Category Archives: By Age Range

Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanThe Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
HarperCollins
Published September 30, 2008

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They say it takes a town to raise a child. Or in this case, a graveyard.

After his family are murdered by a stranger named Jack, a toddler escapes to a graveyard where he is adopted by a pair of ghosts who name him Nobody. A vampire speaks up as Bod’s guardian, eventually sharing this responsibility with a werewolf.  Bod befriends other ghost children and even a witch buried on unconsecrated ground near the graveyard. But the mysterious man who murdered his family still seeks him and intends to finish the … Continue reading →

Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

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Breaking Dawn by Stephanie MeyerBreaking Dawn
Stephanie Meyer
Little, Brown & Company
Published August 7, 2007

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At last– the moment Twilight fans have dreamed of: Edward and Bella marry and retreat to a private island for a honeymoon. When it becomes obvious that Bella is pregnant– and with an extraordinary child– the couple returns home to care for Bella and possibly even protect her from the child in her womb. But the only way to save Bella may be to transform her.

When the dreaded Volturi close in on the Cullen Family, presumably to kill the child, Bella commits to do whatever it takes to protect the child she saw in her dreams. … Continue reading →

Review: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

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Eclipse
Stephanie Meyer
Little, Brown & Company
Published August 7, 2007

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Once again Bella Swan’s life is in danger, seemingly because of her association with the Cullen family. Strange events unfold in nearby Seattle– a mass of unsolved murders. Could there be “newborn” vampires on the loose?

As rumor of the “newborn” vampires spreads, a new rumor reaches the Cullen clan. The powerful Volturi, to whom Bella has promised to shed her mortality and become a vampire, appear to be planning a visit to the town of Forks. As Bella seeks to get her promise met, she discovers she must make a difficult choice. If she becomes a vampire, she loses Jacob, … Continue reading →

Review: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

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New Moon
Stephanie Meyer
Little, Brown & Company
Published September 6, 2006

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The sequel to Twilight, New Moon picks up a few months after its predecessor. It’s Bella’s birthday, and despite her wishes that there be no fuss, the Cullen family make quite an occasion of it. But the party spawns a sequence of events that shatters Bella’s world. She finds herself alone, feeling as if a gaping hole exists through the center of her very being. As she struggles to cope, and to carve out some semblance of life around the edges of her wound, she at last finds a friend. But when battle lines are drawn again, she finds herself torn … Continue reading →

Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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Twilight by Stephenie MeyerTwilight
Stephanie Meyer
Little, Brown & Company
Published October 5, 2005

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When Bella reluctantly moves to the dark and dreary city of Forks, Washington to live with her father, she is not expecting much out of life. A few precious days of sunshine at most. But fate brings something to her that’s far more dear and far more deadly. At first Edward Cullen seems repulsed by her presence– and for no reason at all. Gradually he softens toward her, but still remains aloof though alluring. But once Bella learns his secret, and the war it causes inside him, she begins to understand. He is a vampire, and she has already fallen in love with him.

I liked … Continue reading →

Vampires, Ghosts, Witches, and Teen Fiction

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twilight_sagaby_reggie_bIf you are a parent of a teen and have escaped the Twilight craze and the Harry Potter boom, you are probably in the minority. This week, and for many weeks past, vampires dominate the young adult bestseller lists, as Harry Potter did before them. Also not long ago, the Newberry Award was given to Neil Gaiman for his middle grade novel The Graveyard Book, a story about a young boy on the run from a killer, raised by ghosts and other beings in a graveyard. Is this bad news for Believers?

Some say no. After all, we read the Narnia chronicles, which have many connections to Greek mythology. Tolkein’s Gandalf is a wizard. Is that so different from Rowling’s characters?

To others, Rowling and Lewis … Continue reading →