Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs and Cassandra Jean

Riggs, Ransom, and Jean Cassandra. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel. New York, NY: Yen Press, 2013. Print.  ISBN 978-0-316-24528-9; Hardcover; $20.00.

Annotation: 
Jacob's grandfather Abe dies and leaves him with an eerie message: go back to the foster home Abe grew up in and learn about the monster that killed him and the friends he left behind.

Book Talk: Jacob Portman is very close with his eccentric and adventurous grandfather, Abe.  Abe regales Jacob with stories about being sent away from his homeland in Poland to a tiny island on the edge of Wales to escape terrifying monsters.  The foster home he is sent to is for children with unusual gifts, such as lifting heavy objects or levitating.  Abe even has pictures to prove it.  As Jacob gets older he begins to doubt his grandfather's stories and presumes the photos are fake.  Until one day, Abe is killed and Jacob sees the monster who did it.  Convinced Jacob is losing his mind with grief, his parents send him to a psychiatrist who convinces Jacob's father that it's ok for Jacob to visit the island his grandfather always talked about, that it may provide some closure to Abe's horrific passing.  Once Jacob arrives at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and meets Abe's childhood friends, he doesn't get closure, only finds himself asking more and more questions.  Read Ransom Riggs exciting story made into a chilling graphic novel and find out for yourself if Jacob and Abe are telling the truth about the monsters or if mental illness and peculiarities just run in the family.

Available in hardcover and eBook.

Teen quote:
"I found this to be a quick, fun read."
~Christy, 19.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Hartman, Rachel. Seraphina.  New York: Random House, 2012. Print.  ISBN 978-0-385-66839-2; Hardcover; $21.00.

Annotation:
Seraphina is half-dragon, half-human in a world where that is forbidden and a handsome young prince is about to find out.

Book Talk:

Would you tell the truth for love?  Seraphina is a young woman with a terrible secret: she’s a half-breed, with a dragon mother and human father, a musical gift and the ability to locate and communicate with other half-breeds in her mind.  Phina lives in a kingdom with an unstable peace treaty between the emotional, impulsive humans and the calculating, rational dragons who assume human form to become scholars and noblemen.  Even though everyone is supposed to get along, dragons and humans rarely trust each other and interspecies marriage is strictly forbidden.  After a member of the royal family is murdered shy, introverted Seraphina gets swept up into an investigation that leads her to falling in love with the princess’s finance, the handsome and perceptive Lucian Kiggs.  In order to save the Royal family and her beloved uncle, Seraphina has to reveal her special talents and the scales she hides under layers of clothing, but will Lucian ever see her the same way?  Would you tell the truth for love?

Here's a great video of Rachel Hartman talking about how her dragons have sensory processing issues, like her son:

There's a sequel, The Shadow Scale, coming out in March 2015!

Seraphina is available in ebook, hardcover, paperback, and audio CD.

Awards:

Winner of the 2013 YALSA Morris Award for Best YA Debut Novel
Finalist for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award (Canada)
Short-listed for the Kitschies’ Golden Tentacle Award (UK)
Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal (UK)

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Marion, Isaac. Warm Bodies: A Novel. New York: Atria Books, 2011. Print.  978-1-4391-9232-0; Paperback; $15.00.

Annotation: 
R is a lonely zombie with a crush on a real live girl he kidnaps and befriends.

Book Talk:
Just who are these warm bodies Isaac Marion is talking about in his book, they surely couldn't be the zombies roaming around after the apocalypse chewing on the leftover humans that have managed to survive?  R is a lonely zombie wandering around an dilapidated airport grunting with his fellow “fleshies” and nibbling on the occasional brain which gives him flashbacks of the deceased’s memories.  The difference between R and his brethren is that he doesn’t really like eating people, he spends most of his time listening to old records in an abandoned airplane and feeling sorry for himself.  Until one day, on a hunt for food, he meets Julie, a real live human girl, who he rescues but only after devouring her boyfriend.  He begins to fall in love with Julie and sets out to show her, and her friends and father, that zombies aren’t such dead beats after all.  Who said the dead lack warmth?

This book would be a great read for any teen interested in post-apocalyptic horror or paranormal romance.  Recommended for ages 13 and up due to the gruesome content.  If you like the book be sure to check out the movie:

Available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.