Book Theme Graphic - Oh the Horror

 

Book Review - White Smoke

 📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

White Smoke

by Tiffany D. Jackson

Marigold’s mom has accepted a new job with a Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house in the midwestern city of Cedarville. So now the family, including Mari’s younger brother Sammy, new stepfather, and new stepsister Piper, lives in a newly renovated house, surrounded by many abandoned boarded-up houses. Mari should be excited to run from her problems back home, but this home comes with new issues. The house appears to be haunted, as many bizarre things happen. The more time the family stays in the house, the more danger they find themselves.

This story may be Jackson’s first horror novel, but it still has the same Jackson vibe. Readers will be engaged in this wild ride and have no idea what will happen next. Mari is an unreliable narrator, and that really works in this story. If you are looking to get into horror, this is an excellent place to start.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

Book Theme Graphic - Beware of Reading Before Bed (Horror)

 

E-book

• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
• Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
• There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
• The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart

Book Review - Dread Nation

📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

Dread Nation

by Justina Ireland

            It’s the American Civil War and the North and South are fighting each other, but then they face a new common enemy when the dead start to rise. It’s years later and African-Americans are trained in special schools to fight the dead. Jane is among those being trained at Miss Preston’s School for Combat in Baltimore. When families start to go missing, Jane tries to find one in particular but gets caught snooping around. Her punishment is to be sent out West where a new town is being formed, but things there aren’t as perfect as the residents are being lead to believe.

            Fans of The Walking Dead should give this a try as the format is similar in the dead being a big part of the story, but it not being a complete zombie story. Jane is a likable character whom readers will root for. Unfortunately, the story is slow to start but picks up as she heads out West. The ending though will have readers itching for the sequel which is expected to be out sometime next year.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio