To mark the release of her latest novel, Hold Back The Tide,  we are honoured to welcome Melinda Salisbury to the Young Blood Library with her fascinating article  article on how we need to look the monster of climate change right in the eye.  

Be sure to check out the excellent review of Melinda's novel from our resident Librarian Tony Jones, by clicking here 

It’s commonly acknowledged that fictional horror is usually created (and consumed) in response to real-world fears or occurrences. As well as terrorizing us with fantastical or imagined horrors like zombies, crazed murderers, ghosts, aliens, or the rise of sentient technology, fictional horror reflects back at us the things we collectively and often instinctively fear; death, disease, intruders, invasion, losing our position at the top of the food chain. Horror acts as an avatar that allows us to confront those fears by placing them in a fantasy context and, more often than not, watching as others escape or overcome them. It’s this eventual triumph and mastery that allows us to leave a horror film, turn off our TVs, or put down our books and sleep soundly that night. After all, it’s fun to be scared.  
Or at least it was.
​
Until we were forced to recognise that the thing that is actually bringing us closest to our own annihilation is ourselves.

Not through war, or the rise of a single dictator, or even the awakening of an ancient, slumbering evil. But through collective consumption, greed, our lack of understanding or concern about the effects of the things we’ve innovated. Every single one of us alive today has – knowingly or unknowingly – added a nail to the coffin of our species, simply by existing during these times, the biggest threat to the human race is, and has always been, the human race.

Before the innovation of the last two hundred or so years, there was little on earth that existed needlessly. Everything had a function and a place, everything held and was in turn held in balance by nature. And once something was finished with, it was redistributed and reused; usually returning to the earth to breakdown and nourish the next thing; the oft-mentioned Circle of Life. Nature is usually quite forgiving of mistakes. After all, the planet has over 4.5 billion years under its belt; it can afford to wait out most aspects that threaten the grand eco-system. But not us. We have moved so far, and so fast that nature is going to have to take extreme measures to right the wrongs we’ve inflicted upon it. If we’re lucky it might not mean the annihilation of the human race, but it will mean the end of living as we do. There is going to have to be a change, and the race now is whether we are the ones who make it, or we wait for Nature to step up.

It was this realisation that sparked the idea for my latest book, HOLD BACK THE TIDE. The acknowledgement that of all the things we’ve overcome, and all the amazing things we’ve achieved, the one thing we won’t be able to do is fully halt the tide that we’ve unleashed with our endless march for innovation and convenience. That at some point the chickens will come home to roost, the horror we’ve unleashed will become manifest and we’ll have to face up to it when it does.

A lot of climate change fiction focuses on a dystopian future, where the remnants of the human race are dealing with the fallout from previous generations’ lack of care towards the planet, but I wanted to write something a little more reflective of the state of things right now, for the youths and teenagers who are campaigning for change.

In 2018, Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg stopped going to school on Fridays, instead spending the day outside the Swedish Parliament, campaigning for stronger action on the climate disaster. She was joined by others, across the world, an entire generation of young people willing to face censure and ridicule begging for the people in charge to do something about the catastrophic damage we’re doing to the planet. Since then the world’s children and youths have led the marches calling for change, Greta herself has travelled the globe (and used the methods of travel as a platform for demonstration), addressing world leaders and summits, begging them to use their positions and power to take action against the climate disaster.   

In HOLD BACK THE TIDE a teenaged girl is the first to notice the damage to a local loch being caused by the rapidly-expanding paper mill in her town. She duly reports it to an adult, who – for their own reasons – sidelines her concerns. This willful ignorance continues, until disaster strikes and a very real and terrifying horror is unleashed. It renders the small community forever changed, damned by their refusal to listen to the concerns of the young, who are the main ones to suffer because of it, and their assumption that natural resources are there for the taking and there will be no repercussions. In the book the horror is very literal, and something that can be fought. In real life, we won’t be so lucky.

This was supposed to be a piece about horror, and it is. But it’s not about the monster in the closet, or under the bed. It’s about the monster in the mirror, and how if we want to avoid a real, true nightmare we need to look the monster in the eye. We need to acknowledge that it’s there. 

If Grief Angels predominately tackles grief, then All the Lonely People looks at the theme of loneliness, a factor which can play a large part of the lives of teenagers who struggle to make friends. All the Lonely People looks at this subject with real compassion, balancing a very observant look at how much kids rely upon their online profiles to boost themselves, or escape, the real world. In day to day life, main character Kat has few friends, finds it difficult to talk to people, and is completely anonymous at school. However, this is not the case when she is online, where she is bubbly, funny and popular. If she has a problem at school, she will turn to her internet friends for comfort, rather than the real world, or her father.

Things take a turn for the worse when she is targeted by an online bullying campaign which have influences beyond the school. It becomes so severe, for example, her image is morphed onto nasty porn stuff, her profiles get hacked and corrupted and she if forced into deleting her online accounts. To Kat this is like a death, or worse than losing her soul, as she is left with the person she does not like, her real self, in the flesh and blood real world. But without her online personality who is she?

From there on the book gets very strange, as in the real-world Kat begins to physically disappear. So, few people knew her, who would miss her? Strangely enough, one of the boys who computer hacked/bullied her notices, normally he bullies from afar, but Kat is different and the book heads into fascinating directions.

All the Lonely People has a lot to say about online culture, both good and bad, that explores the experience of loneliness in a world where everything and everyone is supposed to be connected. We all like positive comments about things we post ourselves and often write negative things about others online we would never say direct to their faces and this book takes a fascinating look at it. ‘Would anybody miss me if I was not here?’ is a tough question to answer, but young people ask it of themselves all the time. This novel, loaded with empathy, has some answers which might help. ​

Although I was initially dubious when I heard about the concept behind The Fallen Children ultimately, I was blown away by it. David Owen’s second novel is a very clever update of John Wyndham’s classic, but arguably dated, The Midwich Cuckoos. In Grief Angels there are many references to the classic reboot of the tv series Battlestar Galactica, you should see this ‘update’ in the same sort of light. It takes Wyndham’s story be the throat, throttles it, and drags it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Interestingly, Owen notes in the accompanying interview that virtually no kids were aware of the original and his book was generally seen as a ‘new’ work, although I’m sure many librarians, parents and teachers were aware of the original source material!

This superb revamp is not set in a quaint English village full of white middle class kids, the action takes place in a London estate aptly named the Midwich Tower.  In a single night, many inhabitants of the Midwich Tower block loses consciousness, when they wake up, four girls are pregnant. It’s quite graphic, slightly sleazy, and unsettling stuff. Answers are hard to come by; what happened to them? What does it mean? How do they explain everything? Then the pregnancies start developing much faster than they should, time is even shorter, and everything changes for these innocent teens. It’s a great YA novel which meshes horror and science fiction with the troubles the girls face, the shame, the name-calling, and having to tell parents about the pregnancies. And, of course, nobody believes them, why should they?  Some might find it a tad explicit for a teen novel, but the conceptions are handled well, and the teenagers are both sympathetically and believably drawn. The Fallen Children pays considerable respect to the Wyndham novel, but it really does run on its own two feet and should not be viewed as a modern retelling of a classic, it is much more than that. ​

avid’s debut Panther is also set in the south London area about a teen with food issues, problems with depression, and an obsession with a creature, apparently, stalking the local night streets. As with both Grief Angels and All the Lonely People there is a certain amount of ambiguity surrounding the ‘panther’. Does it exist? Or is it a manifestation of Derrick’s personal problems? As he believes if he was to catch this beast then surely his life would take an upward turn. Panther was a very brave book, which thoughtfully tackles difficult subjects head on, whilst adding a certain amount of mystery and thriller with the black beast never far from Derrick’s thoughts.

It is not easy being young and family life can be very difficult are two of the key themes explored in this moving, but unsentimental novel. Bullying is never far from the surface; friendships are difficult and before long you’ll be hoping the Panther is real and that the troubled Derrick finds it. I do enjoy reading novels set in and about London and Panther is an authentic and believable trip around our streets and in the head of a very likable main character, Derrick.

Tony Jones

We are delighted to welcome YA writer David Owen to the site today. An author of four excellent novels, which feature both troubled teenagers and a sense of the fantastic, darkness is never far away. David’s fourth novel Grief Angels has just been published, which we discuss along with many aspects of teen fiction, horror and writing.
​
The teenagers in all four of your novels are faced with challenging life situations and although you are not a horror writer you often use a sense of the fantastic in your message. For example, in Panther Derrick was both weight issues and family problems and believes a huge cat is stalking south London. What attracts you to combining the gritty with the far-out?

It’s a few of things! Firstly, I struggle to write a strictly contemporary story because I need some capital ‘p’ Plot to hang everything on – adding something weird gives me that. Secondly, I feel that having fantastical elements allows me to explore those grittier ideas in greater depth. They allow me to push my thoughts and ideas as far as they will go, beyond the boundaries of reality, so there’s no limit on how deep I can dig into these themes. Essentially, they serve as shamelessly unsubtle metaphors! Lastly, there’s already so much brilliant contemporary YA fiction out there that I feel compelled to offer something a little different and putting a weird twist into otherwise contemporary stories does that.

Your 2017 novel The Fallen Children was exceptionally brave; reimagining John Wyndham’s Midwich Cuckoos into a modern south London housing estate. This was a very risky project to take on which if executed badly would be undoubtedly judged harshly. However, the result was a convincing and scary ‘almost’ horror novel which took Wyndham’s masterpiece into new territories. What attracted you to this project? Did anyone try to warn you away from it? Finally, do you think its success partly lay in the fact that the YA audience of today are unfamiliar with the original work? Personally, I recommend The Chrysalids quite a bit in my library as I think it has aged much better than the Midwich Cuckoos….

I don’t think it was a risky prospect because, as you say, so many people of my generation and younger haven’t heard of the Midwich Cuckoos. When I announced the book, I was quite surprised by that – I had to reference the film adaptations and an episode of The Simpsons before they knew what I was talking about! So that was kind of an advantage because there wouldn’t be much direct comparison.

It was actually the ‘90s film adaptation that introduced me to Wyndham’s story. I saw it on TV when I was 11 years old and was so spooked by its central concept. That led me to read the book and I’ve been obsessed with the idea ever since. But you’re right that the Midwich Cuckoos hasn’t aged brilliantly – arguably none of John Wyndham’s work has because of his trademark incredibly British, bucolic take on science-fiction. It’s deeply uncool. But the central ideas are still so brilliant! That makes him ripe for retelling, in my opinion.

One of the biggest things that ages the Midwich Cuckoos is how little women feature in its narrative. This is particularly glaring given it’s about a great number of women forcibly being made pregnant by aliens! It focuses instead on men dealing with the fallout. I saw an opportunity there to update the story, with ideas around agency and roles within society, which I thought would really resonate with a YA audience. Plus, the central idea leaves so much room for horror and murky morality.

Your focus modern teenage issues from depression to loneliness is exceptionally convincing, however, considering you often mix the fantastic into your writing, do you think future projects might take you towards more genre-based YA fiction?

Maybe! The Fallen Children and my new book Grief Angels lean into genre a little more strongly than my others (sci-fi and fantasy respectively). I have ideas for genre books, but I also have books I want to write that have nothing weird or fantastical in them at all. My style being what it is means I could end up going either way, which might be an advantage in terms of creative freedom but a disadvantage because I’m not known for either one! I guess I’ll have to see what happens.

Your latest novel Grief Angels is ultimately about two troubled teenage boys failing to open up about their feelings, part of which is explored through a recurring dreamy fantasy sequence. Could you give us some background on this new novel?

It started with the thought that there’s so much brilliant YA fiction about the friendships of teenage girls, but less about the dynamics of boy friendships. What’s out there is great – Alex Wheatle is a favourite, but I wanted more of it. Plus I obviously had that experience from my own teenage years and, looking back on that, I found I had so much to say about the relationships between boys at that age – how you’re both friends and competitors, how you’re changing so rapidly as you approach adulthood, the limited roles you’re expected to play.

I honestly have no idea where the fantasy side of the story came from! I was interested in writing something that was a little more explicitly fantasy, which is why those chapters are more separate to the main narrative here than the weird stuff in previous books. The obvious inspiration are books like A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Skellig by David Almond, and Eren by Simon P. Clark. Some of the ideas came from Romanian folklore, which I stumbled across and found fascinating due to its earthy darkness. Somehow that all ended up mashed together into this book!

Your fiction probably uses magical realism rather than horror; do you have any interest in making things even darker in your fiction or is reality bleak enough?

I think my books are probably dark enough! I suppose it depends how you define darkness. The Fallen Children is dark in terms of leaning the most into horror and being quite gory at times, but I think All the Lonely People is very dark too, young people so disillusioned with life that they’re willing themselves out of existence. And some of the things they’re able to do with their fading bodies is quite horrific, in my opinion. I love grounded horror, and it’s something I really enjoy playing with.

All my books are very dark thematically. I’m interested in darkness and it’s likely to be a major part of anything I write.

I enjoyed all the references to Battlestar Galactica in Grief Angels and how this amazing TV show broke the ice for the two main characters beginning to communicate. Did you use this show because it is one of your personal favourites? Are teen boys genuinely this poor at communicating? Were you?

I love Battlestar Galactica! As Duncan says in the book, it’s so much about humanity as well as all the cool sci-fi stuff. The first couple of seasons are some of the best television ever created in my opinion. At first, I used it as a placeholder, intending to change it to something more current, but BSG just seemed to fit well.

I can’t speak for all teenage boys, but in my experience they’re terrible at communicating with each other about personal things. Hell, men in general are. That’s why the highest suicide rate is among young men. There’s still such stigma around men being vulnerable. That’s an incredibly difficult thing to push against when you’re a teenage boy trying to fit in with other teenage boys. They have all those fears and anxieties and everything else, but they think they’re not supposed to have them. You can’t show weakness, or you’ll be eaten alive. Duncan desperately needs to be more open but has nobody he can open up with, until Owen – who doesn’t give a fuck about pretences anymore since his dad died – comes along and changes everything.

With Grief Angels I wanted to show how difficult it is for young boys to be open with their feelings, how momentous it is to find somebody you can be open and vulnerable with, and how actually everybody at that age has their insecurities and doubts even if they’re very good at hiding it.

Your 2019 novel All The Lonely People, concerning a teenage girl forced to delete her online profiles after being bullied, feels this loss like a death; as a result, she begins to physically disappear as nobody remembers the ‘real’ her. What message does this very moving book have about teenagers and the online world today? I found this to be a particularly moving book….

I wanted to explore the positives and negatives of being a teenager in such a connected world. How social media and other online spaces can offer such incredible freedom for young people to celebrate the things they love and meet like-minded people, where their voices and creativity can flourish. But also, how they can make you feel more isolated from the world around you, and how darker forces can take advantage of that to turn these spaces into a recruiting ground for extremist ideologies. Both main characters – Kat and Wesley – start in very similar places emotionally, but the internet takes them down two very different paths.

The message, ultimately, is a simple one: be kind to each other, online or otherwise. The internet often doesn’t encourage that.

By day I’m a school librarian and am always trying to find books with messages about the obsession with the online world which do not come across as worthy or preachy and felt All The Lonely People did this convincingly. I read you also write for gaming magazines, did your wider writing experience in the IT world attract you to this subject or the reality that technology continues to squeeze reading time in teenagers?

I haven’t written for games media for a long time now, but I was doing so during a particularly fraught time in that industry: GamerGate. This was an online hate campaign waged largely against women and other marginalised figures in the video game industry. This was where I saw bored, isolated, disillusioned young people – usually young men – being recruited for a far-right movement under the pretence of something relatively harmless. It was startling to see how insidious this was and how, because video games still aren’t completely mainstream, the wider press just ignored it. This was, undoubtedly, the canary in the coal mine for many of the tactics employed by the so-called ‘alt-right’ movement in the years since.

I’m not sure it’s as simple as technology squeezing reading time. Most of the teens who are playing games or whatever instead of reading probably wouldn’t have picked up a book anyway (and games can be a valid form of storytelling, but that’s an argument for another day!). I think technology has changed how young people read. Those who aren’t interested in novels have better access than ever to other forms of reading – web comics, fan fiction, articles, and much more. Those are every bit as valid as reading a novel. Technology makes it so much easier for young people to find the stories they need. I think I’d have loved to have access to all of that when I was a teenager.

What sort of fiction did you read when you were a teenager?

I read a lot of what you might call proto-YA, before YA was a defined thing: Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman, Marcus Sedgwick – the latter of which is particularly brilliant at dark, horror-tinged books. I also read a lot of ‘big name’ genre books – The Lord of the Rings, The Shining, headline stuff like that. I think I was really working out my tastes at that age.

Which character from your four novels most closely resembles the teenage version of yourself?

Definitely, Derrick from Panther. That book is semi-autobiographical. His disordered eating is my exact experience, and his struggle to understand depression comes from reflecting on my own teenage years now I have intimate knowledge of the illness. In a way, Derrick served as a vessel for me to work through some issues from my teenage years and in a broader sense, to seek absolution by behaving better than I did back then.

What made you study for both a BA and then an MA in creative writing at university? It’s a well-known fact that lots of highly successful authors have cut their teeth in these courses, however, the horror genre has a very much more DIY approach where the majority have no academic/literary training. Do you think aspiring horror writers could benefit from such courses?

I wanted to be a writer, and before university had been writing short stories and the like for fun. I didn’t know it was something you could study at that level until I saw it in a university prospectus. The opportunity to learn about it more formally was instantly appealing. The path to becoming a published author seemed impossibly steep at that age, and a degree seemed to offer a clear way of navigating it.

These courses aren’t for everybody, and by no means are they necessary or a guarantee of getting published. But my writing undoubtedly improved a huge amount by having tuition and constant feedback from peers – that will be as valuable in horror writing as any other genre.

You studied an MA in Writing for Children. Did horror or genre fiction get much coverage in the course?  I’ve looked at these and teacher training courses and have been disappointed by the range of things they feature, usually concentrating on tried and tested authors such as David Almond, Mal Peet and Jamila Gavin, not that I have anything against those three examples…

Although I can’t remember many of the specific books we looked at, the MA covered a wide range of genres. Most people there were writing genre fiction, many of them horror, and the course only encouraged that.

Ginger Nuts of Horror has commented widely on the complete disappearance of the male protagonist/central character in recent YA horror fiction and has found this trend to be rather worrying. We’re not even sure authors are aware of the phenomenon; you predominately write with a male voice, is this because of your own life experience rather than what publishers dictate or any other factors?

I wasn’t aware of it in YA horror fiction, but this is a discussion that comes up regularly in the YA community. Personally, I don’t find it at all worrying. Boys have always been well-represented in fiction, while girls often haven’t. I think it’s natural then that we’re going through a period where the scales have tipped the other way a little, as there are more previously unseen characters, voices, and stories there to be explored.

I’d also point to great books like Martin Stewart’s Riverkeep and The Sacrifice Box, Frances Hardinge’s Deeplight, and Darren Charlton’s upcoming Wranglestone that are recent YA horror books with brilliant male leads.

We know that girls will read male protagonists but not vice versa. The answer to that isn’t to adhere to some idea of ‘books for boys’, but to encourage boys to read outside of their own experience and realise that stories about girls are just as relevant to them.

I’ve written from the perspectives of both – three of four narrators in The Fallen Children are young women, and half of All the Lonely People is told from Kat’s perspective. My publisher has never dictated to me what perspective to tell a story from. For me, it’s simply what suits the story and allows me to best explore its themes.

Given that your radical reimagining of The Midwich Cuckoos was very well received would you consider trying something similar with another classic. If so, what would it be?

I’m more confident in my own ideas these days, so I haven’t thought about reimagining anything else! We’re living in the age of reboots though, so you never know. I think it could be interesting to revisit some of the ‘60s - ‘70s sci-fi books that speculated on the social impacts of climate change, like J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World, John Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up or Harry Harrison’s Make Room! Make Room! Thematically they couldn’t be more relevant, and each of them is horrifying in its own way.

You have an unpublished novel Black-Market Beards of which you have been releasing sections on your blog. Have you given up trying to get this published or you intend to revisit it in the future?

I’ve long since given up on getting it published! Honestly, it isn’t very good. It was the book I began for my BA creative writing dissertation and went on to finish. It’s fun but not of publishable standard. I learned a lot from writing it though.

Do you read much current YA fiction? What have you read recently you would recommend?

I still read lots of YA fiction. A few recent favourites have been:
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn
The Places I’ve Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

What are your future projects? Do you have any plans to write adult fiction?

I can’t give any details on anything, I’m afraid. I’m working on a couple of books, one of which is adult (not horror, though, sorry!) and one of which is for a younger audience. Whether either of them will ever see the light of day remains to be seen.

If you could bump into any living author reading one of your books on the London Underground who would it be?

 Patrick Ness. I adore his books and he’s been a massive influence on my work. He blends big ideas and weird stuff with compelling narratives and emotional truth so effortlessly. I’d lose my mind if he read one of my books.
​
 David, thanks for joining us on the site and for putting so much thought into your answers, it makes great reading. Every best wish and success for Grief Angels and your future projects.

Tony Jones

'Not many YA writers can combine authenticity with such tenderness, so raw at times it's painful. A unique premise told beautifully' Kiran Millwood Hargrave (via Instagram)
15-year-old Owen Marlow is experiencing a great, disorienting loss after his father suddenly passed away and his mother moved them to a new town. None of his old friends knew how to confront his grief, so he's given up on trying to make new ones. There is one guy at school who might prove to be different if he gives him a chance but lately, Owen has been overwhelmed by his sadness. He's started to have strange, powerful hallucinations of skeletal birds circling above him. Owen tells himself that these visions are just his brain's way of trying to cope - until one night, the birds descend and take him to an otherworldly forest. There, he is asked to go on a dangerous journey that promises to bring him the understanding he so desperately seeks - if he can survive it.
Grief Angels is an urgent and heartfelt look at the power of nostalgia and the many different forms of grief. It's about young men learning how to share their stories, and teens discovering who they are, and who they might one day become.

SUZANNE YOUNG: THE PROGRAM (6 BOOK SERIES 2012-18)

The Program starts with a very clever idea, teen suicide is at epidemic levels though some unknown illness which the government has named ‘the sadness’. If any teens show any likely signs of depression, they are forced into a shadowy institution called ‘The Program’ which is a type of brainwashing and characteristic killing process which all the kids are terrified of. So, no matter what teens are feeling, they try to hide it, any side of twitchiness and reprogramming awaits. The novels are all interconnected, with the novellas introducing new characters and the origins of ‘The Program’. It’s a terrific teen read, which is more dystopian thriller than horror, which deserves to be much better known in the UK. There has also been a play based upon the book which has been staged in the UK. AGE 13+
 
DAN WELLS: JOHN CLEAVER (6 BOOK SERIES 2009-17)

Gleefully nasty thriller series which begins with I Am Not a Serial Killer about a teenage mortician who helps the family business, with serious, serious issues, who believes he may have serial killer tendencies or is a type of sociopath. He’s the sort of kid who would write a school ‘heroes’ essay on serial killer John Wayne Gacy.  This sort of attitude gets him serious trouble with his teachers who would much rather an essay on Martin Luther King. Interestingly, this was always packaged as a YA novel in the UK but was aimed at the adult market in the USA. There is also an excellent indie-film of the same name. The series ended in 2011 until the author revived it in 2015, his science fiction series Partials is also highly recommended. AGE 13+

 
DAWN KURTAGICH: TEETH IN THE MIDST (8/10)

I am a massive fan of Dawn Kurtagich and we have featured her previous novels The Dead House and Creeper Man on Ginger Nuts. Her latest novel Teeth in the Mist is perhaps even more ambitious and is a complex story, set in a huge mansion in rural Wales, split over three narratives in the present day, 1851 and 1583 with a strong supernatural theme permeating through the story. It was a very chunky book, with different fonts and voices and took a bit of time to get into the flow but it is worthy sticking with. This was the case with both her previous two novels, let us hope teenage readers give it a chance as it is not an easy read and will challenge many, as is the case with all her fiction.
 
Sixteen-year-old photography buff Zoey ends up at Medwyn Mill House and is fascinated with the ruin and after spending the night there with her friend Poulton and is sure they are not alone.  Jumping back to 1851 seventeen-year-old Roan arrives at Mill House as a ward and soon realises she is connected to an ancient secret and must try and escape the house, but that is not as easy as it might sound. However, there is something connecting the three young women, which also includes Hermione who relocates with her husband to the same area in 1583.  This was a very strong blend of mystery, horror and dark fantasy, even if it did not quite unsettle me in the way the magnificent Creeper Man did. But is certainly another highly original read as I have come to expect from this talented writer. AGE RATING 13+
 
SHEA ERNSHAW: WINTERWOOD (8/10)

I was a big fan of Shea Ernshaw’s debut The Wicked Deep and her follow-up Winterwood is another dreamily told dark fantasy, with an enticing taste of the supernatural. Once again, the story features a romance which develops as the story enfolds, this one is slightly different though, as the teenage narrator is a witch. Or is she? This was one of the things I loved about this book, much of what goes on is both vague and subtle, so this will appeal to stronger readers, others may find it a tad slow and frustrating. One part of the story is narrated by Nora Walker, in the remote location where the action is set, the ‘Walker Women’ are famous for being witches and so most folks give them a wide berth. Nora, however, questions her own magical ability, but she certainly has weird gifts and can find things when lost and has a deep connection with the local forest which is dangerous and avoided by many others. She can feel the trees and is very close to nature and for the most part deals in herbs rather than magic. Close to her cottage is a reform school for teenage boys, who most definitely think she is a witch, and from this school she meets Oliver.
 
The second narrative is told in the first person from Oliver’s point of view and as the story moves on the two grow closer, but a mystery develops around the disappearance of a second boy around the same time Nora met Oliver. With Nora believing the two boys were connected in some way. Both voices are very distinct, and I found the lush prose Winterwood used to be rather beautiful and lovely to spend time with. It had an outstanding ending which I never saw coming and every teenager questions their place in the world and Nora, witch or not, is no different. Along the way the story is peppered with short anecdotal stories about earlier generations of the ‘Walker Women’. This one of probably aimed at the female audience and if you have the patience to go with the flow, and are not looking for action or adventure, is a very rewarding and thoughtful read. AGE RATING 13+   
 
SARA FARING: THE TENTH GIRL (7/10)

The Tenth Girl is one of those books which is picking up as much love as it is hate, being polarising in all sorts of ways, in particular, because of the outrageous twist ending. Some readers have undoubtedly loved it, others found it to a load of rubbish. I’m not going to comment which way I swing, as this is one of those occasions where you need to make up your own mind. Also, was this a YA novel? Yes and no. To be frank, an adult could pick it up by mistake and never twig it was predominately aimed at teens. This very twisty gothic thriller is mainly set in an Argentinean boarding school of the 1970s, so it is unique for points of references, making it challenging for a YA audience with the oppressive government dictatorship of that decade lurking in the background. It follows a young teacher beginning at a girl’s boarding school in Patagonia, in a house built by colonizers on land that formerly belonged to the Zapuche, an indigenous people in Argentina.
 
The young woman is attempting to escape the Argentinian government, but it seems that she may have gotten herself into an even more dangerous, disturbing situation as very quickly strange things happen at the boarding school and she is told not, under any circumstances, to go out at night. This book will not be for everyone, but when you do get to the end, some of the more abstract sequences make a lot more sense. Whatever you think, you’ll be shaking your head and will never see the ending coming. Avoid spoilers at all costs. AGE RATING 14+
 
KATE ALICE MARSHALL: RULES FOR VANISHING (7/10)
​
Rules for Vanishing was a very clever, original, and sneaky novel told via transcribes, written testimonies, interviews, exhibits, and video evidence. We know from the beginning that the action kicks off in April 2017 and that police discussions are conducted in May 2017 with Sara being the suspect under the microscope. The story revolves around a local legend; once a year an isolated road is rumoured to magically appear, which leads to the entrance to a supernatural dimension and those who follow the path must follow precise rules or risk being trapped there forever. If Sara’s crazy story is to be believed she was lucky to make it out alive, what we don’t know is which of her friends survived along with her, and so we enjoy a story which is enticingly told out of synch.
 
Why was Sara attempting to enter another dimension you might ask? Exactly a year previously her sister Becca went missing and her parents think that she ran away with her boyfriend, but her sister Sara has another solution to the disappearance and begins to investigate.  Did Becca play the game and became lost in another world? Of course, the world is real before long Sara, on the hunt for Becca, and her friends are attempting to get through the seven gates to complete the challenges and be free to leave. I thought this was a very entertaining novel which was both atmospheric and very cleverly written, almost with a documentary feel to it in which the reader had to solve their own puzzles and conduct their own analysis right to the end. Well worth checking out. AGE RATING 12+

PETER ADAM SALOMOM: EIGHT MINUTES, THIRTY-TWO SECONDS (5/10)

As book titles go Eight Minutes, Thirty-Two Seconds is a stinker for YA audiences, no matter what the title refers to, kids are going to avoid it like the plague. Simply put, it is just too clunky. Neither was I certain this was a YA novel at all, or just a science fiction thriller which is accessible to strong teen readers. It was also one of those books where if you don’t follow the action very closely it is easy to lose the thread, which could happen with teen readers. Once you get your head around it, the opening premise was intriguing; due to some kind of disaster the entire population of the world is dead apart from two people who are known as ‘L’ and ‘M’, neither of which remember what happened. However, there are complications, which is the crux of the novel and the reason for the horrendous title.
 
‘L’ and ‘M’ can access the former lives and memories of six other people from the old world, but only for 8.32 minutes/seconds at a time and to do this they have to take this weird addictive drug which kills them. The AI computer then brings them back to life but they have little memories of what happened, apart from bits and pieces. From these excursions into these lost memories they try to figure out what happened to the world by writing little notes and try and put together the pieces of the jigsaw. It was not a long book I still found it disjoined and grew tired of the character jumping, however, there are some nice plot jumps and twists and the crumbling setting held a lot of intrigue. It will probably be sold as ‘high concept’ but I was not convinced and would be interested to see how genuine teen readers take to this book, rather than adult reviewers. AGE RATING 14+
 
NZONDI: OWARE MOSAIC (3/10)

I really struggled with Oware Mosaic and found large sections made little sense, making it a novel I would not recommend to YA readers. Teenagers get frustrated easily and even though it features some creative ideas, much of it is lost in stilted prose with a voice which is both dull and repetitive. Set in Ghana, some years after a massive war, scientists have developed a technology that stores consciousness on data-orbs called retcons. Through a combination of human characters and a future type of (almost) vampire they end up in a virtual reality via a very advanced computer game. I’m not explaining this very well, mainly because I understood little of it and much of what it presented was hard to visualise and I found myself reading the same piece of text several times to pick up the flow. It’s nice to see the story set almost entirely in Africa, but I failed to connect with it and think teen readers would also struggle. AGE RATING 13+  ​

 Today we turn to our youngest member of the Ginger Nut team, fourteen-year-old AJ, to take a look at the recently rereleased Usborne’s World of the Unknown: Ghosts by Christopher Maynard which was first published way back in 1977 and is widely credited with tuning many young minds into lifelong horror fans. Adults of 2019 undoubtedly have much nostalgia for this cult book, but we are interested in whether it has any relevance in the technological driven world of today or whether kids will be turned off by it. In the form of an interview, we have gone through the book with AJ for her thoughts on this legendary work.
 
The 2019 version also has a forward from Reece Shearsmith of The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville and more recently Inside Number 9 following a social media campaign which attracted a lot of support, helping to bring the book back from the grave and into print after twenty years of unavailability.
 
In 1977 this was one of Usborne’s earliest books and although they never published a second edition, they used the same blueprint on many other books which were very similar in structure to this on, for example, poltergeists and other types of supernatural entities which were bigger and included much more detail than Ghosts.
 
GNOH: This book was a big deal in the late 1970s/1980s how do you think it stands the test of time?
 
AJ: I think it has aged incredibly badly, I can understand why kids liked it thirty years ago though, when there were no mobile phones and readers had no choice but to use books if they wanted to find out about vampires, werewolves and stuff. But in the days of ghost websites, You Tube channels on hauntings and colour photography this book looks just ghastly and I don’t see the point in republishing a relic from the time of the dinosaurs. 
 
GNOH: What if you were ten instead of fourteen?
 
AJ: Ok, maybe, I would have flicked through the pictures and the small pieces of texts would have been easy to read and might have grabbed my attention. I might have used it for ideas for Halloween, but the cheesy drawings would have put me off. The terrible sketch on page one of the bats with the human face had me shaking my head straight away; “this is really old” I thought. No kid will read this. I like nostalgia connected to horror, shows like Stranger Things and the 1980s, but this book does not click the way a TV show does.
 
GNOH: Is there anything you liked about it? It must have some good points?
 
AJ: Too many of the stories were very vague and felt like anyone could have made them up and the hard facts included were minimal. The best pages were the ones which had slightly more detail, but not enough of them had enough intrigue to make me want to follow them up on the internet. For example, the poltergeist bit on page five was so rubbish, just a few pictures of broken plates. Boring, seriously, boring.
 
GNOH: Did any of the pages pique your interest enough to check them out on the internet?
 
AJ: Ok, a couple. Firstly, “The village with a dozen ghosts” was cool, but the internet now says there may now be fourteen! But it is nice to read that this myth is still going strong. I’ve never heard of the village of Pluckley, maybe if they have a haunted hotel we can visit there. We stayed in a haunted hotel in Whitby a few years ago and I was surprised the ancient ‘Withered Hand’ they have in a museum there was not in the book, it was much creepier than a lot of the stuff they did feature. Like I said, most of the others were too vague, fifty words about a ‘Waterfall Ghost’ in Australia is not going to catch the attention of many kids. I could just as easy make up fifty words about the ghost that lives under my bed and make it way scarier.
 
GNOH: What did you think of the balance between pictures and photos?
 
AJ: There were hardly and photos in the book and I tracked some of these down on the internet, so I suppose this means they’re famous examples. I can understand the desire to republish the ‘original’ book, but things have moved on and the pictures needed a serious makeover as they’re both cheesy and outdated. Many kids will just laugh at them and just not treat the book seriously.
 
GNOH: When I was a kid, I remember lots of other books like this (more 1980s), but much gorier, I recall seeing a charred leg from (supposedly) human combustion. Do you think this book needed more stuff like that?
 
AJ: A few more real shocks might have helped. That question has got me thinking about the age this book is aimed at, maybe we should downgrade it to about six or seven? Even for a parent to read to a kid for a ‘spooky story’ at bedtime? The stuff is just so basic, as a very ‘first’ beginner book to ghosts a very small child might get excited by it.
 
GNOH: This book has been number one in the Amazon YA Horror category for a while and other ghost categories. At the time of writing is about to break the Amazon UK 200? Only Stephen King does that….
 
AJ: Then is it being sold under false pretences. IT IS NOT YOUNG ADULT. I am a ‘Young Adult’ and I can guarantee my kind WILL NOT read this, it is a nostalgia trip for old people or very small kids who still believe in the Tooth Fairy.
 
GNOH: How much did you learn?
 
AJ: I like ghost stories, horror novels and films and my dad is slowly letting me watch all the classics, but I doubt I learned much here, younger kids might though. This book was like a baby version of Wikipedia, if I wanted to find out about poltergeists I would go to Wiki not here. Some of their later books look much more informative as they have more focus on specific areas of the supernatural. If a kid did not know anything about the paranormal at all this might be a starting point, but for anybody who knows anything it is just too simple. I also just realised there is no Wendigo in the book, sorry guys, you missed out another cool ghost!
 
GNOH: You’re being a tad disrespectful AJ, do you have any idea how influential this book is?
 
AJ: No, not really, it just looks old and crusty, if I took this to school my friends would ditch me with embarrassment.
 
GNOH: Part of the reason the publisher Usborne never republished this book was because they used it as a starting point for lots of other titles which had much more detail on specific paranormal stuff, such as their ‘Paranormal Guide Series’ which included titles such as ‘Poltergeists? The Evidence and the Arguments’ (1998). Another would be ‘Tales of Real Hauntings’ (1997) also by Usborne, but these factual books began to slowly disappear as the internet developed and kids went online to find out about ghosts.
 
AJ: I’m not surprised, most kids I know read hardly anything and it is Netflix for everything. I’ve always talked to my dad about books since I was small.
 
GNOH: What did you think of the haunted German submarine story UB-65?
 
AJ: At least it seems to be based on facts – I looked this one up on the internet, but the story on Wikipedia was a bit different. The version in the book is a bit basic and does not really catch the imagination.
 
GNOH: Did any other pages just out at you?
 
AJ: No, but lots really irritated me. The ‘Haunted House’ (pages 16-17) has a very stupid list of twelve things you might expect to find in a haunted house such as watching out for muddy footprints appearing on the stairs. I have never seen such rubbish. Instead, why not list some real-life hauntings or mention a few houses or famous examples instead of such a dull ‘vague-book’ page? But, as I said, it might creep out a six-year-old.
 
GNOH: What could they have done to spice it up in a second edition instead of just releasing this 1970s version?
 
AJ: Kids who use the internet love watching top-tens of just about anything on You Tube (I especially love ‘Watch Mojo’) and this could have featured lots of interesting ‘Top Tens’ such as haunted houses or castles, top UK ghosts, top American ghosts or top urban myths. A new edition could have included stuff that has come from the internet age such as cursed chain letters or stuff like Slenderman. To be honest, stuff like Slenderman would freak kids out more than anything in this book.
 
GNOH: Final Impression?
 
AJ: Hated it. Please don’t make me look at this book ever again or I will quit Ginger Nuts forever. If the publisher had tested this book on a real child audience they would have thrown it back at them. It belongs in a museum. Maybe that freaky place Ripley’s Believe It or Not might take it? On seconds thoughts, it’s just too boring. Sorry to all the dads who love this book, but this is 2019 not 1977!
 
GNOH: Thanks very much AJ, we’re sorry to have wasted your time. By the way, what are you currently reading?
 
AJ: No problem, but please don’t give me any more rubbish like this I have got too much other stuff to do. I’m reading I’m Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The Bronte was recommended by the horror writer Alden Bell (Reapers are the Angels) and Serial Killer my dad.  
 
AJ

GARTH NIX: OLD KINGDOM/ABHORSEN (5 BOOK SERIES 1996-2013)

It is relatively easy to get confused with the sequencing of the Old Kingdom dark fantasy novels, sometimes known as the Absorsen series, as they are both set over a long period of time and written over 17 years, with the fourth book, Clariel, being a prequel and other novellas thrown into the mix. Sabriel is most definitely the place to start though and has two outstanding sequels written relatively close together. Eighteen-year-old Sabriel is the daughter of the ‘Abhorson’ whose job is too lay the restless dead to rest, a task in which she helps. However, things take a major turn for the worse when her father disappears and Sabriel has to step up to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead and endures almost impossible challenges whilst discovering her own supernatural abilities and her destiny. I’m a huge fan of this book and often recommend it as a ‘next step’ dark fantasy to kids whom have read all the Harry Potter novels, it’s seriously good.  AGE 12+
 
RANSOM RIGGS: MISS PEREGRINE’S CHILDREN (5 BOOK SERIES 2011-2020)

A mystery and family tragedy lead a young man to an abandoned orphanage on a remote Welsh island which holds dark secrets and a weird connection to another period in time where the strange and dangerous child inhabitants of the orphanage remain alive. This highly original series mixes atmospheric B/W photography into the mystery whilst retaining a high level of creepiness as the complex story unfolds and the children reveal themselves. The Tim Burton film of the same name managed to recreate a certain amount of atmosphere present in the novel but does differ from the plot in some significant ways and is much lighter in tone. It also has a collection of short stories Tales of the Peculiar and a couple of graphic novels. Book five has only just been published, so who knows, book six may follow. AGE 12+
 
ALEXANDER GORDON SMITH: FURNACE (5 BOOK SERIES 2009-11)

Sadly, these days few kids are aware of the exploits of the legendary Steve McQueen in The Great Escape and his attempts to escape from a German POW camp, however, the Escape from Furnace series has a teenager with a similar character, Alex Sawyer. The boy is forever dreaming of escaping from Furnace Penitentiary which is buried over a mile underground. Convicted of a murder he did not commit Alex vows to escape otherwise only death lies ahead. However, in Furnace there are worse things than death as other kids have found out. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows and where terrible monsters can be heard howling from the tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a great character who lurks in the shadows of the novels. As the series develops, Alex starts to uncover the truth about Furnace's deeper, darker purpose and his actions grow ever more dangerous, risking everything to expose this nightmare that's hidden from the eyes of the world. A very cool fusion of adventure, action and horror. AGE 11+
 
JONATHAN STROUD: LOCKWOOD AND CO (5 BOOK SERIES 2012-17)

There are few more engaging and imaginative fantasy writers effortlessly blending the supernatural with the fantastic than Jonathan Stroud. The Lockwood and Company series takes up back to a very atmospheric 1930s version of Britain where ghosts and spirits start appearing and they aren't exactly friendly. However, only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural enemies. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies crop up to handle this dangerous work, but they are in fierce competition with each other for the same business. Lockwood and Company (a couple of teenagers) operate without any adult supervision as they bid for success with limited knowledge, but soon Lucy, Anthony and George find themselves hired to work in one of the most haunted houses in Britain and have to solve the mystery of The Screaming Staircase in the first book of this highly entertaining, inventive and funny series which effortlessly mixes chills with adventure.  AGE 11+

​We’re off to a strong start to 2020 with a dozen great books, the majority were published in the latter months of 2019. Do get in touch if there are any kids/YA books you would be interested in seeing reviewed. I liked some a lot more than others, but if the push came to the shove, I would be happy to recommend all of these. They are presented in alphabetical order.

KR ALEXANDER – THE FEAR ZONE (BOOK 1 IN THE ‘SCARE ME’ SERIES)

The Fear Zone looks like it might be the first book in a series published by Scholastic called ‘Scare Me’ which is most definitely going to remind older readers of the famous RL Stine Point Horror novels. Many have tried and failed to recreate the 1990s nostalgia of those legendary books, with KR Alexander being the latest. Fear Zone recalls many other books and is based around the idea that if you don’t stand up to your fears, they will destroy you, as in Joe Dante’s great film The Hole which this is similar to. In this variation five kids are invited to a cemetery after midnight thinking it is just a prank and could be a laugh. After tricked into digging up a grave an evil force is released which tests them in different ways, such as the fear of being buried alive. It really is not that scary but is still a solid introduction to horror to younger kids. We want more please. AGE 8+
 
JIMMY CAJOLEAS – MINOR PROPHETS

Jimmy Cajoleas impressed me immensely with his debut The Good Demon and his second YA novel Minor Prophets indicates he has arrived in the big time. If you haven’t come across this seriously quirky oddball writer, you need to seriously check him out ASAP. After the mysterious death of their mother two siblings, Lee and Murphy, seek out their long-lost grandmother who lives in deepest darkest Louisiana in this highly original occult thriller. Lee is not a normal teenager and has always had strange visions which often come true and after the death of his mother they begin to escalate. The prospect of being adopted by their mother’s boyfriend is too much and the siblings go on the run as Lee’s visions get wilder. 
 
Part of the story revolves around what horrid truths lurk behind Lee's haunting visions. But there is a lot going on in this twisty, and poignant thriller in which family secrets lurk at the centre of its dark beating heart. The vision sequences were outstanding, and Lee is able supported by the brilliant character Murphy who has his back all the way. This will not be everybody’s cup of tea, but for the fan of oddball and highly original horror look no further. It can equally be enjoyed by adults. Jimmy Cajoleas are you genuinely as cool as you write? I bet you are.  AGE 13+
 
ELSIE CHAPMAN – CASTER

I was a massive fan of Elsie Chapman’s dystopian Duelled novel so was very interested to see how she would branch out into supernatural fiction. Once again I was mightily impressed with a novel grounded in an incredibly well realised magic system which will really get you thinking about the dynamics behind magic with the emphasis on the costs and consequences of each magical act which can be linked to the caster’s body. The main character is an Asian teenage girl who is a ‘full caster’ meaning she is able to cast ‘full magic’ and as the story develops the girl enters an undergrounding casting competition, where she also hopes to find answers about her sister’s mysteriously death a year earlier.   
 
Caster was addictive, fast paced and perfect for fans of magic and the supernatural. It was easy to become lost in the damaged magical society expertly developed by the author. Aza was a complex character with flaws which will make her very engaging to teenage readers and with the difficult decisions she makes. The author smoothly interweaves many themes including loss, family, revenge, love, identity and being true to yourself into the plot which could be open for a sequel. One of my recent favourites, bring on book two. AGE 12+
 
ERIN CRAIG – HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS
​
The House of Salt and Sorrows is a long and slightly meandering retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale in which Annaleigh is the oldest surviving sister, determined to break the curse that's slowly taking her sisters. The deaths have left her family distraught as they are forever dressed in black and in mourning, also on edge, forever wondering who might be next. Annaleigh’s father has also remarried and announces his wife is pregnant with a son and the complex family dynamics begin to change. Although I found this book to be slow and slightly long, it did have some creepy scenes and some decent twists in the second half and has got a lot of appeal for teenage girls who like dark fairy-tales.
 
The wind-swept remote castle setting was one of the strongest aspects of the story and the strong romantic aspect of the story point the book towards the female audience ever more so. Annaleigh was an engaging main character with a nice voice and after deaths by plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning and a slippery plunge there is no surprise she tries to break the curse and instead is plagued by a series of ghostly visions whilst her sisters disappear at night, but to where? This was a very assured debut and although it was a chunky read, I’ll be interested to see what the author comes up with next. AGE 13+
 ​

KATE ALICE MARSHALL – RULES FOR VANISHING

Rules for Vanishing was a very clever, original, and sneaky novel told via transcribes, written testimonies, interviews, exhibits, and video evidence. We know from the beginning that the action kicks off in April 2017 and that the police discussions are conducted in May 2017 with Sara being the suspect under the grill. The story revolves around a local legend; once a year an isolated road is rumoured to magically appear, which leads to the entrance to a supernatural dimension and those who follow the path must follow precise rules or risk being trapped there forever. If Sara’s crazy story is to be believed she was lucky to make it out alive, what we don’t know is which of her friends survived along with her, and so we enjoy a story which is enticingly told out of synch.
 
Why was Sara attempting to enter another dimension you might ask? Exactly a year previously her sister Becca went missing and her parents think that she ran away with her boyfriend, but her sister Sara has another solution to the disappearance and begins to investigate.  Did Becca play the game and became lost in another world? Of course, the world is real before long Sara, on the hunt for Becca, and her friends are attempting to get through the seven gates to complete the challenges and be free to leave. I thought this was a great book which was both atmospheric and very cleverly written, almost with a documentary feel to it in which the reader had to solve their own puzzles and conduct their own analysis right to the end. Highly recommended. AGE 12+
 
HOWARD ODENTZ – BOTTLE TOSS

Bottle Toss started well but seemed to lose its way in the middle and I could not help feel that many YA readers will lose interest where not much seemed to happen and where the story spends too much time setting things up for the finish. This was frustrating as Bottle Toss had an outstanding opening; after a bored teenager throws a beer bottle at a passing car, there is a horrible crash and what looks like a fatality after it overturns. The kid who throws the bottle is a nasty piece of work, but the book is seen from the point of view of Denny Ford who is bullied by Brody, with Jen being the final member of the trio. Jen and Denny are stepbrother and sister and Jen is the sometime girlfriend of Brody. Much of the novel is about the relationship between the trio which is nicely handled with Jen and Denny sharing the same foster-mother and a younger disabled stepbrother whom Denny watches out for.
 
After the crash, the car seems to disappear without trace and over the next several days as the three experience increasingly bizarre, frightening, and seemingly unrelated events, such as a big fire at school and hallucinogenic stuff. It was interesting seeing where all this was going, but after a while it lost momentum and my focus in the mystery waned. Denny was an interesting main character and the family dynamics were nicely handled, but some of the others weren’t as developed. AGE 13+
 
J. ADRIAN RUTH – JOIN OR DIE (HEIR TO THE SCION BOOK 1)

Join or Die was a very entertaining YA fantasy novel with elements of horror, which although it does not do anything new, was an engaging read full of believable and quirky characters. Alex is a young teen from Las Vegas who early in the novel realises he is not normal and is whisked off to a boarding school for creatures who are crossbreeds of human and other powerful creatures including vampires. Alex’s new roommate is a vampire, who becomes a friend, and shows him the ropes at school. Although he does not know it, Alex is also very powerful but does not yet know how to harness his power, which is a big part of the novel with a coming of age twang thrown into the mix with the teenager doing his best to adapt in his weird new surroundings.
 
The story cleverly balances the fantasy aspect with the fact that Alex is still a teenager and that is convincingly portrayed in the plot and the misfits he bands himself with. Join or Die sets itself up nicely for a sequel and if you can stand spending more time in yet another magic school is well worth checking out. AGE 12+
 
REBECCA SCHAEFFER – ONLY ASHES REMAIN (BOOK 2 IN THE MARKET OF MONSTERS SERIES)

Not Even Bones was a very clever and original debut which had me hooked from the beginning with an intoxicating blend of fantasy and horror, Only Ashes Remain is a direct sequel, so make sure you do not read book two before the original. In the opening book, Nita is a teenage girl who works as an unofficial mortician for her psychopathic mother and dissects the bodies of supernatural beings she has caught and trapped and sometimes killed. Nita’s mother auctions bits and pieces of her kills on the internet with her daughter helping as they have magical properties. I’m, generally, rereviewing book one and do not want to reveal spoilers for those unfamiliar with the series.
 
However, in the opening stages of the novel the mother brings home a live boy and expects Nita to cut his ear off so she can make some cash from it. After that she intends to sell his eyes and Nita decides to help him escape. All the main characters from book one return and the author cleverly opens out the story and continues with the excellent world building. I hope the series develops into a trilogy.  AGE 13+ 

PAUL HOFFMAN: THE LEFT HAND OF GOD (QUARTET 2010-20)

Between 2010-13 The Left Hand of God was a done-and-dusted dark fantasy trilogy which I absolutely adored, however, whilst researching this article I was beyond excited to find out a fourth book comes out in 2020 so have sneakily added this series into this section in anticipation. This is a very challenging read which could equally be read by adults as well as teenagers and is very clever and mature fantasy set in the Sanctuary of the Redeemer, which is similar to a monastery for trainee monks or orphans, who are treated horribly by their masters, the Lord Redeemers, who serve in the name of the One True Faith, the religion of the land. The story focusses upon a boy called Thomas Cale who becomes strongly connected to an ancient prophecy whilst the Lord Redeemers plan to use his for their own purposes. Fantasy fiction does not get much better than this, soaked in atmosphere, intrigue and the fear that the prophecies might be real. It’s also set in an exceptionally well-developed world, which is very like ours, but not quite. AGE 13+
 
EDEN MAGUIRE: THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD (QUARTET 2009-10)

The Beautiful Dead was an odd mix of supernatural and teen romantic drama which has each of its books named after four recently deceased teenagers.  Main character seventeen-year-old Davina has recently lost her boyfriend Phoenix in a fight which ended in him being stabbed and killed. Over the same year others died also; Jonas, Arizona and Summer, who have the other books in the series named after them. Soon Davina stumbles upon the four dead friends, who are The Beautiful Dead, but alive in some way, or having returned as ghosts with unfinished business. It turns out they have been brought back to reveal the real cause of their death, and to seek justice, as Davina wants to spend time with Phoenix she helps and keeps their return secret. This was a quirky idea and a good balance between teen stuff and the darker supernatural plotline.  AGE 11+
 
MARISSA MEYER: LUNAR CHRONICLES (QUARTET 2011-15)

Cinder is the first novel in the Lunar Chronicles which is more science fiction that horror but is top heavy with darkness inspired by childhood fairy-tales. In the opening book lead character Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg and second-class citizen with a mysterious past. Reviled by her (evil) stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness she is having a very tough time. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of an intergalactic struggle, and an attraction which is seriously frowned upon. No prizes from where the inspiration of this story came from! The plot expands in the sequels with the Evil Queen beginning to grow in power, whilst Cinder finds herself one of the most wanted fugitives in the galaxy. The future setting, where a terrible disease called letumosis is ravaging the world for which there is no cure is very clever, where cyborgs are seen as abominations. One of the nicest things about this series is that it attracted many girls, who might not normally read science fiction, to the genre. AGE 13+
 
STEPHANIE MEYER: TWILIGHT (QUARTER 2005-8)

I recall reading Twilight when it was brand new and an unknown quantity even in knowledgeable librarian circles, arriving with very little fanfare. Although I always pegged it as a very good book, I would never have predicted it would go onto become the monster seller (the film helped of course) that was to kick-start the hugely successful Paranormal Romance subgenre. It’s very easy to get snobbish about it (especially if you’ve never read it) and in its defence it convincingly taps into the teenage psyche and is a clever modern play on the age-old vampire story with many well drawn characters. It is not difficult to see why the relationship between Bella Swan and the vampire boy Edward became so addictive to millions of teenage girls, captivating that generation, and the (very) occasional boy.  AGE 12+
 ​

JAMIE THOMSON: THE DARK LORD (QUARTET 2012-17)

I found the four book Dark Lord series to be very funny, the opening book deservedly won the defunct Roald Dahl Funny Prize back in 2014. A demon from another dimension (‘The Dark Lord’) awakens in the body of a teenage boy called Dirk Lloyd and realises he has lost his magical powers and is forced to go to school, brush his teeth and is even made to go swimming. It pitches perfectly the trials of the ‘Dark Lord’ who tries and fit in at school, deal with puberty, whilst trying to destroy the world after lunch. It is very stupid, but particularly engaging and is not to be taken seriously and is perfect for kids who want an easy, undemanding, read.  Before long Dirk makes friends with the son of his foster family, Christopher, and the local Goth Girl, Sooz, and together they attempt to cast a spell that will transport Dirk back to his demonic homeland. Inevitably, not everything goes to plan which is developed in book two. It is also perfect for reading aloud to younger kids for bedtime reading. AGE 9+
 
DANIEL WATERS: GENERATION DEAD (QUARTET 2008-16)

All over the country teenagers who die, ‘The Newlydeads’ come back to life, in this clever riff on the teen horror, not-quite zombie, novel. In some ways it was a teen twist on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s adult horror novel Handling the Undead, but it’s a very convincing YA alternative and having the dead mix with the living in every day high school really is freaky and entertaining. Before long main character Phoebe finds herself falling for a zombie. The sequels really building upon the premise in the original and things get darker as they develop. The belated fourth book is a collection of short stories and novellas which was released six years after book three and is not a true sequel. AGE 12+
 
RICK YANCEY: THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST (QUARTET 2009-13)

This atmospheric gothic series has it all: monsters, corpses, spooky catacombs, atmosphere and loads of great scares, not to mention three bloody sequels which are top heavy with crazy creatures. Will Henry is an apprentice to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and is about to start telling his story, in diary format, the darkest secrets of the world’s most famous Monstrumologist and the dodgy experiments and dealings he gets up to in the name of science.  Each of the stories are presented as different quests and if monster mashups are your thing, these are hard to beat. After the conclusion of this series Yancey turned his hand to science fiction with the excellent Fifth Wave trilogy. AGE 11+