Tag: supernatural

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2026) Featured Review: Ruin Road by Lamar Giles

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  • Ruin Road
  • by Lamar Giles
  • Publisher: Scholastic Press
  • Release date: September 17th, 2024
  • ISBN: 9781338894134

Cade Webster lives for family and football. A star athlete at an elite prep school he attends on scholarship, Cade’s mission is to stay focused, land an NFL contract, and support his struggling family, especially his terminally ill father. But after a terrifying encounter with the police, Cade stumbles into a shady pawn shop and makes a desperate wish: for people to stop being afraid of him. To his shock, the wish comes true, with terrifying consequences.

With an intensifying tone of dread, Giles delivers a thought-provoking and emotional narrative. The story’s complex protagonist grapples with morality, grief, and racial bias, offering a character-driven exploration of identity and consequence. The blending of supernatural horror with social commentary gives the novel a compelling style that will appeal to teens who appreciate issue-oriented fiction and suspense.

Teens drawn to fast-paced, atmospheric stories with social commentary will find this novel gripping and thought-provoking. Perfect for fans of Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado and The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

–Cathy DeCampli

Be sure to check out The Hub’s interview with Lamar Giles!

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: tinyurl.com/bfya2026

Summerween: The Holly Horror Series by Michelle Jabès Corpora

Tired of endless summer days? Craving a break from the heat and longing for that crisp autumn air? We’ve got just the recs for you. Get ready to ditch the poolside vibes for pumpkin spice, falling leaves, and a generous helping of creepy thrills with our Summerween reads!

Unmasking Holly Hobby’s Haunting Makeover

Many adult readers remember Holly Hobby dolls, art, clothes, and toys. These adorable 80’s images were sweet, yet often had a subtly chilling quality. Holly was always dressed in patchwork, her enormous bonnet famously covering her face. This left her facial features, and thus her identity, a mystery. Who was Holly Hobby?

In the Holly Horror series, Holly is brought to life, crafting a layered story brimming with mysteries and ghosts. These books deliver all the genuine ghost story ingredients: a creepy Gothic house with a troubled history, a protagonist with a past but bringing her secrets along, a couple of generations worth of missing girls, and a music box with a description sure to give you chills.

After her parents’ divorce, Evie Archer’s mother insists their fractured family move to Ravenglass. The family home they’re inheriting seems financially ideal, even if it comes with a disturbing past—namely, that Evie’s cousin vanished from the same house when she was Evie’s age. Not long after moving in, Evie starts to unravel clues from the past, all while experiencing unexplainable and terrifying ghostly visions. Meanwhile, Evie begins obsessively sewing a new, yet eerily familiar, patchwork dress.

The Haunting Quality of Family Trauma

Evie’s family is grappling with deep-seated trauma and tensions that desperately need resolving. As with any truly impactful ghost story, the supernatural elements of the Holly Horror series brilliantly mirror these family tensions, which will resonate with many readers. The chilling ghost story isn’t just a tale of the supernatural; it’s a terrifying reflection of the deeper, more unsettling reality of relatable real life issues. The true fear here isn’t what goes bump in the night, but the echoing pain and unresolved issues within the family, and even society, itself. As Evie works towards confronting the issues in Ravenglass and her family, readers dealing with their own struggles will find a powerful sense of catharsis.

But don’t get too comfortable, because this is a series! Holly Horror #2: The Longest Night is just as terrifying. These books are perfect for kids who loved Stranger Things or titles by Kate Alice Marshall and Courtney Gould. These books also make for wonderful intergenerational reads. For those who grew up with Holly Hobby, consider sharing these unique reimaginings with a younger reader!

–Rachel Milburn

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: Where He Can’t Find You by Darcy Coates

The residents of Doubtful live by certain rules to avoid The Stitcher, a serial killer known for dismembering and reassembling his victims. No one truly knows who or what The Stitcher is, but Abby and her friends have made it their mission to gather as much information as possible to defend themselves against him. However, all their preparation couldn’t prepare Abby for the night her sister goes missing. Suddenly, it’s a race against the clock to uncover the mystery of The Stitcher and find her sister before there is nothing left of her to save.

Coates creates a palpable sense of tension early in the book that does not lessen throughout the story. The ever-present terror weighs heavily on the teen characters as they constantly try to keep themselves and their loved ones alive. The novel deftly uses traditional elements of horror – a bleak and claustrophobic setting, a malevolent antagonist, and fear of the unknown.

Teens who enjoy suspenseful stories, body horror, and slasher films will flock to this book. Hand it to readers of It by Stephen King and Wilder Girls by Rory Power.

– Cathy DeCampli

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA25TeenFB

5 Haunting Summer Reads to Recommend

Summer is here and the temperatures are rising. Looking to “chill” with some creepy stories to read or recommend? Here are few that may just be sitting on your shelf waiting for the next reader.

  • Now Entering Addamsville
  • By Francesca Zappia
  • Publisher: Greenwillow Books
  • Release Date: October 1, 2019
  • Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
  • ISBN: 9780062935274

Zora lives in a small, insular community where everyone knows your name. Unfortunately, with her last name, that is not a good thing. Zora is a Novak. Her father, soon to be released from jail, is known for conning many in the town. Her mother is known for mysteriously disappearing in the town’s creepy woods. Twice. Meanwhile, Zora is known for being nearby when things catch on fire. She can see ghosts and secretly hunts “firestarters”. When the school janitor is murdered, and a group of ghost hunters arrive in town, Zora is forced to team up with her annoying cousin to protect her home. 

This witty mystery is creepy and fresh. The rag-tag “Scooby Gang” of characters that join forces are totally lovable. Put this book in the hands of fans of Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

  • The Haunted
  • By Danielle Vega
  • Publisher: Razorbill
  • Release Date: June 4, 2019
  • Reading Level: Gr. 9-up
  • ISBN: 978045181467

Hendricks is supposed to be escaping a traumatic past. But her “new” house, a fixer-upper with dark secrets, is just a little too haunted. Rather than enjoying her new friends, Hendricks is forced to uncover the mystery surrounding her infamous house before it is too late. 

This is a deliciously creepy ghost story that will leave readers with goose-bumps. Put this book in the hands of readers who loved Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare or Asylum by Madeleine Roux.

  • Sawgirl Girls
  • By Claire Legrand
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
  • Release Date: October 2, 2018
  • Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
  • ISBN: 978006266601

Sawkill Rock appears idyllic and pastual. However, it is also where girls disappear. Legend tells of a terrifying evil that controls the land. Now, three girls with little in common must access their unknown strength to stay alive.

Feminist and fierce, this is a book you won’t soon forget. Be prepared for twists, surprises, a little romance and a lot of violence. Read-a-likes for Sawkill Girls are Wilder Girls, The Dead and the Dark,  The River Has Teeth.

  • The Heartwood Box
  • By Ann Aguirre
  • Publisher: Tor Teen
  • Release Date: July 9, 2019
  • Reading Level: Gr. 7-9
  • ISBN: 9780765397645

Araceli Flores’s parents are going to Venezuela. She’s going to a dusty old Victorian house in a tiny town filled with MISSING posters. Here is living with a great-aunt who leaves food out each day for a husband that has been missing decades. There are creepy lights in the woods, unexplained occurrences in the big house, and then she begins receiving letters from the past.

This book is like a genre casserole. The author threw in some mystery, history, sci-fic, and romance to make a delicious read! Put this one in the hands of fans of Stranger Things.

  • Kingdom of the Wicked
  • by Kerri Maniscalco
  • Publisher: Jimmy Paterson
  • Release Date; October 27, 2020
  • Reading Level: Gr. 9-Up
  • ISBN: 9780316428460

Emilia and her sister are secret witches. The story begins with Emilia finding her sister brutally murdered. She is broken-hearted and determined to find out what happened. Doing so requires her to step out of her comfort zone to uncover her sister’s secrets and possibly use forbidden magic.

The world-building in this creepy fantasy is so good the reader may come close to forgetting they’re reading not reading realistic fiction. This story has it all: scares, mystery, and romance. Put this one in the hands of fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber or The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

-Rachel Milburn

Genre Guide: Paranormal Romances for Teens

Source

Definition

Paranormal Romance is a sub-genre of Romance. For a novel to be a Paranormal Romance, a simple thing must occur: love must begin between a human and a supernatural being (whether wholly supernatural or partially, just as long as there are supernatural elements present). However, this can be a broad interpretation. Usually, the protagonist (often the human) in these novels is put in some kind of danger, where they come to realize they can overcome this danger either on their own or with the help of the supernatural love interest.

Authors to Know

Characteristics
Main characters include both humans and supernatural beings. The supernatural being can be wholly supernatural or partly, and include but are not limited by the following “types”: vampire, werewolf, fairy, magician, mermaid, zombie, psychic, ghost, demon hunter, demon, angel, shapeshifter, dragon, and gods or goddesses.  Additionally, the human in Paranormal Romances can have a touch of the paranormal as well.  An example is the teen psychic that can see the ghost. Quite often, when it comes to paranormal romances written for teens, a love triangle is involved.  There could be more than one human, or more than one supernatural being in the triangle. Continue reading Genre Guide: Paranormal Romances for Teens

Booklist: Books for Fans of Supernatural

Supernatural just began its 11th season, and its fans are notoriously dedicated and enthusiastic. In fact, Supernatural is part of the trifecta of super-fandom: the “super” in SuperWhoLock, which unites fans of Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock.

The show follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who travel across America in a black 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and combating paranormal events and other unexplained occurrences, many of them based on American urban legends and folklore as well as classic supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts.

supernatural season 11

Luckily, these themes are prevalent in YA fiction, so there are a myriad of options of books to recommend to readers who watch the show.

Theses books feature a bit of horror, a lot of humor, and all things supernatural, and a fan of the show is sure to find a great book on this list. In addition to these YA fiction (and two adult crossover titles), fans of the show might be interested in nonfiction related to urban legends, folklore, or ghost-hunting.  Continue reading Booklist: Books for Fans of Supernatural

2015 Amazing Audiobooks Top Ten Listen-a-Likes

Photo by Flickr User jeff_golden
Photo by Flickr User jeff_golden

This past year I had the immense pleasure to serve as chair for the 2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults committee. It was a really great year for audiobooks and my committee was fortunate to consider a total of 395 audiobooks for our selection list!  After hours and hours of listening, we had to whittle down a list of no more than 30 selections that were the year’s best.  If you have not yet had a chance to checkout our list you can see it here.  It was released last week, after the Midwinter Conference.

We also had the even more difficult task of selecting our Top Ten Audiobooks of the year. Below are our Top Ten titles for 2015, along with a suggested listen-a-like, in case you are ahead of the game and have already listened to these Top Ten selections.

2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten

  • ACID by Emma Pass, read by Fiona Hardingham with Nicholas Guy Smith and Suzan Crowley. Listening Library, 2014. 10 hours, 48 minutes; 9 discs. 978-0-8041-6832-8.

The brutal police state ACID rules all, so when Jenna is broken out of prison by a rebel group she has to fight to survive as ACID’s most-wanted fugitive.  Unique ACID reports and recordings read by Smith and Hardingham’s excellent pace combine with her authentic teen voice to highlight this exciting story.

Listen-a-Like:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham: For those listeners who are looking for another title narrated by Fiona Hardingham that is packed with action and adventure and that has a strong female main character. (Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2012,  2012 Odyssey Honor  Audiobook)

acidaudioscorpioracesaudio

  • Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, read by Moira Quick.  Hachette Audio, 2013.  9 hours, 30 minutes, 8 discs, ISBN: 978-1-4789-2648-1.

In the second installment of the Finishing School series, Sophronia and her classmates use their training to search for a dangerous device that may have fallen into the wrong hands.  Quick’s lively narration highlights the wit and humor in Carriger’s story.

Listen-a-Like:

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud, read by Miranda Raison: The Finishing School series, narrated by Quirk, is filled with sly humor but also packs a punch with Sophronia’s adventures.  Likewise, The Screaming Staircase is not only is an action-packed steampunk mystery, but Raison brings variety to her narration by highlighting the nuances of the quirky cast of characters characters, including the darkly comedic Anthony Lockwood. (Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2014)

curtsies and conspiracies audio  screaming staircase audio Continue reading 2015 Amazing Audiobooks Top Ten Listen-a-Likes

What Would They Read?: Supernatural

There are certain fandoms I’ve been apprehensive to take on due to their immense fanbases.  I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I coSupernatural_-_Season_9mpleted the blog posts for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly and realized that they turned out to be successful.  I’m still debating when I’m going to dive in and take on Doctor Who.  It’s probably my most frightening concept to date, but I promise it will happen.  I just need a little more psyching up and then I will do it.  Today, however, I will attempt to impart my recommendations for one of my favorite shows of all time: Supernatural.

The basic plot of Supernatural is a something that has been recently retold in a variety of YA books.  It’s a basic story about two guys (in this case, brothers Dean and Sam Winchester) who travel around and take on a plethora of supernatural and paranormal creatures while dealing with their own personal demons which range from recovering from a trip to purgatory to actually being the human embodiment of Lucifer.

anna dressed in blood There are three books in particular that resonate as perfect readalikes for the series.  First, Sarah Rees Brennan has a series that begins with The Demon’s Lexicon(Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten, 2010).  In this book, two brothers, Alan and Nick, hunt demons avenging their dead father and taking care of their crazy mother.  There are definitely similarities between Alan and Nick and Dean and Sam are very evident.  Perhaps the Winchesters can take a break and read a bit about another duo who fight the evils lurking in the dark.

A second selection to seek out is Anna Dressed in Blood and its companion, Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake.  The main character is a  boy named Cas, who coincidentally shares his name with the Winchester’s angelic friend.  Cas travels around with his witch mother and a cat that can sense ghosts.  Dean and Sam will find comradery with Cas as he sets off to avenge his father’s death while wielding an athame with the the power to destroy ghosts.  Like Sam Dean, Cas is challenged to overlook his predispositions to kill ghosts and determine whether or not this particular case involving the spirit called Anna Dressed in Blood is not quite like the others.

Finally, I would definitely hand over Kami Garcia’s new series called “The Legion.”  Garcia’s series begins with Unbreakable.  The story begins with a female protagonist named Kennedy who finds her mother murdered by something supernatural.  She only survives due to twin brothers named Lukas and Jared who whisk her away from danger only to inform her that there will definitely be more danger down the road.  In turns out that Kennedy, the twins, and two others are the descendants of members of a group called The Legion that fight against ancient evil spirits.  Secret societies full of knowledge regarding the killing of all things evil?  Sounds a bit like the Winchester’s new discovery, the Men of Letters, only with a lot less resources.  Now that I covered a few titles that Sam and Dean can share and read together, here are a few titles specifically chosen for each of their personal tastes. Continue reading What Would They Read?: Supernatural