Teen Thrillers, Horror, and Mysteries: October 2022

October is the month for costumes and candy and scary stories.  While the little children jump at the word “Boo,” older teens are looking for something a little more, shall we say, visceral?

Here are some new books for teen readers hungry for the real thing.

In Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, Quinn and her father try to start a new life in small Kettle Springs, but find the town is well split between the adults trying to uphold tired traditions and the kids who just want to have fun.  The town may fall apart, but then the school mascot, dressed like a clown in a porkpie hat, starts to cull the rotten kids.

The Taking of Jake Livingston follows Jake, one of the only Black kids at his school, and certainly the only person who can see the dead.  Most of them are harmless, but one, a school shooter who took his own life, sees that Jake can see him, and he has plans to bring him into the afterlife.

In Killing Time, true-crime fan Natalie takes matters into her own hand when her favorite teacher is murdered.  With the help of a new boy in town, she soon learns some secrets are not meant to be revealed.

Very Bad People tells how Calliope leaves her small village behind to join a boarding school where she might uncover the secrets behind her mother’s death.

In The Counselors, three girls advance from camp kids to become camp counselors, but when a local is found dead right before the new batch of camp kids arrives for the summer, the girls know they have a number of mysteries to solve.

Two Truths and a Lie follows a vanload of theater kids stranded in a snowstorm along with a group of robotics students.  A game of Two Truths and a Lie reveals that one person in the remote hotel is a killer, and then the murders begin.

#BookBingoNW2018: Suggested by a young person

Two teen readers from our Northeast Branch have five books to suggest to you for your “Suggested by a young person” Book Bingo square. In addition to their excellent reviews, they’ve translated each piece into Somali. We hope you enjoy their thoughtful suggestions and their translation as much as we have:

I’ll Give You the Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Hardcover: 371 pages
Age range 14+
Published: September 16, 2014

Believing that nothing breaks family bonds, meet the inseparable twins Noah and Jude who were bonded to each other till tragedy rips them apart. This novel is artistically beautiful and the story is told from the alternating perspective of the twins. Each one of them narrates a different side of the accident that changed their lives. The sibling relationship is portrayed perfectly. The author has beautifully captured the way they spite each other but still protect each other no matter what.

#BookBingoNW2017: Young adult

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Need a book for that Young Adult square but aren’t quite sure where to start? Young adult fiction has come a long way since Sweet Valley High, with captivating, well-written titles that cross and blend just about every genre out there.  There is, of course, an abundance of teen romance,  but there is also excellent historical fiction and realistic fiction that shows just what it means to be a teen in 2017.  With thousands of titles published for young adults each year it can be a challenge to find books that will resonate with adult readers.  Here are some of our favorites:

Romantic Wednesdays: LGBTQ Pride

Posted by Eric G.

It’s been 45 years since Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) New Yorkers fought back against police harassment at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, helping to usher in the modern LGBTQ rights movement. This weekend is also the 40^th Anniversary of the Seattle Pride Parade, which was lucky enough to snag the ever-popular George Takei as its grand marshal! Naturally, I corralled some queer reads to complement this colorful time of year. Be proud of who you are, who you love and what you read!

Nightstand Reads: Christopher Barzak, author of “Before and Afterlives,” shares what he’s reading

Christopher Barzak will be reading from his recent collection of short stories, Before and Afterlives, on Wednesday, June 25th at the Central Library on Level 4, Room 2 at 7:00 p.m. His novel One for Sorrow was recently made into the film Jamie Marks is Dead, starring Liv Tyler and Judy Greer. Christopher was kind enough to share what he’s been reading in advance of his visit.

Most recently, I’ve been reading a lot of Young Adult fiction, both because I love the teen perspective in fiction in general (it’s so up close and personal, very intensely emotional, and in the best cases, hard edged) and because I am a jury member for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for a third year in a row. But despite reading a lot of YA in recent years, I’ve also been reading a lot of classic genre fiction, like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Invisible Man, as part of an ongoing writing project of mine (writing short form retellings of classic genre fiction). So the three books I’m going to recommend are all connected to those two spheres I’ve been reading within recently.