Pick 6: Horror

October means it's time for my annual list of horror stories. Who doesn't love a good scare in October? It's almost required to prepare for Halloween by scaring yourself silly. Here are six horror books published in the last six months.

6 new horror novels

1. The Curse of the Were-Hyena by Bruce Hale

2. Tales from the Haunted Mansion: the Fearsome Foursome by John Espito

3. The Hill by Karen Bass

4. The Monster in the Road is Me by J.P. Romney

5. And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

6. One Was Lost by Natalie Richards

Non-fiction book review - To Burp or Not to Burp

To Burp or Not to Burp by Dave Williams and Loredana Cunti

What better way to engage a kid with the sciences than through the weird and gross. Its not a new approach by any means but it still works. Lots of cool information in a relatively short book, enumerating the effects of low gravity on various bodily processes. We learn not only what happens to a belch, sweat, etc but why it happens. With photographs and illustrations illustrating the points it's a solid choice.

Not your typical stuffed bunny

Today's project is something I started a few weeks ago when my hands needed something to do that wasn't as messy as polymer clay (which is what I actually should have been doing).  I found the remains of a skein of yarn and decided to whip up the cyclops project from KnitWit by Kate Boyette, the source of one of the first crafts I posted about on this blog. Of course, because I was using scrap, I ran out of yarn before finishing but that allowed me to personalize my cyclops, making his arms and legs a different color. He doesn't look exactly like the original project, but I'm quite fond of Norris (I intended to name him Ogden, but the further I got the more he wanted to be called Norris).

Point of clarity - the bunny suit is original to the pattern. There are a handful of details particular to Norris

Picture books for everyone

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

In recent years there have been an increasing number of picture books that directly address the reader. This format works well with an older audience. It causes them to engage with the text differently. This book is an excellent example of that. It asks questions of the reader, poses hypotheticals. And it does all of this with a light-hearted plot and delightful illustrations. 

Non-fiction book review - Some Writer!

Some Writer! The story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet

This biography is bound to be a hit with young readers. First of all you've got the subject matter. Most every kids has a positive encounter with the work of E. B. White. Secondly, you've got a wide span of his life, from childhood through adult fame, providing brief snatches of the things that influence him as a man and as a writer. It helps having direct quotes from White backing up Sweet's statements. Thirdly, it is visually quite appealing. Lots of images, both photos and drawings, and a warm color palate. It has plenty to look at without the pages becoming chaotic.

Book review - The Capybara Conspiracy

Title: The Capybara Conspiracy
Author: Erica S. Perl
Genre: humor
Similar books: The Secrets to Ruling School by Neil Swaab
                     Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic by Mark Tatulli
Rating:

Kind of a cute and clever novelty

Summary (provided by publisher): Fans of Tim Federle and Louis Sachar will love this hilarious story of what happens when the non-jocks kidnap their sports-obsessed school’s beloved mascot.
Seventh-grade playwright Olive Henry is frustrated by her middle school’s lack of appreciation for anything but sports. While the principal drones on and on during morning announcements about the sports teams’ victories, all non-athletic club meetings are relegated to the school basement, never to be mentioned on the loudspeaker. So Olive and her best friend, Reynaldo, hatch a plan to kidnap the school’s capybara mascot, planning to return it, heroically, just in time for the school’s pep rally and claim a reward: permission for their drama club to practice in the auditorium. And, hopefully, some overdue respect for the school’s non-athletes. But when an animal-rights student activist and an undercover athlete with murky motivations join in the conspiracy, their plans—along with Cappy the capybara—veer wildly out of Olive’s control.  

My opinion: This is certainly an unusual book. Presented as a script, Olive explains the plot to steal the school's mascot and how this landed her at the principal's office. The script format relies heavily on dialogue, of course, but that dialogue is a real strength here. While the characters are presented as more caricatures than real people, this adds to the school play feel of the novel. This same element, though, lends a heavy dose of distance and unreality to an already hard to believe plot. Humor and a strong sense of pacing help it along. Entertaining enough for a single read.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Ornaments

Since I started producing ornaments for craft fairs I discovered I have this tendency to make something once and then never want to replicate it. It's a weird mental block and something I'm working on. In the meantime it has meant that some of the ornaments I produce are a bit ... unusual. Like alligators wearing winter hats. And hippos playing musical instruments. This trio is one of my tamer groups.