Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!

Dashing young Duncan is either a handsome knight trying to win the heart of a princess by relieving the dreaded Frog King of his head, OR just another downtrodden teen trying to get by in the projects of Oakland, as his depressed mom dates one jerk after another. Greedy Gran’Pa Greenbax is either a latter day Scrooge McDuck-like animated TV star, OR just a little freshwater frog who’s been used and abused by cruel humans. Meek Janet is either a stately Nigerian princess, OR just another cubicle-dwelling office drone. No one is quite who they seem to be in this lushly illustrated, full-color collaboration between two of the best author/illustrators in the comic biz.  But no matter what their circumstances, each character manages to discover hidden stores of bravery, hope and optimism that help clear away the dark clouds of anger, fear and pride. And what is the Eternal Smile? Well, it’s either the face of God or a hole in the ceiling, and the only person who can decide that is YOU, dear reader! Award winning authors and illustrators Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim will both blow and bend your mind with these three quirky, offbeat Twilight Zone-meets-Pushing Daisies short stories about love, life and the power of the imagination. I didn’t even have to get to the last page to know that what I was holding in my hands was pure graphic novel gold.

Geeks of the world, rejoice! Several of the best YA authors around have let their freak flags fly in this nerdalicious collection of dork-shorts, and the result is no less than GEEKTASTIC. Are you an astronomy aficionado? A quiz bowl questioner? A crazy ComicCon-er? Perhaps you’re compulsive online gamer, A Rocky Horror crooner, or just simply a Buffy action-figure collector. Whatever brand of freak you are, you will soon recognize yourself and other members of your nerd herd in this outrageously funny and occasionally tragic collection of stories and comics. Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci imagine the impossible love between a Jedi and a Klingon in the star-crossed “Once You’re a Jedi, You’re a Jedi All the Way,” while David Levithan explores quiz bowl backstabbing in “Quiz Bowl Antichrist.” A couple of nerds outsmart their hazers in John Green’s “Freak the Geek,” Cassandra Clare explains what happens when online gamers meet in real life in “I Never,” and Libba Bray will make you cry in “It’s Just a Jump to the Left,” a gorgeously melancholic ode to the Rocky Horror Picture Show and lost innocence. Plus, there’s Lisa Yee’s story of baton-twirling angst, Tracy Lynn’s tale of a cheerleader who finally sees the geek-light, and some totally awesome comic shorts by Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O’Malley. Additional nerd-words are penned Scott Westerfeld, M.T. Anderson, Garth Nix, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass and Sara Zarr.  As a proud former show choir nerd and theater geek, I dug each and every one of these original stories and I’m sure you will, too. Because when it’s all said and done, “geek” is just shorthand for being passionate about what you love, be it karate or Klingon.  And who isn’t passionate about something? Jot this one down for next summer’s reading list, as it won’t be beamed down into a library or bookstore near you until August 2009. May the force be with you until then!

This otherworldly collection of short stories by master fantasist Kelly Link is equal parts whimsy and menace, where dreams and nightmares walk hand in hand, and butterflies turn out to be cockroaches. Walk around in Link’s peculiar world for a while, and you might run into a dead teenage girl at the 7-11 (“The Wrong Grave”), or wind up in another dimension if you open “The Faery Handbag.” In “Magic for Beginners,” you can watch a pirated television show called The Library, where the characters may or may not be real—but only if you can find it, because it’s never on the same channel twice. You can divine your inner goddess in “The Constable of Abal,” conjure your inner werewolf in “Pretty Monsters,” or discover that we are all capable of magic in “The Wizards of Perfil.” You’ll never go camping again after meeting the urban legend-y “Monster,” but may be tempted to believe in aliens after shaking hands with “The Surfer.” You can even try on the evil cousin of Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat in “The Specialist’s Hat.” Each story is as unique as a fingerprint, as surreal as a Salvadore Dali painting, and as unforgettable as your first kiss. Just in time for Halloween, these nine stories, quaintly illustrated by Shaun Tan, are full of tricks AND treats!

This generous helping of superhero soup will quickly sate the appetites of those of you who continue to crave tales of men (or women) in tights outside of comic books. Going way beyond Superman or Wonder Woman, these superheroes range from the bizarre to the merely banal, each one unique in his or her own quirky way. The opener, “Girl Reporter,” tells how one famous superhero’s initial rough edges were smoothed by his unsung journalist girlfriend, creating the classy crime fighter we know and love today. In “The Quick Stop 5,” several slacker convenience story employees discover they have been granted powers by a particularly aromatic batch of diesel fuel, and become a national brand faster than you can say “Hannah Montana.” I also quite enjoyed the stories of America’s most disgusting superhero, The Silverfish (“Remains of the Night”) and it’s most unusual (“The Meerkat”—I know, I’m still scratching my head over that one, too. But trust me, it works).  And then there’s “The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children,” where one womanizing superhero has left behind all his red-headed airborne offspring to be raised by a forgiving woman of God. In the darker themed “Roe #5,” a woman discovers that her past has come back to haunt her in not-quite human form, and in “Man Oh Man, –It’s Manna Man,” one man uses his powers of persuasion to make crooked television evangelists donate to the needy instead of themselves. But my favorite stories may have been in the last section, “Super Ordinary.” There, David Yoo relates the tale of “The Somewhat Super,” those who have the dubious ability of not having to go to the bathroom (EVER), or the less than impressive power of…static electricity. Kelly Braffet explores what it feels like to have the power of bad luck in “Bad Karma Girl Wins at Bingo,” while Jennifer Weiner tells of the story of a down-and-out writer who suddenly discovers she can speak to dead people—and find missing children. Finally, David Haynes ends the collection with “The Lives of Ordinary Superheroes,” which explains what happens to old superheroes—do they retire, or just fade away? Awesomely illustrated by Chris Burnham, this super-sized collection (22 stories in all) should keep you busy at least until the sequel to Ironman comes out!

This third installment of Aussie author Margo Lanagan’s short story collections is just as bizarre and mind-bending as her previous two. My favorites include “A Good Heart,” about a medieval peasant boy who discovers that the girl he loves, a lady above his station, is harboring a dark secret, and “Under Hell, Over Heaven,” which takes place in Purgatory, where some souls try to earn their way into Heaven by forcibly transporting other unfortunate souls to Hell. “Winkie,” in which Lanagan reinterprets the benign Wee Willie Winkie from Mother Goose into a tall, scrawny, child-snatching bogeyman gave me the heebie jeebies, which were soothed away by “A Feather in the Breast of God,” a sweet story that suggests sometimes our pets come back to watch over us after death. Another thing I appreciate about Lanagan’s books is that she always includes notes at the end that let readers know where the inspiration for her weird, wonderful stories comes from. I loved the shout-out she gave to fellow Aussie Garth Nix when she wrote that the title of her last story, “Daughter of the Clay” came from reading about the Clayr in his Abhorson trilogy. If you want to take a short trip to a strange place, then these stories are just the ticket. Don’t forget to go back and check out her first two books, Black Juice (a Printz-honor title) and White Time.

In Deborah Noyes’ latest horror anthology, the dead not only won’t stay put, they’re hanging out at dance clubs and visiting the local 7-11! Noyes, whose first collection Gothic!: Ten Original Dark Tales knocked my socks off, has assembled another winner with The Restless Dead. Marcus Sedgewick tells a story of a transplanted heart that takes over its’ new owner’s body in “The Heart of Another,” while Annette Curtis Klause shares what it’s like to infiltrate a trendy vampire nest in “Kissing Dead Boys.” Chris Wooding’s traditional Victorian ghost story will keep you guessing until the last line, while Herbie Brennan’s unexpectedly funny story about a greedy old grandpa who refuses to go back to his grave will have you laughing even as you suppress a shiver. Libba Bray, Holly Black, and Nancy Etchemendy also all penned chilling shorts that gave me the heebie jeebies, but I have to say my favorite was M.T. Anderson’s “The Gray Boy’s Work,” a strange historical fiction about the horror that comes home with a Revolutionary War soldier who deserted his post. Give yourself some goose bumps in the middle of summer, or anytime of year with this gorgeously ghoulish collection!

My teenage compadres, I have finally read something that has left me…speechless. These 10 short stories by Margo Lanagan are breathtakingly indescribable. Using elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Lanagan drops the unprepared reader into 10 wholly original worlds, where first you flounder and flap…and then you swim. Into places and people you couldn’t even begin to imagine—like a tar pit where justice is sung as you sink to your death, a lonely rural ridge where carnivorous red dragon angels grant wishes, and a tribal village where a broken accordion speaks to gods. And that’s just a sampling of the amazing dimensions you will experience when you crack open this brilliant, disturbing, too wonderful for words short story collection.

This series of stories by YA literature godfather Richard Peck highlight the very best of his short story career. Arranged into simply named sections called “The First,” “The Past,” “The Supernatural,” and finally “The Present” Peck gives teen readers a look at what goes into crafting the heart and soul of a short story. Besides providing examples of his work, each section starts with a short explanation by Peck about who or what inspired the story or how it came to be written. But best of all is the writerly advice contained in the last two sections: How to Write a Short Story, and Five Helpful Hints, which include my two favorite adages, NOBODY BUT A READER EVER BECAME A WRITER, and THE ONLY WRITING IS REWRITING. Using a very few perfectly chosen words, Peck boils down the very essence of how to write a story. Teen writers will welcome his stripped down advice, as it will keep them from becoming overwhelmed by the empty monitor screen. All of his selected stories are such gems of the genre that it will certainly inspire young authors to follow his sage advice.

If I said, “Sarah Dessen,” could I make you pause? What about “Jacqueline Woodson, Rich Wallace, and Ellen Wittlinger?” Would you stop to see what all these fabulous YA authors (and many more too numerous to mention in this short space) were doing in one collection? What if I said all of these cool shorts were about DESIRE in all its forms: sexual, identity, wanting to belong, wanting to connect, just WANTING? Would you stop for one hot second and see what all the heavy breathing was about? I’m thinking you might for a collection full of funny, smart, serious and true short stories about all the different people, privileges, feelings and connections that we long for as teenagers. There, made ya look!

Who hasn’t wanted to see into the future, even if it was just a little peek? Editor Michael Cart asked 10 well known YA writers to pen their versions of the future and they came up with some pretty funky results. Katherine Paterson created a future where humans have made their homes in sealed domes and no longer know the meanings of words like “hot” or “loneliness” except through virtual reality lessons. Jacqueline Woodson writes about how one girl, born out of a sperm donor deposit, is searching for both her father and her future. And Rodman Philbrick gives us a taste of his longer futuristic novel, The Last Book in the Universe, by describing a future where violence and brutality rule, and hope comes in the form of the written word. And those are just a few of the space age stories from this eclectic volume. Cool tattooed cover, too. Make sure you bring this one along on your latest mission to Mars.

Before diving into the dark and delicious mix of Francesca Lia Block’s collection, be warned that these fractured fairy tales are not for the faint of heart. Block imagines the fabled Wolf as a predatory live-in boyfriend who won’t leave you or your mother alone, and Bluebeard as a club-land, hipster serial killer of drugged-out, runaway girls. But there’s always a touch of Block’s signature whimsy–like when Beauty kinda wishes that her Beast had stayed a cute and cuddly lion instead of turning into an argumentative b-friend, and Thumbelina cures adolescent depression by making her crush-boy into a happy flower-prince who is as tiny as she. Another fabulous book by the amazing Block. Oh, stop making me gush and just go read it, already!

Life is Funny is a book of inter-connected stories about this group of teens who are growing up in Brooklyn. Their individual first person voices are at once innocent and jaded, funny and incredibly heartbreaking. First-timer author Frank is also a social worker, and does she ever prove how well she knows her stuff. Gingerbread is in love with Keisha, who doesn’t mind that her hilarious and loving boyfriend has to control his manic personality with Ritalin. Eric is determined to keep a hold of his little brother Mickey, no matter how many foster homes they are moved to. Grace and Ebony, though worlds and skin colors apart, manage to have an awesome friendship in spite of Grace’s racist and alcoholic mom. And those guys are just a sample of the teens you’ll meet in these pages. Frank tackles almost every contemporary teen issue and put a new face and a fresh talking mouth on it. Which is a struggle for established YA authors, let alone a newbie. A guaranteed perfect read.

Like all of Rob’s books (with perhaps the exception of Green Thumb, in my humble opinion), Doing Time is fabulous. The stories all share the same premise: every student in them has to perform some sort of community service work to graduate. There’s Laura, a total wannabe, who does her community service in the local hospital in the head trauma unit because she has a crush on last year’s Prom King, a permanent resident since his motorcycle accident. In “Loss of Pet,” Fiona hears a very unusual story from the most popular girl at school as she’s serving her time as a library assistant. And Teesha learns that charity can hit a little too close to home when she signs on to help with a local food drive. All of these stories contain powerful hooks that will reel you all the way in and keep you on the line until the very last page. Short, but completely satisfying.

There are two kinds of people who live in Scrub Harbor–the people who like it just the way it is and those who would change the city’s name to the classier “Folly Bay.” Not surprisingly, the working class folk are sticking with Scrub, while the upper crusty set are wrangling for the name change. The class division has trickled down into the high school, where the students are also arguing over the name issue. Readers discover that labels and stereotypes really have nothing to do with the actual person. (But you go to high school– you know that already!) There’s O’Neill, who seems like a typical anti-social loner, but who’s really a complex person with a pretty complex secret. Popular, run-everything Gretchen decides that maybe it’s NOT all about wearing the right clothes and dating the star football player. Middle class Nelson thinks that just because he’s black, he has something in common with Shaquanda, but he couldn’t be more wrong. What’s in a Name is a frosted mini-wheat of a book–a sweet, easy read with some real substance inside.

Almost indescribable, this collection of stories about complete oddballs will challenge you to try and figure out what a tattooed librarian, a homeless old lady named Aunt Helen and a little girl who’s dad is entirely too nice to strangers, have in common. This book defines the word “quirky.” A really original read that I haven’t been able to get out of my head, and I hope you will invite into yours.

These ten stories are about what life is like in the Harlem neighborhood of 145th Street. You got quiet Monkeyman, who’s still waters run deep the day he decides he won’t be intimidated by gang warfare no more. There’s Kitty, who won’t let Mack give up on their love and Big Joe, who wants to enjoy his funeral NOW instead of after he’s dead. There’s drive-bys and beatings and unexpected death, but also tons of friendship, humor and laughter. An excellent introduction to Myers writing, if you haven’t read him before. And if you haven’t, shame on you! His novel Monster won the first ever 2000 Printz award, for outstanding YA lit!

The best way to describe this book that revolves around the events of an eighth grade dance is “sweet” and “low.” There are some truly sweet moments, like when Peggy Lee REALLY kisses her best friend Tennessee for the first time, or when Russ remembers his first love, Annie P., who he will never be able to kiss again. But these are balanced by the hard-hitting lows of watching Becca Scott relive the horror of her recent date rape, and Mary Sarah hoping that the wearing of a forbidden red ribbon won’t earn her a beating. A good blend of hard and soft tales, despite the somewhat mushy and romantic-al book cover.

And now, the best for last! Judy Blume, a veteran YA author who’s taken many pot-shots for her ground-breaking novels, has assembled and edited some awesome shorts by other YA authors who have had to deal with censorship. The stories themselves aren’t ABOUT censorship, but showcase some really fine writing that perhaps censors wouldn’t let us read if they had their way. I don’t think there was a story here I didn’t love. Julius Lester writes about the son of a civil rights hero who falls for the only white girl in his African American lit. class. Paul Zindel writes about the revenge wrecked on an evil cheerleader by a lonely fat girl. Rachel Vail writes about a female basketball star who, after having sex for the first time, wonders what all the hoopla was about. And Walter Dean Myers delivers a lyrical, beautifully written story about how hard it is for his main character to reconcile his campus life at a small liberal arts college with his home life in Harlem, where his sister is slowly losing her battle with drugs. And each story comes with a personal note from the author about their thoughts on censorship. Really fantastic stuff. I envy you if you haven’t read it yet, ’cause you’re in for a delicious treat. I ate it all up in two days flat!