Another Christmas Eve review written in rhyme. This time Andrea Cremer’s new YA novel Nightshade gets the treatment… ‘Twas the night before Christmas, in old London Town
The snow lay outside, turning slushy and brown.
I wanted to go out, but it was too cold
So I picked up a book, of which I’d been told!
A novel called Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer
I’d heard it was good, man it was a screamer!
A tale about Calla, who could turn furry,
A Guardian – not werewolf (though the difference was blurry).
She saved a young lad named Shay, from attack
A choice that could mean death by her pack
The rules they were harsh, and completely unfair
but desire took root in her heart then and there.
The Guardians protect from the Searchers, the Keepers
I looked to the sky and shouted Goodness Jeepers!
This book it is good and once you begin
in a battle between this and your bed – book will win!
This book it is great, but over too soon
and when you crawl into bed and look at the moon.
Do not feel sad as you turn out your light
Because there will be more, so you can have a good night!
There is only one thing to say after reading this book and that is ZOMG! this book is fantastic!
A strong female lead, mysteries, wrapped in enigmas, teasing revelations throughout the book (but not enough to make everything clear), raging teenage werewolf hormones, the perils of interspecies romance.
It is a massive cliché to say this but: I did not want this book to end, sadly it did and it left me wanting more! Damn it, the second book is not out yet, they say that delayed gratification is good, but I want it now!
YES! After a two month hiatus Teen Librarian Monthly is back! Click here to download the latest newsletter filled with news, a competition, activities and resources to use in your libraries!
To stand a chance of winning one of three brilliant books (see below) enter the Teen Librarian Zombielicious competition.
To enter you have to submit a zombiefied picture of yourself to editor (at) teenlibrarian (dot) co (dot) uk
To make yourself look as good as I did in the previous post you can use the Day of the Dead Facechanger or Make me a Zombie. Any other zombification techniques are permitted although getting yourself bitten by an actual undead is not recommended.
Competition rules:
~The competition is global
~One entry per person
~Picture size must not exceed 1.5 MB
~Put the word zombilicious in the subject line of the e-mail
~The competition is open until the 15th January
~All pictures will be featured on the TeenLibrarian website
~Judges decision is FINAL
I love and hate zombies in equal measure and for the same reason, they are the most frightening of all the things that go bump in the night! They were the first monsters to give me nightmares as a child – I blame Peter Haining who edited a book called Zombie back in the 1980’s. This was an anthology of classic and modern (for the’80’s) zombie short stories. Zombie lead me on to the novelisation of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead – In a world where life is a commodity, where survival is bought with guns, and where satisfaction is having free run of a department store, the dead will finally rule us all . . . this was the book that gave me nightmares, in my defence I was 12. That is me on the left, if you would like to become zombielicious go here: Diary of the Dead Facechanger Files
Zombies are back in fashion and have been for a few years now.
In YA novels you can read the Beautiful Dead series by Eden Maguire – Not alive. Not dead. Somewhere inbetween lie the Beautiful Dead.
The first two books in the series have been reviewed on Teen Librarian and can be viewed here
The Enemy & The Dead by Charlie Higson, two spine chilling books set in a London that we recognize but peopled by the survivors of a sickness that infected every parent, policeman, politician – every adult fell ill.
The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry.
Only children under fourteen remain, and they’re fighting to survive.
Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city – down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground – the grown-ups lie in wait.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith is the story of Pride & Prejudice with added zombies (a post about classic & monster mash-ups will follow soon)
So Now You’re a Zombie: A Handbook for the Newly Undead by John Austin
Not even the Star Wars Universe is free from the undead, Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber tells the tale of an Imperial Prison Barge that finds a derelict Star Destroyer floating in space. A baording party goes aboard to investigate but only half come back…
Not YA books but will still get a readership Max Brooks has written two books dealing with Zombies:
The Zombie Survival Guide a must-have guide to surviving the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse
World War Z – an oral history of the start, duration and aftermath of the Zombie Apocalypse
Zombies: a record of the year of infection by Don Roff is a detailed account on one man’s attempt to survive the Zombie Apocalypse.
Zombies have also lurched onto the pages of comic books, currently the best-known zombie comic series is The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman – possibly the most successful black & white comic book in the world today. The Walking Dead has also been turned into a televisions series and is currently being shown in the UK.
Other zombie comic books worth a look include:
Raise the Dead by Leah Moore and John Reppion. Black Gas by Warren Ellis Marvel Zombies
Atom, the young adult fiction imprint of Little, Brown, is delighted to announce the creation of The Atomics – a brand new young reviewers programme for readers aged twelve to eighteen.
Atom has been busy expanding their list to include a wide-range of young adult titles, including mystery, adventure and humour alongside their more well-known paranormal series. And now they want to share it with everyone else!
Anyone who joins The Atomics will get the chance to receive pre-publication copies of new titles to review. The reviewers for each month will have their reviews posted in a new, dedicated section of the Atom website where they can be seen and commented on by anyone else who is interested in Atom’s books.
Atom is committed to making sure that every Atomic will get the opportunity to review a title they like the sound of, but hope that many more people will join in the conversation!
The intention of The Atomics is to provide a safe, dedicated space for under-eighteens to discuss books and hone their review skills, as well as giving our fans the chance to read books before they’re published!
