Congratulations to all of the authors and illustrators of our 2008 spooky reading list, defined broadly! And thank you to everyone who discussed and debated and cheered and championed this year's books!Just for fun, I'd like to share a few of my favorites.
Quick caveats: (a) I haven't read every 2008 book published, though I did read 500+; (b) to varying degrees, I know or have met some (but not most) of the creators below--if I cut everyone I knew, potential picks would be significantly reduced in number;* (c) I will continue to read and feature 2008 titles in 2009 and beyond; (d) these are highlights, not predictions, not an all-inclusive list of my favorites.
Beyond that, I made an effort to sidestep bestsellers as well as previous ALA and NBA honorees, though one or two may have sneaked in. Those books are of course wonderful, but they already get a lot of attention. My hope is that, here, you'll find at least one spooky cool book that's new to you!
Here we go:
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (Holt)(author interview)
Bliss by Lauren Myracle (Abrams)
The Compound by S. A. Bodeen (Feiwel & Friends)(author interview)
the dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt)(author interview); see Life As We Knew It, also by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006)
Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy Singleton (Flux)(author interview)How To Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)(author interview)
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (HarperCollins); see Wicked Lovely, also by Melissa Marr (HarperCollins, 2007)
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Simon Pulse)
Night Road by A. M. Jenkins (HarperCollins)(author interview)
Soulless by Christopher Golden (MTV)(author interview)
New Voice
Maggie Stiefvater (Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Flux))(author interview)
*That said, I exempted my former VCFA advisees as well as my editor Deborah Noyes, author of The Ghosts of Kerfol (Candlewick) and Encyclopedia of the End (Houghton Mifllin)(interview) due to the nature of our particular relationships; however, I am--as ever--wowed by them and their books. Note: I'll add advisees to the mix on their second or third books out.Cynsational Notes
In 2008, my novel Tantalize was released on audio by Listening Library and in paperback by Candlewick and Walker U.K.
In addition, my short story, "Haunted Love," was published in Immortal: Love Stories with Bite, edited by P. C. Cast (BenBella). Contributors were: P. C. Cast, L. J. Smith, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Kristin Cast, Rachel Caine (author interview), Tanith Lee, Nancy Holder, Richelle Mead, and Claudia Gray.
