Scary can mean many things!

Growing up (and perhaps still!), I was afraid of anything imaginary. "Real" problems? Less so. Here's what I think might be scary, or at least spooky and disturbing:

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. (2013). Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.

The cover alone tells you this is going to be a creepy book: a girl in historic garb, levitating off the ground, an expression of serenity on her face. This has been on my TBR list for years, but I haven't yet gotten past the first couple of chapters, intriguing as they are. A teen describes his grandfather's tall tales about odd children he knew when he was a child himself. Or are they tall tales? Zoltar says no.

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. (2009). New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

This one's a little bit of a cheat. I haven't read it, but I saw this last year when it came out as a movie, not realizing it was a book. I included it because it has (for me) some strong elements of fear. The story is set in an mysterious enclosed glade, into which a bunch of boys have been sent from an elevator shaft. None of them have any memories but their names. To escape their pastoral prison, they have to find their way through an ever-changing maze, but no one has ever lived through an escape attempt. The Grievers, cyborg creatures that inhabit the maze, come out at night and consume anyone remaining in the maze. I won't spoil the ending, but it is dystopian, and disturbing.

Poblacki, Dan. The Ghost of Graylock. (2012). New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Ugh. There is a reason I never pick up Dan Poblacki's books. The covers alone are enough to freeze my blood. This one is about a kid named Neil who is new to town, and cannot resist exploring the ruins of a mental health hospital. It's a classic setup for a horror novel, and one that's been done to death--no pun intended. While the book received very positive reviews, and the writing in the first chapter is solid, this won't be making it onto my reading list.

Geeky Books--Says Who?

I went to a magnet high school for communication arts, so "geeky" was a relative term, and then discovered in college how to truly embrace my inner geek. That being said, I pretty much always read fantasy. In my youngest years that included C.S. Lewis and E. B. White. As I got older, I got to know and love Susan Cooper and Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley and Ursula K. LeGuin, Lloyd Alexander and Madeline L'Engle--all still some of my favorites of all time.

But I was curious to explore some newer authors, so I went in blind to the Young Adult section to my local library, and started pulling books that had fantasy-sounding titles. Here's what I came up with:

Chima, Cinda Williams. The Warrior Heir. (2006). New York, NY: Hyperion Publishers.

This is the story of Jack, a sixteen-year-old who throughout his life has taken a special medicine for what he's been told is a heart problem. After forgetting one day to take it, he has outsized strength and confidence, and learns that he is a warrior of a magical society that lives among regular people. Though this plot device is overdone (teen finds out he/she has magical powers), I read the first several chapters and found it surprisingly well-written and intriguing. I also liked that it was from a boy's POV, as I often read books with girl main characters, so this was a refreshing change.

Bujor, Flavia. The Prophecy of the Stones. (2004). New York, NY: Hyperion Publishers.

In a similar plot device, three fourteen-year-old girls find out their unique destiny: to use three stones to help save a world called Fairytale. The outcome of their efforts also affects the life of a Parisian girl who is sick and dreaming of a world called Fairytale. I only realized after making this selection that it was written by a thirteen-year-old French sensation named Flavia Bujor. After reading the first few chapters, I was disappointed by the book. It read flat and uninspiring to me, either because of the translation or perhaps just the original writing was problematic. I won't try reading further.

Bell, Hilari. Fall of a Kingdom. (2003). New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books For Children.

Yet another three teens are trying to save the mythical kingdom of Farsala in this book. Just reading the jacket copy and then the first two chapters left me so confused, I cannot tell more about what is happening in this book. Unfortunately, this book has many of the issues non-fantasy-lovers dislike about fantasy: confusing plot and unfamiliar character and place names that make it difficult to get into the story. I won't try reading this one further, either.

Sexy books--what everyone (not just teens) like

There is a reason romance novels sell so well. Many (not all, but many) people enjoy stories of love and lust, especially when there's a happily ever after (a.k.a. HEA), or a happily for now (a.k.a HFN).

In that vein, I had a hard time not dropping all of my holiday weekend plans to read all of the romance/sexy YA books I selected. I couldn't resist the first, which I got from my local library:

Perkins, S. Anna and the French Kiss. (2010). New York, NY: Dutton Books. Sweet, sexy, real.

Anna is spending her senior year of high school at an exclusive Parisian boarding school. She has a crush on her new BFF, who happens to be a gorgeous French/British/American boy with a volatile girlfriend. Fighting their feelings and the urge to act upon them is a carefully choreographed dance which plays out beautifully. Loved it!

I have wanted to read this for awhile, and grabbed it off the library shelf too:

Revis, B. Across the Universe. (2011). New York, NY: Penguin Group.

I have not heard any details about Across the Universe, other than that it is amazing. Reading the jacket copy reveals that it is about a girl who is to be cryogenically frozen for 300 years but is thawed fifty years too early and wakes up on a spaceship. She is not sure whether or not she can trust the boy who seems to be helping her. The cover shows the two of them face to face, suggesting a strong romantic thread. The first chapter is riveting as it describes the process of first her parents, and then her, being frozen. So far, I have resisted reading further.

Lastly, I cannot resist including one of my favorite YA romances. Yes, it is cliched. I do not care:

Meyer, S. Twilight. (2005). New York, NY: Little, Brown, and Company.

Twilight was a tour-de-force when it was published ten years ago, and remains one of the most popular paranormal romances this century--perhaps of all time. It is the story of Bella, a young woman who falls in love with a "good" vampire, one who hunts animals instead of humans. While the story is far-fetched and the writing excessively verbose, I cannot think of a series that I found more engrossing. And I have read a lot.