Katniss' Allies

Of course you’ve seen the The Hunger Games movie. The Hunger Games is your favorite book; you’ve read it a dozen times. You’ve read Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Hell, you’ve read The Hunger Games Companion, and The Girl Who Was On Fire: Your Favorite Authors On Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy, and even The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. But it’s not enough! What will you do without gritty, futuristic worlds stricken by environmental disasters and world wars? What will you without a revolution to bring down a sly Big Brother-like government? What will you do without a stubborn, sarcastic, tough-as-nails but secretly tenderhearted heroine to root for? Don’t worry! You’re in luck! There’s a whole new generation of rebel girls (and a few rebel boys) on the bookshelves, and they’re not going down without a fight.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young, 2011, Margaret K. McElderry Books (Teen Science Fiction). 

Eighteen-year-old Saba’s life is a hard one—eking out an existence on a drought-stricken homestead in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. But with her twin brother Lugh at her side, she can bear anything. So when a dust storm brings four horsemen who kidnap Lugh, Saba rises to the challenge with a ferocity that surprises even herself. Abandoning her home—but with her annoying kid sister in tow—Saba enters a desolate wilderness that is filled with enemies. Quickly captured and imprisoned, Saba earns the sobriquet “Angel of Death” when she’s forced to compete in cage matches for a maniacal ruler who styles himself after the Sun King and keeps his minions under control with drugs and violence. But when a rebel force of girl warriors and a ne’er-do-well fellow fighter named Jack offer Saba a chance to escape, she must decide if challenging her world’s order is worth the cost of losing Lugh forever. Like Katniss of The Hunger Games, Saba is at times surly, churlish, and single-minded. But, like Katniss, there are also hidden depths to Saba’s determination and untapped reserves of daring strength. With her direct, rough-and-tumble narration and nonstop intensity, readers will follow Saba to the ends of the earth and back.

 Dustlands Trilogy
1.) Blood Red Road
2.) Rebel Heart (released October 2012)
3.) to be announced

Enclave by Ann Aguirre, 2011, Feiwel and Friends Books (Teen Science Fiction).

When the world ended, the people left behind moved underground. Now they survive in barricaded enclaves below the streets, focused on three simple things: breeding, building, and hunting. When they turn sixteen, kids cease to be nameless brats and become working members of this desperate society. Deuce becomes a Huntress, specially trained to find food outside the enclave—and to fight the human-like, flesh-eating Freaks who roam the abandoned tunnels and sewers. Partnered with the enigmatic Fade, who came to the enclave as a young boy having survived on his own, Deuce begins to suspect that the Freaks are no longer the mindless monsters they used to be—they’re getting smarter. But the enclave elders dismiss Deuce’s reports, and Deuce is banished to keep her rumors from spreading. Unexpectedly, Fade agrees to go with Deuce. He claims he once lived Topside, and that the world above is not the blighted ruin the elders say it is. So Deuce leaves the only world she’s ever known for a whole new set of dangers in a world where nothing is as it seems. Enclave is the first of a planned trilogy and like The Hunger Games, it’s a page-turner with the first gritty volume hinting at more chaos to come.

 Razorland Trilogy
1.) Enclave
2.) Outpost (released September 2012)
3.) to be announced

Divergent by Veronica Roth, 2011, Katherine Tegen Books (Teen Science Fiction).

Beatrice Prior has lived her whole life in Abnegation, where you always put the needs of others before your own. But when Beatrice turns sixteen, she will be tested and have the option to join one of the other factions that her city is divided into—Amity (peace), Erudite (intelligence), Candor (truth), or Dauntless (bravery). The motto of this brave new world is “faction before blood,” and individuals are expected to dedicate their lives to the virtue their faction promotes. So Beatrice is shocked when her scores show that she could belong to more than one faction. She is labeled Divergent, and like Katniss in The Hunger Games, Beatrice must play a dangerous game with the authorities to minimize the danger she’s in. Dauntless seems the best place for Beatrice—now calling herself as Tris to match the punk stylings of her new faction—to find answers. As she and the other Dauntless initiates undergo a series of trials to prove their worth, Tris finds it impossible to forget her life in Abnegation, especially since many Dauntless want to trade cruelty for courage. Throw in a romance with a handsome instructor and growing rivalries between factions, and Divergent becomes the first of a hard-hitting, unpredictable new dystopian trilogy.

Divergent Trilogy
1.) Divergent
2.) Insurgent
 3.) to be announced

Matched by Ally Condie, 2010, Dutton Books (Teen Science Fiction).

Like The Hunger Games, Matched begins with an annual ceremony at which a futuristic society’s young people are singled out for a new future. Katniss and her fellow twelve-to-eighteen-year-olds face the prospect of a forced fight to the death. Seventeen-year-old Cassia Reyes, however, is attending her Match Banquet. Her Society’s leaders, using a careful system of probability and statistical odds, have matched Cassia with her ideal future husband. Cassia is thrilled and excited—more so when her Match turns out to her best friend, Xander. But then something unusual happens. The face of a different boy altogether flashes across Cassia’s screen. His name is Ky, he’s been labeled an Aberration, and Cassia is told the whole thing is a computer glitch and not to give it a second thought. But for a naturally curious girl with a soft spot for old artifacts and banned literature, that’s much easier said than done. Soon the cracks in the facade of the seemingly perfect Society begin to show, and Cassia faces some crucial choices. With a love triangle to rival that of Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, Matched challenges the very notion of freedom of choice. It’s also immensely romantic, dramatic, and action-packed. Have the sequel close at hand.

Matched Trilogy
1.) Matched
2.) Crossed
3.) Reached (released November 2012)

Legend by Marie Lu, 2011, G.P. Putnam's Sons (Teen Science Fiction).

June Iparis is the opposite of Katniss Everdeen—while Katniss is a lowly citizen of Panem’s poverty-stricken District Twelve, June is the genius daughter of the Republic, a highly-trained soldier who is dedicated to the cause of putting down the rebellion. It’s the boy Day who most resembles Katniss. He’s the Republic’s most-wanted criminal, a street-wise justice fighter, a thorn in the side of the elite military officials. But when Day is accused of killing June’s brother, she vows revenge. And when the two finally meet, sparks fly—and supposedly known truths begin to crumble. Like Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games, June and Day form an unexpected alliance that begins to uncover secrets about the series of plagues that annually infest the poorest neighborhoods, the Trials that all ten-year-old citizens are required to take, and the ongoing war between the Republic and the outlying Colonies. June and Day tell their stories in distinct voices through alternating chapters, and there’s plenty of action, wit, mystery, and intriguing world-building. Star-crossed lovers who take on a totalitarian government? Hunger Games fans are practically guaranteed to be lining up for Legend and its upcoming sequels. 

Legend Trilogy
1.) Legend
2.) Prodigy (released January 2013)
3.) to be announced

Uglies: Shay’s Story by Scott Westerfeld and Devin Grayson, illustrated by Steven Cummings, 2012, Del Ray Books (Teen Science Fiction/ Graphic Novel).

The first book of the Uglies series was published in 2005, three years before The Hunger Games. But a graphic novel version has been released, and the new story packs just as much punch. In the original Uglies, Tally eagerly waits her sixteenth birthday, when, through the miracle of her society’s high-tech plastic surgery, she will become beautiful. As a Pretty, her only goal in life will be the pursuit of a good time. But then Tally’s best friend Shay unexpectedly refuses her makeover, running off instead to the Smoke, an outside colony of Uglies. If Tally doesn’t spy on the Smoke, she won’t be allowed to become Pretty. The graphic novel version tells Shay’s side of the story—her attraction to the prankish Uglies gang calling itself “The Crims,” her growing dissatisfaction with the status quo, her friends’ desertion to Pretty Town, and her persuasive (except to Tally) arguments against becoming Pretty. Shay is a born rebel—much like a certain tribute from District 12—and the story from her point of view becomes something darker, more active, with the consequences of the characters’ actions even more significant. The manga-like artwork provides a light touch to a story that becomes more engrossing with each new image.

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines, 2009, Bloomsbury Books (Teen Science Fiction).

In the not-too-distant future, society copes with worldwide war and constant violence by embracing an extreme pastime: the ancient sport of the Gladiator. The corporate Gladiator Sports Association enforces a strict code of laws and rules—so strict that they extend beyond the arena to a Gladiator’s earnings, property, and family. So when eighteen-year-old Lyn’s stepfather Tommy is killed in a match, the GSA requires that she marry his opponent, Uber, or her family will lose everything. Lyn has grown up immersed in Glad culture (her father and all six of her stepfathers met their end in the arena) but she has no intention of becoming a traditional Glad wife. Instead, she breaks all convention and challenges the GSA and Uber to another death match—and she’ll be doing the fighting. The problem is, Uber’s not really such a bad guy… Like Katniss, Lyn is a girl determined to get herself out of a mess that is not of her own making. She’s also in a forced fight to the death in an arena while crowds of fans scream for blood. But this is no Hunger Games rip-off. Girl in the Arena is a smart, savvy, satirical addition to the tough-girl dystopian genre.

Pure by Julianna Baggott, 2012, Grand Central Publishing (Science Fiction).

If you were lucky enough to survive the Detonations, you found yourself fused to whatever was near you—metal, glass, plastic, animals, each other, the earth itself. Pressia was just eight-years-old when the Detonations hit; now sixteen, her arm ends in a doll-head fist. If you lived in the Dome, a gleaming environment on the hill, you were more than lucky—you were safe and protected from the wretched survivors outside. Partridge is the son of a Dome official, but when he hears rumors that his missing mother may have survived outside, he risks everything to escape. Partridge runs straight into Pressia, who is on the run from the rouge military group that rounds up teenagers for forced service. Together, the wretch from outside and the “Pure” from the Dome—plus Bradwell, a survivor with birds in his back and El Capitan, who is fused to his brother—discover strange secrets about life inside and outside the Dome. The combination of an ominous government, a rebellion that doesn’t deliver everything it promises, and a shaky alliance between the privileged and the poverty-stricken will thrill fans of The Hunger Games and keep them on the edge of their seats for the next installment of the weird, wild Pure Trilogy.

Pure Trilogy
1.) Pure
2.) Fuse (released February 2013)
3.) to be announced

The New Zombies

For the last few years, it’s been sparkly, sullen vampires who’ve ruled page and screen. But slowly, steadily creeping up on the bloodsuckers, is a new version of an old favorite: the zombie. Films like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, plus Max Brooks’ and Seth Graham-Smith’s tongue-in-cheek books The Zombie Survival Guide and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, lead the charge with a sarcastic, wholly unique 21st century brand of humor. Other novelists have contributed a new intensity and complexity that comment on modern society and politics—or make some very intriguing changes to the traditional zombie genre. Zombie books are hitting the bestseller lists hard, and readers cannot wait to devour them.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, 2004, Image Comics (Horror/ Graphic Novel). 

When small-town sheriff Rick Grimes wakes up from a gunshot-induced coma, the concerned faces of his family and friends do not surround him. Instead, the dead have become the undead, moaning and groaning and eating brains. For all intents and purposes, life as Rick knows it is over. There are few explanations here, and the story is better for it—Rick and the reader are flung headfirst into a ruined world and forced to battle hoards of reeking zombies for a very slim chance at survival. As Rick desperately searches for his missing wife and son in this, the first volume of the graphic novel series that inspired AMC’s hit TV show of the same name, authors Kirkman and Moore craft a compelling, character-driven story supported by black-and-white artwork that is finely detailed (and very often violent, zombies not being for the faint of heart). It’s human relationships that are at the heart of The Walking Dead, and the twists and turns that this new life throws at Rick and the other survivors are consistently thrilling and surprisingly thoughtful. The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves came out in December 2011—just in time for a very gory Christmas. 

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore 

Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 

Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us 

Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars 

Vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire 

Vol. 5: The Best Defense 

Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life 

Vol. 7: The Calm Before 

Vol. 8: Made to Suffer 

Vol. 9: Here We Remain 

Vol. 10: What We Become 

Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters 

Vol. 12: Life Among Them 

Vol. 13: Too Far Gone 

Vol. 14: No Way Out 

Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, 2010, Margaret K. McElderry Books (Short Story Collections/ Young Adult Fantasy). 

This wildly inventive short story collection pits the undead against an unlikely foe: unicorns. Yep, unicorns with their pointy horns and ability to sniff out virgins go head-to-head with the moaning, groaning zombie. Though the unicorns are entertaining (Meg Cabot’s unicorns literally fart rainbows in “Princess Prettypants” and the mythical beasts prove surprisingly unnerving in stories like Margo Lanagan’s “Thousand Flowers” and Diana Peterfreund’s “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”), it is zombies—in this blogger’s opinion, at least—that get the last laugh. Carrie Ryan continues to build on the worldwide zombie apocalypse she began in The Forest of Hands and Teeth with her story, “Bougainvillea.” Libba Bray’s “Prom Night” and Scott Westerfeld’s “Inoculata” both feature teens in a world that’s short on living adults but overflowing with undead ones. And tales like Alaya Dawn Johnson’s haunting “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and Maureen Johnson’s satirical “Children of the Revolution” stand the zombie tradition on its head. Editors Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie) debate the finer points of rotting flesh-eater vs. magical horse in witty asides between stories (the controversy began one day during the comments section of Justine's blog). Much more than just a clever gimmick, Zombies vs. Unicorns is full of strange, suspenseful, captivating stories. 

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, 2009, Delacorte Press (Young Adult Fantasy/ Horror). 

In Mary’s world, there are two kind of people: her fellow villagers who dwell under the protection of the religious Sisterhood, and the hoards of the Unconsecrated undead who claw at the village’s fences. Despite the zombies—many of who bear the faces of former loved ones—Mary’s life is simple. The Sisterhood is preparing her for a preordained marriage and Mary will go live with her new husband. She’s in love with another young man, but the Sisterhood’s rules are what keep the village safe. But Mary’s love triangle takes a new turn when the zombies breach the fence and overrun the village. Now Mary and a few others—including her fiancé and the boy she loves—are on their own. A few gated paths wind through the forest, but no one knows where they lead. And the Unconsecrated are always nearby, lurking just on the other side of that deceptively secure chain-link fence. The combination of horror and an old-fashioned way of life is unique, and the suspense runs high. Author Carrie Ryan crafts a detailed new world, with causes and consequences that propel the story forward into two sequels that together create an intense new zombie mythology. 

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Trilogy by Carrie Ryan 

1. The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009) 

2. The Dead-Tossed Waves (2010) 

3. The Dark and Hollow Places (2011)

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, 2009, Tor Books (Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Steampunk/ Horror). 

1863. The Alaskan Gold Rush is in full swing, and inventor Leviticus Blue is commissioned to build an immense steam-powered ice-drilling machine. But then Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine comes bursting out of his Seattle basement and destroys the city. Worse, the machine opens a vein of toxic subterranean gas (dubbed “the Blight”) that turns everyone who breathes it into zombies. Sixteen years later, Seattle is an abandoned wreck surrounded by a wall that keeps the Blight’s rotting victims contained. Outside the wall, Blue’s widow Briar Wilkes lives with her son Zeke. When Briar won’t answer Zeke’s questions about his father, the boy sneaks into the city. Briar goes after him, and soon they meet a rag-tag crew of survivors who have eked out a life for themselves. Some of these survivors help mother and son, and some hinder (including mad scientist Dr. Minnericht, who bears an eerie resemblance to the infamous Levi Blue), but all of them add to the action-packed adventure of Boneshaker. Author Cherie Priest paints a vivid portrait of an alternate Seattle, gives readers a delightful pair of heroes with wiseass Zeke and tough-as-nails Briar, and throws in lots of good and gory zombie action.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel, 2011, Del Ray/ Ballantine Books (Young Adult Science Fiction/ Steampunk/ Fantasy). 

Romance with a zombie? That’s hard to swallow! In the year 2195, a new civilization modeled after the prim-and-proper Victorian Era rises from the ashes of natural disasters and war. Nora Dearly is a New Victorian who should be focused on social calls and marriage rather than on politics and history. But then Nora is kidnapped by a band of zombies—zombies who don’t want to eat her up. The so-called Lazarus Virus reanimates the infected, but a lucky few manage to keep their bodies whole and their minds clear. Bram Griswold is a solider in this unique zombie army, and it’s up to him to convince Nora that they’re actually allies. Soon, Nora is loosening her corset to make room for a holster and gun, growing close to the handsome and helpful Bram, and blowing open a massive conspiracy involving her recently-deceased scientist father, the anti-Victorian counter-culture known as the Punks, and a mysterious undead army that is considerably less friendly and more hungry than Bram’s group. This is not your traditional “eat-your-brains” zombie story—it’s an imaginative adventure with dashes of dark humor and steamy romance. And like any good young adult sci-fi novel, there’s a sequel (Dearly, Beloved) already in the works.

Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament by S.G. Browne, 2009, Broadway Books (Fantasy/ Dark Humor). 

Andy Warner died in a car crash. After his preserving treatment at the funeral home but before being buried, Andy woke up as a zombie. This is not incredibly unusual; it just happens sometimes. But zombies are not exactly welcomed back into polite society. Instead they’re considered less-than-human and policed by Animal Control. Andy’s too dazed to mind at first (he can’t even talk because his lips are stitched together) but he finds time to attend Undead Anonymous meetings. There he meets a sexy suicide named Rita and undead stoner Jerry. When fellow zombie Ray introduces the trio to the joys of the afterlife, Andy finds himself refusing to sit in the back of the bus and picketing for zombie civil rights. With pretty Rita at his side, Andy might get used to life-after-death—unless the human “breathers” have anything to say about it. Feeling sympathy for a zombie is new for most readers, but that’s what makes Breathers such a unique read—it’s gruesome, endearing, and darkly comic all at the same time. Author S.G. Browne describes his debut novel as a zom-rom-com, a zombie romantic comedy. With a genre-bending label like that, what more can you ask for?

Zone One by Colson Whitehead, 2011, Doubleday Books (Science Fiction). 

The zombie apocalypse has come and (mostly) gone. Mark Spitz survived, and so did lots of other people. Okay, maybe not “lots,” but enough for the reformed government to set up a few refugee camps and attempt to rebuild. Manhattan has been cleared of all but the “stragglers”—zombies that, for whatever reason, are stuck repeating some mundane former behavior instead of chasing after the living. Part of a three-person sweeper crew, Mark Spitz tags and bags the leftover undead and tries to cope with his—and everyone else’s—PASD (Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder). As his team frees the city of its dead, he reflects on life before “Last Night,” other survivors he hunkered down with, and his new life among the slogans, sponsors, and theme songs of the new era (“Stop! Can You Hear the Eagle Roar?” [theme from Reconstruction]). The future is a tentative thing, and Mark Spitz is both lulled by its promise and wary of it—and with good reason, because it’s only when you let your guard down that the zombies get close enough to bite. Satirical and darkly clever, Zone One is a fresh, intelligent examination of the zombie genre, a probing examination of what it means to be a survivor, and a searing look at what it means to be human.

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Grows Up

Remember reading those old “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” stories when you were a kid? With opening sentences like “You are a deep sea explorer searching for the famed lost city of Atlantis” or “You stand on the deck of the RMS Titanic, the brand new White Star ocean liner,” you knew immediately that there was adventure in store. And then there’s the added thrill of getting to decide what happens next: “If you choose to return to the island, go to page 12. If you decide to follow Jenny into the abyss, go to page 38.” The adventures were straightforward, the choices were good or bad—ah, how simple life was. But now that you’re an adult, choosing your own storybook adventure is more complex, sassier, sexier, gorier, and helluva lot more interesting.


Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel by Heather McElhatton, 2007, Harper Books (Interactive Books/ Fiction).

Ah, high school graduation, that time when “the real world” seems to contain every and any possibility. This hopeful moment is where Pretty Little Mistakes begins. A few key life choices can result in your shacking up with a handsome Italian, blown to bits by a pipe bomb when you’re working as a doctor in Africa, running away to join the circus, or pecked to deaths by ducks when you become a meth addict after flunking out of college. The choices here will lead you all over the world and into a variety of professionals ranging from sex-phone operator to scholar. You’ll get married, impregnated, and divorced (not always in that order). You’ll be a rousing success and a miserable failure. The possibilities are endless. And if you don’t like where life leads you, you can always go back and start over. After all, everyone deserves a do-over.


You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero! by Bob Powers, 2008, St. Martin’s Griffin Press (Interactive Books/ Humorous Fiction).

You’re a loser. You’re a thirtysomething wannabe actor, working as waiter, and the girl you went out with last night has been kidnapped. Her kidnappers call you in the morning, waking you up and demanding fifty thousand dollars for her safe return. You don’t have fifty thousand dollars. You don’t even know if you like this girl all that much. But you could be a hero…or you could get drunk and go back to sleep. There are happy endings here, where you got to grad school and raise a family and make a life for yourself surrounded by loved ones. There are also really sucky endings, with torture and murder and unwanted pregnancy. But most of all, there’s plenty of sarcasm, dark humor, and utter nonsense. It’s everything your average childhood “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” story is not, and that’s what makes You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero! so addictively entertaining.


Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster, 2007, Riverhead Books (Interactive Books/ Historical Fiction).

If you love Jane Austen, if you’ve read all her novels, watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice until you know it by heart, if you long to go to Lyme to see the spot where Louisa Musgrove fell, then Lost in Austen is the book for you. As Elizabeth Bennett, you have intelligence and wit and some portion of beauty, but not a lick of money. You wish to marry for love; your meddling mother wants you to marry for money. As you make choices that may lead to dashing Mr. Darcy or to drippy Mr. Collins (and every other Austen hero from steadfast Captain Wentworth to caddish Willoughby) you gain or lose points for Accomplishments, Connections, and Fortune that will attract or repel possible suitors. There’s a delightfully wicked sense of humor at play as well, with plenty of sass and tongue-in-cheek criticism. Austen fans will happily get lost over and over again.


Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier, 2011, Gallery Books (Interactive Books/ Horror).

How many times have you found yourself hollering at the idiot characters in horror movies as they insist on finding the source of that creepy noise when they should be running for their lives? Well, here’s your chance to set things right. You’re a young businessman in the city when all hell breaks loose and zombies take over Manhattan. You’re first choice: get to your apartment, catch the next taxi, or take the subway out of town. These three paths lead to such life-and-death decisions like: Ax or shotgun? Run or stand your ground? Save the girl or save your ass? Sometimes you end up just another zombie, stumbling around and moaning for brains. Sometimes you’re the big hero, guns blazing as you lead crowds of grateful schoolchildren to safety. It’s action-packed, gory as all get out, and every bit as much fun as the best zombie horror flicks on the big screen.


The Raging Tide, or The Black Doll’s Imbroglio by Edward Gorey, 1987, Beaufort Books (Interactive Books/ Picture Books/ Humorous Fiction).

Edward Gorey is well-known for his grown-up picture books and his macabre sense of humor. In The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an entire alphabet of small children meets their makers in all manner of devilishly entertaining ways. In The Doubtful Guest, an surprise visitor makes himself quite content in the midst of a household that’s too polite to tell him to go away. And in The Raging Tide, Skrump, Naeelah, Figbash, and Hooglyboo engage in nonsense, guided by your very own expertise. If you think it is clever when Hooglyboo crams Figbash into a vase, turn to page 11. If all this seems “too terrible to contemplate,” turn to page 29. You may also, on another page, choose to visit the Dogear Wryde Topiary Gardens (page 26) or tour the Villa Amnesia (page 23). Nonsense indeed, but in the grand tradition of Edward Gorey, it’s nonsense that you can’t get enough of.


Meanwhile: Pick Any Path—3,856 Story Possibilities by Jason Shiga, 2010, Amulet Books (Interactive Books/ Graphic Novels/ Children’s Science Fiction).

On the first page of this intricate, creative comic book, you’re a little cartoon boy in an ice cream shop deciding between chocolate and vanilla. If you choose chocolate, you follow a brown tube-like line that leads up and around to a tab on a different page. The vanilla line leads you straight off one page and onto another. You continue to follow these lines up, down, right, left, backwards, and forwards as you jump from page to page and wind your way through panels that feature a mad scientist, parallel universes, quantum mechanics, and a giant squid. Sometimes, you save the world. Sometimes, you destroy all life on the planet. Either way, you learn about math and science and—believe it or not—have a whale of a time doing it. Ostensibly for children, Meanwhile will captivate readers of every age with its mind-bending tricks, wily ways, and unexpected endings.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

It’s been 146 years since John Wilkes Booth walked into a theater and shot Abraham Lincoln in the head. But our collective interest in that event has not dimmed. Consider a few details from that fateful night—Booth had only a few hours to plan the assassination; Lincoln had recurring dreams and premonitions about his death; Booth knew the play so well that he could anticipate the crowds’ laughter to cover the sound of the shot. And then there’s the remarkable cast of supporting characters—Mary Surratt (the first woman in American history to be executed by the federal government), Secretary of State William Seward (who survived a near-fatal assault by another assassin at the exact moment Booth was killing Lincoln), and Robert Lincoln (Abe’s son who would be at hand to witness two more presidential shootings). It’s no wonder we’re still fascinated by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.


Lincoln Shot: A President Remembered by Barry Denenberg, illustrated by Christopher H. Bing, 2008, Feiwel and Friends Books (Nonfiction/ Children’s Picture Book/ Biography).

Purporting to be a commemorative edition of the (fictional) 1866 National News, published on the one-year anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death, this striking (and large—it’s nearly two feet tall) picture book combines history with the art of book design to present an object that is both a pleasure to read and a wealth of information. Faux-contemporary articles narrate the events at Ford’s Theater; cover the hunt for Booth and the conspirators’ trial; and provide biographies of Lincoln, his family, and his generals. Photographs, posters, maps, and original artwork by Christopher H. Bing—combined with yellowed pages, old-fashioned type, and advertisements from the era—complete the illusion that we’re reading an antique 19th century newspaper documenting the crime that changed the nation. And it’s an illusion readers are more than willing to buy into, given that its creators have gone to such lengths to make it so authentic and so engrossing.


Lincoln’s Assassins: Their Trial and Execution—An Illustrated History by James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg, 2006, William Morrow Books (Nonfiction/ Civil War History).

The assassination is not just the story of John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln. Sure, we know dramatic details like Booth’s theatrical leap to the stage after the shooting, but this illustrated history gathers all the lesser-known but no less compelling facts of the case—Booth’s numerous schemes and failed plans before his final successful murder attempt, the extensive network of Confederate spies and sympathizers that Booth relied on, Booth’s dramatic escape and capture, and the trial and execution of the men (and woman) who aided him. The story is conveyed through detailed summaries written by two men who are assassination experts. Reproductions of newspapers articles and illustrations cover nearly every page, and the haunting faces of Booth’s accomplices stare out from their post-capture portraits. It’s a bit morbidly fascinating, but this astonishing collection of images provides one of the most accurate, intelligent, and comprehensive looks at the Lincoln assassination.


Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson, 2006, William Morrow Books (Nonfiction/ Civil War History).

James L. Swanson, co-author of Lincoln’s Assassins, here focuses on the events immediately after Lincoln’s murder. An angry, bitter, South-sympathizing Booth stumbles across an unforeseen opportunity, acts on it, and flees into the night. The next twelve days will shock a nation still reeling from the barely-ended Civil War. Manhunt becomes a gripping page-turner as Booth literally breaks a leg during his dramatic leap to the stage, cons his way across the bridge to Maryland, hides in the woods for days with his naïve accomplice David Herold, and makes a desperate bid for safety in the Deep South. Booth’s obsessions and hatreds, his deep-seated desire for fame and notoriety, his immense ego—not to mention his ill-luck and miserable mistakes—take center stage here, and the results are compelling. Swanson picks up where Manhunt leaves off with Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse.


The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln by Kate Clifford Larson, 2008, Basic Books (Nonfiction/ Biography/ Civil War History).

One of the most compelling characters in the story of the Lincoln assassination is Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator and the first woman executed by the federal government. Mary was the mother of John Surratt, one of Booth’s most infamous accomplices. Booth was a constant visitor at the Surratt boarding house in Washington, D.C.—he even visited Mary the day of the murder. In short, the Surratt home was the center of operations for the assassination conspiracy. When Mary was inevitably arrested (her Southern sympathies were no secret), the public was shocked that a gentlewoman could be involved so directly in such a deplorable plot. When Mary was sentenced to death, the nation was outraged that their government could be so harsh to a mere woman. The Assassin’s Accomplice reveals Mary Surratt as a strong-willed woman who made no qualms about what she believed—and who paid for those beliefs with her life.


The Murder of Abraham Lincoln: A Chronicle of 62 Days in the Life of the American Republic, March 4-May 4, 1865 written and illustrated by Rick Geary, 2005, NBM ComicsLit (Comics/ Nonfiction Graphic Novel).

What better way to learn about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln than through the artistic stylings of a comic book from a series called A Treasury of Victorian Murder? Author and illustrator Rick Geary begins on March 4th, 1865 (the date of Lincoln’s second inauguration) and doesn’t let up until the President’s body is laid to rest on May 4th. Geary’s dialogue adds flare to the already-inherent drama of the events, his maps of places and buildings are immensely helpful in getting a sense of the action, and the particulars of the time period are rendered with a carefulness that speaks of thorough research and attention to detail. The story unfolds seamlessly as page after page of Geary’s rich black-and-white illustrations (reminiscent of 19th century newspaper engravings) flow by. Plus it’s just fun to see Honest Abe and the villainous Booth done up as cartoons, complete with stovepipe hat and twirling mustache.


Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, 2005, Simon and Schuster Books (History Writing/ Travel Writing).

Sarah Vowell loves a good assassination—so much so that she goes on a cross-country vacation to visit the sights associated with three presidential murders: James A. Garfield, shot by deluded Charles Guiteau in 1881; William McKinley, shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901; and of course good old honest Abe Lincoln, shot by John Wilkes Booth back in 1865. Vowell’s obsession with the Lincoln assassination takes up quite a bit of this delightfully oddball book. It is here that we find out about Robert Lincoln (aka “Jinxy McDeath”) and his penchant for being nearby when presidents were killed. We also learn where Lincoln’s brain ended up and that Vowel has a crush on the actor who played John Wilkes Booth in the off-Broadway musical Assassins. Quirky, witty, and endlessly enjoyable, Assassination Vacation supplies everything you ever wanted to know about the Lincoln assassination but didn’t even know you wanted to ask.

ARCs @ ALA

There’s nothing like a half-mile long convention center exhibit hall full of publishers throwing books at you to get you back in the mood for book-blogging. The American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference was in New Orleans last month, and the exhibit hall was a librarian’s heaven on earth. You’d walk past a table and a book would appear in your hands—an ARC, or Advanced Reading Copy. Many of those ARCs were new graphic novels and illustrated books that represent an especially exciting trend in publishing right now. Here are some new and up-coming titles, fresh from the forty-pound bag of books that this librarian lugged across that exhibit hall, through the convention center, and down the streets of New Orleans.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Sep. 11, 2011, Scholastic Books (Children’s Illustrated Novel)

Brian Selznick’s debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, won the Caldecott Medal. Selznick’s second book, Wonderstruck, continues to push the boundaries of the illustrated novel format. Just as Hugo Cabret told a good portion of its story through full-page black-and-white drawings, Wonderstruck is also full of Selznick’s trademark illustrations. But this time, half the novel is told through pictures alone—the story of Rose, a girl in the 1920s who becomes enchanted with a beautiful actress. Ben’s story, set in 1977 as he runs away from home, is told in words. Combined, the stories of Rose and Ben offer tales of mystery and intrigue that wind and weld through a union of art and prose. Selznick has become an expert at mixing elements of the novel, graphic novel, picture book, and film, and Wonderstruck continues to cement his reputation as a visionary in his field.

Trickster: Native American Tales—A Graphic Collection edited by Matt Dembicki, 2010, Fulcrum Books (Graphic Novel Anthology)

Native American stories are often overlooked in literature; even more so in the graphic novel boom that has swept book publishing the last few years. But Trickster: Native American Tales remedies all that—and does so in an intelligent, artistic, and truly delightful way. Collecting various interpretations of the Trickster character and myth just as it collects different artists and authors to tell the tales, Trickster is a unique and authentic anthology. The artwork ranges in style from bubbly cartoon rabbits to realistic raccoons to black-and-white inked coyotes and ravens; the tales are drawn from many cultures to emphasis the distinct differences between North America’s tribal groups. But it’s not only educational information about a too-often-ignored history; Trickster is as genuinely funny as it is thought-provoking. Whether he’s a coyote creating stars in the sky or a rabbit out-witting bison, there’s something for everyone in the tales of the Trickster.

Around the World: Three Remarkable Journeys by Matt Phelan, Oct. 11, 2011, Candlewick Press (Children’s Graphic Nonfiction)

Picture book illustrator Matt Phelan won critical acclaim for his 2009 historical graphic novel The Storm in the Barn, a Depression-era story tinged with fantasy. His new book, Around the World, is no less enchanting for being based on fact. In 1873, Jules Verne published Around the World in Eighty Days, his famous adventure story about a high-stakes race around the world. The novel captured the public imagination, and a few intrepid real-life adventures determined to embark on their own worldwide round-trips. Phelan’s beautifully illustrated book follows ex-miner Thomas Stevens on his bicycle (the old-fashioned kind with the giant front wheel), sea captain Joshua Slocum all alone on his thirty-six-foot ship, and sassy reporter Nellie Bly as she charges around the globe to beat Jules Verne’s fictional eighty-day challenge. The adventures are thrilling enough in black and white; the final book will be published in glorious full color.

The Wikkeling by Steve Arntson, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazinni, 2011, Running Press Kids Books (Children’s Illustrated Novel)

Henrietta’s life is controlled by rigid rules that “protect” her from deadly things like house cats (dangerous wild animals) and old books (which can make you sick). But one night Henrietta finds an injured cat in a secret attic. From the tip-top windows, she can see her neighborhood the way it used to look in the idyllic way-back-when days. Good things rarely last, however, and soon a mysterious, long-fingered yellow creature called the Wikkeling is haunting Henrietta. Its mere touch can give you a headache, and it wants to know where you’ve been and what you’ve seen. As Henrietta investigates this menacing apparition and the world she lives in, readers are delightfully creeped out by illustrator Daniela J. Terrazinni’s stark and wild drawings. The dystopian world of The Wikkeling is eerily similar to our own, and that is of course where its real appeal lies.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg, Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, and Jon Scieszka with an introduction by Lemony Snicket, Oct. 25, 2011, Houghton Mifflin Books (Children’s Picture Book/ Short Story Collection)

Since it was first published in 1984, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg has been inspiring people to write stories. The original introduction tells of Harris Burdick, a man who left his artwork with a publisher and walked out the door—never to return again. The fourteen fascinating illustrations and their even-more fascinating captions remain to motivate writers all around the world. Now, twenty-seven years later, the best and brightest of children’s and young adult literature contribute their stories to the Harris Burdick oeuvre. In October, readers young and old can experience Lois Lowry’s story about the nun flying through the cathedral whilst seated primly in a wooden chair, Stephen King’s tale about the blast-off house, and Chris Van Allsburg’s own version of the girl and her caterpillars. By turns creepy, cute, and comical, this new batch of stories will inspire Harris Burdick fans all over again.

Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page by Matt Kish, Oct. 11, 2011, Tin House Books (Illustrated Novel)

One day in 2009, Matt Kish, a librarian and artist in Ohio, was inspired by his “undying love” for a big book about a man and a whale. Kish decided to draw an illustration for every page of the Signet Classics edition of—you guessed it—Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Two years and 552 pages later, Kish’s project is complete. Using common materials and found pages, Kish deliberately employed a low-tech style in response to the increasing amount of digitally produced book art. A quote or passage from each page of Moby-Dick is Kish’s inspiration, and the result—seen in a few promotional postcards and a simple BLAD (Book Layout and Design, a sort of six-to-twelve-page mini-ARC)—is beautiful, fun, and inspiring. Kish began his Moby-Dick drawings as an art project for his modest blog; in a few months his artistic interpretation of Melville’s masterpiece will be available to one and all.