ALL OF THE ABOVE

by Kevin Coolidge

So many books, so little time—it’s hard choose just one. So, I didn’t. Lately, I’ve been reading young adult novels, and I’m going to share my recent favorites.


I enjoy a good zombie novel. Why? Face it. Deep down I’d love to see the world end. Wouldn’t you? Relax. It’s a natural instinct to crave chaos. Breathe in. Breathe out. Watch the empire expand; watch it crumble into dust. Grab the best parking spot. A good zombie novel lets us do that in the comfort of our home, as a writer conjectures on society’s demise, gives us some socially acceptable violence, and allows us to draw pleasure from it without breaking out the shovel or the lime.

That’s why I loved Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry. It’s fifteen years since “First Night” and Benny needs to join the work force—or he’ll lose his food ration. He’s not really interested in taking on the family business, zombie hunting. He expects a boring job of destroying zombies for cash. What he discovers is a job that will teach him what it really means to be human.

Rot & Ruin is about more than just the brains, but the heart as well. Benny’s brother Tom is a first class bounty hunter who prefers to be called a “closure specialist”. A zombie may be a shambling, rotting meat puppet, but it was once someone’s loved one, and would you want just anyone to mulch mom? Just because you’re a zombie doesn’t mean you are a monster, and sometimes the most terrible monsters of all are human.

Fear of the unknown. It’s our deepest fear. It’s why we fear death, because no matter what you claim to believe, no matter what you want to believe, you just don’t know. It’s why the necromancer in Hold me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride is such a terrifying adversary. Meet Sam, just your average college dropout rocking the fast-food career. Enter Douglas, a powerful and vicious necromancer. Douglas recognizes Sam as a fellow necromancer—which is news to Sam—and he’s not happy to have competition.

Now Sam’s pal is an animated head, a werewolf wants to devour him, the necromancer wants him neutralized, and a cop has a “few” questions to ask. All Sam has to do is stay alive, figure out how to use his mysterious, latent powers, and save himself and his friends without being consumed by power.

It’s been said that a writer must suffer for his craft, but anyone who’s attended the public school system and the torment that is middle school has all the requirements needed. Undersized weaklings share the hallways with taller, meaner kids who need to shave twice a day. Being a kid can really stink, and no one knows this better than Greg Heffley. Diary of a Wimpy Kid takes place in the first year of middle school. There’s the terror of the school play, the prestige of safety patrol, the ebb and flow of popularity, and the sibling rivalry of being the middle child. The author and illustrator Jeff Kinney introduces an unlikely hero that children of any age can identify with.

Choosing not to choose is a choice, but sometimes one just isn’t enough for the true bibliophile. Winter is approaching, the nights are longer, and next adventure--or three-- awaits…

Sepulchral? Or School? Drop me an email at from_my_shelf@yahoo.com and let me know. Miss us? Check the crypt for those columns we’ve put to rest at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com Hobo has learned his lesson. He used to be a hobo, but now he’s just a bum. Read about his past life in “Hobo Finds A Home” a children’s book about a kitten’s adventures.