waiting on wednesday (32)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

If there’s any story that is truly classic English children’s literature, it is Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  That beguiling, mad, strange story of a girl who inadvertently visits  another world has been retold in film and book form over and over again.  And it is very evident, if one looks at my reading history, that I am fond of adaptations and retellings.  For heaven’s sake, fairy tales are very nearly my favorite fantasy subgenre! 

Oh, and I like zombies.  Enough so that I have friends who draw me original zombie artwork for my birthday and send me zombie bonbons on Valentine’s Day.  Ahem.  So it would seem that a new young adult novel meshing Alice in Wonderland with zombies would… appeal.  AND BOY DOES IT EVER.  Pardon the volume.  I’m just so excited (really!).  I mean, tell me YOU can resist a book with the tag line 'Off with their heads.'  I can't.  Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter will be published by Harlequin Teen, and releases on September 25th, 2012.

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave.  

Forever. 

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.  

Her father was right. The monsters are real. 

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

What books are you waiting on?

scary school

In these days of vampires, werewolves and zombies, it is natural to wonder what life would be like if those creatures inhabited the real world (yes, I’m assuming they don’t already. feel free to prove me wrong). Even more exciting, what if there were a special school for all of the monstrous children? In fact, I don’t know if that’s exciting after all, or just plain scary. This is the premise of Derek the Ghost’s middle grade fantasy, Scary School.

You think your school's scary?

Get a load of these teachers:

Ms. Fang, an 850-year-old vampire


Dr. Dragonbreath, who just might eat you before recess


Mr. Snakeskin—science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie


Mrs. T—break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex!

Plus

Gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose


The world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch

And

The narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost!

Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends—including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf—and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky!

Derek the Ghost is not only the author of Scary School, he’s the narrator, as well. If it wasn’t obvious, he’s also a ghost. Why is he a ghost? Because he was once a student at Scary School, and… well… he met a fate that many students of that place do. Scary School is a stream-of-consciousness tale of life during one year at Scary School. It follows the many eccentric teachers and students, and chronicles their adventures, unique challenges, and brushes with death.

That’s not to say that Scary School is serious – no! It is a light-hearted (and sometimes farcical) adventure. Scary School is a place filled with endless stories, strange rules, unimaginable creatures, and trials that take a special sort of thinking to conquer. What is required? A sense of humor, an appreciation for the ridiculous, and a strong streak of curiosity, mixed liberally with self-preservation.

Two things helped Derek the Ghost’s Scary School stand out in a good way: 1) Inspired imagination and 2) Fantastic illustrations by Scott M. Fischer. Scary School is home to creatures of all sizes and many different origins. From dinosaurs to vampires to patchwork monsters, the horizon is full of interesting and freaky creatures. These are brought to life in the pages not only with words, but with masterful, whimsical artwork as well. These will keep any reader turning the pages!

Two things that took away from the overall enjoyment of an inventive book? 1) Repetition of certain phrases (‘But more about that later’ being an egregious example) and 2) Lack of a clear central protagonist to cheer for. In all, Scary School is a silly, funny book with touches of the ridiculous, and should appeal to many, despite these faults. Want to learn more? Check out Derek the Ghost’s author guest post.

Recommended for: readers at the younger end of the middle grade spectrum, those who enjoy a harebrained tale of monsters and beasties, and younglings with overactive imaginations.

Fine print: I received an ebook of Scary School for honest review from the author. Thanks!

z: zombie stories

Back in September, when I discovered that Night Shade Books was releasing a young adult zombie anthology, I wondered what that would look like (and I told myself to hope for the best). After checking out the author lineup, I knew I’d find stories equally interesting, weird and well-written in this volume. And I did. I just didn’t quite bargain for the crazy, gross and not-right that came along with. But, after all, it’s zombies. You’ll say I shouldn’t have been surprised.

When the zombie apocalypse comes, it's not just those crusty old folks who will struggle against the undead, it's the young people. What happens when you come of age during the zombie apocalypse? Z: Zombie Stories has the answer to that question. Z: Zombie Stories gathers together some of the hottest zombie fiction of the last two decades, from authors including Kelly Link, Jonathan Maberry, and Catherynne M. Valente. These stories focus on those who will inherit a world overrun with the living dead: a young man who takes up the family business of dealing with the undead, a girl struggling with her abusive father...who has become a zombie, a poet who digs up the wrong grave, and a Viking maiden imprisoned with the living dead...

All of the entries in this anthology (except for the final story) have been published previously in other volumes, and some of them were already familiar to me. Of course, that doesn’t diminish their charm. I’ll say a little something brief about each one, shall I? Great.

“Family Business” by Jonathan Maberry

“Family Business” appears to be the first several chapters of Maberry’s young adult zombie novel, verbatim. I reviewed Rot & Ruin here on the blog. This excerpt should draw you in and make you want to learn more about the Imura brothers and their quest to survive.

“The Wrong Grave” by Kelly Link

A disturbing and funny tale about a boy who digs up the wrong grave – and finds something entirely unexpected (and persistent). There’s a good dose of magic and side of uncanny in this tale. Fans should next look to Link’s Pretty Monsters.

“The Days of Flaming Motorcycles” by Catherynne M. Valente

If I’m honest with myself, this is the story I was most excited to read. Valente has a way with words, and it doesn’t desert her here. “Flaming Motorcycles” is about a girl living in the remains of Augusta, Maine, but it’s also a meditation on the nature of zombies, acceptance, and what could possibly be important after death. True and truly weird.

“The Barrow Maid” by Christine Morgan

I never thought I’d write this, but Viking zombies are the freakiest and best idea ever. “The Barrow Maid” combined epic storytelling in the style of Beowulf with the undead – a startling, unnerving, genius mixture of creepy and outstanding.

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Scott Nicholson

Would you like a chilling, atmospheric story that will drift into your mind like mist and never let go? This story’s spiritual overtones somehow made the apocalypse seem more eerie and terrible than ever. Beautifully written, and the sort of thing that might inspire nightmares, in a The Knife of Never Letting Go sort of way.

“The Dead Kid” by Darrel Schweitzer

Not what I would call a teen-friendly story, this one veers into horror territory. It is unsettling and all-around freaky.

“Seven Brains, Ten Minutes” by Marie Atkins

If you like your zombie stories gory, this one’s for you. Somehow until now I’ve managed to read a lot of zombie lit without reaching a level of gross-out. Well, I’m there now. Scott’s ‘evolution’ certainly made me queasy. Not for weak stomachs.

“The Third Dead Body” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Hoffman does deeply disturbing very, very well. There’s no beating around the bush – this entry is HORROR, and it’s also full of revenge, twisted longing, and extreme violence. Adults only.

“The Skull-Faced Boy” by David Barr Kirtley

In this tale, it’s about die-and-live or die-and-kill, and the result is a battle not between the living and the dead, but between those with consciences and those without. It doesn’t end well, and in the end is a sickening portrait of the worst in humanity.

“The Human Race” by Scott Edelman

Terrorism, dark despair, and a zombie outbreak combine to create a perfect storm of hopelessness for one girl. “The Human Race” explores what people can withstand – and what will probably destroy us all.

“Deepwater Miracle” by Thomas Roche

To end the collection, a story with a bit of light-hearted survival. Okay, it’s not so light-hearted, but SURVIVAL. After the darkness in the middle of the anthology, this one brings you back out into the light. How? Two brothers stuck on a boat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico figure out how to go on while the world on land ends around them. Gripping reading.

In Z: Zombie Stories, editor J.M. Lassen brings together well-written stories of mayhem and apocalypse. However, the level of scary and disquieting varies from story to story, and it is not for everyone. While each tale may feature a teenager, the entries are not necessarily young adult. For those seeking a gentler initiation into the world of zombies, check out Justine Lavaworm and Holly Black’s Zombies vs. Unicorns instead.

Recommended for: mature teens and adults accustomed to horror, and those who can’t resist the unsettling power of a good zombie tale.

Fine Print: I read an e-ARC of Z: Zombie Stories courtesy of Night Shade Books and NetGalley.

rot & ruin

Zombie novels. You’ve heard about them (many on this very blog!). They’re taking a bite out of the competition. SORRY! I had to do it – the jokes are just there, waiting to be told. But seriously, what has brought them out of the relative obscurity of horror (again, no offense meant), and plopped them into mainstream young adult literature, one of the fastest growing markets in publishing?

I think that part of the answer is that a good zombie story asks big questions, questions that everyone ponders when they realize that life isn’t simple, sweet or easy. What is humanity? What is the difference between a monster and a hero? What defines right, and what is evil? And what, if anything, can one person do to make the world a better place?

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Benny Imura is an angry, unhappy, and fairly typical teen living behind a fence – a fence that fends off the zombie apocalypse. If it sounds crazy, it is a bit, but Jonathan Maberry brings the world of Rot & Ruin into immediate and vivid focus, and the reader is sucked into a tragic reality that makes a scary amount of sense. But in this story, nothing is as it seems, especially Benny’s brother Tom.

I think of this novel in terms of emotion. When we meet Benny, he is consumed by hatred. As his story progresses, he feels horror, disgust, despair, remorse, hope, and love – not necessarily in that order. It is a journey into adulthood, a loss of innocence, and a revelation of both the best and worse of humanity – and an ultimate adventure and survival story. It is gripping and important reading.

I want to tell you a little something about my reaction to this book, in case you’re not sure you want to delve into something bleak and zombified. It took me a year to start reading Rot & Ruin. It got fantastic reviews from people I trusted, but I still wasn’t sure I wanted to go deep into an apocalyptic setting. But I started it, and I was struck by the anger, genuine anger in Benny’s psyche that bleeds through the writing. And THEN my dad stole my paperback while he and my mom were visiting. He was so engrossed that I knew it wasn’t just me – this was a special book. And after that, it was just a matter of finding time to finish the story.

Recommended for: fans of coming-of-age sagas and Patrick Ness’ The Knife of Never Letting Go, readers of all generations, guys and girls, zombie and apocalypse enthusiasts, and anyone who has wondered if they have the capacity for the extraordinary inside themselves.

zombie wedding party (bonus factor: ME)

One of my best friends got married this August. I was in the wedding party. I may have instigated a zombie bridesmaids pose. The photographer might be a friend and might have gotten really excited about it. The results? Pretty freaking spectacular.




Details: I'm to the immediate left of the bride. AKA, the head zombie. The photographer is Nathan Mitchell. Photos belong to him. He's awesome and hilarious. You should hire him if you have an event in the DC area.

Remember, it's September Zombies month, and you can still enter to win my young adult zombie book giveaway.

waiting on wednesday (16)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

Like last week, I’m looking forward to zombie books (in honor of September Zombies month). In fact, if you’d like to win a current YA zombie novel, make sure you check out my giveaway. My picks are Courtney Summers’ This Is Not a Test and Lia Habel’s Dearly, Departed. Summers’ book takes a look at survival and death, and the reasons to fight for both. Habel’s Dearly, Departed is a steampunk/zombie mashup that sounds like it has potential for both awesome and the ridiculous. This Is Not a Test will be released on June 12, 2012 by St. Martin’s Griffin. Dearly, Departed will make its debut on October 18, 2011 from Del Rey Books.

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up.

As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, everyone’s motivations to survive begin to change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life–and death–inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune, and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble...and dead.

In Dearly, Departed, steampunk meets romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

What books are you waiting on?

teaser tuesday (69)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted every week by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page (or if you're reading on an electronic device, pick a random number and scroll to that section). Post two or more sentences from that page, along with the book title and author. Share your find with others in the comments at Should Be Reading, and don't give anything vital away!

“‘Fine,’ I huffed. ‘I’ll clear my busy social schedule if it means that much to you.’

Kiki threw her arms up in triumph, knocking the dissection tray to the floor.”

p. 11 of Carrie Harris’ Bad Taste in Boys

I'm reading Bad Taste in Boys as a part of September Zombies month.

my life as a white trash zombie

Honesty is the best policy… I had no intention of reading this book. The title made me wince, for heaven’s sake. But you know what? Dan Dos Santos’ cover art is AWESOME. I passed the book the first time in the bookstore and had to stop to take it all in, read the back cover. I didn’t buy it that trip, but the second time I couldn’t resist. I ask you to please, please judge this book by its cover (and not the title). It was wicked fun and irreverent and better even than the zombie chick’s pink hair.

Teenage delinquent Angel Crawford lives with her redneck father in the swamps of southern Louisiana. She's a high school dropout, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and on probation for a felony. But when she wakes up in the E.R. after an overdose and car crash without a scratch and a receives a job offer at the county morgue, life starts to get weird…

Angel is a loser, and she knows it. She’s not proud of her life – in fact, she’s pretty disgusted with herself. Well, that is until she wakes up in the hospital with a fragmented memory and a really strange craving for human brains. What the heck happened to Angel, and who is responsible for a rash of murders around the county?

My Life as a White Trash Zombie reads as part paranormal mystery, part CSI investigation, and part wise-cracking journey to personal growth, with a dash of romance and general uncertainty thrown in. Did I mention that it was hilarious? And that Angel, despite her many faults, is pretty wise? Also: that a certain police officer is hot? Well, it’s all true.

Angel is a complex character. Based on her history of bad decisions and choices made throughout the book, I thought it would be tough to love her (I can’t abide stupid). But Angel, as it turns out, is self-aware and intelligent, and she’s fed up with what she’s made of her life. She discovers a deep will to live, and she’s determined not to let her second chance evaporate.

Setting and secondary characters also help Angel shine. The rural county she hails from, her decrepit house, the trailer her sometime-ex-boyfriend lives in, and even the morgue – are vivid scenery for the shenanigans and craziness that make up her everyday existence. Add in sympathetic coworkers, an aversion to cops (even though she works for them!), and some kooky citizens and murders, and you get the recipe for one of the most entertaining zombie books I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

Have I convinced you to pick this book up? It’s adult or mature teen fare (see above references to drugs, violence, etc.), it’s zombies with a humorous bite, and it’s definitely more-enjoyable-than-expected. Shall I show you the cover art again? Well, that should settle it.

Recommended for: fans of Zombieland and/or CSI, anyone with a penchant for well-written fun, and those who appreciate the underdog (err…zombie) overcoming the odds and finding a new and improved ‘life.’

I read My Life as a White Trash Zombie as part of the September Zombies event.

young adult zombie book giveaway

It is September Zombies Month, and to celebrate I’m offering a giveaway. Each year the zombie oeuvre grows, and this year there are several new (or just new-to-me) entries into the young adult zombie canon. Below is my list, in all of its zombified glory.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

Z: Zombie Stories edited by J.M. Lassen

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

and Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (for kicks)

Giveaway details: Two entrants will receive their choice of young adult zombie book from the list above. Giveaway open internationally, will close on September 30, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. Winners will be selected randomly and notified via email. To enter, simply fill out the FORM. Good luck!

teaser tuesday (68)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted every week by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page (or if you're reading on an electronic device, pick a random number and scroll to that section). Post two or more sentences from that page, along with the book title and author. Share your find with others in the comments at Should Be Reading, and don't give anything vital away!

“‘You didn’t even really know the people you lost – you were too young – but you got this red-hot hate going on. I’ve only known you half an hour, and I can see it coming out of your pores. What’s that all about? We’re safe here in town.’”

p. 23 of Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin

I'm reading Rot & Ruin in conjunction with the September Zombies event.

recommended reading and giveaway winners

It's pretty clear that I loved Catherynne M. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. That novel reawakened my sense of wonder and set me on a path of adventure. You should love it too, if you don't already. Why don't you already? You're cautious? Okay, I can work with that. Try a taste of Valente's writing before you commit to her book, and check out the prequel/companion novelette, The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While.

[illustration by Ana Juan, sole property of Tor/Macmillan]

If you're gearing up for September Zombies (or just plain enjoy good, creepy writing), there's nothing better than Queen of Atlantis, a fantastic short story by Sarah Reese Brennan. A little bit of death, a princess, a sacrifice and some mythology mixed together to create a bittersweet and beautiful tale. Check it.

And to round out Saturday on the blog, I present August and September contest winners:

Donna of Book Lovers Paradise won my Glow ARC giveaway

Mervi won my 600 followers giveaway

Melissa won my Norwegian Wood giveaway

and Ren of All By MySHELF won my All These Things I've Done giveaway

Congratulations, winners! Stay tuned next week for another contest opportunity!

september is for zombies (and book blogger appreciation week)

For the last couple of years I’ve participated in Velvet’s September Zombies celebration for the month of September, and this year it’s no different. It’ll really pick up towards the end of the month, so watch out for some zombie-related content here at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia and at vvb32reads from September 20th-30th (including a giveaway opportunity!).

Also in the near future: BBAW, or Book Blogger Appreciation Week. BBAW is in its fourth year in the book blogging world. On my blog this year’s event will feature an interview swap, daily blogging topics (if I get around to them) and a giveaway. The official dates for BBAW are September 12-16. Check in for the interview swap on September 13th!

Tell me: are you participating in September Zombies and/or Book Blogger Appreciation Week?

happy halloween

I’m not really a Halloween person. I don’t do scary, and I’m not a huge fan of dressing up, so it makes sense. Now Christmas – give me Christmas any day (yes, even in July). BUT! Over the last year and a half my tolerance for zombies has grown into something fairly substantial. And some of my friends have dubbed me the ‘zombie girl.’ What better night to actually try out my zombie face than Halloween? So, for your viewing pleasure, a step-by-step transformation…

The blank page. I usually don't wear my hear pulled back like this, but the YouTube 'how to' videos strongly suggested it. LOVE that there are tutorials on how to do zombie makeup. I mean, seriously awesome.

The tools (thank you, generic party store).

After applying the white base coat. I already look pretty crazy, but there's plenty of ground to cover. Err...brains to eat!

The finished product. I smudged black and grey around my eyes, and used the 'vampire blood' to create a realistic look on my shirt. Because I didn't really want blood on my face.

Pretty freaky, huh? It was FUN. And kind of perfect. Because when we went out, everyone thought it was cool, but no one got too close. Just the way I like it…

september zombie event comes to a close...with unicorns?

Part of the fun of the ‘zombie craze’ is that authors who wouldn’t usually write a zombie story are getting on board and adding to our culture’s overall entertainment value. This includes authors of young adult books. And this is also how an anthology called Zombies vs. Unicorns comes into existence. Only an awesome, completely ridiculous world could spawn such a wondrous thing. And yes, I’m going overboard. I think you like it.

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Holly and Justine are like competing Most Extreme Challenge (MXC) moderators. And by that, I mean they’re taking potshots at each other, each other’s choice of mythical being, and at the individual contestants (err…stories), all while being dubbed over in a foreign language. The result is hilarious, and the book is worth reading if only for their ‘introductory’ comments. BUT! Let me highlight my favorites for you and convince you to read this for yourself....

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Alaya Dawn Johnson

A dark, music-heavy zombie story featuring two misunderstood young men. One is struggling not to become a monster, the other already is – can they change? Is there hope?

“Purity Test” by Naomi Novik

Made of hilarious, in all sorts of ways. Combine a snarky heroine, a unicorn who can’t be too fussed about particulars, and five baby unicorns addicted to chocolate milk – what could go wrong?

“Bougainvillea” by Carrie Ryan

A seriously haunting story that draws from the true horror inheritance of the zombie canon. It’s a magnetic tale, set in the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, very shortly after the Return, on the island of Curaçao.

“The Children of the Revolution” by Maureen Johnson

Is the protagonist TSTL (too stupid to live) or just unlucky? Maureen Johnson crafts a hilarious and slightly horrifying zombie story that manages to do make fun of both celebrity adoptions and celebrity cults. Funny + frightful = fantastic.

“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund

Tragedy, teenage angst, a freak show, and a baby killer unicorn make for an out-of-the-ordinary story. Fans of Peterfreaund’s Rampant and Ascendant will be pleased, and newcomers to killer unicorns will probably be both confused and entertained. But what’s not to love about a boy named Yves?

“Cold Hands” by Cassandra Clare

Wow. Stunning story that takes the zombie trope and turns it on its head. Weird, wonderful (if you can use that word in conjunctions with a zombie story) and chilling. I think I may scream the next time someone with cold hands touches me.

“The Third Virgin” by Kathleen Duey

Mix a sociopathic unicorn in with a scarred young girl, and you have a disturbing story in an extremely well-written sort of way.

“Prom Night” by Libba Bray

What better way to close out the anthology than with a chilling, absorbing, but not so gory or violent that it’s painful sort of tale. One word? Haunting. Explores how people cope with loss, inevitable mortality, and what the law really means. Big themes for this magnificent (and oddly funny) little tale.

Recommended for: fans of zombies, unicorns, anyone not sure about either but willing to dip a toe in and test the waters, and those who like a little bit of horror with their comedy (but only every once in a while). Silly, suitable fun for the older teen set. Enjoy!

This is my final entry in the September Zombies event. Yay!

tyger tyger, burning bright

I owe Kersten Hamilton. Twice. First, she introduced me to NetGalley. If you’re not acquainted with NetGalley yet, I’m putting on my commanding voice and ordering you to go over to the website RIGHT NOW. Trust me. Read books before they’re released, for free on your computer. That concept? All sorts of awesome. And Kersten was a love and sent a link and explained the whole thing to me, adding, of course, that I could check out the galley for her novel on the website.

Second, she wrote Tyger Tyger. This book was fresh and interesting and UNIQUE. I alternately laughed and cried over it the other night, and my roommates worried until I looked up with a teary smile and said that I was reading a really good book. After that, they let me finish it in peace. My only real complaint is that the sequel will take so much time to arrive!

Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.

Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right.

The goblins are coming.

True story: I’m a horrible procrastinator. I got the note about this lovely book back in April? May? And didn’t read it until this month. I call this my hoarding tendency. If a book looks REALLY good, and I have access to it, I sometimes hold off on reading it, thinking that I’ll need it to get me out of a funk or to keep me occupied on the Metro or some such. When I know perfectly well that the Metro is always full of interesting people to watch, and that good books should definitely be read NOW.

Luckily, Juju at Tales of Whimsy reviewed this one and was super-enthusiastic about it ("beguiling, fresh, earnest?" sounds like love!). Then Heather of BURIED IN BOOKS urged me on by saying that it had zombies. And as it happens, I’m in the midst of the September Zombies Event. So…done deal. Turns out the ‘zombies’ are a sort of disgusting cat goblin, but that’s perfectly fine. Zombie = zombie equals zombie. It counts.

About the story: Tea thinks her family is normal. Well, weird maybe, but normal, when tragic things start happening,… and she begins to see things. Or does she? Then her cousin Finn arrives to disrupt the life she has all mapped out, and trouble follows him wherever he goes. Thus begins the adventure of a family caught between two worlds. It’s full of Irish legend and myth, and the rich descriptions of the creatures on both sides (or is it worlds?) are simply gorgeous.

I don’t think I can praise the inclusion of Irish myth enough. It was new to me (and probably will be to a lot of readers, even if they’re fantasy buffs), but it was woven in right with the rest of the story, and used to such an effect that I felt surprised and gratified when I figured things out. That may be a good test for a well-written book – if it teaches you something new in such a way that you are only impressed, and don’t feel ‘taught.’ This was such a one.

Hamilton’s story tugs on the emotions. Even while I alternately appreciated the fantastical elements and wondered a bit at certain gaps in the plot, I was feeling everything intensely. It’s not perfectly told, but I connected to it. It’s rather violent in parts, and some decisions made by the characters were hard – so hard! But I never felt cheated or wronged. Instead, it was emotional, un-put-downable, and a terrific start to a series that I’ll be reading to the very end.

Recommended for: fans of fantasy and fairy tales, emotive and romantic (in the best sense of the word!) YA lit, darkness with a heaping side of hope, worlds just beyond our own, and adventures that aren’t all that they seem.

Tyger Tyger will be released by Clarion Books on November 15, 2010. I received an e-galley from NetGalley for review.