(no subject)

[cahn]

Since you had so many great ideas for books for E to read, I am consulting you yet again! E and I went over her list of book categories tonight and there are two more categories that I need help with (and a third I want to complain about but would also welcome help with) :

-Category: vampires
-Category: book about superheroes
-Category to complain about: #1 on NYT list

As before, the categories are not super strict; her teacher is very flexible (more flexible than I am, lol); if there is any way one can reasonably argue for it, I am willing to count it. I know there have got to be offbeat vampire or superhero books I can't think of right now. (Sadly, E is not old enough to read The Dragon Waiting.)

I did go to amazon and snag a paperback of Sarah Rees Brennan's Team Human, which is apparently out of print (I... thought I read this?? But I can't find any record of it anywhere, the library doesn't have it and I don't have an e-copy or any other sort, and I remember nothing about it, so maybe not), and we have Tanith Lee's Red as Blood if it comes down to it. But there must be others, right? That might be more middle-school-ish and therefore probably make more sense to E?

Superheroes I just have no clue! ...except that I just put a library hold on How Mirka Got Her Sword for the graphic novel category; does Mirka count as a superhero? (I have never read this and am looking forward to it!)

I am also massively side-eyeing the #1 New York Times category. E has rejected rereading the Harry Potter books (even though rereading is allowed); maybe I get her a Sue Grafton book, because I went through the lists for the last ten years and to be fair I didn't look super closely, but I can't find anything besides Harry Potter that's remotely suitable except maybe Grafton. I am not giving her Jodi Picoult, for crying out loud. Any suggestions there would be very welcome, though that's harder to weasel around, I think. Maybe I should work on her Harry Potter reluctance. ETA: I live under a rock and did not know there was a middle school category?? Yay!

Comments

[selenak]

“The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman has one of the best vampires I’ve ever encountered in a book as the most prominent supporting character (mentor of the kid hero), and it’s one of my favourite books to rec for any age.

[cahn]

Aha, I knew there was a solution to this problem! EXCELLENT. I've put a library hold in. Interestingly, Gaiman often doesn't work for me because I find him too scary, but E has historically not had a problem with that kind of thing, and I could see her really liking Gaiman.

[thistleingrey]

Vampires as a required category! Gosh.

For superheroes, Lisa Yee has a sequence of __ at Superhero High titles, I think MG level. Reason recently re-borrowed them from the library. Also perhaps--as options, not that E. would need all of these!--G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel titles; Gene Luen Yang's AtLA tie-ins.

NYT has a middle-grade list separate from their adult fiction, adult nonfic, and children's lists, if it'd be allowed.

[cahn]

It is one of the "arrrrgh" categories. WHY? Apparently there is an updated list that uses "monsters" in lieu of vampires, which makes rather more sense, but we don't have the updated list and I think E. would probably insist on vampires because she is a rule-follower. The Superhero High sequence sounds exactly like what I am looking for, thanks!

I did not know they had a middle-grade list! I am going to allow it :P

[ambyr]

Is there a reason to pick something from the NYT Adult Bestseller list instead of the NYT YA Bestseller list or the NYT Children's Bestseller list?

Also, it's an adult book, but I can't think of any reason it couldn't be read by a middle schooler, so: All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault features vampires vs. superheroes.

[cahn]

The reason is that I forgot there was a YA list (I did know this, I just... didn't think of it) and also didn't even realize there was a middle-grade list, which looks like it should work!

[ase]

Isn't McKinley's Sunshine a vampre novel?

Is E. old enough for Stephen King? He'd had a bunch of bestsellers. Heir to the Empire hit NYT #1 for one week when it was released in 1991. There's your Star Wars nerd fact for the day.

The last "superhero" novel I read was... Not Your Sidekick, er, five years ago. Not my genre (she says, right after nerding out about Star Wars of all things).

[cahn]

Ha :) She's not old enough for Stephen King, and proooobably not old enough for McKinley either, although she's getting there! Ha, Not Your Sidekick sounds... actually, all kinds of awesome!

[dolorosa_12]

One other vampire book that might work: The Reformed Vampires' Support Group (Catherine Jinks), although I don't know how easy it will be to obtain outside Australia. There's also Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, but it's a bit more YA-ish.

[cahn]

Oh, nice! I just looked and our local library actually has it :D Yeah, Westerfeld is probably too YA-ish for her at this point in time.

[brainwane]

NYT: does it have to be fiction? I bet, like, Michelle Obama's memoir hit #1 on the nonfiction list.

Superheroes: I believe there is an Unbeatable Squirrel Girl novel suitable for young people.

Mirka is in my opinion a hero and I am not sure whether she is a SUPERHERO precisely but maybe!

[cahn]

Oh, excellent -- no, it doesn't have to be fiction, I just apparently only think of adult fiction in my head?? Note to change that, brain! Unbeatable Squirrel Girl sounds excellent!

vampire 🧛‍♀️

[brainwane]

An offbeat vampire book: "The Case of the Visiting Vampire" which I read when I was a child.

Re: vampire 🧛‍♀️

[cahn]

Oh, ha, that looks adorable. (And your icon is rather adorable too :) )

Re: vampire 🧛‍♀️

[brainwane]

:D

[crystalpyramid]

As kids, my sibling and I loved a Pamela F. Service book called Weirdos of the Universe Unite!, which is kind of a middle-grade American Gods. I'm not sure if gods count as superheroes, but there is the whole Loki franchise so maybe? They definitely have powers.

The Jacqueline Carey novel Santa Olivia might be too old for her, but is superhero-y and not too long. Similar feelings about Robin McKinley's Sunshine for vampires — I think I first read and adored that in high school.

It looks like Amanda Gorman's poetry books have been on the bestseller list this year. Not sure if they might work. Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer, a fantasy novel about slavery (some brutal bits but also some fantasy bits) is on the 2019 list. Andy Weir's The Martian, which I haven't read so it's probably too old. Some Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels, which I recall being quick reads and pretty fluffy? There's a novelization of Star Wars Episode I in 1999, the same year as Harry Potter. The Children of Húrin, a posthumous Tolkien novel, 320 pages, apparently made the #1 spot when it came out.

Oh the Places You'll Go!, by Dr. Seuss, is in and out of the #1 spot all through the early 90s.

I'm trying to remember if my extensive mystery novel phase was in middle school. I know I was really into Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie at one point early on.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was #1 on the list for the first half of 1944. The Yearling made the list in 1938.

[sporky_rat]

I wouldn't think of The Martian as too old for anyone over about ten, as long as someone was around for questions (I had to explain to my nephew something, I don't remember what.)

[hamsterwoman]

As an added data point on The Martian, my kid read and liked it at 12. (Part of what he was enjoying were the superhero references, though.)

[cahn]

Ha, okay, good! E is about to turn 12, so!

[cahn]

Oh, nice. This is exactly the kind of thing E would probably enjoy, too, and wouldn't read if not for this list :P Aaaand she still has to fill the SF category, so this will be doubly attractive to her!

[cahn]

I'm going to say Carey and McKinley are probably still a bit too old for her, buuuuut this reminds me I have nieces who are a little older and probably are old enough for them now :D

Ah! Oh the Places You'll Go is excellent, and I adore A Tree Grows in Brooklyn :D Oh good, I'm feeling much better about my options now :)

[morbane]

Tangent, and I also don't have a strong sense of where the line is, but the references to sex in Sunshine also seem more teen than pre-teen appropriate to me. (Consensual, crucially, but: distinct descriptions of penis in vagina sex, naked bodies pressed against each other experiencing arousal, etc.)

Sorry if this has already been brought up, but what about a Pratchett book with a prominent vampire character?

[cahn]

Oh, ha. I'm not opposed to that in principle (I read fairly explicit things -- mostly from the adult section -- when I was that age, and I credit it for my sex education, such as it was, at that age) but in practice E doesn't seem like she wants that kind of thing yet. I'll keep it in mind for later, and definitely make sure I don't give it to my nieces with the evangelist parents, ha.

Which Pratchett books have prominent vampire characters? (Or what are the character names -- I'm happy to look it up, I've just not read all that much Pratchett myself so don't even know where to start.) That would be great -- she's just on the cusp of being ready for those, so she should try them out -- even if it doesn't take this year, I think she'd really like them in the future.

[morbane]

Yeah, just probably the kind of thing you want to know!

I haven't actually read Carpe Jugulum, but as the name suggests, vampires feature prominently. Monstrous Regiment might be good - the plot involves a girl disguising herself as a boy and running away to war, and one of her fellow soldiers is a vampire.

[tree_and_leaf]

Monstrous Regiment and Carpe Jugulum are the obvious ones. The vampires in the latter are villains, the vampire in the former is a sympathetic character. They're both good, but MR is a "stand alone" one, whereas Carpe Jugulum is quite well on in the sequence about the witches, so might be a better choice given she hasn't read any Discworld before.

[cahn]

Ah, excellent! Thank you!

[primeideal]

Probably cheating, but apparently "Oh, The Places You'll Go" reached #1 several times in the early 90s, must be a graduation present thing :D

Maybe Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson for a superhero book?

[cahn]

...at some point I become willing to cheat :P :) Heh, I think I got that for a graduation present! If I could find it...

Ah, Brandon Sanderson is another author that E would probably like! Thanks!

[hamsterwoman]

For vampires, I think Team Human is a pretty good pick, actually! (I did read it, and liked it a lot.) But also seconding McKinley's Sunshine (I read it as a grown-up, but think would've enjoyed it younger, too) and excellent point about The Graveyard Book above (Silas is one of my favorite vampires also).

Re: superheroes -- seconding Not Your Sidekick. It's not great literature, but it's cute.

And I had the same question about does it have to be the NYT best sellers for fiction -- there may be more interesting/palatable nonfiction options (or children's, or YA).

[cahn]

Ha, it does not have to be NYT for fiction, I don't think -- this is just me with my blinders on :)

Hmm, is Sunshine younger than her other books? I didn't read Sunshine, I am pretty sure -- I did read a bunch of her other stuff, and I feel like it's a bit more YA in tone. But Graveyard Book and Not Your Sidekick both sound like they would work really well for her, I've got those reserved from the library!

[sophia_sol]

I would personally say that Sunshine is actually older than her other books. McKinley often reads as YA to me but Sunshine reads as adult fantasy imo. I read and liked it as a teen but I think E is still on the young side for it!

[hamsterwoman]

I would actually agree with that for Sunshine, yeah -- I think it can be read and enjoyed younger, but it is "slow" in places and feels less YA than some of McKinley's others.

And actually Team Human is quite YA also.

So probably The Graveyard Book is a better bet for E.

[cahn]

Ha! Yeah, I think I will keep McKinley in my back pocket for later. Team Human, yeah, it seem like it is very YA, E is not really into romance type books yet. We'll see about Graveyard Book :)

(Me: My friends on DW recommended this Gaiman!
D: ...are you sure?? Gaiman is kind of disturbing. [for the record, D likes Gaiman]
Me: He's written kids books! He wrote Coraline!
D: ...I kind of feel like this proves my point. Coraline is really disturbing!)

[hamsterwoman]

D: ...I kind of feel like this proves my point. Coraline is really disturbing!)

I do have to agree with that, haha, even though I like Gaiman a lot (though I never had the chance to read him as a kid; my kids did, and were duly traumatized by Coraline -- though I do think the movie version traumatized them more.)

I don't think The Graveyard Book is as disturbing as Coraline -- there are scary things happening in it, but because the protagonist is surrounded by protective mentor figures, I think they don't feel as scary?

There is a scene towards the end that I can definitely see people finding emotionally upsetting, but other than that, I found it oddly cozy, in a kind of Burton-esque way?

[tree_and_leaf]

I agree that the Graveyard Book is substantially less frightening than Coraline.

[cahn]

Excellent, thanks! Coraline is, um. I think E could handle it, she is pretty good with sharply delineating real from not-real, but oof.

[cahn]

Yeah, D likes Gaiman a lot too! He was just seriously side-eyeing giving Gaiman to our kids :) (I wouldn't give Coraline to A., even if he were a lot older; he really would be traumatized.) I'm glad that Graveyard book is less disturbing!

[sophia_sol]

For superheroes, the middle grade squirrel girl novels by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale are great! The first one is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.

[cahn]

Ohhhh how did I not know about these?? And they're by Shannon Hale whom I love! Thanks!!

[melannen]

For superheroes I am hitting a plethora of options! Basically there are a huge number of middle-grade superhero things recently out, many very good. You've already got a lot of recs but I have to mention Secret Hero Society, which is a series of middle-grade books in which Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent go to the same middle school and make friends. It's adorable and I feel like fandom has been sleeping on it.

For vampires: "The Accursed Vampire" by Madeline McGrane, graphic novel (She posts lots of vampire comics on tumblr, they are all good; the graphic novel is an expansion of the kid vampires' story and is great, adorable, exciting, surprisingly deep.)

[cahn]

Oooooh excellent, and my library actually has both of these! Thank you! :D