Tweens – Mom Read It

Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Ghosts roam The Shadow House… but who are they?

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Gathering (Shadow House #1), by Dan Poblocki, (Aug. 2016, Scholastic Press), $12.99, ISBN: 9780545925501

Recommended for ages 8-12

Poppy is pretty much an orphan, abandoned as a baby and raised in a group home, where she’s known as “Crazy Poppy” because of the ghostly friend that lives in her mirror and who leaves her little gifts. She receives a letter from a long lost relative, thrilled to have found her, and invites her to live with her at Larkspur Estate.

Marcus is a musical prodigy who always hears music in his head. He receives a full scholarship to the Larkspur Academy of Music and can’t wait to be around other musicians.

Azumi is lost without her sister, who disappeared into a Japanese forest on a family trip. She receives word that she’s been accepted to the prestigious Larkspur Academy, where she can start over in a place where no one knows her.

Dash and Dylan are twin brothers, child stars who have left their show to go on to bigger and better things. They’re offered the chance to star in a horror movie to be filmed at a school… Larkspur Academy.

When the tweens all arrive at Larkspur, they realize that something is wrong. No one is there to greet them or explain what’s going on. Children wearing ghostly masks show up and try to attack them. What is really going on in the Shadow House?

This first book in a new middle grade horror series is a lot of fun, with a lot of creepiness that kids will love. If they’re ready for a little more than Goosebumps, but not old enough yet for Madeline Roux’s Asylum books, this is the book to give them. It’s a fast-paced read, switching between the points of view of the main characters (one of whom is hiding a whopper of a secret) and revealing little bits of information at a time. The ending left me a little wanting, but I’m hoping that book two, due in December, will clear the confusion up.

Scholastic is going all out with this series. There’s a Shadow House website with links to a healthy print excerpt, an audio excerpt, and an app that lets users explore the Shadow House. I haven’t downloaded it, but I may snag my son’s iPad (my phone is almost out of memory) and try it out. If you use it, comment here and let me know!

If you have horror fans, add this one to your list. I’ll booktalk this with the Haunted Mansion and Haunted Museum series.

Graphic Novels

I had a program! And people attended! Corona Comic Book Group Begins.

Posted on November 10, 2015November 10, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Now that I’ve had a month to settle into my daily routine here at my library, I’ve finally gotten some programming set. Today was my first Comic Book Club, an idea I’d been trying to get off the ground for over a year, but could never quite make happen at my previous library. Since the crowds here are pretty robust, and the kids are hungry for programming, I thought I’d give it a shot.

I kept it pretty laid back for our first meeting, since I’m still new here, myself. I had seven kids show up, all aging from 7-9 years old. They were excited to be talking about comic books, and the fact that I was wearing a Green Arrow t-shirt and comic book shoes, so that was a great conversation opener. We talked about what different TV shows and comics we like – Teen Titans and Steven Universe got huge props, which means I need to check out Steven Universe now. Plants vs. Zombies got some love, too.

We talked about what kind of comic book club we wanted to be. They were really enthusiastic about reading a graphic novel together and talking about it, and they wanted to learn more about comics that are on the shelves at the library. Babymouse, Owly, and Garfield are current favorites, and I’ve just ordered more books to put on the shelves, so maybe next week’s meeting will be an unveiling of the new stuff!

I used the comic book club as an excuse to talk about other programs the kids may want. Tabletop Gaming got some promising feedback, so that made my day. I’m thinking I may need to start a teen comic book club, too, because I had no idea how many younger kids would want in on this. They also want to watch movies, so I need to figure out the space situation (we’re tightly packed in this library) and make that happen.

My comic book store, Royal Collectibles in Forest Hills, generous donated some Halloween ComicFest copies of Grimmiss Island and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so I was doubly thrilled. The kids in my library’s neighborhood don’t always have the disposable income for comics of their own, so this made their day.

I passed out some comic book templates that I found on Pinterest, and the kids went to work. I have to tell you, the creativity blew me away. Yeah, there was the one kid that made a new generation’s version of Spy vs. Spy, with one guy and another guy yelling “DIE!” and killing one another with explosions, but the other kids really sat and thought out their stories, even paging through the books I had on the table for ideas. We agreed that every week, I’ll give them more comic paper, and they can continue their stories (or write news ones), and create their own comic book.

It was a 45-minute program, with relatively no financial outlay thanks to the donation from Royal. It got the kids talking, I got to put names to some faces I see every day, and it helped me build a rapport with them. I’m already excited for next week!

Teen, Tween Reads

Summer Reading for Tweens and Teens! Refeatured Reviews!

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The New York Summer Reading Lists for Tweens and Teens Summer Reading look pretty fantastic this year. I’ve read a few of the books on the list, so I thought I’d reshare those reviews to get you started.

The City of Ember is a great beginning to a hugely popular series. Imagine a post-apocalyptic society that went underground to survive. They live off the meager light produced by generators. But after so long underground, the power is going out in Ember. There’s been rumor that there’s a way out… who will be brave enough to uncover the truth about Ember?

Icefall is an amazing book that I was lucky enough to read when I was on the Cybils Awards panel a couple of years ago. A Viking warrior king’s children are sequestered away while their father is at war. A storm encloses their stronghold in ice, and they learn that there’s a traitor in their midst.

Zita the Spacegirl is a graphic novel series that I’ve evangelized from day one. I love the story, I love the art, and most importantly, I love the character. Zita is a spunky Earth girl who finds herself in space on an adventure. Her adventure continues in Legends of Zita the Spacegirl and Return of Zita the Spacegirl – don’t miss out on this series.

In Darkness won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2013, with good reason. This taut story of a young Haitian gang member trapped in the rubble of a hospital in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake is compulsively readable, equally parts fascinating and brutal.