Everyone should listen to The Graveyard Book because Neil Gaiman reads it himself. Should that matter? Aside from Gaiman’s amazing voice and entertaining delivery, he wrote the darn thing, so it’s a safe bet that his portrayals are close to the author’s intentions. I’m not advocating that only authors record their works; that’s a horrific thought, since many writers write because they’re socially impaired in some way (too harsh?). But Gaiman has genuine acting talent, and the gleefully wicked humor in the book is as apparent in his voice as a wink.

As for the actual work…darkly delightful! I’m amazed it’s for younger readers — not because kids can’t handle it, but because it is so dark and clever. Believe me, I think kids are entitled to the dark and clever in this world, but publishers seem more interested in adult approval ($$$$).

It’s probably labeled "children’s" because the protagonist is young. Nobody "Bod" Owens is just a toddler when he wanders into a graveyard, unaware that his entire family has been murdered and the killer is looking for him. The graveyard’s residents (noncorporeal) decide to care for Bod. As Bod grows, he wishes he could connect more with his ghostly family since he doesn’t really fit in with the living. In other words, he feels like other adolescents except, with a smattering of supernatural.

Please don’t assume that it’s a typical coming-of-age story, though. Not only did Mr. Gaiman model Bod’s tale on Kipling’s Jungle Book; despite the surreal, the characters are so palpable, you WANT to know them (even the scary ones). I have a small crush on Silas, Bod’s neither living nor dead "godfather" figure. I’m even intrigued by the creepy society of "Every Man Jack" (it has to exist because it’s too wonderfully sinister not to).

I had The Graveyard Book slated for discussion at the Nosy Grown-Ups (formerly Nosy Parents) Book Club meeting in October, but no one attended. I may schedule it again because it is just that good.  Please note that Nosy Grown-Ups books are available at the Central Library Fiction Desk, and the discussions are held in Central’s meeting room at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday of each month.

Sorry for the commercial interruption — now please go read (wonderful illustrations in the book) and/or listen to The Graveyard Book. Or, better yet, do both…I did!

Joanne Sobieck-Lingg – Central Library

Newton Starker feels cursed because everyone in the Starker family bloodline has been struck dead…by lightning. They simply attract lightning!  The family has rules, but even his own mother had mistakenly looked at the wrong day on the calendar and had gotten caught in a storm. Newton is the last of the line, except for his great-grandmother, Enid, “a woman as friendly as a pickled wolverine."

Determined to survive, he decides to try something new. He enrolls at the Jerry Potts Academy of Higher Learning and Survival, a boarding school in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where the motto is survival through fierce intelligence. Newton finds that making friends is as challenging as staying alive, especially when he vies for top marks with a girl named Violet Quon.

NEWTON STARKER’S RULES FOR SURVIVAL
• Do not take a bath during a thunderstorm.
• When thunder roars, go indoors. Fast!
• Beware of cumulonimbus clouds.
• Check the weather before exiting any building.
• Remember not to get angry. Anger has been the downfall of many a Starker.
• If your hair stands on end, you are about to be struck by lightning.
• Lightning travels down telephone wires. Use only cordless phones.
• Check the weather. Recheck the weather. Check it again.

With Jolted, Arthur Slade has written a wonderfully entertaining, brisk and funny read. In spite of his intensity, dogged determination and quirky nature, Newton is a likeable character and his pet Josephine, a truffle-sniffing pig, is a hoot.

Eve Olsen – Central Library

Howard County Library announces a new initiative, Pass the Book. During Teen Read Week 2009, the Library will distribute copies of  The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld to teen readers throughout the community.

The Secret Hour follows Jessica Day as she arrives in Bixby, Oklahoma, only to discover she’s at the center of a strange convergence of mystical energy. Sharing "the secret hour" between midnight and 12:01 with four of her classmates, Day finds herself on the front lines of a battle for the future of humanity; primeval "slithers" and "darklings" are using the secret hour to find their way back into our reality, intent on reclaiming the planet. The Midnighters must harness the unique properties of the secret hour to fight back using their own special abilities.

The Secret Hour is a great book to share, and with Pass the Book you’ll have the chance to introduce this title to readers in Howard County and beyond. Teens receiving a specially labeled copy of The Secret Hour are encouraged to read the book, track the book (by registering their copy at hclibrary.org/passthebook) and pass the book to another teen reader. Readers can return to the web site to see where their books have traveled. Throughout the year they will have the opportunity to participate in online discussions and challenges based on events in the novel. A display in each branch features read-a-like titles and the other books in the Midnighters series — Touching Darkness and Blue Noon. A number of Midnighter-themed events are also planned in connection with this initiative, including Midnighter Lore at Central Library, Slither Repellant at Elkridge Branch, and Triskaidekamania at Savage Branch.

Copies of The Secret Hour will be available on Monday, October 19. Join us online and in-person throughout the year for quizzes, reviews, and Midnighter-themed events as we pass this exceptional teen adventure around Howard County and beyond.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and no matter much I toss and turn looking for the comfort that will lull me back to sleep, I just can’t find the perfect pillow to body to bed combination. I can continue to flip and flop like a hooked fish, or cast about for my book du jour and my ever handy flashlight. Recently finding myself awake in the wee morning hours, I skipped the restlessness and immediately immersed myself in Along for the Ride. Often my late night book forays aren’t that successful. I read just enough to hijack my thoughts in another direction, but the next day, move onto another title. Along for the Ride, however, proved to be TOO good of a remedy. I honestly couldn’t put it down! Even at 3:00 am!

Ever since she popped out of the womb, Auden’s parents — both college professors — had treated her like an adult. And in wanting to please them she concentrated on academics and missed out on the most basic kid/young adult stuff — close friends, hangin’ out, even her high school prom. With her parents divorced and her Dad remarried and a father again, Auden, on a whim, decides to spend her summer before college with him and his new family. Without any great expectations, her visit turns out to be surprisingly educational. For the first time books prove not to be the fount of her new knowledge. By connecting with another teen (male, and on a his own personal quest), Auden, over a couple of months, makes up for a lifetime of social deprivation.

Along for the Ride is a teen book, but with two daughters of my own who have left their teen years behind, I learned something about family dynamics that I hope will help me better understand my own parents. I highly recommend Sarah Dessen’s title for anyone (age, unimportant) in the market for a highly engaging, equally entertaining, intelligent story.

Fritzi Newton – Miller Branch

I was almost late for work because of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Don’t let the teen label fool you; this book is for adults, too. Collins delivers an intense novel with "edge of your seat" action.

The annual Hunger Games are a last man standing battle-to-the-death — in which contestants (aka "tributes") are children ages 12 – 18. The champion wins a life of luxury and extra concessions for his or her district. Tributes are selected by a lottery called "the reaping," although volunteers are also accepted.

Katniss, from the coal mining district of Appalachia, helps her family survive by illegal hunting in the local woods. When, against all odds, her younger sister’s name is drawn, Katniss volunteers instead. Her fellow tribute, Peeta, excels at the mental aspect of the games, while Katniss masters the physical. They make a devastating team, except they work with the knowledge that only one person can win. Who wins? I’m not telling!

The Hunger Games offers the ultimate in reality TV as it’s broadcast in real time from the arena, a closely controlled area of wilderness. Each year the arena holds different challenges, from freezing temperatures to a lack of water. The games definitely favor those candidates who have spent their youth in training, instead of simply surviving. The author doesn’t pull many punches as the contestants have to cope with their horrible circumstances, including sometimes brutal consequences. In one section Katniss blows up a supply depot and has to continue despite being deaf in one ear after the explosion shatters her eardrum.

Beyond the arena, Collins does a great job of painting the big picture. The decadent capital city contrasts strongly to the poverty of Katniss’ District 12, and it becomes clear that the politics are positively Orwellian. The government uses the games to control the outlying districts, until this year, when the contestants seem to turn the games against the authorities.

The annual Hunger Games may have ended, but the more important maneuverings have only begun. Unfortunately, I have to wait for the sequel (to be published this fall) to learn whether a happy ending will work out in Collins‘ desperate view of the future.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Good Enough is a window into the world of Asian American high school teens striving to find true happiness in life, reacting to high-pressure parents, and dealing with the racism around them. It is Paula Yoo’s first teen novel after her picture book biography Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story (2005). The author introduces us to Korean culture by interspersing ethnic recipes and famous Korean figures into the story. Who would have guessed that Koreans love Spam? A lot of what Yoo writes in this novel likely mirrors her own life experiences.

Using light-hearted humor, the author touches on the issue of racism in school and in the community.  Patti Yoon, the protagonist, is told by her parents to never “rock the boat”, which she takes to mean “never stand up for yourself” when encountering name calling. This advice is given to avoid any potential consequences from “rabble rousing” behavior that could possibly jeopardize Patti’s chances of getting into “HYP” (HarvardYalePrinceton)!

Yoo’s story replicates the lives of numerous Asian American teens of immigrant families. The expectations on these children to attend the best colleges often increases stress and strain in family relationships. Many high school seniors will probably relate to Patti’s life of SAT prep, college applications, and resume building. Good Enough’s laugh-out-loud humor but deep issues will hit home with a wide range of readers, parents included.

Mai-Leng Ong – Administration Office

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen is heady young adult fiction that is not only intriguing and delectable, but sly.

Intriguing for the story itself: The world of late Victorian New York society at its most repressed and crustiest tier provides the setting in which the recently impoverished Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana, are both victims of their own superior status.

Delectable for the four star-crossed lovers: Godbersen has borrowed a bit from Austen and even Shakespeare, yet her characters breathe with teen angst, passion and surprising sex appeal.

Finally, The Luxe is a sly read. Female readers who may eschew historical fiction like the most tasteless low-fat snacks will be gobbling up the author’s fresh, modern narrative. They will quickly forget they have settled into an era of "rule followers and tea sippers" mainly because this addictive page-turner, set during a time of gas lamps, horse drawn carriages and Fifth Avenue mansions exploding with backstairs secrets, is not so different from today’s amoral obsession with wealth and beauty.

Think Gossip Girl meets The Age of Innocence, and you will have a fresh and sparkling twist on an often withered genre.

Aimee Zuccarini -  East Columbia Branch

As hard as it might be to believe, there are actually adolescent girls out there who aren’t interested, nor comfortable, in reading plotless (and plodding) books about how to put the bite on a male vampire. Young adult fiction that won’t make a sixth grader blush, like the proverbial needle in the haystack, is getting harder and harder for concerned parents to find. But when you do, it can be a shimmering gem such as in first-time novelist Jenny Han’s Shug.

At 12 Shug is passionate and perceptive Annemarie Wilcox of Clarendon, Georgia. She is also unbelievably tall, freckled, and in tremendous doubt when her daddy tells her she will be a looker one day.

Even more impossible to comprehend is how her heart betrays her on a late summer evening when she wakes up to discover that her best friend since childhood, Mark Findlay, is positively kissable! Now — if he’ll only notice that she is budding with womanhood.

Well, Mark doesn’t notice, and as Annemarie embarks on her first year in middle school she must endure not only the pain of this best friend’s careless rejection, but all the other anguish that comes with the territory of maturity – the best girlfriend who blows her off for some jerky guy; the gorgeous mother who drinks too much and shames Annemarie even more; the beautiful, but damaged big sister she’s not sure how to comfort; and worst of all, Jack Connelly, an obnoxious cretin she has known and despised since third grade, but whose troubled life is suddenly about to cross paths with her own.

Jenny Han has imbued in Shug, not only an endearingly complex character, but someone young female readers (not quite anxious to grow up) will recognize –- themselves.

Aimee Zuccarini – East Columbia Branch

Being on the outs with the Nac Mac Feegle is about as tough as it gets. This doesn’t mean, though, that it’s a lark to have them as friends either. Let me explain. I’m talking about The Wee Free Men, the first book in Terry Pratchett’s "Tiffany Aching" series which, in turn, is a small portion of his much larger Discworld series.

Officially, the Tiffany Aching books are categorized as teen reading. Don’t believe it. The profoundly stuffy may not care for these books, but otherwise, regardless of age, anyone who has a well-developed sense of humor and loves writing that absolutely sparkles will enjoy these titles.

So for starters, who are the Nac Mac Feegle? Well, they’re the Wee Free Men that the book is named after, of course. Also, in case it isn’t obvious, they are six-inch high, red-haired, fairy folk who paint their skin blue. (An ancient Celtic custom — honest!)  When not engaged in drinking and fighting, they like to while away their hours fighting and drinking. They also have a well-developed fondness for larceny. While the Mac Nac Feegle are only the supporting cast in The Wee Free Men, their skills at larceny are such that they have an overwhelming tendency to steal the show. That’s a genuine accomplishment because the heroine of this and the other Tiffany Aching books is no slouch herself.

The Wee Free Men’s story begins when Tiffany Achings’s detested little brother Wentworth is kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Elves. Tiffany, nine years of age, is determined to rescue him. With the assistance of the Nac Mac Feegle (who have their own bones to pick with the Queen), and armed with a cast iron frying pan, a huge amount of common sense, and her budding ability to mix in a bit of witchcraft, Tiffany manages to do exactly what she has planned. She also rescues a dunce of a prince in the process.

If you are young, you’ll love this book. If you’re only young at heart, check it out anyway and claim you are "just borrowing it for my kid." It will definitely be worth your while.

John McHugh – Administration

Resulting from an autism-like condition which no doctor can identify, Marcelo Sandoval hears music “inside of his brain." He’s 17 and his father, a successful attorney with his own practice, feels the time has come for Marcelo to join the “real world," at least for the summer. They make a deal. If Marcelo successfully works in the mailroom of his father’s law firm, he will be allowed to return to Paterson, the comfortable school he has attended his entire life. If he doesn’t take the job, then he will go to public high school for his senior year.

Rarely has an author taken me on such a complex emotional journey. Told in first person (although Marcelo often speaks of himself in third person), we are privileged to see the good, the bad, the mundane, and the miraculous through the eyes of someone who has no filters for what is important — therefore, making everything equally important. Struggling along with Marcelo to make sense of the world, to learn again with him what it is to have a friend and to be one, you root and weep for him as he learns the pain and joy that accompany human interaction.

As I read the many glowing critiques of this book, numerous reviewers were surprised that Marcelo in the Real World is considered a Young Adult or teen novel. Often compared with Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, and Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Stork’s novel is deserving of a wide audience.

Shirley O’Neill – Administration Office