#34--Anna Dressed in Blood

Bibliographic Information

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. Tor Teen (2011).

Price: $17.99 for hardback; $9.99 for paperback

Pages: 316 for hardback

Plot Summary

When his father died, Cas Lowood decided to take up his mission and kill murderous ghosts. Armed with his father’s athame, a special knife, Cas and his mother travel the country seeking out deadly ghosts and disposing of them. Cas does the killing while his mother cleanses the knife and sells magical items so that they have enough money to live on. Cas quickly becomes used to killing ghosts but when he hears of Anna Dressed in Blood he knows that she is special. Although he has never met her he feels a strange connection to her and that excites him. Traveling to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Cas is determined to learn more about Anna Dressed in Blood and dispatch her. But he quickly learns that she is unlike any other ghost he has encountered. Most murderous ghosts do not discriminate between victims and Cas rightly assumes that this is the case with her. But when he ends up in the house she haunts she looks directly at him, tears another victim in half, and spares his life. Fascinated, Cas cannot help returning repeatedly visit Anna Dressed in Blood who continues to spare his life. Finally Cas feels like he has met someone who understands him but how can he simply let a ghostly serial killer exist? And what will happen when he learns that Anna Dressed in Blood is not the only murderous ghost in town?

Critical Evaluation

Definitely a creepy novel, Anna Dressed in Blood, is not a book to read after nightfall. Chock full of graphic violence and haunting scenes, Kendare Blake has successfully created a modern scary ghost story. However, there is more to this novel than just slasher scenes. Readers, even those who are not fans of scary stories, will read on as they try to understand just what makes Anna feel compelled to kill. Readers will also be interested in Cas’ emotional growth as he has closed himself off to his emotions after the death of his father. However, despite Blake’s creation of a good mystery and a haunting setting, this novel is not free of problems. For one, while Cas does grow as a character he never fully becomes an emotionally aware person. For another, with the exception of Anna, I simply didn’t find Blake’s characters compelling. While Carmel begins to appreciate those around her she still stays a witty, popular girl, and Thomas remains an overeager ally. I believe that this novel will certainly interest mystery lovers and those who enjoy scary ghost stories but I personally didn’t find the characters likable enough to read the sequel.

Reader’s Annotation

Traveling ghost killer Cas thinks he has met his match in Anna Dressed in Blood but what if there is a eviler ghost out there that only Anna can help kill?

About the Author

Kendare Blake is a newly published author. Her first book was Anna Dressed in Blood and her third is the soon-to-be published sequel, Girl of Nightmares. She has also written several short stories. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading about Greek mythology.

To learn more about Kendare Blake and her books visit her site here.

Genre

Paranormal fiction, Romance, Thriller

Readalikes

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

·         The sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood

Possess by Gretchin McNeil

·         Another creepy story about a girl who banishes creatures back into death

Lord Loss by Darren Shan

·         Also containing a male protagonist, a thriller involving demons and werewolves

Tags

17 yr. old, Cats, Ghostbusters, Lake Superior, Only child, Thunder Bay Ontario

Awards Won/Lists On

2011—Cybils Award Nominee for Fantasy & Science Fiction for Young Adults

2011—Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of the Year

2011—NPR’s Top Five Teen Books

2012—YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

2012—YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers

2012—Endeavor Award Finalist

Professional Reviews

Booklist
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers' Weekly
School Library Journal

VOYA

Booktalk Ideas

Begin with Cas’ explanation of the dead (47) then move onto how he lives his life (138) Cas’ speech on Anna (p. 31-32)

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

This book could be used in discussions on one’s purpose in life as well as one’s family. It could also be used to discuss the afterlife.

Reading Level/Interest Level

Reading Level: 4^th grade

Interest Level: 9^th-12^th grades

These levels are according to AR Bookfinder

Challenge Issues

This book includes the following potentially controversial elements:

·         Auras

·         Deception

·         Decomposed bodies

·         Demons

·         Discussion of the afterlife

·         Ghosts

·         Graphic murder scenes

·         Magic

·         Murderous mother

·         Obeah voodoo

·         Profanity

·         Satanism

·         Séances

·         Sexually suggestive jokes

·         Slurs against homosexual people

·         Taking the Lord’s name in vain

·         Tarot cards

·         Telepathy

·         Voodoo

·         Wiccan practices

·         Witchcraft

Librarians can point out that while this book contains many potentially objectionable elements it can be used as a way to explore scary supernatural occurrences within the safe confines of a book.

Why Was This Included?

I included this novel because I was doing a presentation on ghosts and Anna Dressed in Blood had received excellent reviews. With maroon font, this novel will grip readers right away.

#35--The Afterlife

The Afterlife by Gary Soto. Harcourt, Inc. (2003)

Price: $6.95 for paperback

Pages: 161 in paperback

Plot Summary

Chuy is looking forward to finally making Rachel his novia after the school dance. In a good mood, he smiles as he gets ready in Club Estrella’s bathroom and compliments the guy next to him on his yellow shoes. Suddenly, Chuy is dead, stabbed to death for complementing the yellow shoe guy. As he tries to make sense of a senseless situation, Chuy wanders around town as a ghost, visiting his family and friends for the next few days. He even meets a fellow ghostly girl who just might be the girl of his dreams. But while Chuy has revelation after revelation what use are these new lessons to him dead and what will happen when he ceases to exist as a ghost?

Critical Evaluation

At just 161 pages, Gary Soto creates a compelling novel that raises a variety of thought provoking questions. For example, it is one of the rare young adult novels where the main character spends a significant amount of time contemplating the afterlife. Throughout the novel, Chuy considers not only why he is a ghost but what will happen as he slowly fades away. Ironically, the difficult questions Chuy pushed away during his life now surface once he is dead. He even begins to puzzle out the answers to some of them. He realizes that he loves his close friends and can finally admit it. He knows what it is to forgive, love both romantically and fraternally, and feel sympathy for those whom he would not have necessarily spared a second glance at in life. 

Soto’s novel also explores the complexity of grief and how everyone processes it in different ways. Chuy’s almost novia continually cries while his mother insists his cousin avenging his death. His friends, red-eyed, proceed to play basketball while his cousin tries to decide how to best respond. Perhaps the most interesting element of his novel is Soto’s decision to not discriminate between victims and willing participants of death. After all, a victim of a senseless murder, a girl who commits suicide, and a homeless man who dies of exposure, all become ghosts, a fate that seems to affect all regardless of how they died. Soto’s The Afterlife is a thought provoking novel and would be perfect for those who are seeking to better understand death and the grieving process. Because it is so short, it would be an ideal book to recommend to reluctant readers, particularly male readers as Chuy is a well-drawn, likable protagonist who, although a ghost, is in many ways an ordinary guy.

Reader’s Annotation

When Chuy’s life is suddenly cut short he is able to revisit his life as a ghost and reconsider his relationships.

About the Author

Gary Soto is a well-respected author for people of all ages with eleven books of poetry and over thirty novels/collections of short stories to his name. He often writes of what he knows, setting some of his novels in Fresno, California where he grew up. When he is not writing he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, reading books, going to the theater, and playing tennis and basketball.

Learn more about Gary Soto and his works at his website here and here.

Genre

Paranormal fiction

Readalikes

Buried Onions by Gary Soto

·         The book that takes place prior to The Afterlife

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

·         Like The Afterlife, this book tells the story of a teen who hovers between life and the afterlife.

After Eli by Rebecca Rupp

·         This book also explores the meaning of life and death

Tags

Boyfriends, Cousins, family relationships, Fresno, CA, ghosts, girlfriends, grieving, murder, revenge, suicide, true love,

Awards Won/Lists On

2004—ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

2004—Skipping Stones Honor Award

Professional Reviews

Booklist

Horn Book Review

Kirkus Reviews
Publishers' Weekly

Booktalk Ideas

Different Ways of Dealing with Death

·         Mother à seeks revenge (59)

·         Cousin à cannot decide how to best grieve (73-74)

·         Friends à going on with life as best they can (62-65)

·         Novia à Crying despite acting tough (46-48)

If you died tomorrow and became a ghost what do you think you would learn?

·         Principal is not as tough as he seems (64)

·         Loving your friends is okay for guys

·         Perhaps people commit crimes because they are abused (39-40)

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

This book could be used to discuss the afterlife and the meaning of life and death with teens, particularly those who have experienced the loss of a loved one through violence.

Reading Level/Interest Level

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest Level: 9^th-12^th grade

These levels are according to AR Bookfinder

Challenge Issues

This book includes the following potentially controversial elements:

·         Assault

·         Bullying

·         Death

·         Discussion of afterlife

·         Domestic violence

·         Ghosts

·         Gun violence

·         Infidelity

·         Language

·         Revenge

·         Stealing

·         Suicide

·         Violent stabbing

Librarians can point out that while some may consider this novel gritty it is a realistic portrayal of what life is like for those who live in relative poverty. Additionally, it can be an excellent conversation starter for discussing the afterlife. The novel also contains beneficial lessons such as the importance of loving others and the pointlessness of revenge.

Why Was This Included?

I included this book because I am doing a presentation on ghosts. I also wanted to read it because Gary Soto is a well-known Latino author who writes a variety of wonderful books for all ages. I did not know that this was the sequel to Buried Onions when I first picked it up so now I’ll have to go read that! J

#36--A Certain Slant of Light

Bibliographic Information

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. Graphia.(2005).

Price: $8.99 for paperback

Pages: 282 for paperback

Plot Summary

During the last 130 years Helen has lived as a ghost clinging to her various hosts lest she fall back into her personal Hell filled with black water and a drowning sensation. Helen does not remember many details of her previous life nor the sin she committed that doomed her to life as a ghost but she tries to make the best of her situation by choosing hosts that appreciate literature as much as she does. She is haunting her latest host, Mr. Brown the English teacher, when a student notices her. She finds this frightening and thrilling as this has never happened to her before. Desperate for human contact, she overcomes her fear of being seen and speaks to him. She is shocked to learn that he too is a ghost but unlike her he has managed to find a human body devoid of a spirit, making it a perfect body to inhabit. Now, James can live once more, both a delightful and terrifying prospect as he must pretend to the boy whose body he inhabits. Fascinated, Helen learns from James that inhabiting a body, while sometimes difficult, can be beneficial as your memories from your previous life start to return. The more time Helen spends with James the more she loves him and soon the two fall in love. But what sort of future can the two of them have as ghosts—one with a body and one without and will they ever remember the sins of their past leaving them free to become something other than ghosts?

Critical Evaluation

*SPOILER ALERT*

Hauntingly beautiful, A Certain Slant of Light is perhaps the most intriguing book about ghosts I have ever encountered. Whitcomb’s creation of them and the world they inhabit is utterly fascinating. She begins with the commonly used idea that ghosts are creatures that hover between life and death and are able to move items. Not only can ghosts move objects but they can influence thoughts as is seen through Helen aiding her various hosts in their artistic endeavors. Additionally, Whitcomb imagines a horrifying world where ghosts are creatures that must haunt a place or person or else be forced into a personal Hell. This Hell is different for every ghost. For Helen, it is the sensation of drowning in darkened water while for James it is experiencing a stinging, merciless wind. Along with Helen, readers assume that the ghosts must have committed terrible acts to be condemned to a half-life in such conditions.

As if this re-imagining of ghosts was not awful enough Whitcomb creates them to be creatures that can climb into a human body when it is devoid of a spirit. While disturbing, this is a stroke of genius on Whitcomb’s part as we are all aware of people who, by experiencing horrifying things, never fully recover into the person they once were. Whitcomb imagines people like this to be rape victims, abused children, and drug users. Ghosts, it seems, are not the only ones condemned to live in a suspended state as Helen experiences an evil being inhabiting a body that Helen tries to use. She later meets another unknown evil creature as she tries to leave the body of her host to let the spirit of the original owner return. Readers never learn what these evil beings are nor do they know just how the spirit leaves a body or whether ghosts are moral, immoral or amoral beings. Leaving these questions unanswered is key as readers start to question their own world long after they finish A Certain Slant of Light. Many may enjoy Whitcomb’s novel for its romance or exquisite language but I found her creation of ghosts to be the most compelling element. I have no doubt that this book will stay with readers long after they have finished it.

Reader’s Annotation

Helen, who has been a ghost for 150 years, finally meets a boy who can see her.

About the Author

A Certain Slant of Light is Laura Whitcomb’s first novel. Her most recent novel, The Fetch, was published in 2009. When she is not writing she enjoys singing madrigals in the Sherwood Renaissance Singers and managing props for the Portland Christmas Revels.

For more information on Laura Whitcomb and her books visit her website:

here and here.

Genre

Mystery, Paranormal romance

Readalikes

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue

·         Also about a ghostly woman that cannot seem to enter the afterlife

The Everafter by Amy Huntley

·         Also about a girl who is not quite dead & must remember her past

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

·         Also about a ghostly girl who must decide how to live her afterlife

Tags

Afterlife, Amnesia, Conservative Christianity, Creative writing, Dickenson, English class, Ghosts, Hell, High school students, Ill mother, Incarcerated father, Paranormal romance, Poetry, Possession, Writing

Awards Won/Lists On

This book was on the following lists:

2006—ALA Best Books for Young Adults

2008—Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee

2009—ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (in Death and Dying category)

Professional Reviews

 Booklist

Horn Books

 Publishers' Weekly

School Library Journal

The Washington Post

Booktalk Ideas

Helen’s Hosts (mostly 1^st chapter)

·         My Saint

o   Lady poet

·         My Knight

o   Admirer of the Saint, author of fairy tales and sermons

·         My Playwright

o   Wild parties, makes light of things

·         My Mr. Brown

o   Student of playwright, working on novel, teacher

·         James

o   Can she transfer to him as her host?

The Rules of Ghosthood

·         Rule #1—To escape Hell you must haunt a person (chap. 1) or a place (p. 27)

·         Rule #2—You cannot wish for another host (p. 9)

·         Rule #3—Everyone’s Hell is different (p. 28)

·         Rule #4—You can inhabit a body but once in you cannot escape (p. 78)

·         Rule #5—No one knows how to stop being a ghost & move on to the afterlife

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

This book could be useful to those who either have a sick or absent parent or those who grew up in a restrictive household. It could also be used to explore the topics of the afterlife, ghosts, and purgatory.

Reading Level/Interest Level

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest Level: 9^th-12^th grade

These levels are according to AR Bookfinder

Challenge Issues

This book includes the following potentially controversial elements:

·         Brief profanity

·         Descriptions of sex and sexual arousal

·         Disturbing portrayal of conservative Christians

·         Drug abuse

·         Ghosts

·         Hell

·         Male & female sleeping in bed together

·         Mention of child rape

·         Possession of human bodies

·         Premarital sex

·         Sexual harassment

Librarians can point out that this book can be used to discuss the appropriate role of parents as well as the existence of an afterlife and ghosts.

Why Was This Included?

I included this book because I am working on a project about ghosts. When researching the topic this title kept coming up. I was also hooked after the first few pages filled with beautiful prose.