Zom-B by Darren Shan YP FIC SHAN

Everyone thought it was a joke, a hoax, anything but real.  There’s no such thing as zombies.  B just puts it out of her mind and tries to go about her ‘normal’ life.  But B is wondering more and more how normal her life really is.  She tells herself that even though B's dad is a bigot and has a short fuse, he’s basically okay, but more and more B has to face the evil from inside B's dad and inside.  That’s only if B survives!  Turns out flesh eating zombies ARE real and they’re really hungry!

Okay, I totally get that there are about 18 billion zombie books on the market right now, so it is pretty difficult to wade through the moaning hordes of books.  But Darren Shan is a no-brainer for writing a zombie series!  He is the absolute king of modern gross out teen horror!  And he has made a bold and bloody claim to have the best zombie series out there.  What I love is that this book starts with a bloody bang of zombie mayhem, then switches gears and looks at B’s day to day life and what makes B tick.  And B is not our typical hero.  B’s seriously conflicted about following in B's father’s racist footsteps, but too scared to challenge the life B has.  And that conflict is interesting enough even before zombies start ripping people’s brains out!  And the bloody, gruesome violence will not let down Darren Shan fans or any zombie lovers that like their action fast and brutal.  The central mystery of what is causing the outbreaks and who the mystery figure that B calls Owl Man and what makes the mutants different form the zombies will have to be solved in future volumes.  The book definitely ends with a heart-rending climax that will leave readers drooling for the next title.

I’d say that this is the first zombie horror series that stands up to my all-time favorite zombie series The Enemy books by Charlie Higson.  Weird that they both take place in England! The Brits have a lockdown on my favorite zombie fiction! This is the first part of a 12 part series, but you’ll rip through the slender volumes so fast you’ll be left wanting more.  Fortunately, Shan promises a volume every 3 months and we already have Underground the second book in the series. I’ll definitely be following this one and will keep you all recapped after a few more volumes to let you know how the mystery unfolds.

You can check our catalog for Zom-B here.

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos Illustrated by Nate Powell YP FIC LONG

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies...but the silence of our friends." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mark Long was just 11 years old in 1967.  His world seemed so simple until the night his father covered a protest that led to the death of a police officer and fraudulent murder charges for five African-American students.  Now Mark’s family faces social isolation, hatred, and danger if his father tells the truth in court.  A tale of friendship, loyalty, and courage in the face of bigotry, hatred, and racism.

This is a slightly fictionalized account of real events in Mark Long’s life growing up in Houston in the 60s. The fact that the venomous hatred Mark encountered for befriending a black family that moved into his all white neighborhood and for his father defending innocent men is chilling.  It shows how far our society has come and reminds us to always look to justice and fight bigotry wherever it comes from, because it eventually affects us all. Nate Powell (Artist/author of Swallow Me Whole reviewed here) is an inspired choice to draw this tale.  He captures subtle human emotion and feeling remarkably well.  The combination of the shocking story, the relatable characters, and the excellent art make this a real contender to be a modern classic.  I’d recommend it to any fans of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (FIC LEE) and to anyone that wants a great story about a Houston not too long gone.

Check our catalog for The Silence of Our Friends here.

Green Lantern Green Arrow Volume 2 by Dennis O’Neil Art by Neil Adams YP FIC ONEIL

In 1970 and 1971 Dennis O’Neil and Neil Adams turned traditional super hero comics on their head. They used superheroes to examine major social issues in America. They wanted comics to be ‘relevant’. So instead of just fighting super villains, Green Arrow (a guy who used a bow and arrow really well) and Green Lantern (yes, the guy from the new movie) traveled America fighting super social ills. They fight racism, drug addiction, religious intolerance, pollution, and other evils that plague modern society.

Okay, admittedly the idea of superheroes addressing complex social problems seems like it may be a bad idea. And it probably is, but it is also really super fun. While the plot is occasionally cheesy and the comics tend to simplify the problems they address it makes for very fun and out there comics. I mean, Green Arrow finds out that his former sidekick Speedy is a heroin junky! You just can’t beat comics like that. More importantly, Neal Adams is like a god of comic art and the book has excellent art throughout. If you like superheroes and want great art, out there stories, and something very different then give this one a read.

They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti 322.420973 BARTOLET

In 1866 six men decided to form a club to terrorize and harass blacks in the small town of Pulaski, Tennessee. In almost no time at all this group began to grow until it was the largest terrorist group to operate on American soil. Susan Campbell Bartoletti takes a chilling look at the rise of the most notorious hate group in America and how they used terrorism, violence, and murder to try and keep a race of people subjugated for decades.

The principal idea that the KKK were not just a hate group but actually terrorists is a compelling one and Bartoletti does a great job of providing evidence for her argument. This is a easy to read and hard to forget history of how such a racist and violent group could form while law enforcement turned a blind eye. It is important to remember the true history of the KKK because groups like them have always tried to lie about their own history. This book is filled with horrifying and heart wrenching firsthand accounts of what it was like to live as a secondhand citizen in a society that was ruled over by terrorists.

The Cruisers by Walter Dean Myers YP FIC MYERS

Zander Scott and his friends Bobbi, Kambui, and LaShonda call themselves the Cruisers because that exactly what they expect to do, cruise through the DaVinci Academy for the Gifted and Talented in Harlem with a solid C and little to no effort, but their underachieving ways have finally caught up with them. Now the assistant principal has tasked them with stopping a new civil war! The high school has been split into the Union and Confederate sides as a way to teach about the civil war and if the Cruisers can’t get the sides to come to a truce they are going to be booted out. But when real life racial tensions make the assignment all too real and the Cruisers may have to actually TRY.

Walter Dean Myer is an all time great writers of young adult lit. He writes such real and raw books that pull no punches, so I was surprised he was writing a book aimed more at middle schoolers than teens, but he pulls it off very well. the book is smart, fast paced, and all the characters feel real. Myers is always great at looking at the really tough issues like racism, war, and class, but without ever getting boring or preachy. One of the really tricky question of the book is, what would have happened to America without the Civil War? A great read for people that want a new series about the middle school set but with a cool urban flair.

Bayou: Vol. One by Jeremy Love

The story takes place in Mississippi in 1933. Lee Wagstaff, the daughter of a black sharecropper, is friends with Lily, a white girl, in a segregated society. The two girls regularly play by the bayou, where black victims of racial violence are often dumped. One day Lily is abducted by a monster, but Lee’s father is blamed and may soon face a lynch mob. In order to save her father and friend, Lee enters Dixie, a parallel universe of Southern lore. While in Dixie, Lee witnesses the horrors of the South’s racially violent past. She also encounters Bayou, a creature who is troubled by the realities of discrimination. Lee and Bayou learn a lot about one another and work to succeed against racial discrimination.

Love created the story and illustrations for this fascinating story. Originally seen as a web comic at Zuda.com, operated by DC Comics, this is the first book in a three-part series.

Ten Things I Hate about Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Unwilling to identify with her Muslim culture, Jamilah dyes her hair blond and wears blue contact lenses when attending her Australian high school. She also goes by the name “Jamie” and sits by when her friends and fellow students make racist remarks about Muslims and other cultures. When at home, Jamilah observes the Muslim culture and attempts to obey her father’s strict rules. She’s living a double life and eventually her lies begin to catch up with her, especially when the cutest boy in school asks her out. Her father will not allow her to hang out with boys and her friends grow suspicious as to why they can never come over to her house after school. Jamilah/Jamie is torn between who her friends and family expect her to be and who she really is. Writer Randa Abdel-Fattah crafts a poignant tale that demonstrates the difficulties faced by teens when grappling with identity.

Teens who read Does My Head Look Big in This? should also enjoy Ten Things I Hate about Me. Both books are available at the library.