YA – One Chapter

Startling Stay: Scary Hotels and Inns by Natalie Lunis

5 stars Nonfiction Middle School/YA

They can check out anytime they want, but they never really leave. Welcome to a book devoted to some of the mysterious hotels and inns in North America and Europe. One of the first things that came to my mind when I picked up this book was that individuals still flock to the historical hotel where Stephen King’s The Shining took place. I loved this movie and I would definitely love to stay at this hotel, perhaps someday I just may book a room, take a tour, and maybe, hopefully, I might see something. This book touches on all the senses: do individuals see a vision, hear an unexplained noise, smell something that’s not physically there or do they feel something in close range when nothing is there.

In one hotel, management has tried to keep individuals from experiencing any of these feelings. They have physically locked one of their room doors to from curious minds so the dead spirit that is contained inside can’t harm them. Now, that is one hotel boss who cares about his customers. The story of Robert the Doll was a good one for me as I like creepy dolls. A life-sized cloth doll was given to a painter’s son who lived in this beautiful large home. Gene named his doll, Robert. Strange behavior was recorded by others surrounding Robert. When Gene got older, he left home for schooling but returned years later with his wife. Robert behavior continued as the community’s awareness continued. After Gene’s death, Robert was placed in a museum where his behavior continues. Want to go see him? Be nice and don’t take a picture unless you ask.

Each 2-page spread in the book features a destination. Each destination features why it is creepy, strange, or even spooky. A destination you’ll want to visit or stay clear from. Tales from the years gone past or ones not too long ago, these stories are interesting and exciting.

This book gave me the basic facts on specific destinations. I liked how the book provided where the destination is, what it consists of, and how things went dark. The story continues with how individuals experience these strange happenings and the author tries to shed some light on the subject. With realistic photographs and art, each destination becomes its own eerie destination. There’s just enough detail to make the reader aware of the destination and the history behind it.

I really liked this book. It’s a children’s nonfiction book covering about 18 different destinations but it’s a great one in my opinion. This is one book in the series, which I grabbed the rest of the series the library had while I was there. The Index in the back of the book was very good and there is also a list of 4 other Read More books at the back which the author listed. There is a Learn More Online site which includes a QR code which I scanned. This scan led me to more resources which listed more destinations which I could read about. There was a www. Site for those who can’t or don’t want to scan the code and/or you can even scan the cover of the book to see other websites. There is also a Glossary which is helpful for young readers. I liked the detailed map, A World of the Startling Stays, which shows the world and points out each of the different sites which was mentioned in the book. Check out this book!! 5 stars

Hauntings at Home: Scary Houses and Farms

5 stars Nonfiction Middle School/YA

What the heck! These stories were just craziness. Take Annie for example. Annie built a dungeon in the middle of her house to imprison her workers who tried to run away from her. That’s one cruel, evil woman. This is Annie and this is the early 1800’s. Annie lived in a large mansion. Annie was later known as the White Witch of Rose Hall. An owner of a sugar plantation, she liked to have her workers beaten and tortured for fun. Annie was married three times, and it’s been said that she killed all of them. She later had her eyes on another gentleman, but this gentleman had his eyes on one of Annie’s workers. So, yeah…..Annie wasn’t going for that. So, Annie put a spell on the girl (The White Witch part of her name) and the girl died days later. A relative of the girl got his revenge, and he put Annie to rest, forever. Ha! Her beautiful home, she still is in control of it. She haunts the grounds and it had to be turned into a museum as it could no longer be a home. Crazy! What about the farm in Germany where the whole family was killed including the housekeeper. Who did this and why? Still today, over a hundred years ago, the police have never been able to solve this case. It’s the events leading up to this day that make this crime bizarre. Were those events just coincidence or were they something else? Makes you think. You’re bound to find something inside this book to make your sense come alive.

Each 2-page spread in the book features a destination. Each destination features why it is creepy, strange, or even spooky. A destination you’ll want to inquire more about or one you’re glad you know about. From mansions, to estates, to the famous Amityville House, this book will get you going,

This book gave me the basic facts on specific destinations. I liked how the book provided where the destination is, what it consists of, and how things went dark. The story continues with how individuals experience these strange happenings highlighting the senses within them. With realistic photographs and art, each destination becomes its own eerie destination. There’s just enough detail to make the reader aware of the destination and the history behind it.

Alarming Afterlife: Scary Cemeteries and Graveyards by Alex Giannini

5 stars Middle School/ YA

Cemeteries? A whole book devoted to cemeteries and graveyards. This looks very interesting. I thought the Angel of Death from Iowa City was interesting when I had read about it so a couple years ago my husband and I got into the car and visited her. What an interesting site that was. I never thought I would be intrigued by a statue inside a cemetery, but the story was interesting and the statue, that was even more impressive. This book was fun and I liked the variety of stories. This book touches the globe. The United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, and even South America. Each 2-page spread in the book features a destination. Each destination features why it is creepy, strange, or even spooky.

Although most of the destinations inside this book are about hauntings or issues from beyond, not every story carries that tune. Some explain why that particular destination became famous, the history behind the stories. I found most of these stories very interesting. The Last American Vampire, The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Ghost Town Graves, and The Haunted Road and the Hanged Man just to name a few. I thought it was interesting how some of these stories reminded me of a few stories that I have read, in a lighter tone, in a children’s holiday book.

This book gave me the basic facts on specific destinations. I liked how the book provided where the destination is, what it consists of, and how it originally was structured. It goes on, in the story, explaining how the destination became more disturbing over time. With realistic photographs and art, each destination becomes its own creep show. There’s just enough detail to make the reader aware of the destination and the history behind it.

Information from the book: The late 1700’s in Paris. Graveyards were getting crowded and individuals were no longer able to bury their dead underground. So, what did they do? They started to bury them on top of each other above ground. Yes, above ground! Stacking them “almost 10 feet high inside the cemetery walls.” Visualize this for a moment. Just like anything stacked too tall, the corpse’s weight started to cause these tall towers to fall, spilling the rotten corpses out onto the streets. Eventually, the city workers had to dig up some of the corpses and remove the rotting ones from the streets and rebury them in underground catacombs the city had created. I find this pretty interesting and gross. Imagine digging them up and reburying them under the ground. You must remember that this was over 200 years ago, the technology and advancements that we have now, were not available to them. There were 180 miles of catacombs! That’s a lot of corpses and work!!

I really liked this book. It’s a children’s nonfiction book covering about 18 different destinations but it’s a great one in my opinion. This is one book in the series and thankfully, I grabbed the rest of the series the library had, while I was there. The Index in the back of the book was very good and there is also a list of 4 other Read More books at the back which the author listed. There is a Learn More Online site which includes a QR code which I used. This scan led me to more resources which listed more destinations. There was a www. site for those who can’t or don’t want to scan the code and/or you can even scan the cover of the book to see other websites. There is also a Glossary which is helpful for young readers. I liked the detailed map, “A World of the Alarming Afterlife”, which shows the world and points out each of the different sites which was mentioned in the book. Check out this book!! 5 stars

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

5 stars Sci Fi

This was unique! Unique as in, I loved it! It reminded me a lot of The Dome to some extent. I was so intrigued with the situation that was playing out, I didn’t know how this book was going to end. I see now that some individuals didn’t care for this book, and that I understand, but me, I was trapped inside the dome too.

Meet Xavier, a thirteen-year-old teen who is on vacation, at their lake house, with his dad and stepmom. Xavier would rather be home with his mom and brother, hanging out with his girlfriend. In the morning, the family awakens and what happened? Where are they? They are no longer located by the lake, and they realize that they are living on a farm. Ha, I don’t know about you, but I would be thinking I’m inside the Twilight Zone.

Upon further investigation, the family finds there’s no way out. They are trapped inside a dome. No communication with the outside world as the family lives off their new surroundings, everything they need to survive is provided. Time passes and although they miss their previous life, they have accepted what their life has become. One day, a new family arrives, bringing with them their own new farm.

This could be good, as the family will now have neighbors or this could cause issues inside the dome. The good news is that for Xavier, there is young female amongst the new residents. The bad news is that this new family brings with them opinions and roots that differ and cause conflict.

I liked how this book played out and how the isolation changed this family. When the new family arrived, the dramatics inside the dome changed. Were the families supposed to change? Was this about diversity, acceptance or power? I enjoyed the characters; they were very realistic and honest. A great book to make me think yet I know this book will not be for everyone. 5 stars

Holding On For Dear Life by Dusti Bowling

5 stars Middle School

Fantastic read! Was he living his own dreams or his father’s? Since the age of 6, Canyon has been holding onto the ropes of a bull, bringing excitement to the crowd around him. Center stage, enjoying the thrill, holding on for dear life. The bull, growing angrier by the minute, trying to knock him off. He was a Cress; he was following in his father’s footprints.

It has only been 3 years since his father’s dream of a championship slipped away from him. His father hasn’t set foot in an arena since an accident. Now, Canyon watches as his sister and grandma cheer him on from their seats. Canyon wants to win a championship; the title his father didn’t win. What hurt was the incentive that drove Canyon towards that goal. Canyon hoped that by winning a championship, his father would “remember we’re still a family, even if Mom’s gone.” Too bad his father couldn’t see what was happening.

Canyon suffers a fall in the arena, but he toughens it out. To the outside world, he’s fine but Canyon is hurting. Since his accident, dad is not himself and he places himself anywhere BUT inside the arena. With his wife gone, he likes to spend time drinking and forgetting how to be a father. When an emergency arises inside the arena, dad rushes to the arena where he’s flooded with emotions, past and present and he must confront them all. It was a big dose of reality for everyone involved. No more hiding, no more denying life, or just trying to put blinders on, this is living…..living in the moment whether good or bad.

A book that is about family, about doing what you love, and about commitment. It’s about taking chances and having to live with what you are given. A fabulous read!

The Lions’ Run by Sara Pennypacker

5 stars Middle School

A fabulous read! The last half of this book, I could not put down! I was up into the early morning hours as I had to know what happened, yet I didn’t want my journey with Lucas and Alice to end. Could I have predicted that Lucas would meet up with Alice? No. What transpired between them was not romance but something deeper and far more reaching than either of them could have predicted.

Lucas was a delivery boy. It got him out of the abbey where he lived. It wasn’t quite freedom, but he was free from the eyes of everyone around him. The Germans did monitor the world outside the abbey, but Lucas was getting used to their checkpoints and the restrictions that they placed on the residents. Lucas knew what they expected and he knew how to make his deliveries within the town. Lucas had a soft heart which got noticed around his peers and thence he got the name Petit Éclair. At first, his peers thought this name was funny and Lucas fought hard to get rid himself of this title, but it is, what it is and now, there were only two bullies who would taunt Lucas by calling him Petit Éclair.

The story takes off when Petit Éclair (a.k.a. Lucas) rescues a sackful of kittens from the hands of the bullies who still taunt Lucas. They had thrown the kittens into the canal. Desperate to find shelter for these kittens and get back to his deliveries, Lucas places them in a deserted barn located at the end of a trail, for now.

How Lucas was going to care for these kittens was beyond me, but he might have the means since he has access to different delivery customers. Returning to tend to the kittens, Lucas discovers a horse in the barn. The horse Bia belongs to Alice who is attempting to also hide it, only she is hiding it from Hitler’s men for fear of what they would do it. Alice is determined to get her horse to America where it can be free. I loved Alice’s energy and her confidence as she began to inspire Lucas. She shows him what it is like to be resourceful in difficult situations. Lucas and Alice’s were so different yet here they were, striving for the same dream, which pushed them closer together.

When Alice opens Lucas’ eyes to the truth behind Bois Larris, he immediately changes. His maturity leaps. Lucas knew that it held many secrets but as Alice peels back the layers, Lucas sees the truth right before his eyes. I believe this is what powers Lucas, this is the nudge Lucas needed. There was no stopping Petit Éclair now. He has the means to take control, to change things, and with Alice by his side, Lucas will make a difference.

This was another great novel by Sara Pennypacker. Definitely one that I highly recommend. Thank you to Fierce Reads, Goodreads and Sara Pennypacker for sending me this copy of The Lions’ Run. I won this book in Goodreads Giveaway. 5 stars.

Deepwater Creek by Michael Regina

4 stars Graphic Novel Middle School

This looked like a creepy graphic novel, so I picked it up while I was cleaning this section at the library. It’s the end of summer vacation and the teens want one more fishing trip before school starts. There have been some stories around town about some strange happenings in the water since the last storm, but they’re bound and determined to fish, so they make it happen. One adult, two brothers and a few of their friends hop onto the boat and they set off.

Andrew hesitated when the others wanted to try a new fishing spot. He knew that part of the river had been closed off since the hurricane and he didn’t want to get into trouble. Andrew ends up caving in from all the pressure they put on him and the thought of all the fish they tell him are over there. The new fishing spot ends up being a jackpot as there are fishes everywhere! Are these fish acting strangely?

The kids become so focused on fishing that they don’t notice the fog in the distance. The weather has started to change, and the fishing boat is now in the middle of it. An incident leaves a few of the boys in the water and that’s when the book took some twists.

What just happened? Many unknowns as the crew head home. Their friendship becomes tighter as the questions about what they have survived mount. They can’t shake off what they experienced. The mystery of the fog and what they experienced in the water has changed them forever. Where scientists were stumped at an explanation, can these teens find the answer?

I thought there was a lot of text to read in this graphic novel. The timeline was easy to follow as the boys made their discovery and how they went about solving it. I thought the beginning of the book was easier to follow than the ending of the book. The ending of the book, even with the illustrations, felt jumbled and confusing. Towards the end, the illustrations were very dark and trying to compare the illustrations to see progress, it was very difficult to see any change. Four stars

The Beat I Drum by Dusti Bowling

5 stars Middle School

“Positive: It’s great that none of us are perfect, because perfection is boring.”

He was trapped inside his own body, and he didn’t know the way out. It was just the way it was. He tries to control things, but it never worked. It was just the way it was.

“how about when you take a drink of something that goes down the wrong pipe, and you instantly start hacking and coughing and your eyes water and you can’t stop. Next time that happens, concentrate every bit of energy you have on NOT coughing. Just ignore that searing tickle in your lung. Can you image feeling that way all the time? I mean All. The. Time. Welcome to my life.” Welcome to the life of Connor who has Tourette’s Syndrome with Tics.

Connor lives with his mother in an apartment and when the landlord arrives at their door, Connor answers it. Mother and son know the apartment rules, yet the landlord knows firsthand that they are in violation of one of the rules. The landlord has also received a complaint from another resident. The threat of eviction looms over the family. How can they deny this violation when the landlord himself has witnessed it? They can’t. Welcome to the life of Connor who has Tourette’s Syndrome with Tics. Connor tic: barking like a dog.

Connor does have a handful of friends, but his attitude and emotions are hard on their relationship. When Connor finds himself under a peer’s radar, everyone around him is fair game, when the pressure gets too much. It takes time, patience, love, and understanding for Connor to finally put the pieces all together. The pieces that he had within himself, the whole time.

I felt for Connor on page one of this book. He wanted to be a normal child doing normal things yet here he was barking and letting his emotions get the best of him. His friends try to include him and yet, Connor can’t let go how much he is different from everyone else. Connor puts his own mark on his back while those that really like him, see Connor for Connor. I liked it when Connor started to unwrap the layers that had trapped him inside himself, and he allowed others in, and he allowed himself to be open. His family and friends finally get to see the real Connor then. Another fantastic book by Dusti Bowling !!

The Teacher of Nomad Land: A Story of World War II

5 stars Middle School

The apple never falls far from the tree. Another cover love title for me and I’m so glad I picked this book up. He was once a blackboard teacher with the nomads, and now, he is dead. An accident leaves Babak (age 13) and Sana (age 8) orphaned and the tribe without a teacher.

Its 1941 and we’re in Iran. Their father has just passed away, and the siblings are waiting for their aunt to pick them up. The children’s life is turned upside down when their aunt informs them of the new lifestyle that awaits them. I loved how Babak secretly kept an eye on his sister and how both of them tried to hide the reality of their lives from one another. They had dreams and even when other individuals were attempting to smash their dreams, they kept reaching for them.

Deciding to find the nomads, they set off, to make a life for themselves. They needed a safe haven, and they knew the nomads could provide that, but what could they offer in return? Their father had set the foundation and now, the siblings decided to follow in his footsteps. They would attempt to become the nomad’s teacher.

They hit a few snags along the way, including meeting Ben. The relationship with Ben provides the sibling strength and growth within themselves and strengthens the bond between them. I liked Ben as a character; he played his part well and was beneficial to the dynamics of the book.

A great book. The author’s notes at the end of the book are definitely worth reading as they’re informative, covering different topics addressed in the book: alliances, alphabet, territories, and language barriers.

“Never give up on your dreams, no matter how painful and difficult your journey is.” (Lisa).

Nine Open Arms by Benny Lindelauf

3 stars YA

To be completely honest, I got lost a few times reading this book. There were stories that led me down paths that I got completely absorbed in, only to realize that they were just a part of the bigger picture. I got used to the strange names that were used within the book and the glossary at the beginning of the book clarified things when I first started reading. If you’re willing to take a chance, you just like this adaptation and enjoy the stories that grandmother shared.

Dad was a dreamer. A job-hopper. Dad was always looking for the next best deal, because you never knew when you might land on “ the one.” “The one” that would be his family’s next ticket, his dad’s dream come true. Unfortunately, every switch in employment meant another move, another city, and another home. The rest of the family was tired of moving, but father, he never got tired of searching or dreaming.

It is 1937, the land that was before them was drier than dirt. Almost two months without rain and well, dad saw inspiration in all the bleakness around them. As they walked down Sjlammbams Saharon, they were pulling their large handcar. They hoped their new home would appear soon. Hidden, they spotted the house, the large house. Its condition sufficient but there was something about the old house that seemed off. Located away from town, it’s located next to the local cemetery, just down the road from the border of Germany. If there was one good thing about this house, it was that each of them would have their own room.

Grandma has brought her Crocodile bag of goodies with her and what a great place to unpack them, inside a house which has lots to offer. Grandma is a true storyteller and she had me along for the ride as she reflected on the lives of the individuals inside her bag.

From the stories that Grandma pulled from her Crocodile bag to the happenings of the family, the family seemed to be always busy. I was confused at times while reading, the narration pulling me off into a direction I wasn’t sure where. It was a different book for me, 3 stars