Children's & Young Adult book reviews by a rather odd duo.
Posts tagged supernatural
“I knew there was something peculiar about you…”
April 26, 2012
by Ruby
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Book 1 Miss Peregrine)
A Mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very peculiar photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine’s children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive.
This novel is amazing! The first thing you want to do when you pick up this book is flip through the pages to look at the unearthly mysterious collection of vintage photographs. Riggs has done an amazing job of pairing each photo with the narrative being told. Instead of trying to imagine what these children look like, these photos give us almost the whole picture of their personalities. The part we have to imagine is their peculiarities.
Jacob is definitely someone you can sympathize with as he struggles to make sense of his grandfather’s death and the mysterious “magical” life he led before. Jacob learns that the stories his grandfather told him about his childhood, featuring children with peculiar abilities and terrifying monsters, are actually true. (more…)
Parasitic Vampires
March 17, 2011
by Jenny
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
… and no, these vampires don’t sparkle in sunlight.
Cal is a 19-year-old Texan vampire living in New York City. Okay, so technically he’s a carrier for the parasite that makes people into full-fledged vampires, so as far as being infected, he’s sane and in control. Cal works for the Night Guard, an organization deep underground that tracks down Parasite Positives or “Peeps” for short (the preferred term for vamps) and medicates them so that they are no longer a threat to society.
Signs you may be infected? See in the dark: check. Start craving extra-rare meat: check. Shun the things you once loved: check. Of course, the eventual cannibalism and lack of conscious communication are pretty good giveaways too. Oh yeah, and the flock of rats, also carriers, that make up your brood. Pretty sexy lifestyle, right?
Cal is following a trail of his progenitor and of those individuals he accidentally turned (the parasite is transferred through saliva, blood, and sex-ed related bodily fluids). Once he tracks down his ex-girlfriends and some tenants who mysteriously disappeared from the same floor in a swanky apartment building, he starts to notice some anomalies: some of these Peeps talk, and some even seem to recognize him, which shouldn’t really be possible. Throw in a red-eyed, gloating cat that commands a group of thousands of rats in a subterranean complex and the unmistakable smell of ultimate evil. Then add the fact that only one out of one hundred people are supposed to be “immune” like Cal is, but somehow he finds four in the same contamination group, and Cal starts questioning everything he’s ever been told. (more…)
An Average Girl with Super Powers
March 3, 2011
by Jenny
The Candidates by Inara Scott
Dancia Lewis has blending into crowds down to an art: straight B grades, so-so wardrobe, no real friends, no special hobbies. So when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy boarding school stop by her house, it doesn’t make any sense. Unless, that is, they know about her secret…
Ever since she was little, she found she could make things happen. Drop a tree branch on a bully’s head, knock over a threatening gunman at the ER, blow out the tires in a suspicious chase vehicle… whatever she thinks, it happens. By avoiding friends, she’s successfully avoided the need to defend anyone, thereby hiding her powers—until now.
As Dancia begins her freshman year at the academy, she finds her life changing rapidly as friends work their way into her life and the hot junior she meets seems to take an interest. And then there’s Jack, the moody, insubordinate guy who seems to be average too, unless he has a special gift of his own. Love triangle, anyone? (more…)