Teen Books to check out!

What Stalks Among Us is an absolutely fascinating thriller of a story.  Two high school seniors skip a field trip to an amusement park to go off on their own, find a corn maze and enter it because...why not?  The problem?  Now that they are in the maze, they can't get out....and how do they know that?  Because they keep finding dead bodies, and some of them are their own.....which means they have BEEN trying to get out. 

What makes this extra awesome is the backstory of why the maze exists and the how of solving the puzzle as well as the delicate dance of actually making it work.  Hollowell does a fabulous job of dropping clues (and bodies) while maintaining a line of tension that really keeps the reader engaged.  I could not stop until I finished....so good!

For those who love horror but not gore, this is an excellent option.

Mascot is not only a story about students asking for the removal of a racist mascot, but is also a story about the students on both sides and why they are there.  Waters and Sorrell take readers into the minds of all involved so the reasons and perceptions are all very personal and it makes it much easier to understand why someone is on the side of renaming their school mascot as well as why someone would believe it isn't an issue.  

I wish I could say this was fictional, but sadly there are still NFL and school teams named Chiefs and Redskins....as well as other racist names.  I always wondered why people would miss that or vote against the change and reading this, I at least was able to understand the issues from both sides.  An excellent book with representation of many varying viewpoints, as well as a journey to seeing how one issue can become a hot button giant problem.

 Saleena Longmuir

Teen Librarian