Monsters, Real and Imagined

All of these "scary" books were found at the Kenmore branch of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, in the “teen zone.”

Medina, Meg. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2013.

Piddy Sanchez moves to a new school where a gang, led by Yaqui Delgado, harasses her.

Medina’s book won both the Pupa Belpre Award and the Cybils Award. It explores bullying because of perceived differences, here because the main character isn’t considered Latina enough for the school she goes to, something many students will have experienced in some form. It also features a teen whose father is physically abusing the boy’s mother, something that hopefully students will not have experienced but need to be aware of. 

Coles, Jay. Tyler Johnson Was Here. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 2018.

After his brother is killed by the police, Marvin Johnson looks for justice.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this book will appeal to students who are interested in social justice issues surrounding police brutality and race relations. The book is also illustrative of how little decisions can have big consequences. Aspiring authors may be inspired by Coles who published this book at the age of 21.

Davila Cardinal, Ann. Five Midnights. New York: Tor Teen, 2019.

Vermonter Lupe Davila is in Puerto Rico, visiting her uncle, a local police chief, when people begin to get murdered; she works with Javier Utierre, whose friends are being killed, to solve the murders.

Davila Cardinal is herself both Puerto Rican and a Vermonter, so she brings her own experiences to this murder mystery. The book tackles not just the murders but also topics such as alcoholism. It is based on the folktale of El Cuco, a character similar to the bogeyman. This book explores juggling multiple heritages, with which many students in America can identify.

Burns, Laura J. and Melinda Metz. I Do Not Trust You. New York: Wednesday Books, 2018.

M and Ash work together (or do they?) to hunt for both a relic that may destroy the world and for M’s father, whom she believed was dead.

Who doesn’t love a world-traveling thriller full of family secrets, Egyptian mythology, cults, and a super smart and good-in-fights female lead?! This story honestly just looks like fun while still having a good amount of tension to keep readers on their toes.

Anderson, Natalie C. Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2019.

After being captured by the CIA because of a terrorist brother, Abdi agrees, in exchange for release, to work as a spy in his brother’s terrorist organization.

The topic of child soldiers and terrorism should strike fear into anyone’s heart. Terrorism has always part of current students’ lives, and seeing that reality and fear in a book should resonate with students. This book seems to portray the CIA as the bad guys, and it would be interesting to see how students respond to that. One review I read did say that the book doesn’t portray any of the Somalis, other than Abdi, in a positive light so this book may need to be read in full before purchasing in order to decide whether it would be offensive, especially if the school has a Somali population.