara is very exotic with long spirals of blond hair that sometimes seem to be living! She lives by herself in a huge mansion, she always wears sunglasses, and she seems really intent on watching and analyzing people in kind of a creepy way to see who to get to know. Eventually Parker gets so caught up in her presence that even when he realizes that she is really dangerous, it’s out of his power to do anything about it.

Other books in the Dark Fusion series include Red Rider’s Hood and Duckling Ugly–more fairy tales with a definite twist!

Do you remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood? Red Rider’s Hood is Little Red Riding Hood meets gangs, werewolves, and vampires. This action packed story starts with Red taking a bag of money in his red Mustang to his grandma. His car gets stolen, his grandma gets robbed, and a gang wants him to join. Red learns how dangerous this gang, the Wolves, can be instantly, but he still contemplates joining. His Grandma, of course, is against this idea. She actually knows quite a bit about the Wolves and wants Red to have no part in this gang. As the story unfolds, Red has to choose between the gang and his grandma. It shouldn’t be a difficult decision, but… Did I mention there is also a girl involved? Red Rider’s Hood is a great book for those wanting action and a little horror. Remember there are also werewolves and vampires.

This is the second book in Neal Shusterman’s Darkfusion Series. The first book is Dread Locks. Although I haven’t read it yet, I look forward to the same creepy fairy tale twist!

Leaving behind a Homecoming dance with unfortunate outcomes, Cara escaped by following her first clue: FIND THE ANSWERS! But to what magical place will this lead her and how will it help her find her destiny? Lots to think about in this book knowing our culture is often more interested in physical perfection than depth of character when judging another person.

Other books in the Dark Fusion series:

• Red Rider’s Hood – Little Red Riding Hood with werewolves!
• Dread Locks – Goldilocks? Medusa? Read it and find out!