Home » Posts tagged "disability" (Page 2)

Halloween Reads @ your library

Caught up in what Dr. Seuss’ Grinch calls “the trimmings and trappings” of Halloween (how is it there’s no Grinch Who Stole Halloween out there)? There are certainly lots of resources both on the shelf and online for recipes and party planning ideas, craft and decoration ideas, and costume ideas  (hello, Pinterest).  But Halloween is also a holiday for celebrating the things that go bump in the night, and there is plenty of both fiction and nonfiction for all ages that either take advantage of or explain its origins and mythologies. Looking for a good Halloween read as the holiday approaches? These certainly aren’t all of the ones available, and there are many excellent titles that aren’t listed below, but here are thirteen (plus one) titles that celebrate the Halloween season.

 

   The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. This is a good choice for reading aloud with your school-aged children.

 

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie. I know Agatha Christie’s books aren’t horror (mostly) but if you want to curl up with a mystery, you can’t go wrong with Hercule Poirot.

 

Halloween Man by Douglas Clegg. Douglas Clegg is a very talented horror novelist. I haven’t read his books, as his novels can be quite graphic, but this one has also been described as eerie and compelling.

 

The Legend of the Pumpkin Thief by Charles Day. This 2013 Bram Stoker nominee doesn’t appear to be easily available right now, so hopefully you already have it in your collection! It looks like a romance, but in actuality is more of a YA horror/mystery combination.Want a review? Find one here.

 

Hallowed by Bryant Delafosse. This is a YA paranormal/horror title, and I can’t claim to have read it, but I have heard good things about it. Yes, there are plenty of YA paranormal reads, but this one is set right around Halloween.

 

Halloween edited by Paula Guran. This anthology includes both reprints and original stories related to the holiday, including stories from such notables as Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, H.P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe. One reviewer on Amazon noted that the Bradbury story does not appear in the ebook version of this book, as Bradbury was very opposed to ebooks, although I know he did release a book in ebook format before his passing… so I don’t know if that is still the case. It is well worth looking up!

 

Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre edited by Paula Guran. This is NOT the same anthology as the one I listed just above– it is more recently published. While the first one had stories by many of the giants of the genre, this one has a different collection of authors, who cover a wider breadth of the genre.  These include such excellent writers as Maria V. Snyder and Carrie Vaughan as well as authors more solidly identified with adult horror such as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and John Shirley.

 

Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge. Black and Orange is also the recipient of a Stoker Award. We reviewed it here, and it got a fantastic review!

 

Halloween by Melanie Jackson. Not every book about Halloween is a scary one. This one tells of the adventures of four ten year olds out trick or treating for Halloween. Set in the 1960’s, this is a book that might be enjoyed more for its nostalgia value (if you were a kid at that time) or for reading with an older child.
Mischief Night by Paul Melnizcek. This is a novella from Bad Moon Books’ series of Halloween novellas, now also available on Kindle. It’s a nice little haunted house story. You can check out our review here.

 

A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writers Over the Centuries edited by Lisa Morton

Lisa Morton is a Halloween expert who has published both fiction and nonfiction, and this collects some of both, with sources documenting Halloween from its origins to the early 20th century. Certainly, this is a unique collection that will be of interest to anyone who prefers to learn about the historical holiday rather than today’s trimmings, trappings, and trick-or-treating. In the interests of saving space, because Lisa has written extensively on Halloween, I’m going to just list a few of her other titles worth looking into this holiday season: The Halloween Encyclopedia (nonfiction), Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween (nonfiction), and The Samhanach (fiction– and a top pick for 2011 at Monster Librarian, reviewed independently by three different reviewers here).

 

Horrorween (Orangefield Series) by Al Sarrantonio.  Orangefield is a town inhabited by Samhain, Lord of Death.  Other books in the series include Orangefield, Hallows’ Eve,  and Halloweenland. We’re awfully close to the end of October to power through all of them, but maybe you can make a resolution to try them out next year…

 

Gods of the Nowhere by James Tipper. The protagonist here is a disabled teenager, which is pretty interesting, as you don’t find many disabled protagonists in horror fiction. And he has a Latina friend, also an unusual find in horror fiction. It’s been described as a creepy and original take on Halloween. This is not a children’s book– maybe an older teen would appreciate it, though.

 

Halloween Spirits: 11 Tales for the Darkest Night edited by Lisa Morton. I know I said I would only mention Lisa Morton once, but this is an interesting collection of short stories that (mostly) tie in to Halloween,  and are intended to get you into the Halloween spirit.  These are not (mostly) stories about trick-or-treating, which is what we normally associate with the holiday, but, especially if you’re short on time, this book is a nice way to give yourself small doses of holiday excitement throughout the month of October.  The authors include Kealan Patrick Burke, Scott Nicholson, John Palisano, Jeremy Shipp, and Nate Kenyon, to name just a few. It’s also an inexpensive way to get into the spirit– available only as an ebook, it’s just $2.99 at Amazon right now.

So there you have it… a list of all kinds of Halloween reads, for all kinds or readers. Check them out and see if one of them is a match for you! And a Happy Halloween to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on October 30, 2013 by , Reply

Teen Read Week: Guest Post by David Simms– “Teens with Disabilities and the Power of Music”

 


David Simms is the author of Dark Muse, a dark fantasy for young adults released earlier this year. Dark Muse focuses on the journeys of four friends with a variety of disabilities, brought together by their love of music, as they search for the protagonist’s older brother in a fantastic realm where music is alive.

He’s also a special education teacher, a musician who belongs to the Killer Thriller Band, and a reviewer for MonsterLibrarian.  For Teen Read Week, I asked David if he would share his thoughts on writing about disability in YA fiction and the power of music to change teens’ lives.

For more on representations of disability in YA fiction, check out the blog Disability in KidLit (link).

 

Teens with Disabilities and the Power of Music 

By David Simms

My first novel, Dark Muse, was released a few months ago, realizing a lifelong dream. It’s exciting that a publisher enjoyed it enough to sign me, and receiving high praise from both colleagues I respect, and, most importantly, from my readers, is enough to keep me smiling for years. I see that smile reflected in the eyes of students I work with every day, who remind me why I wrote the tale in the first place.

 

If someone had told me a decade ago that my first novel would be young adult, I would’ve laughed. However, marrying music and kids with disabilities seemed to happen by itself. Writing from the misfit’s point of view wasn’t exactly rocket science for me. I was a small kid until almost 17 and only felt at home when playing music with my friends, much like Muddy, Poe, Corey, and Otis, the teens who form the Accidentals. The Accidentals bond together and find resiliency, as they often push each other to bring out the best they have, and many times, that strength displays itself in music.

 

Dark Muse centers around the mythology of “the crossroads”, an old blues legend that a musician playing at the crossroads of Memphis would summon the devil and could make a deal for fame and fortune, but I wanted to change it up a bit. What if by playing your heart out there, you’d be transported to a world where music came alive, where the inspiration for many classic rock songs still lived? Creatures threaten the band of four in a gauntlet which includes a “stairway” to somewhere, “smoke” on the water, and an “iron man.”

 

I noticed that I’d never heard of a novel with teens with disabilities as protagonists before, at least none without using it as a novelty device. I wanted to celebrate my students (many of whom now make more money than me)! After teaching for special education for several years, I had volumes of experience to draw from, and hundreds of great kids from which to draw characters. All of the teens in Dark Muse stem from past students, of all backgrounds and musical persuasions. Muddy, Poe, Corey, and Otis fight through their demons, which include disabilities or their place in life. For example, Poe is nearly blind and Otis, the drummer extraordinaire, couldn’t be more fragile with brittle bone syndrome. Yet when they’re in the land of the crossroads, their disabilities fade. Instead of using it as an easy fix, though, each learns how to tap into inner strength to rise above adversity in our world. Muddy, the protagonist, has a father and brother who are technically more talented than him, yet his drive and purpose propel him much further than both. Dark Muse is just as much about the teens fighting daily just to survive in a school setting as it is a dark, mythological adventure.
Unfortunately, many public schools still have not picked up on the fact that not everyone learns–and tests—in the same way. “Respect differences and tolerate all – except when it comes to test scores” seems to be the mantra of many in government. Thankfully, many teachers and some administrators, like mine, understand the difference. I think that more teens, those with disabilities and those without, would flock to books more often if they could relate to characters similar to them. Just look at Harry Potter. It isn’t the magic or creatures that resonate with the millions—many books for kids have similar plots and setups. It is the characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren’t the cool kids–not at first, anyway. Readers got to grow up with them, flaws and all. Dark Muse is no Potter, but I hope to reach kids who battle daily with problems of all kinds, whether they’re disabled or just having trouble fitting into that odd-shaped contraption that is our society.

 

My students are proof that success for all is possible if the dream is strong enough, and music (and other arts) give teens the opportunity to discover that they have amazing, magical powers. In fact, my favorite song, Triumph’s “Magic Power” is all about the power of music in young people’s lives. It’s a great song because it’s all about how music can cut through everything that’s going on.

 

I hope that in my future efforts I can continue to create characters based on those I’ve had the pleasure of working with, and develop unique ones that make readers feel they’re not alone in the halls and lunchrooms, at dances and sports, or in the dating scene. Of course, my characters just might have to survive in an even more twisted setting. I’m looking forward to revisiting the band many more times if readers enjoy them!

 

Posted on October 16, 2013 by , Reply
First « 12