Dead-Tossed Waves

Ryan, Carrie. The Dead-Tossed Waves. 2010. 416p. ISBN 9780385736848. Available as FIC RYA on the library shelves.

In The Forest of hands and Teeth, Mary managed to escape the confines of her village and found both the ocean she had been craving her whole life and a living city. The Dead-Tossed Waves picks up two decades later.

Gabry has always known the safety of Vista, her hometown, protected by thick walls on three sides and the ocean on the last side. Living in the lighthouse with her mother Mary, Gabry has no interest in the world beyond the wall, and is the opposite of courageous. Her friends all dream of the Dark City, the capital of the Protectorate, and often leave the safety of town for the thrills of the amusement park a short distance beyond the wall.

Catcher, the boy she has always liked, entices her to come with them to the amusement park, and everything goes wrong. They are attacked by zombies, and several of the teens are killed. Catcher is injured, but manages to profess his love for her. The others are captured by the militia, but Gabry manages to escape back to Vista. Unfortunately, Catcher was not with the other teens. Now, he’s out there, alone and dying.

Gabry scales the wall again, but before she finds Catcher she encounters Elias, a broody fighter who’s out beyond the safety of the town, looking for someone. With Catcher dying, and Elias lurking, Gabry is unsure of what to do. When her mother hides back in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, Gabry must now decide between safety and a boring life away from Catcher and Elias, or the freedom and dangers that dwell in the Forest. Can Gabry escape her past and gain a new future?

I Am Princess X

Priest, Cherie. I Am Princess X. 2015. 256p. ISBN 9780545620857. Available at FIC PRI on the library shelves.

When May met Libby in 5th grade, they didn’t have much in common aside from a love of stories. Being exempt from PE together, they spent a lot of time in the recess yard. When Libby drew a princess wearing red sneakers and a crown, May suggested adding a sword. Princess X was born, and thousands of stories written by May and illustrated by Libby. Princess X participated in countless adventures fighting dragons, storming castles, and protecting the weak.

A few years later, however, Libby died in a car accident when the car her mother was driving fell off the bridge. Libby’s body was found a few days later, bloated and disfigured. May’s world ended that day. She got herself together and went back to Libby’s house to retrieve the stories, but her grieving father had already sold the house and donated everything to Goodwill. Soon May’s parents split up, and May went to live with her mother in Atlanta.

Now it is the summer following her junior year, and May is back in Seattle spending a few weeks with her father. Wandering the streets of Seattle, she makes a startling discovery. On the outside of a display window is a sticker that looks very much like Princess X, only Princess X is grown and no longer looks like a child. Confused, May begins to see Princess X stickers, patches, and t-shirts everywhere. Princess X lives, but only one other person aside from May knew she existed.

Then May stumbles upon IamPrincessX.com, a website where new illustrated adventures of the Princess are published regularly. The whole phenomena started about six months ago. May is now convinced that Libby is not dead, and that she needs help. But she obviously doesn’t want to be easily found. It’s up to May to figure out what is going on and how she can rescue her best friend. Can she be as courageous as Princess X?

Manga-style drawings telling many of the tales of Princess X are interspaced throughout the story, adding an illustrative element to the narrative. The city of Seattle features prominently in the plot and several famous locations directly influence the main characters. The characters are all well-defined and the mystery moves along at a rapid pace, keeping the reader on edge the entire time. Even when it’s clear Libby is still alive, the motivations keeping her away from May remain hidden until the reveal at the end of the book.

Zom-B Fugitive

Shan, Darren. Zom-B Fugitive. Book 11 of the Zom-B series. 2015. 196p. ISBN 978-0-316-21409-4. Available at FIC SHA on the library shelves.

In Zom-B Bride, B learned the secret location of the Schlesinger-10 virus that could destroy humanity. Now, she must run away from Mr. Dowling as fast as she can. Still hurt from her battle with the evil clown, she makes her way through the tunnels under London. She retrieves the vial and heads back to County Hall and the Angels.

Unfortunately the mutants are hunting her through the tunnels, and when she is confronted by two of them B knows the game is up. But suddenly the baby she helped a while back is there to fight on her behalf, and soon both mutants are dead. Holy Moly tracked B down, but not to turn her in to the clown.

When she arrives at County Hall the whole building is under assault by Mr. Dowling and the mutants. Many Angels are slaughtered. Not know what to do, B heads back out towards her old flat where she plans on ending her days. On her way there she encounters the twins, who reveal that Dr. Oystein had foreseen this assault and had moved the Angels away from County Hall. Leaving her in a brewery they get help.

Dr. Oystein is pleased that B survived her ordeal. But B comes across information that makes her rethink her entire zombie existence. Suddenly, B has nowhere to turn, and nothing is safe. Scariest of all, B is the only one who can save the human race!

This series conclude in Zom-B Goddess.

Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Hahn, Mary Downing. Deep and Dark and Dangerous. 2007. 187p. ISBN 9780-618-66545-7. Available at FIC HAH on the library shelves.

When Claire and Dulcie were young, they used to travel to Maine during the summer to spend time at their grandparents’ cottage on the lake. But something happened and ever since they haven’t been back.

At the beginning of March, Ali discovers a box left over from her grandmother’s passing five years ago. In it, along with old books, she discovers an aged photograph. On it are both her mother Claire and her aunt Dulcie, but the photo has been torn and someone is missing from it. All that can be seen is a hand. On the back are the names of her mother and aunt, as well as T. The rest of the name is torn.  Who is that person? When she brings the photo to her mother, her mother panics and she throws the photo out, telling Ali she doesn’t remember that day at all.

When her aunt Dulcie and her five-years-old daughter Emma come and visit, Ali brings up the photo again, much to her mother’s disapproval. Dulcie also says she doesn’t remember this T person nor that specific day. But she has a proposition for Ali. Dulcie had the cottage fixed, and she wants to spend the summer there doing art. Would Ali come with her to babysit Emma? Despite Claire’s reluctance, Ali enthusiastically agrees to go.

Within the first few days, Ali and Emma meet Sissy, a scrawny girl wearing a faded bathing suit. Sissy is mean and vicious, yet Emma really likes her and tries to emulate her. There is something creepy about Sissy, but Ali can’t put her finger on her. Then Sissy brings up Teresa, a girl who drowned in the lake the last summer Claire and Dulcie spent at the lake. Teresa’s body was never found, and Sissy implies that both Claire and Dulcie were responsible for her murder. But why is Sissy so angry? And what lurks at the bottom of the lake?

Fans of Closing for the Season will enjoy this ghost story.

Black Cat, Vol 7

Yakubi, Kentaro. Black Cat, Vol 7. 2000. 207p. ISBN 978-1-4215-1036-1. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Rinslet meets Jenos, who has been sent by the Numbers to recruit her. She is tasked with finding Creed so the Numbers can end the threat the Apostles of the Stars pose to the world order. Meanwhile, Train, Eve, and Sven apprehend a mad bomber. Even continues her training, as she considers herself a rival of Train. Train, meanwhile teaches a young child a lesson in killing, something he himself learned a long time ago … vengeance is never sweet.

The story continues in Black Cat Vol. 8.

The Chocolate War

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. 2004. 267p. ISBN 9780375829871. Available on the library shelves at FIC COR.

Jerry Renault is a new student at Trinity, a private catholic school for boys. In ninth grade, Jerry joins a highly organized and regimented social order controlled by the Vigils, a secret society made up of upperclassmen. The Vigils dictate assignments to students, such as all coughing at the same time in a class, or performing a series of actions when a specific word is used. No one dares oppose the Vigils, not even the teachers.

Jerry does most of the activities that students do at school. He joins the football team and tries out as the quarterback. He makes a few friends. Life is not good, since his mother died and his father and himself now live in a small apartment.

Life is about to get much more difficult, however. Every year, Trinity conducts a fundraiser which consists of selling boxes of chocolates. This year, Brother Leon has overextended himself and has purchased over 20,000 boxes of chocolates. This is 50 boxes of chocolates per student at the school! He needs the Vigils’ help in getting this accomplished. Unfortunately for Jerry, however, he has received the assignment from the Vigils of refusing to sell chocolates for ten days. Ten whole days during which, at roll call, he must tell Brother Leon that he refuses to sell chocolates. For ten days Jerry’s life is made miserable. But on the eleventh, when Jerry is finally free to accept chocolates, he refuses again. This simple act of defiance suddenly becomes a challenge to the Vigils, and the chocolate war breaks out. Can Jerry resist the pressures to conform and accept the sale of chocolates, or is something more important than this fundraiser now at stake at Trinity?

Schindler, Wallenberg, Miep Gies: The Holocaust Heroes

Fremon, David K. Schindler, Wallenberg, Miep Gies: The Holocaust Heroes. 2015. 96p. ISBN 978-0-7660-6217-7. Available at 940.53 FRE on the library shelves.

In the darkness that was the Holocaust stood bright lights. While some enthusiastically embraced the Nazis and their persecution of Jews, others vigorously opposed them and did everything they could to save Jews from the terrible fate that awaited them in the death camps.

Many names are familiar to modern readers: Oskar Schindler; Raoul Wallenberg; Miep Gies. But others are not. From farmers to ambassadors, people from all walks of life stood up and opposed the Nazis. Passports were issued by the thousands to neutral countries. Jews were hidden by the hundreds of thousands. Smugglers moved people from one location to another. And always, they ran the risk of getting caught and being executed simply for helping a fellow human being.

This book details the amazing stories and steps that non-Jews took to protect their Jewish relatives, friends, and sometimes complete strangers so they would survive another day. Pair this book with The Hiding Place for a fuller account of one resistance fighter’s quest to save as many Jews as possible.