Zombie Blondes, By Brian James

• By: Brian James
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
• Publish Date:  2008
• ISBN: 0312372981
• Page #: 240 pages
• Reading Level: Young Adult
• Classification: Fiction
• Genre: Paranormal
• Subjects: Cheerleading, Family, Fathers-Daughters, Fitting-In, High School, Popularity, Zombies
• Reader's Annotation: Ever felt like the popular girls in your high school are all the same? In Hannah's new neighborhood everything is deathly quiet and strange but she is so desperate to fit in that she decides to ignore the scary truth.
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• Synopsis: Hannah has moved to a new town with her father. The first thing she notices when she moves in is the strange quiet on the streets. When she goes to her new school, she notices that things are weird there too. The popular girls, the cheerleaders that is, are all scarily the same. They are beautiful but stark white, dead white actually, and Hannah notices their oddness. Dealing with her father who is on the run (due to personal problems ratting out a cop) moves her around constantly, so when she arrives to this town she accepts her fate as the unpopular girl. When the "cheerleaders" offer her a chance on the squad, she is faced with the hope of fitting in and being popular. The problem is, it's hard to ignore the horrible truths unraveling around her, not to mention the fact that her friend Lucas is telling her the cheerleaders are ZOMBIES!
• Notes: Zombie Blondes raises some good metaphors about high school life, fitting-in, parental relations, and communities (much like the general zombie metaphors in films since the 1960s). However it is important to note that this book is an interesting mix of predictable characters juxtaposed with some exciting twists that save the book from predictability. Zombie Blondes is a fun read that although not perfect, worth your while!
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• Stars: 4
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Bad Girls Don't Die, By: Katie Alender

By: Katie Alender

Publisher: Hyperion
Publish Date: April 21, 2008
ISBN: 1423108760
Page #: 352 pages
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Age Level: Older Teen
Series Title: n/a
Subjects: Ghosts, Family, Fitting In 

Reader's Annotation:  Alexis shows herself to the world as your typical interesting teen with pink hair and a cool photography hobby. The problem is, Alexis is more alone then most teens. Her parents are self-absorbed and she lacks any real companions. Her hobby and her sister are what keep her afloat. Suddenly the things that seem secure aren't. Life is starting to become scary and unexplainable and Alexis must figure it out all on her own.

Synopsis: Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.
When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore? (Via AMZN)

Notes: Not for readers who are not interested in fantasy or horror. Slightly scary, Bad Girls Don't Die, isn't afraid to push the fictional envelope. Bad Girls Don't Die is an enjoyable debut novel by Katie Alender. It is a page turner that satisfies your need for a bit of a horror-thriller, while at the same time delivering issues of feeling like a misfit and dealing with family issues. 

Stars: 4 Stars
Awards: n/a

Extras:  Author Website: http://katiealender.com/

Discussion Guide (Contains Spoilers):  http://katiealender.com/downloads/BGDDdiscussionguide.pdf
OFFICIAL BOOK TRAILER:

Uglies, By Scott Westerfeld

By: Scott Westerfeld

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publish Date: February 8, 2005

ISBN: 0689865384

Page #: 448

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Science-Fiction

Age Level: Older Teen

Subjects:

Plastic Surgery, Fitting In, Beauty, Adventure, Dystopia

Series Title: The Uglies Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras

Reader's Annotation: Tally Youngblood is 15 and can't wait to be pretty like her best friend Peris. While waiting to become "Pretty," she meets and befriends another another "Ugly" named Shay and together they wait to become 16 when everything we become perfect, or will it?

Synopsis: In all the books I read over the past year, this series sticks out the most. Why? Although it's simply written, the ideas are penetrating. The notion that most of us feel on display, varying degrees of ugly, and/or constantly striving to be like someone else, can not possibly be new to any of you. Today's society is obsessive with beauty and face forward. Meet Tally Youngblood, a teenage girl in a not so distant, dystopian future where everyone gets a "pretty" operation when they turn 16. They grind, shave, replace, and manipulate your body until you wake up a new, beautiful, perfect you. In the Uglies, after you complete the change, you are officially a "Pretty." You then get to move into a new world where being pretty is your new and only job. Partying, having everything you need, being popular is the perfect existence right? But, what if comes with a price? Does anyone ever NOT want to become a pretty?

Notes: Books Two and Three follow Tally and the Crims through their twisted fates against the powers that be. All three a mindful feast, but a simple, zippy read. You just can't not read these books. Cut out a day or two. It might make you re-think that rhinoplasty.

Stars: 5

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Extras: Westerfeld Heaven (Are you a bubble head?)

• The Extras, an unexpected fourth book in the series. Meet Aya and find out what her world is like post-Tally. In her world it's all about fame and nobody wants to be the "extra!"

• There is currently a guidebook called From Bogus to Bubbly available. This companion is a spoiler if you have yet to finish the series.

• Mind-Rain:Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series (Paperback) DUE JUNE 1st!

• Westerblog: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog

• Uglies discussion questions for your book group: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?page_id=172

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Below are some Fan Made Youtubes that caught my attention as being rather well done! Enjoy!

Specials (Uglies Trilogy, Bk.3), By Scott Westerfeld

By: Scott Westerfeld

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse 
• Publishing Date: September 11, 2007
• ISBN-10: 0439025664

Classification: Fiction
Genre: Science Fiction
Series Title: The Uglies Trilogy

Uglies

Pretties

Specials

Extras 

Subjects: beauty, dystopian society, fitting in, super-heros, body image, love

Reader's Annotation: In book three of the Uglies Trilogy Tally Youngblood returns with a special new purpose. But is this just another doomed twist in her journey for truth or is she finally on top of the game?

Synopsis: After being betrayed in a heartbreaking twist at the end of the Pretties, Tally Youngblood seems to have come out on top. The intended finale to the trilogy, Westerfeld explores the darkest nature of body image and supremacy in this final installment of the adventures of Tally Youngblood. Finally she is the one in charge, and it is clear that her skills are closer to a super hero then the ugly young girl we met in Uglies. But Tally can't let go of the past, even if everything has been rewired for her. Once again Tally follows her inner instinct to take on the powers that be and to reclaim the life that has been stolen from her. And who knows, maybe in the end, she may have some say in the way her world is run. 

Notes: Do not read this book if you haven't read the first two books. This is not a stand alone story. That being said, it is a powerful ending to the Uglies and the Pretties! The issues being raised leave great room for poignant discussion, as all Westerfeld's books do. I think the series as a whole is a strong choice (in line with Little Brother, By Doctorow) for YA in the classroom.

Stars: 5

Pretties (Uglies Trilogy, Book 2), By Scott Westerfeld

By: Scott Westerfeld

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse
• Publishing Date: November 1, 2005
• ISBN-10: 0439891612

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Science-Fiction
Series Title: Uglies Trilogy

Series Title: The Uglies Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras
Subjects: beauty, dystopian society, fitting in, science-fiction, love, friendship

Reader's Annotation: Tally Youngblood is finally Pretty but nothing is what she thought it would be. Now she has a new adventure ahead of her.

Synopsis: In the sequel to Uglies, Tally Youngblood is finally a "Pretty" although she can't fully remember how it all happened. New Pretty Town is her new home and she is raging and popular. Accepted into her new clique The Crims (short for criminal), she meets Zane and her world is exploded once again! As memories of the events in the first book, Uglies start to come back to her she begins to realize what being a Pretty really means. Now its up to her to figure out how to deal with her new world and everything that happened in the past.

Notes: By far my favorite of the series, Pretties explores many of the same themes that began in the Uglies but never fully came to light. As an outsider in Uglies, now Tally is on the inside. Dealing with issues of love, betrayal, beauty, and authority, Pretties is the finest example of what great Young Adult Literature is all about.

Stars: 5

Extras:

Dead Is The New Black, By Marlene Perez

By:  Marlene Perez

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks; 1 edition 
• Publishing Date: September 1, 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152064087
• Classification: Fiction
  

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Mystery 

Age Level: Young Adult

Series Title:

Dead Is The New Black

Dead Is So Last Year

Dead Is a State of Mind

Subjects: Popularity, Death, Mystery, Psychic Abilities, Sisters

Reader's Annotation: The cheerleader in Daisy’s high school (not to mention her ex-best friend) is setting a trend, but instead of her usual sun tanned glow, she is sporting a pale-skinned, kiss of death look, cleavage, and stiletto heals!

Synopsis: In city of Nightshade, the novel’s main characters are the two Giordano sisters who hold a psychic power that tunes them into the other side of things. And when bodies start turning up the sisters start tuning into what could be causing it. Is it a vampire? Is it the cheerleader? With her mother a psychic  (working for the police station), the sisters find themselves trying to figure out what has their mom stumped. Humor abounds in this modern commentary of all things trendy. From cheerleading squads to zombified-trend setting, readers will be confused (in all the right ways) by the plot until the very last page.

Stars: 4

Extras: Marlene Perez is the author of Unexpected Development, which was named the ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. 

Author Website: http://www.marleneperez.com/