League of Strays by L. B. Schulman

Dark and creepy! Bullies and revenge! Hate and manipulation! League of strays unites a groups of social outcasts under a too-sexy-too-be-true bad boy whose motives are a lot worse than you at first anticipate. I read this while hunting and found myself a little too creeped out as dusk fell in the woods. I would not want to run across Kade in a dark alley...or a wooded path...or Walmart. 3 out of 5 gravestones to L. B. Schulman

Don't hate me 'cause I'm cursed

Blackwood was a quick read for me. Maybe because I wanted it to be done. It's about Roanoke Island, then and now. (That's where all of those peeps disappeared a long time ago in case you can't place it.) So this story is supposed to explain a tad what happened and *shocking* have some supernatural goings-on that make it link up to the present day. We've got curses, bad guys, young love, and mystery. And it was only OK. Not a bad read, but a car trip story to me. Not an "I finally have a whole evening to myself and want to lose myself for hours on end in the best story I've ever read and don't you DARE come home early and interrupt me" story. It gets 4 out of 5 golden snake tattoos for the effort and because I think younger readers would have enjoyed it more than I did.

"See how the sunlight catches in her hair?" "Yes, it's charging her battery."

This is what I wait for.  This is why I slog through YA series after series, author after author, mundane retelling after mundane retelling:  to find a story that makes me go "SQUEE!!!"  (That's an overexcited happy sound to those of you who have never owned a guinea pig or chinchilla.)  Oh my, oh my.  The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist had me so confused I was writhing in literary anticipation.  I got the gist of what was going on only after I got over my pig-headed determination that the "different girl" would not be one of the four gals I had already decided upon.  Even after the soft reveal, I wanted more. I wanted to know everything.  I don't know how to say it without giving it away!  I wanted to stop in the middle of the story, call the author, and ask him for more details, more back story, more more MORE!!!  I am not saying that the author left too much out, he just revealed it so casually and slowly that I was thirsty for more right away.  One reveal got my mind spinning and rethinking everything I had already read only to have another one pop up a little while later.  (See what I mean?  SQUEE!!!)  5 out of 5 mustard-less sandwiches to Gordon D.  Great story if you like sci-fi that is not out of this world and just creepy enough to contain a grain of truth.

Life ain't Always Beautiful

So I just finished The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan and must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  The basic plot is a boarding school kid gets a gift from the boy that had his room last year.  It turns out to be CDs that tell the story of a tragedy that took place the previous year, which is supposed to help this year's kid (Duncan) write his tragedy paper: an epic assignment dreaded by every senior at the Irving School.

I was surprised at how driven I was to find out what was going to happen next.  I should probably note that I did not READ this book, but popped it on my Kindle and used the text-to-speech feature to have it read to me.  Definitely the right approach, by the way.  I would solidly recommend that you find a way to listen to this story.  It gives you the sense that you are hearing Tim's story unfold exactly the way Duncan does. 

I think this would be great to give to high schoolers and then MAKE THEM DISCUSS IT!!!  They'll learn some great literary terms and might actually care what a tragedy or tragic event is if they read about it this way instead of having Shakespeare as the only inspiration.  4 out of 5 golden earbuds to Ms. LeBun.  I had a great time listening.