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Help a Reader Out: A Book List for Teenage Boys

Stephanie Ellis, a participant on Monster Librarian’s Facebook page, noted that right now there is a lot of great YA horror with girls as protagonists or major characters, but she’s having trouble finding any with boys as protagonists (writers, take note). I personally think it is lovely that we’re seeing more girls take on major roles in horror fiction, but in looking at this list by Kelly Jensen of YA horror fiction for the second half of 2019, 28 of the books have women as authors or editors (there is one anthology, slanted significantly toward women authors) and just three have men as authors. So many women writers getting published and lots of girls and women as protagonists or major characters is a great problem to have… unless you are looking specifically for YA horror with boys as protagonists and major characters. There are a lot of boys who are reluctant readers and an engaging YA read will grab them. Of course we shouldn’t all expect all books to be mirrors of our experiences, but there are now many more options for boys to read stories that showcase girls as protagonists and point-of-view characters, so there are more windows to look through, and doors to step through, in YA horror than ever before.  A note: I’d like to see alternatives to traditional depictions of masculinity in future YA horror. It makes for some pretty great writing when you see it!

A few things about teens who seek out horror. In a very small 2007 study, Sharon McKool discovered that there are many kids who jump straight from reading Goosebumps to reading Stephen King (this included her own son).  Based on my even earlier experience as a college student in the 1990s, I had more than one classmate who first engaged in reading when he first discovered Stephen King, and thought he was the greatest writer ever. A teenage boy was the first to hand me Anne Rice. My brother, not a reader, was gripped by In Cold Blood. YA is not a stopping point for these boys.

But many boys aren’t ready to make that jump and take the path that leads through YA fiction, and that’s awesome, because there are some great books available for them. There are even outstanding authors who first wrote for adults who have now also written YA horror, like Jonathan Maberry, Jeff Strand, and Steven Wedel (author of Murdered by Human Wolves, written for an adult audience, as well as co-author with Carrie Jones of one of the books Jensen mentioned as coming out later this year). These authors have the opportunity to introduce the adult horror genre to their young adult audiences craving more. However, since the current crop of upcoming YA horror fiction doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of boys as protagonists or major characters, here are a few older titles you can turn to. They are very different in tone, level of gore, age appropriateness, writing style, type of creature, and quality, so you can’t just hand the list over to any teenage boy and say “pick one.” But it is a starting place for making recommendations to the right kids. We’ve reviewed many, but not all, of these books. If the book was published before 2014, you’ll need to search the original MonsterLibrarian.com.com website to find it, but it should be pretty simple to find most of these reviewed elsewhere as well.

 

A Bad Day for Voodoo by Jeff Strand (2013) This Bram Stoker nominee is both funny and violent. Strand has written other books for younger readers that aren’t as violent, and comic horror for adults that can get very gory.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2011). This outstanding book should be in every collection. It is powerful and wrenching, and gorgeously illustrated.

Anna Dressed in Blood (2 book series): Anna Dressed in Blood (2011), Girl of Nightmares (2012) by Kendare Blake. Anna Dressed in Blood is consistently recommended as a “book to read” on recommendation lists for YA horror.

Escape from Furnace (5 book series): Lockdown (2009), Solitary (2010), Death Sentence (2011), Fugitives (2012), Execution (2012)  by Alexander Gordon Smith. This action-packed dystopian series about a brutal underground prison for delinquent teenagers has some really difficult torture and body horror scenarios.

Five Nights at Freddy’s (2 book series): The Silver Eyes (2016), The Twisted Ones (2017) by Scott Cawthorn and Kira Breed-Wrisely. These are based on the popular video game Five Nights at Freddy’s. 

Gone (8 book series): Gone (2008), Hunger (2009), Lies (2010), Plague (2011), Fear (2012), Light (2013),  Monster (2017), Villain (2018) by Michael Grant

Heap House (The Iremonger Trilogy, #1) by Edward Carey (2014)

Lockwood & Co. ( 5 book series): The Screaming Staircase (2013), The Whispering Skull (2014), The Hollow Boy (2015), The Creeping Shadow (2016), The Empty Grave (2017)  by Jonathan Stroud. These will probably appeal more to younger teens and are slanted toward mystery.

Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children (6 book series): Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2011), Hollow City (2014), Library of Souls (2015), Map of Days (2018), The Conference of the Birds (upcoming)  by Ransom Riggs. The use of vintage photographs and documents really sets these apart. A movie was made of the first book in 2016.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (2005)

Red Eye (10 book series): Flesh and Blood, Bad Bones, Savage Island, and Whiteout all have boys as protagonists. Tony Jones has done a summary of the 10 books in this UK series here.

Rot & Ruin (4 book series) : Rot & Ruin (2010), Dust & Decay (2011), Flesh & Bone (2012), Fire & Ash (2013). by Jonathan Maberry. This Stoker Award-winning series is essential. Bits & Pieces (2015) collects shorter pieces that take place in the same fictional world, and Broken Lands (2018) is the first book in a follow-up series.

Rotters by Daniel Kraus (2011)

Skeleton Creek (5 book series):  Skeleton Creek (2009), Ghost in the Machine (2009), The Crossbones (2010), The Raven (2011), The Phantom Room (2014) by Patrick Carman. Skeleton Creek is an interactive series that directs readers to YouTube videos and websites intended to give the story a feeling of realism.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys edited by April Genevieve Tucholke (2015). This is on HWA’s “Summer Scares” list for 2019.

The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein (2 book series): This Dark Endeavor and Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel (reprinted 2012) I fangirl these ones! Kenneth Oppel is a very talented writer.

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinks (2019)

The Devil’s Engine (3 book series): Hellraisers (2015), Hellfighters (2016), Hellwalkers (2017)  by Alexander Gordon Smith

The Enemy (7 book series): The Enemy (2010), The Dead (2011), The Fear (2012),  The Sacrifice (2013), The Fallen (2014), The Hunted (2015), The End (2017) by Charlie Higson. This post-apocalyptic series begins after nearly all the adults have been turned into cannabilistic zombies, and the children and teens are banding together in gangs, in hopes of surviving.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009). This Newbery Award-winning book is outstanding and covers a boy’s life from young child to young man. The artwork by Dave McKean is startling and effective.

The Graveyard Book (graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell (2018)

The Illuminae Files: Illuminae (2015), Gemina (2016), and Obsidio (2018) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. These look more intimidating than they actually are. The stories are set up as a series of chat logs, emails, video transcriptions, photos, sketches, maps, and impressive double page illustrations, so even though the books are substantial they don’t need to be intimidating. They have a futuristic science-fiction setting.

The Monstrumologist (4 book series): The Monstrumologist, The Curse of the Wendigo, The Isle of Blood, The Final Descent by Rick Yancey. Will is the 12 year old apprentice to a “monstrumologist,” both scientist and monster-slayer, writing of his experiences. Set in the Victorian era, the language can be difficult and flowery.  Although The Monstrumologist is a Printz Honor book, it is not for everyone. It will appeal most to readers with advanced vocabulary and a very strong stomach for gore and body horror.

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (1992,  reissued 2014). Clive Barker takes a different tone in this story of a house where it’s always a holiday. Many, many horror fans and writers have mentioned this as a gateway title to adult horror.

The Thief of Always (graphic novel) by Clive Barker, adapted by Kris Obrisko, art by Gabriel Hernandez (2010)

Thirsty by M.T. Anderson (1997, reissued 2010) Published in the days when YA horror was a rare treat, nobody had heard of that Harry Potter guy, and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was a big deal, Thirsty remains memorable to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on June 12, 2019 by , Reply

Book List: Schools for Peculiar Children

      

 

Miss Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children hits theaters this week, and it will be interesting to see how it measures up to the book. It looks cool– click here for a link to the trailer. For me, the letters and the real photographs used, and the scrapbook-type format, were much of what made it intriguing, and I can’t imagine how that will translate to the screen. But the trailers look pretty awesome, so even if the movie doesn’t turn out to be just like the book, perhaps it will stand well on its own.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is far from the first book to be set in a school or home intended for particularly unusual children, though– some really excellent books for middle grade and teen readers exist in this category.  Here are a few you might check out.

 

Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan

Kit Gordy is attending an extremely exclusive, isolated, boarding school. Spoiler: it’s also haunted by ghosts who take possession of the students to create amazing works of art. Nothing could possibly go wrong here, right? This is a good one for tweens and middle schoolers, although, in my opinion, you don’t outgrow Lois Duncan.

 

 

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire LeGrand

This is a disturbed fairy tale of a book. Victoria, a perfect 12 year old in every way, living in a picture-perfect community, has chosen just one friend, the very imperfect, messy, and musical Lawrence. When Lawrence disappears, Victoria goes on a search for him, uncovering some very unpleasant things. As more children disappear, and creepy creatures start invading, Victoria becomes even more determined to solve the mystery. She discovers that the orphanage across the street is actually a deeply disturbing, magically operated facility with the mission of turning all the imperfect children that have disappeared, including Lawrence, into identical, perfect children, Stepford-style. Mrs. Cavendish, the headmistress of the school, is truly diabolical, and the school itself is creepy, disquieting, and disorienting. This one is not for the faint of stomach, but people who liked Coraline  or the more nightmarish writing of Roald Dahl might very well like this. This is Gothic children’s horror at its best– highly recommended, but for no younger than age 10.

Contains: body horror, cannibalism, insect hordes, torture.

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Speaking of Roald Dahl, Matilda is surely every book lover’s favorite story of a peculiar child. While her school isn’t specifically for peculiar children, the people who work there certainly qualify as peculiar, especially the headmistress. You can’t help cheering for Matilda as she uses her unusual powers to defeat the sadistic Miss Trunchbull.

 

The Grounding of Group 6  by Julian F. Thompson

What’s a parent to do when a child repeatedly breaks the rules, gets thrown out of school again, or breaks that last straw? You send them to the school of last resort– Coldbrook County School– and then never worry about them again. That’s right, the school will take care of your problem child for you, in a permanent way, while the students are out on retreat in a wooded area full of sinkholes. Nothing supernatural in this book, all the horror is in the way humans treat each other.
I’d wait until high school to read this one– it’s got some harrowing moments. There’s also an implied sexual relationship between one of the students, in her late teens, and her “counselor”, who is in his twenties.

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

After the death of her mother, Gemma Doyle is sent from her home in India to a young ladies’ boarding school in Victorian England. Gemma has visions, and her unusual upbringing and uncanny knowledge mean a chilly reception from the other girls. Gemma learns to control the visions so she can visit magical realms. As she makes friends, she involves them in her journeys, but while the girls enjoy the power and escape they have in the realms, Gemma learns there is also a darker side. This is the first book in a trilogy: the other two books are Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing. Recommended for middle school and up.


Posted on September 28, 2016 by , Reply

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: What Next?


When I first read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I didn’t realize it was intended to be a young adult title, even though the narrator is a teen. Obviously a lot of other people missed out on that too, as it became a bestseller read by teens and adults alike. A sequel, Hollow City, is scheduled to  be released in January, and I expect a lot of the people who were oblivious to the first book will now discover Miss Peregrine and her charges. What to read next, as they impatiently wait for a third book (and there practically has to be a third book, so this can make up a trilogy)?

I think that much of the appeal of Miss Peregrine comes from how atmospheric and surreal it is, while at the same time being grounded in history and reality by the use of real photographs obviously taken long before the advent of the modern camera. The mix is one that will be difficult to replicate, maybe impossible, but I think there are titles that might be of interest to those who enjoyed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, as well.

 


The Seer of Shadows by Avi.  It is 1872, and Horace Carpentine, taken on as an apprentice by a photographer of dubious character,  discovers, to his disbelief, that he can bring back the spirits of the dead by taking photographs. This is an unforgettable tale of ghostly vengeance, well-grounded in historical fact. While there aren’t actually any photographs in the book, readers will learn a great deal about early photographic processes and how they could be manipulated, something that ought to appeal to people who are curious about the early photographs that appear in Miss Peregrine. While the target audience is (theoretically) ages 9-12, this should appeal to older readers as well.

 

 


Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann. In this spine-chilling read, Kendall Fletcher is drawn into a terrifying supernatural situation that stems from incidents in her isolated town’s dark past (yes, I know it’s a trope). Kendall is  a unique and likable character who also has OCD, something that plays into the story without overtaking it. There are creepy alternating chapters from the malevolent force’s point of view, which ratchet up the suspense and give the story a surreal edge. While this is a contemporary novel, the focus that triggers the supernatural is a physical object, and there is a boarding school involved, and Kendall ends up digging into local history to find answers to her questions. The ending is so intense, I almost forgot to breathe. This book is targeted at older teens, but I definitely enjoyed reading it.  All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, while much more of a middle grade novel, is another excellent novel that deals with a similar tragic situation.

 


The Photo Traveler by Arthur J. Gonzalez. Gavin escapes from his abusive adoptive family through photography. He discovers that photography is more than a hobby for him– it gives him the opportunity to travel through time. Although this is also a contemporary novel, there’s family twistiness, time travel, photography, and historical detail, things which will probably be appreciated by someone who enjoyed Miss Peregrine.

 


The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. Mackie Doyle has a secret– he’s a “replacement”, or changeling child, in a town where, for the sake of keeping the residents prosperous,  a human child is traded away every seven years. Kind of like “The Lottery”, which has always given me the chills. When another child is stolen, Mackie and his friends decide to rescue her. This novel plays up the surreal and the atmospheric setting has been described as one of  misery and hopelessness. According to Yovanoff, there is no sequel in the works, but maybe this is a good lead-in to introducing readers to her other books (she has a new one coming out soon).

 


Asylum by Madeleine Roux. This is about a teenage boy who is sent to a camp for gifted students inside a former mental hospital. Because nothing could possibly go wrong by sending gifted kids to an insane asylum for summer break. Roux has written two books for adults, which we read and reviewed (and I highly recommend the first one, Allison Hewitt is Trapped), and this is her YA debut. I haven’t had the opportunity to read it, but reviews seem to be all over the place as to whether it works as a crossover title. It does take advantage of the photo-novel aspect of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, however, with both genuine and (in this case) altered photographs from early asylums. I imagine that increases its creep impact at least tenfold. While it doesn’t have the realism that photographs offer the readers of Asylum, another excellent book, aimed at middle grade students, with the similar background of gifted youngsters isolated in a haunted school is Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan.

 

 


Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued from the Past by Ransom Riggs. This is a book of “found” photographs that captured an important moment in the photographed person’s life, noted by an annotation or message written on the photograph. These are not the bizarre photos used in Miss Peregrine, but people intrigued by the photos in Miss Peregrine may be interested to see into the lives of other people, who live on through photographs that might otherwise be filed away in a shoebox.

 


Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link. Putting aside the visual and historical aspects of Miss Peregrine completely, there is a surreal feel to many of the stories in Pretty Monsters that some readers of that book might appreciate. Illustrations by Shaun Tan, a brilliant visual artist, complement the stories beautifully. Link’s stories will ring true to a lot of readers, and many of the stories in Pretty Monsters first appeared in editions published for adults. I’d also like to mention Shaun Tan again here, as he has produced some gorgeous and surreal artwork both on his own and in collaboration with author Gary Crew. The Viewer. The Viewer is not easily available, but does play with images, and did involve photography in its production (I will note here for clarity that Amazon’s suggested age range of ages 6-11 is radically different than what I (or most people) would suggest as an appropriate title for children– I wouldn’t give The Viewer to any child under age 10, and then only if I planned to sit down, read it with them, and discuss it afterwards).

 

Interested in some additional suggestions? Check out BookRiot’s booklist here. And enjoy the wait for Hollow City by enjoying (and recommending) a few of these.

 

 

Posted on December 18, 2013 by , Reply
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