Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

First published in 2008.

Everyone in the Giordano family is psychic - except for Daisy. When her mother, who uses her powers to solve crimes, enlists Daisy's older sister to investigate a teenage girl's mysterious death, Daisy feels utterly useless. But she takes matters into her own hands when she learns the victim has lots of company - teenage girls are being attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy is a junior. And when she discovers a vampire may be the culprit, Daisy suspects head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new "look." She looks a little . . . well, dead.

Is looking dead just another fashion trend for pretty, popular Samantha, or is there something more sinister afoot? Daisy will stop at nothing to find out - she even joins the cheerleading squad. And with a little sleuthing help from Ryan, an old friend (who may be turning into something more), Daisy not only reveals the identity of the vamp, she also discovers powers that she never knew she had. (book back blurb)

You know, this was one of those books where I read it, I was pretty entertained but there was nothing spectacular enough to make anything really jump out at me. The story kind of blends into every other vampire/cheerleader/maybe boyfriend story out there and I really don't think it had the oomph enough to elevate it over the crowd.

It gets huge kudos for the Santa Cruz reference, not to mention its wharf. I'm curious to know why she didn't reference the Boardwalk since that's really where all the teenagers hand out. Maybe Perez felt the wharf needed a little love too. That's ok. But big-up to that.

The writing was decent. Didn't sweep me off my feet but I didn't hate it either. It was writing.

And what's with the name Devereaux in teen lit lately? This is, like, the third book I've read with someone with that surname. Is everyone accessing the same names database or something?

Anyway, the whole "awkward girl becomes a cheerleader" motif is getting really old and I'm just plain old tired of it. From the books out there with something like this in it, you'd think that were every girl's dream or something. Can we find a new way to infiltrate the in-crowd, please? Popularity and cheerleading are not the only bed mates.

The story as a whole had a real campy feel, but I mean that in a good way. I like camp. I liked the big reveal at the end. Very kitsch but I really liked it. My guess was teetering back and forth between the actual culprit and another character so I was close to guessing who it was! But parts of it had that kind of old school Goosebumps feel which is always a good thing. You can never go wrong with that feeling.

The characters were kind of typical. I didn't find too much about them that really stood out to me. They were relatable enough but that also made them kind of forgettable too, unfortunately.

There were some really interesting tidbits hinted at in this story though that I think hold a lot of potential. The whole supernatural committee is really intriguing and I'm wondering if Perez was influenced at all by, "Ghouls and werewolves occupy high positions at city hall." (ten points if you know where that's from) And Daisy coming into her powers were really interesting although if she ends up taking the Special Child route and gets the powers of all of her family members combined, that would severely disappoint me. I doubt I'm going to read the following books so someone's going to have to update me on that one.

You know, overall, it was just kind of blah for me. It was paranormal, it had a slight love interest, a "normal" girl that "normal" teens can relate to, the bitchy cheerleader with the pig boyfriend, the boy friend/boyfriend. To me it just blended too easily. It's not a bad read. It really isn't. But I've read better. If you like kitschy, campy paranormal (again, not a bad thing), then pick this one up. There's nothing not to like about it. It's just a matter of what your tolerance level is for this kind of thing as a whole and, frankly, I'm a little oversaturated on the same 'ol.

I'd Tell You I Love You but Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

First published in 2006.

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school - typical, that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses, but it's really a school for spies.

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man seven different ways with her bare hands, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist" - but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her? (book back blurb)

Initially the only reason why I picked up this book was because it's one of my dream agents's clients so I figured I might as well try out what she likes and see if we see eye to eye (as that's rather important when choosing an agent you want to represent your writing, because otherwise it might not work out so well, huh?). Then I decided to wedge this into my Fear Itself Challenge because of that fact. Had it not been Kristen Nelson's author's book, I wouldn't have otherwise picked it up. In all honesty, I thought a school for teenage spies was a little out there.

I read a chapter before I got nice and horrendously sick so it lay stagnant for a week. My initial impression off of that first chapter? For how extraordinary Cammie is, she's a really normal chick. Normal speech, normal friendships (again, despite the circumstances). The language is normal, not trying too hard. While I'm not crazy about the boarding school thing, at least it doesn't center around the rich kids versus the single poor chick there on a scholarship or something. There aren't really any cliques. No one's striving to be part of one team or another. They kind of just exist. There are students Cammie and her friends don't get along with, as it should be, but nothing is over the top or crazy cut-throat. It's real, to me at least. Overall, a good start.

Then I kept reading and I just fell in love with it. Bravo, Kristen Nelson and bravo Ally Carter! I wish there were more female main characters in YA lit that were more like Cammie and less like the insufferable Bella. Cammie is independent and goal-oriented. She knows what she wants out of life (and let me just say, that can be anything, even being a mom, nothing wrong with that, giving up everything for your boyfriend, on the other hand, very wrong) and she strives her hardest to get it.

What you have to understand about the situation is that while these girls are teenagers, they're not your standard, normal teenagers. When you're working with a genius-level IQ, the teenage brain doesn't function in the same way. Yes, they will still have standard teenage impulses (like with boys, for instance), but the way in which they deal with situations is going to be far different than what your normal teenager would. These are girls that know everything EXCEPT being normal. Macey is their link to the outside world, so to speak. When she comes into the picture, she brings a world these girls know pretty much nothing about into their otherwise very programmed, very structured lives. The opted for this. They wanted it. But that's not to say wrenches won't get thrown in spokes.

I love how Cammie, Bex and Liz handled the whole boy situation with Josh. I think every girl can relate to trying to decipher "boy talk" and "boy action" but they take it to such an extreme because, well, they can crack CIA code. Why the hell can't they figure out what that note meant??? And therein lies the dilemma of a genius. You have someone that can pretty much think their way out of any and every situation, except for those involving common sense and normalcy. Because they're not normal. Not really. Enter Macey again. She's that breath of normal that helps all three girls adjust to something that they're not used to. Had Macey not been in the picture, I don't think Cammie would have been able to handle the situation with Josh as good as she did. None of them had any clue what was going in before Macey and yeah, while the chick's a bitch, she knew what she was talking about. Gotta hate it when that happens.

And I loved the humor. It wasn't an overkill but there was just enough off-the-cuff humor that I ended up laughing out loud. When Bex and Liz were dangling off of Josh's roof while Cammie tried to distract him. Oh dear god did I laugh! I could so see that happening and not in an obnoxious Disney sitcom sort of way either. Or when Cammie stuffed a piece of paper with Josh's handwriting on it into her mouth only to realize after the fact that is was just normal paper, not the dissolving kind she's used to. Ha! Yeah, I can totally see that happening too. I'm telling you, I'd love to see this book in movie form. It has an excellent balance of humor that isn't absurd but is just enough to carry you through the story and lighten the mood.

Let's not forget the writing. Ah-maz-ing. Cammie is such an awesome and relatable character. Yeah, she's a genius, but she's a girl that also lost her father, has a boyfriend she doesn't quiet know what to do with and friends that sometimes teeter on the line of oblivion. It's so real despite the circumstances. The relationships are poignant and touching and at the same time, yeah, it really could happen to you. Ok, so maybe you won't be kidnapped by your teachers in order to complete a final. But you will have teachers that you connect to more than others, that know more than you thought they knew about you, and want only the best for you. It's just such a great book with such strong, admirable characters that you won't be able to help but love them.

I have the next book, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy sitting in m TBR pile and while I probably won't get to it for a while, I can't wait to see what happens next in the series. Sure, so much can happen when you go to school for spies but it's the normal stuff that's really exciting. Not to mention the awesome problem-solving techniques the girls utilize to figure it all out. God, I love it!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

First published in 2008.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy - an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack - who has already killed Bod's family . . . (book flap blurb)

What an amazing book. No wonder it won the Newbery Award. It was completely deserving. And it only took Gaiman 20 years to write! Now my spending a year on my own manuscript doesn't make me feel so guilty.

I tend to not make connections from one book to another all that easily and it wasn't until Gaiman mentioned the Jungle Book reference that it all clicked for me. Of course! Same concept, different landscape. Granted it's been quite a while since I've read Kipling, I still remember enough to draw the post-parallels.

Bod is such a magical character, and this is above and beyond the Freedom of the Graveyard that he has. There was something special about him right from the very beginning. There was something calling to him to get him out of harm's way and into the safety of, of all places, a graveyard. The man Jack never stood a chance.

And how I loved the Jacks of All Trade! How awesome of a group. I really wish the book went into a little more detail about just what they were because, really, the little worm on a hook we got about them so wasn't enough for me. I wanted more! And I just might get it in Gaiman's supposed sequel!

The book is written in such a simplistic way that it would be simple for a child of really any age to understand but the older you are, the greater you're capable of understanding all of the underlying elements it holds. This book is literally something for people of all ages to read. There's nothing in here that someone 10 or 30 wouldn't like.

All of the characters are living and breathing as soon as they come onto the page. Maybe it's the bias that I have towards Gaiman because I love most of his work so much, but I honestly think the man could create an infinitely dynamic character from a couple of words, he's that good. But everyone from Bod to Scarlett to Silas (how awesome Silas was!) to the Owenses and Liza and the Jacks, even the Sleer had a rich depth about them that only magnificent storytelling could weave.

What pulled at me the most was the relationship between Scarlett and Bod. I found myself in Bod's shoes asking why? towards the end because there were other ways, there could have been other ways but Silas knew what he was doing. And that pain of Bod being without another living person to exist around really permeated the pages. Of course he loved where he was and he loved his ghost family, but at the end of the day Bod was human and as a human he required like companionship.

The ending opened up all sorts of possibilities for Bod but even then it was a sad send-off for him. I didn't want him to leave the people that have cared for him all those years. And he was so young! But all times must come and it was Bod's turn to play that fiddle. It didn't keep the tears from prickling my eyes, though, that much I can tell you.

The writing is, without a doubt, fantastic. The characters are as real as if they were breathing at your neck and every emotion Bod feels, every sense of fear or pain or sadness or happiness, pulls at your heart just like it does to him. You'll look up to the parental figures of the graveyard, you'll sneer at the foes and you'll love the life just like Bod does. So be sure to read this book because this is one you certainly don't want to miss.

Vampire Beach by Alex Duval

Omnibus featuring Bloodlust and Initiation, both first published in 2006.

Jason Freeman is stoked when his family relocates to DeVere Heights, Malibu. The kids at his posh new high school are surprisingly friendly, and pretty soon Jason's part of the in-crowd. He even gets to meet the hot-but-unattainable girl.

Then, the morning after one off-the-hook party, a girl washes up on the beach dead. There's no explanation - except a suspicious-looking bite mark on her body.

Now Jason has to admit that what you don't want to know can hurt you. And when an old friend pays him a visit, they have no idea that they're about to put themselves in mortal danger. Literally. (book back blurb)

How are you put in mortal danger theoretically? That irked me.

Anyway, I've had this book for about 10 months, I'm just getting to it now and I just realized, when I picked it up to read it, that it was an omnibus. I had no idea. Gotta love my observant self.

So we have rich kids. In Malibu. The new kid that gets accepted. Rich kids have fangs. New kid gets tossed in the middle of it. How freakin' ORIGINAL. See, when I see the words 'beach' and 'vampire' together, my mind immediately goes to The Lost Boys so when I finally picked this up (after some puttering around, I kept going to Barnes and Noble, picking it up and putting it back down) and bought it, I was half-expecting something somewhat similar. Oh silly me. I should have known this wasn't going to trend towards the good.

What a yawn fest. Seriously. Jason wants Sienna but can't have her because she's his buddy's chick but none of the other girls entice him. That is the damn focus for 2/3rds of the first book. Internal back and forth and back and forth - oh god she's so beautiful but I shouldn't want to kiss her because she's Brad's chick but I want her but I can't but I can't help myself but I have to . . . SHUT THE FUCK UP! Talk about getting totally hung up. On both books, no less.

Also in both books, absolutely nothing going on except parties and pretty people for two-thirds of them. Anything worth reading is all shoved and resolved within the last third of the book. Thank god they both only took me an hour to read each. I might have had to stick this thing in a punkin' and to some chunkin'.

The pretty, popular crowd, aka the vampires, weren't your typical rich kids. They were actually down to earth and normal, which was nice and refreshing. That refreshing quality also made them boring as shit. And they're vampires. WTF? Jason is the typical new kid without too much awkwardness, unless he's around Sienna. And he's around her a lot. They accept him but he's the cool kid for being friends with the pretty people AND guys like Adam who's a movie geek that never had an in before now. Add in the bratty sister and the overly concerned parents and you're good to ride the cliche mobile down the trope highway.

Adam had the funny lines. Jason is not a compelling character at all. The events of both books really happen around him as opposed to to him. He just ends up getting himself involved because he's the main character and he'd be even more boring than he already is if he didn't. Sienna turns out to be a little on the slutty side because what would the books be without some teenage romance angst? Dani is your typical younger sister that's as one dimensional as the page I read her on. Who else? The popular guys . . . Zach . . . cardboard. Jason's friend from Michigan, Tyler, twitchy and was pretty much the only one with potential but the author likes rapid fire and clean-cut resolution so that didn't play out like it could have. Am I missing anything? Doubt it.

Oh right. The nice vampires. That don't kill people. And can go out during the day. And donate to charity. That exist because it's a hereditary trait . . . JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. They weren't just emasculated. They didn't even have vaginas. They were just downright eunichs, neuters that needed to get back to their damn bridge game or something. Seriously. Can we cycle back in REAL vampires please? WTF is the point in being this all-powerful supernatural being if you can't even use any of it? And have to go to high school? WTF is with vampires and high school? It was cool with the original Buffy. It was still cool with the series. By now it's so tapped out that that ass is raw. Can we let it heal, please? For the sake of vampire balls? Vampires used to be something to fear. Now they're something to snuggle. *yak*

I think a little more time could have been spent tightening the plot, not to mention editing out all of the typos, than rushing two books out in a year. Quantity over quality, huh?

I'd recommend these for a beach read but, in all honesty, I don't even think they're worth that. They're just not exciting or compelling or even all that interesting to be honest. The second book definitely had more potential than the first but I'll be damned if I read yet another book where I have to wait 120 pages before anything of interest starts to happen. I guess if you feel so inclined to reading them, they'll literally only take about an hour to finish each. Dense is not the word I would use to describe these books. But really, I wouldn't waste that hour. You could be doing better things, like raking leaves.

The Parliament of Blood by Justin Richards

First published in 2008.

George Archer, Liz Oldfield and Eddie Hopkins have made a rather unfortunate discovery: vampires actually exist, and they really do feed on human blood. Using a labyrinth of tunnels beneath Victorian London, these sinister creatures are intent on destroying the human race, and they'll start by taking over the most powerful place in London - the Houses of Parliament.

Through their research on ancient mysteries and a secret London gentleman's club, George, Liz and Eddie come up with a plan to beat the vampires at their own game. And they'd better do it soon, before they become the vampires' next meal . . . (book flap blurb)

What an awesome book. Really. Now here's a guy that knows how to play with the lore, not ass rape it.

First off, I was surprised by how British it was. Usually with British books, when we get them, they're Americanized. Like the Harry Potter books. Most of the British colloquialisms were removed apparently because we wouldn't get it. But this one appeared relatively untouched. There are even 'ou' spellings, British punctuation and everything. I liked it. It didn't insult my intelligence (because, really, Americanizing is pretty insulting) and it made the read feel that much more authentic.

While I pretty much raced through it, I felt it did meander a bit at times. The dawdling at the work house, for instance. I felt too much time was spent there in comparison to the relevance of the place to the greater plot. Yeah, it's a little wordy but I've read worse and even though there were a few too many words, it still remained interesting and I wanted to keep reading. That's really what matters, right?

Out of all the characters, I felt the closest to Eddie. I felt like he was the one character where we were really able to get into his head and his feelings and understand them. Plus he's a snarky little shit and I just really liked that. Sir William's a pretty cool dude. I wouldn't mind working with him. George was a bit of a stiff, especially for someone his age, but he proved useful and not nearly as anal-retentive as he first appeared. I think I liked Liz the least. That's not to say I didn't like her but I felt she didn't really add much to the overall story. I was neither here nor there about her but really just meh.

Plus I felt her "big role" would have been easily found out by the vampires. That was the only part of the book that I had a hard time believing in. By the time we get to that point in the book, we know what the vampires are capable of, what their powers are and so on. Considering that knowledge and the situation, I didn't find her situation plausible and I think they would have ripped open her neck for playing them. But that's just my opinion.

Now the lore part, totally awesome. Richards has all the basic constructs of vampires; fangs, light sensitivity (not combustion level but sensitive), blood drinking, plus he even went with the water fear and the connection to home soil. I loved that part, how they keep their soil on them. Very smart! The Great Lie, though, was quite possibly the best part. It twists the lore just enough that it still maintains its integrity but creates for something new and interesting and YES! I don't want to give it away but let me just say that it takes a "standard" part of the lore that's in favor of the vampires and turns it right against them. Very awesome. And then there's the hibernation bit of it as well. That was another one of the parts of this book's lore that I loved the most, vampires switching places in order to not inundate the planet. No wonder there was discord!

I loved all of the twists this book had to offer, especially with Liz's father. He was such a dynamic character, and one of my favorites, even though he didn't appear much in the book. He was such a strong presence that from the moment he was introduced, even when he wasn't in scene, his presence permeated the pages. Really, no wonder the Reverend wanted to keep Liz away from the theater. While the reason, to me anyway, was pretty obvious as soon as it was introduced, the way it came to light, and then dark, was totally cool.

This is an excellent, and creepy, book about vampires. It makes them a little more realistic, a little sexy but very dangerous and very undead. You can't become a vampire until you die and then you get to claw your way out of your grave. It's probably one of the most traditional pieces of vampire lore and one that I liked the best. It gives them the juxtaposition of being appealing but at the same time truly the abominations that they are. They are undead, as they should be. People shouldn't want to be that but there's a side with a draw that, for some, is irresistible.

Read this book. Now. The vampires will appreciate it.

The Vampire's Promise by Caroline B. Cooney

3 books in one consisting of Deadly Offers (originally The Cheerleader), Evil Returns (originally The Return of the Vampire) and Fatal Bargain (originally The Vampire's Promise) - Published in 1991, 1992 and 1993, respectively

There's a vampire living in the creepy old tower at the bottom of the hill, but he's not your usual creature of the night. This vampire makes promises and grants wishes . . . for a price.

When he offers Althea, Devnee, and Lacey the things they want most, the girls must decide how much they are willing to pay.

Simple arrangements, evil consequences. The girls will learn to be careful what they wish for . . . but they'll learn it the hard way. (book back blurb)

That blurb is a bit of a misnomer because Lacey doesn't fit into that. Her situation's entirely different and is actually the polar opposite of the other two girls. But I'll get back to that in a moment.

Normally I review these compilation books separately because they are separate books but it just would have been redundant, even for a series so a 3 books in 1 review is what you're going to get.

The first two, Deadly Offer and Evil Returns are pretty much the same story, just with different names. Both girls are considered plain, boring and invisible. I think under any other circumstances they would have been considered just normal girls but these books are about severe stereotypes. You get one mould and that's what you fit into. So you have the plain Janes that want nothing more than to be pretty and popular and loved and not dull.

They both live in this old Victorian mansion and a vampire lives in between these inside and outside shutters in the tower room of the house (I'll come back to the vampire in a moment). He bleeds into their lives, offers them wishes, or really answers wishes, in return for a life. In order to get you have to give. They wish for popularity and smarts and friends and boyfriends and in return the people that were once popular get tapped by the vampire and, essentially, trade places with the Janes.

In the end the Janes feel guilty, rescind their wishes and feel that it's better to be plain and normal and boring and win people over the old fashion way instead of sucking the life from those that have what you want in order to achieve it. Nice, happy, resolved endings.

Seriously, those two books were the exact same thing. So much so that I thought it was a waste of my time to read the second one but I kept reading thinking that maybe something different would happen, you know? No. The exact same storyline with the exact same characters, just with different names.

The third book, Fatal Bargain, was the redemption. It was completely different than the other two. Whereas the first two had the extreme stereotypes (the jocks, the pretty girls, the plain girls, the popular people), this one had more balance. People weren't shunned but at the same time you were able to get into their heads and see what they were thinking about everyone else around them. They all fit their own moulds but the walls weren't so high that they couldn't climb out of them. The characters actually had depth. They had dimensions and at the end of the story they were something more than paper dolls.

What I didn't get was the insistence that Lacey was an airhead. It was said a fair amount of times but her actions didn't reflect those words. She ended up being the strongest out of the entire group and when I said she didn't fit the mould of the other two, Althea and Devnee, she never made any wishes. That was never the situation in this story.

The other two girls lived in that house with their families but in the last book, the house was abandoned and the kids were partying in it. They had woken up the vampire and he wasn't in a wishing mood. He gave them the option of sacrificing one for him to feed on so the rest could leave. That was it. No pretty looks or popularity to be given. Lacey didn't make any wishes. None of them did.

The writing was very stagnant from one book to the next. I preferred the third on all levels only because of the variety from the last one. It was more multidimensional and fulfilled the horror motif better than the other two.

There were some gaps in the plot, like Althea and living in the house. Her parents never made an appearance. In fact, it kept sounding like she lived in that house by herself. That really bothered me.

In all three books, the vampire had the same descriptions. Considering these were limited points of view, it read to me like all these kids saw this vampire with the same eyes. In every single book, the vampire's skin was the color of mushrooms. Would they really all make that same observation?

And in the last book, the vampire declares that if someone sacrifices themselves for the group, he cannot take them as a victim. It appeared that that applied to one character but when another did the same exact thing, it didn't obviously to serve the plot. Hole much?

And the writing was updated, which irked me. It's as if the new generation wouldn't understand the terms used in the early 90s. It really hit me that it'd been updated was when I caught the mention of the word DVDs. Not in 1991 they weren't. I mean, was that necessary? Is a VHS tape that much of an anomaly to teens today?

And for the vampire, I went both ways with him. First, I honestly don't think this was a standard blood-drinking vampire. His victims, when he was done with them, were all exceptionally tired which led me believe that he was a more psychical vampire that drained energies as opposed to blood. A very different take that I really liked.

There was nothing sexy about him, which is also a nice twist. He's decay and rot and swamp and everything you'd think death would be. His cape is woven of the souls of the people he's killed. He's intangible and tangible all at the same time depending on the strength of his power and he can seep into you if you allow your wishes to be brought to fruition. He's a disease that penetrates the mind and seeps into your soul. Very creepy and very different. I liked it.

What I didn't get, though, was that he occupied the shutters in the tower. I had a hard time picturing that. The idea was that if the shutters were ever opened, it would unleash the vampire so to prevent that, there were shutters both inside and outside the windows. I just didn't get it. In the last book we see just where the vampire resides and by that book it's clear that he is confined to the tower until someone releases him. I don't think it centers around the shutters as much as the first book intoned.

So, the bottom line is that the last book, Fatal Bargain, is the best out of all of them. It has the most depth, it's the creepiest, the least superficial and the most well-rounded. The other two, pick one, read it and move on. The writing, to me anyway, culminates in that final book. The first two were just way too similar and stocked with cardboard characters for my liking.

But all three of them get bonus points for the creep of a vampire. It's not something I see often, a vampire in this form, and it makes me like it even more. He's portrayed as the evil, disgusting piece of rot he actually is and it makes the character that much more spine-chilling.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

First published in 2008.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to blend into society again.

But the kids at Oakvale High don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear - for good.

With her pale skin and goth wardrobe, Phoebe Kendall has never run with the popular crowd. But no one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids: not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor Adam, the star of the football team. Adam as realized that his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her - but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy? (book flap blurb)

I like my fiction as stories, first and foremost. I read fiction so that I can escape from the world churning around me. 99.9% of the time, authors write with some kind of meaning in their writing, a lot of that is subconscious. A lot of fiction writers write the story first but, without helping it, some kind of theme will usually emerge from the fun. That's fine. What I don't like is when my fiction is really just a ruse to beat people about the head with a message they "should" be learning. That, to me, is not the purpose of fiction. Fiction is escapism. What fun is it to escape pressing matters and run into the arms of . . . pressing matters? Boo.

Yeah, I get it. Intolerance sucks. Idiocy sucks. Irrational thinking sucks. But why couldn't the story just be told instead of force-feeding the readers with the lesson of tolerance? People are people, no matter what their skin color is. And in this case, no matter what their pulse status is either. Ok. I get it. Stop stuffing it down my throat and just tell me the damn story. This aspect alone, of heavily infusing such an issue, really writing about an issue thinly veiled by a zombie story, really kept turning me off to the book. I just don't like being preached to. I really don't.

However . . .

I liked Pete's story. Not because he's a bastard but because there's more going on there than a love-in. He's probably the most dynamic human in the entire piece because he has this huge issue with Julie, this jealously that fuels him. It makes you wonder, "what if she were to come back? would he be alright then?" He's much more polarizing and much harder to figure out. You know what Adam's going to do. You know what Phoebe and Margi are going to do. You know what Tommy's going to do. But Pete . . . he could go berserk or he could punk out but what are his motivations? Is it because he hates zombies? Or because he's jealous because his love didn't come back like the rest of them? I absolutely love that dynamic about him, that polarizing effect of his personality. There is another side to him, the side that died with Julie but still rears up every once in a while. Him I'd like to follow around.

The end of the book was in and of itself redeeming. Not because of the actions of the characters but because we finally get catapulted inside the head of a dead kid and we finally get to see, even though it's just for a second, what they really think, how they feel and how they want to act. It's truly terrifying; being trapped inside your own body and not being able to act or say what your brain so desperately wants to do. There's a disconnect with a fully functioning brain. How horrible is that? That is what interests me.

This is where my science geek comes out. I get wrapped up in the nuances of situations like this. How are they not rotting? How did they come back? The brain controls muscle movement. If being dead means brain death, how are they able to move? Talk? Think? Play football? Love? Screw the story. Give me a book on just that and I'll be in heaven.

But at the end of the day, even though I fully understand the glaring message this book is sending, it's not the same, is it? The racial divide in this country is about skin color. Nothing more than varying degrees of pigmentation in the epidermis. This book is about regenerated corpses. They are dead. No heart beat. No brain activity (for you are not legally dead until you are declared brain dead). They died, have risen from the dead and are now walking around. Yes, I understand the parallels of the lack of understanding. The sub-humanizing of Africans during the slave trade were equal parts ignorance and intolerance. Had those slave masters been tolerant enough to understand, they would have been made less ignorant. But in an age where we fully understand that a homo sapien is a homo sapien regardless of what the outside looks like, and we have scientific proof to substantiate that, how can the irrationality of being freaked the fuck out about reanimated corpses walking around be somehow illogical and ignorant? They're the walking dead.

I love my best friend to death. But if she died and however long later appeared at my door, I wouldn't put it past myself to grab a shovel and start swinging. Why? BECAUSE SHE'S A REANIMATED CORPSE. There's a difference between an irrational fear and a rational fear. An irrational fear is being afraid of someone based solely on their skin color, especially in a day and age when we know better. A rational fear is being afraid of someone that just climbed out of their own grave. Yes, over time, when society learns the facts as to the whys and hows of the situation, the fear would subside but don't kid yourself to think too many people are going to have the first reactions of *hug* to someone that carries a legal death certificate, especially when the phenomena is just beginning. The bigger hurdle is moving beyond that initial knee jerk fear into the level of tolerance and eventual understanding. Some will be quicker to do it, yes, but I think nearly all will have the same intial reaction. I do get it. Same message as the color of skin but there's a big different between dark skin and no pulse.

Aside from all of that, I felt the storytelling was a big robotic at times and a lot of the dialogue was stilted, especially amongst the teenagers. The reoccurrence of "it is" in speech really bugged me. Such a small thing, I know, but how often do you say "it is" instead of "it's"? It's simple things like contractions that can make dialogue more realistic. They don't have to be all slanged up but the propriety of a lot of the conversations just didn't jive with my realism flow.

At the end of the day, this was one of those books that had enough in it to keep me reading to the end and has me intrigued to read the sequel. Kudos to Waters for using a unique turn to send a familiar message. It's not something I'm going to rush out and buy. I'll read it in my own time. But just the prospect of being able to read and see the story from behind the eyes of a zombie is far too good to resist. If you can get past the skull-smashing of the message 2x4 the novel has, it's a pretty decent read.

ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

First published in 2008.

Sometimes high school really is a matter of life or death.

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I wake,
I pray the popular to attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school and then one day she really is. Even worse: she's dead. And all because of a guy and a gummy bear. (book back blurb)

Seriously, who could resist this pretty cover? It's all 3D and stands out from the regular paperbacks and hard bound books. Not to mention the page quality on the inside goes above and beyond most anything else in books on the shelves. It was so hard to resist but I caved eventually. Being human and all , nothing is 100%. While my Canadian friend and I have a near-identical taste in books, it's not exact. She liked this book and recommended to it me. Another motivating factor to pick it up. I, on the other hand, was very, very torn.

I wanted to like it. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. At the end, I was split two ways on it - one as a writer and the other as a reader.

As a writer, I just can't help but wonder why the editors let this slide. The headhopping at times got just downright confusing. Not only did it hop at breaks, which was much easier to handle, but it hopped from paragraph to paragraph. Walking the line between having a good third person omniscient and headhopping is very, very fine, not to mention subjective. What is a graceful segue from one character head to another over the course of a page is jarring head hopscotch to another. To me, these transitions were just not smooth.

And don't get me started on the dialogue tags. There were -ly words in that book that I didn't even know existed and that I'm pretty sure haven't made their way into Webster's yet. A couple had me going WTF? so that was something else to pull me out of the story.

The reader/writer blends from here on out because you don't have to be a writer to pick up on these next few things.

I thought Charlotte was an amazingly static character. A ghost with tunnel vision that wanted nothing more than to manipulate and use everyone and everything just so she could get the guy. Aside from the thoroughly superficial aspect of it all, and while it takes teenage obsession to what could be a very funny extreme, I don't think it worked here. In all honesty, I think the book was told, for the most part, from the POV of the wrong MC. I think it should have been Scarlet's story. She's a much more dynamic character, much more interesting and changes because of Charlotte to be a more open-minded person. Charlotte, on the other hand, changes not a bit.

Until the end, apparently, where the change is so sudden and out of the blue that you're left going, "did I just get poked in the eye?" I understand the point being made and the difference between the chase and obtaining but considering that whole moment lacked internal thought of any kind that could potentially explain the shift, it had me going WTF? All of a sudden Charlotte and Prue are buddy/buddy and she no longer wants Damen. Huh? No segue, so shift, just bam! 180. Story ends.

Charlotte just really pissed me off as a character. I was ready to call Ghostbusters on her ass and have her incarcerated in one of their traps just so she'd cut out the incessant want to get with Damen. I cared so much more about all of the other characters and her big "lesson learned" at the end seemed written as an afterthought. As if the author forgot the book had to end, wrote that in quickly and everything's all sewn together nice and neat. I just found it unbelieveable. There was no change in the character up until that very moment at the end where everything gets resolved. No change. None. No second thoughts, no second guesses, no "maybe I shouldn't do this." It was all just Damen, Damen, Damen. "How can I get Damen?" And then, as if her meds wore off, "Nah, I don't want him anymore." WTF?

For all the pretty packaging, I don't think what's on the pages is all that stellar. I think there could be a really good story in there but like I said, I think the focus was on the wrong character. It could have been so much better if Scarlet were center stage. On an upside, though, I think it would make a cute Tim Burton movie. Definitely. Saw that the entire way through. And at least the dark humor and jokes wouldn't fall flat in a Burton flick.

This is one of those library books. Really, it could go either way. I've without a doubt read worse but I've absolutely read better. Check it out from your local or borrow it from a friend before getting sucked in by the wrapping and splurging on your own copy. It might not be everything you thought it looked like it could be.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

First published in 2006.

If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world.

We hope you never have to encounter one.

Having On Demand is a dangerous thing. A couple of button clicks and I can have a new release playing on my TV. I kept seeing the trailers for the movie version of this book and eventually my curiosity got the better of me. I watched it and felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and lit on fire by a flame thrower. Now, I'm a crier at movies but usually it's a few tears that can easily be wiped away. Here it was full-on body-wracking sobs. The ending was just . . . horrible.

I was in the middle of reading another book when I watched that and once I finished that, I picked up this one so I could compare. It's a very fast read and it's a story kept in its simplest terms because of the fact it's told from the POV of a nine-year-old boy. It couldn't get more in depth because it wouldn't have stayed true to the voice. But I just don't think this book had as much impact at its movie counterpart.

I think the deviation from Bruno's POV in the movie, the brief glimpses into his mother's and father's world, made the impact of the ended that much more bitter a pill to swallow. The emotion was that much more intense and the passivity of Bruno was watered down with the lives of those people around him.

It's not like the book wasn't good. It's wholeheartedly unique in the fact that it's telling a much-told story from a very different, and naive, perspective. In the interview at the end of the book, Boyne comments on people asking how Bruno wouldn't know what was going on and where he was. Boyne's response was that adults didn't have that kind of enlightenment and didn't know what was going on until the liberations. How would a sheltered nine-year-old boy know then? Very good point.

But the ending . . . while the movie remained true to the book, I just felt the book lacked the same kind of impact. Had I not seen the movie and read the book first, I don't know if I would have grasped what just happened at the end because the insinuation of what was going on was so passive. Which was the point of the book but, in my eyes anyway, that tempered it a bit.

Yes, it's very sobering to read what happened to Bruno but being able to see the actions and reactions of those around him like the movie showed allowed for a little more depth and a little more understanding of what was going on around him. Again, not having that information was the point of the book. You are looking at this insane world through the eyes of a nine-year-old. You're not supposed to know all that was going on. And I don't think you truly know what's going on even though the end. The movie spells that out for you. I guess that's just something I need for greater impact.

I want to see the reactions of his parents and more of his sister and just what kind of solder Lt. Kotler was because it rounds out the picture more. I don't know how mature and aware your average nine-year-old is but Bruno must have lived a very sheltered and spoiled life for the way he acted and how he didn't notice what was going on around him (the smell at the camp alone, which in the movie he reacted to, in the book it was never mentioned, or the way he kept noticing how skinny Schmuel was and how hungry the boy kept saying he was and when Bruno tried to bring him food, he would get "peckish" and eat it all on the way, that really bothered me, at 9 I would think the kid would know better). The movie gave him a little more credit in the maturity department. There was a little more there to work with. Bruno was more receptive.

The intent of the book hit its mark. It told a unique story from a unique perspective. I just happened to like the movie better. Walking away, I felt more from the film than I did the book.

Cathy's Book by Sean Stewart, Jordan Weisman and Cathy Briggs

First published in 2006.

If your name isn't Emma, put this book down, BACK OFF, and nobody gets hurt!

Emma - I know it all sounds crazy. You (and Mom!) will be wondering where I've been disappearing to, and when I'll be back. That's why I'm leaving you all this evidence - in case something happens and I DON'T come back.

Look at everything in my book. Call the phone numbers. Check out the websites. But you can't tell ANYBODY about it, unless you want to end up over your head, like me.

So don't worry. I'll be OK (I think). Hey, maybe this is the beginning of a new life for me. For sure it's the end of the old one.

Call me.

Love, Cathy (book back blurb)

I caught this one on the bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble. The whole packaging just drew me in (not to mention the $6 price!). The drawings, the package of stuff at the beginning, the whole journal set-up. For the price, I decided to give it a try.

Well this was definitely an interesting one. I loved Cathy's voice even though her persistence in the whole situation got a little grating every once in a while. I have to agree with her mom in the "you better find a rich guy to support you" mantra because of her tendency to brush off her studies. What can I say? I'm a school person. And in a world where the Bachelor's degree is the new high school diploma, trashing out on school to dream and stalk an ex-boyfriend is not the best of ideas. I'm a creative, dreamy type of person but I'm not deluded enough to think my dreaming will pay my bills. So the story tweaked that logical side of my brain every so often. But not nearly enough to give up on it. Not even close.

I really liked all of the characters, especially Mr. Tsao, but Emma, well, I didn't see what Cathy saw in her. Her ego-maniacal insistence to carry out her 30/30 plan at the expense of Cathy, I didn't see that "I'm there for you, now you need to be there for me" type of thing. Offering a helping hand is one thing. Offering yourself up to marry a rich psycho just to help your friend fulfill her superficial dream of being rich so she doesn't have to be poor is a little much. Wasn't too fond of that dynamic.

But aside from that, it was a really interesting story. I kept getting really frustrated because I wanted more information and more explanation that what we were given but thus is the burden of remaining in first person. We only know what Cathy knows and how frustrating it must be for her being in the middle of it! I was right there with her the entire time, especially every time she went to San Francisco. I love San Francisco! I blew through this book because I just kept wanting to find out what was going to happen next. And I love the set-up of the entries and their little titles.

I love the little doodles throughout the book and I even pulled up some of the websites in all the paperwork that came with the book. What I especially liked was the ending. SO didn't see that one coming! I won't spoil it but what I will say is I love the scientific aspect of a very prevalent trope in a saturated YA market. It was very refreshing, especially the build-up to it all. It leads you down one road only to have a bum-rusher come along and thrust you into another lane at the very last second. Very awesome.

If you can find this in the bargain bin like I did, I highly recommend snatching it up. If not, buy it anyway. It's money well spent.