The Outsiders, are not outsiders anymore.

Gangs and guys named Ponyboy. I know, sounds tough doesn’t it. Okay, names aside, this book is really about growing up in the hood. It seriously brought back some of the tension of growing up around gang stuff and the great social divide (at my school those were two separate issues but both present). The economic divisions and the tension that results are still there in just about every urban city in the nation. This book made me feel the anxiety of going to school and holding down the stress that results from a regular barrage of violence that you see in the halls and then doing everything you can to avoid being part of it. Ponyboy and his buddies are trying to live life, for the most part, without all the trouble that surrounds them. Unable to just change their surroundings, they stick it out in their neighborhood and deal with all that comes with that. In the end, violence gets what it wants and they live with what it brings.

The Outsiders, was written by a 16 year old S.E. Hinton. That blows me away. I read stuff written by some of the brightest public school kids in Oklahoma City and nothing is ever like this. The book stirred up all of those fight our flight feelings that I often went to school with throughout middle school and high school. As a middle school teacher in an urban school district, it dredges up deep issues that are at the root of many of the problems that affect our schools. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a student who always seemed to be in a fight. When I sat down with him he said, “Mr. C., the thing you don’t realize is that this doesn’t end here at school. If I don’t do this at school where there is someone to stop it, then it happens out there where there is no one to. I would rather do it here where I know it will end.” What do you say to that? This book is a look into the lives of the kids for whom it never ends and there is rarely anyone to stop it before it goes too far. This book is a classic by my standards, and a book that should make it on every to-read list.  Not everyone is going to love it but I think it has enough in there for most if you stick with it all the way through. 

The Monstrumologist so good you might throw up in your mouth.

Body chomping, wide eyed, cadaver shrapnel and much more in this story that’s less about monsters and more about people. The Monstumologist is told through writings left by an elderly man named Will Henry when he died. Will Henry is left orphan when his parents die and is taken into the care of Dr. Warthrop. Dr. Warthrop has quite an unusual profession even for Victorian times, he is a monstrumologist (a scientist who studies monsters, at least in this book). Now, before you get all mushy about how sentimental this guy must be to take in a little orphan boy and raise him all by himself, let me just let you know that neither him nor Will Henry see it this way. Will Henry is at the beck and call of this insecure, needy, and demanding individual. This man is devoted to his work to the point of obsession and little else matters when he is in the thick of it, or so it seems. A late night knock on their door throws us full on into the hunt and introduces us to the life of the little orphan monstrumologist apprentice. Things are deeper than they appear and through the ups and downs and disgusting turns you find that not everything is what is seems.

Books don’t receive a Printz Medal Honor without having depth. There are times when your stomach will turn at the scenes that emerge from your imagination as you read this story, but behind all the action and gore is a story about people and the complicated relationships that we have. Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop have a relationship built out of necessity and yet in the midst of it is this realistically complicated mutual parent-child relationship. There’s something about orphans that can make you want to root for them and defend them and Will Henry is no exception. When you add an ensemble of supporting cast which are all equally intriguing to these two already incredible characters, you have a story worth reading more than once. It’s one of those stories that has gotten better after it has settled for a while. This is a book for those who love great stories that can give you that taste of horror without all the pointless slashing, screaming, and tripping on roots in the middle of the woods while running from the terrible ugly monster thing trying to cut you up to use in its sushi rolls. Be sure to dig into this one when you get a chance, but make sure you don’t overindulge yourself before you pick it up just in case you get one of the particularly “touching” scenes. 

Red Moon Rising(Advance Reading Copy) now not rising until Feb. 2011

Attending school at Carpathia Night means that if you are not Vamp then you are less than nothing. Being a wulf (yep, that’s how it’s spelled in this book) makes you the social outcasts. Danny Gray’s little problem is that he’s half wulf and half vamp and up until now the incomplete genetic treatments he received has gotten him by leaving people to believe that his other half is human. The vamps are now socially acceptable upper crust, since they don’t have to munch on humans anymore because SynHeme (synthetic blood) was developed. The wulves, on the other hand, can’t control their changing with the moon and are seen as ugly and the lowest level of social standing. Every month they are locked up for their change in government compounds. So, if you can avoid being a wulf, then you do. Danny’s treatments were never finished and his body may not be able to hold off the change the rest of his life, but will it hold off long enough to get out of high school or will it begin and change his life forever?

I wasn’t expecting this book to roll out the way it did. I guess I was expecting it to take itself as serious as the other vampire type books out there, so, when it went more the direction of Fat Vampire (that would be tongue in cheek, for those who have not read it) it took me a while to stagger back up to an upright position and settle in. A few little things bugged me off and on, like using made up names for products and celebrities that closely parallel real life names but are twice as corny (you’ll know them when you see them, I would hate to ruin the fun for you). The book was entertaining. It deals a lot with racism, and social class struggles and those always make me think about all that we still face in our “modern” society. I came to appreciate the humor that was in the book and the right level of intensity throughout to keep you going. There are lots of good relationships in story for both genders to get their minds around, and both will have fun reading this book. It’s not going to make you howl with laughter but it will feed your thirst for good reading throughout (little taste of the corny to get you started). Lock yourself up and give yourself a moonlit night of reading. Pre-Order it now so you won't forget to read it in February. 

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (UUUUUGGHHH!)

Elena, “Oh I’m so cool and popular why doesn’t this new guy see it. I mean he’s not that hot and all, I just want him to think I am as awesome as I think I am. Did I mention that I get what I want whenever I want it?” blah blah blah High school girl romance reads like middle school girl letters blah blah blah. Stefan has some blood issues (like he’s afraid he wants to drink Elena’s) Elena has control issues, drama, drama. Did I mention that vampire stuff happens.

So, in the end the book wasn’t terrible but it was hardly memorable. I am a closet Vampire Diaries TV show watching freak (I guess it’s out now) and my wife and I have watched the whole series from day one so it took me forever to think of these characters any different than the TV show. So, when they didn’t match up to the characters that I have come to know, it through me off. I happen to like the TV characters better than the book. The romance stuff in the book was so corny that I almost stopped a number of times but out of respect for authors and the hard work they put into their books I felt the necessity to push it to the end. I was definitely not inspired to dig into any more of the books but that’s just me. If you like reading old middle school romance notes and you find that stuff interesting then dig in. If you are a middle school teacher (me for example) you probably get enough of this kind of drama in one hour of teaching. Sorry L.J. Smith but I don’t see many guys digging in and loving it, but like I tell my students, don’t just take my word for it (unless I tell you that you will probably die doing it, speaking of, there is a few people that do this in the book. Maybe that makes it interesting to some people.) I think I am going to stick to the show.

Malice: Are you chickin'?

Tall Jake take me away, Tall Jake Take me away, Tall Ja..(cough, cough). The smoke gets me every time. I’m really not scared about ending up in Malice, it just that this whole burning things insid,e makes me choke every time and can never finish. Fortunately for Tall Jake, many kids don’t have that problem, Malice is one of those places where you get there by doing a little ritual and saying “Tall Jake take me away” six times (then wait around for creepy Tall Jake to whisk you away to the fun little place we call Malice).  Malice is also the name of a crazy comic book about Tall Jake and the kids that he takes. Of course, this is all just a big rumor and not really true at all (I have never seen this comic book). None of the kids really believe it to be true until Kady’s and Seth’s friend Luke disappears and a copy of Malice is found in his room with blank pages. Seth can’t let it go and things get weird for Kady after they begin to dig deeper into a story of a kid who recently reappeared after having gone missing and can’t remember anything about where he was. When Luke fails to reappear, Kady and Seth set out to find answers to connect Malice with the missing kids.

This book is mostly a regular novel but contains portions of graphic novel as we see pages of the comic Malice. The format works great for the book and I found myself pushing forward to get to the next graphic novel portion. It wasn’t an incredibly scary book but it did have that eerie feel at parts, as it kicked me back to the looking in the mirror in the dark with a candle and saying “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary.” It’s that whole thing of knowing it shouldn’t be true but scared that it might be. Tall Jake and Malice exist in this realm of rumor/myth. The idea was original and pretty intense all the way through. There is plenty of intense action and originality in this story and it kept me going. Did I mention that the hardcover book has an awesome 3D cover with Tall Jake on the front that drew everyone in who saw it? Well, It does, and it’s definitely cool. This is an everyone book that will leave you saying, “Tall Jake take me away.” (I think I only managed to say “Tall Jake take me away” four times, eeeeee, five times. That was close I almost said, “Tall Jake take me away” six times while this stupid concoction was still burning. Oh my gosh, what was that scratching. Momma?) 

Beastly: Why can't you just kiss my ugly face?

Arrogant overly vain Kyle treats people like crap because he’s so cool he can, mistreats the wrong chick so she takes away everything that makes him likable by turning him into an ugly beast. Now instead of getting all the chicks he wants, he can’t help but scare them away and everyone else along with them. One small catch, he has 2 years to get a girl to love him and kiss him or he stays the way he is forever (If I were writing this story I might call it Beauty Becomes the Beast and Then Can’t Change Back, but that would be a really long title so maybe Beastly works)

I know, just like me, you’re probably thinking, why redo a story that is such a household tale, and I’m not sure I know the answer to this. I will tell you, despite the fact that this whole story was so familiar, I couldn’t help but find myself still cheering for this character and getting involved in the story. The characters were written well enough to keep me engaged in spite of the story being so well known for me (penalty of growing up with a young sister who loved Disney movies).   In the end the story takes a slight unexpected turn and it ended up not all that bad. If you don’t mind a change-up of traditional fairy tales and would like another shot at Beauty and the Beast then this story beats watching the roses grow. 

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (Is teen alien redundant?)

Daniel X is your run of the mill teenage alien hunter hunting down the universe’s most wanted aliens. Did I mention that he can manipulate matter. (Insert eye roll here with long overly dramatic sigh.) What do you mean that you don’t think there’s anything “run of the mill” about teenage alien hunters? You don’t know what it means to manipulate matter? Okay, I’ll come down off my scientific high horse and speak to the “lay person.” He can make things real by imagining them to be, using stuff that already exists around him. Let me give you an example: he makes his friends by thinking them up and making them real, tangible, able to talk and act and think using atoms in the air. So, I guess that makes him unusual even for aliens (man am I off to a good start).  Daniel is hunting down alien outlaws on a list of aliens that live on planet earth (aka Terra Firma) or at least hang out here from time to time. He’s seeking revenge for the death of his parents (aren’t they all) who were killed by some other worldly giant praying mantis called, none other than, the Prayer. This time Daniel is seeking #6 Ergent Seth, and he may just have bit off more than he can chew.

The whole idea was kind of goofy from the start, but I kind of liked it anyway. Maybe I thought the story was about me (aka Daniel) or maybe it was just kind of fun. It was a pretty quick read and it was entertaining enough to want to read the other books in the series. As a science teacher, I always wonder why with all the diversity of life on our planet alone (don’t even get me started about Gliese 581), why are most aliens always pictured being like something that we already know. Kids are surprised everyday by little crazy looking things they discover in the microscope, but yet we can’t even stretch our imagination to come up with something with a different and strange form unlike anything we see on our planet (The Host by Stephanie Meyer was a pretty good form for an alien in my opinion)? With all that being  said, I think middle-schoolers and those with a liking for some good, quick, clean entertainment will enjoy their flight through this book. I’ll put the series on my list.

Rot & Ruin, fleshes out the inhumanity of it all.

Rot & ruin is what everyone calls the world outside of Mountainside. Mountainside is a protected village walled off from the world of the dead to protect the remaining living. Benny Imura is just trying to get by in life and trying to keep his food rations coming despite turning fifteen, the point at which not having a job would result in no food. Benny doesn’t really want to work at all, but he wants to keep eating. Benny’s brother Tom is a zombie hunter and wants Benny to join him in the family business. Their parents died during the zombie outbreak and Benny has little memory of that night. What Benny remembers about that night is that his brother was a coward because he took Benny and ran leaving their parents behind. When Benny fails to find a job that he wants to do, he agrees to join his brother on a trip out into the Rot & Ruin, a trip that will change the way he sees his brother and the way that he views his own life.

This book is not what I expected it to be. I guess I was expecting a slash and gash zombie flick special with a cover as intense as this book has. This book has its fair share of zombies but it isn’t about zombies as much as it’s about family, death, loss, life, and justice. There are some great moments that caused me to reflect on how we look at things like life and death and good and evil. Sometimes the way we see things is all about the perspective we are seeing it from, and sometimes a change in perspective can change you so much that you can’t see life the same way again. Taking the journey with Benny and Tom out into the Rot & Ruin is a journey worth taking and I would recommend it for even the non-zombie fan (I mean, zombies will obviously love it so no need to make a recommendation there). To all the zombie fans out there, shamble over to the book store or the library because this is a zombie book that you will want to add to your collection. In the words of the famous zombie uuuuuguguuuuh (that roughly translates to, “you need to read this book because we zombies don’t get the respect that we deserve and this book offers the change in perspective that you might need to understand where we are coming from). *

*This review is sponsored by PETZ (People for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies). The book and the author of the book are in no way directly affiliated with this organization (or lack there of) nor is this review the result of payment by the organization to the author of the blog (seeing as the organization lacks the funding to pay anyone properly because they are spending the majority of their budget trying to keep our shuffling, rotting flesh, walking corpse buddies from busting out on the general population).