CCBC-Net Archives
RE: CCBC-Net in October: Finding the Scary
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Gardow, Pamela <pgardow_at_ecasd.k12.wi.us>
Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 15:50:02 -0500
I think high school students love books that are "thrill rides" and/or page turners. Look at all the series that include zombies and vampires! Many of the most popular authors at my high school come up when I do a subject search on horror: Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Andrew Smith, Julie Kagawa, Chris Wooding, Rick Yancey, Darren Shan, Alexander Gordon Smith, Neil Shusterman, Neil Gaiman, and Daniel Kraus (whose audiobook of Scowler was both horror and horrifying!) This list just scratches the surface.
Kids love books that get their adrenaline going. Some like the fear, some like the freaky or the paranormal aspect, some just want an exciting read about serial killers. Certainly books like Scowler ramp things up more than a notch, with a combination of physical and psychological trauma, edge-of-your-seat action paired with gut-wrenching fear, and superb, nightmare inducing true horror. Not all kids will like Scowler -- it's too far on the edge of the continuum. Many, many teens however, love books that fall somewhere on the horror continuum. I must admit that so do I!
Pam
Pamela A. Gardow, Librarian Memorial High School Teen Literacy Initiative Authors in the Schools Chippewa Valley Book Festival 2225 Keith St. Eau Claire, WI 54701 715-852-6309
-----Original Message----- From: Emily Townsend [mailto:etownsend_at_wisc.edu] Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 11:12 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] CCBC-Net in October: Finding the Scary
Rob, I'm still haunted by Margo Lanagan's The Brides of Rollrock Island and a few of her stories in Yellowcake. These have powerful narratives and beautiful writing. Lanagan sets such a strong mood through the setting and characters. I'm transported to the eerie, impossible and melancholy, island in the instant I think of The Brides of Rollrock Island. I can still feel the tension, confusion and anger of the main character in the story "Catastrophic Destruction of the Head" in Yellowcake.
Another frightening or upsetting read for me was the beginning of Patrick Ness's More Than This. Ness struck on a truly frightening scenario for me -- waking up alone in a world devoid of people and resources. I actually had to stop reading for a while.
I think I was surprised by the impact of both of these books on me. I've learned to like some of horror because of the easily recognizable tropes of the genre. Knowing what to expect but not knowing when, I can enjoy the roller coaster ride instead of the fear. Lanagan and Ness, definitely not writing in the traditional horror genre, were able to strike on the fear element for me.
I've worked with kids who enjoy both the thrill-ride roller coaster and the fear aspect. I feel as though I've seen new interest in horror style reads -- fiction and non-fiction -- with tween readers in the past few years. I personally connect this interest to a number of movies or TV shows based on books. Pretty Little Liars, a TV series that uses every horror trope repeatedly, is popular with a number of tweens and teens. Also, Hunger Games, Divergent and the Maze Runner all have frightening scenes. I'm wondering if others have seen this connection? Or, is it this middle school age? Are tweens more likely to embrace horror regardless of pop culture trends or news of the day?
Emily Townsend, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Room 401 Teacher Education 225 N. Mills Street Madison, WI 53706
608-890-0258 etownsend_at_wisc.edu
On 10/7/2014 12:55 PM, Reid, Robert A. wrote:
> I've read a lot of horror fiction in my life and enjoy a lot of it. I've read most of Stephen King and Anne Rice. For young readers, I've booktalked Alvin Schwartz, Joseph Bruchac, Neil Gaiman, Betty Ren Wright, and Mary Downing Hahn's works. I debate with my college students if Harry Potter can be classified as horror.
>
> Therefore, I was surprised about how bothered I was by the YA book Scowler by Daniel Kraus. There was something about the mattress scene that just "ruined" the peaceful, happy mindset I had going into the book. Daniel Kraus, if you're on this listserv, score! Our local YA book club is discussing it this Halloween-y month.
>
> Another horror piece that impresses me, and I don't think a lot of folks would consider it classic horror, is the short story "Singing Down My Sister" by Margo Lanagan from her collection Black Juice. It reminds me a lot of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," a story that could have come straight out of any Twilight Zone show.
>
> Rob Reid
> UW-Eau Claire
>
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: pgardow_at_ecasd.k12.wi.us.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
****************************************************************************** This email was scanned for viruses at the gateway of the Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD). ECASD is in no way responsible for the content of this email or possible damage to your computer or network as a result of opening it or any attachments associated with it. (PM2)
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Wed 08 Oct 2014 03:51:24 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 15:50:02 -0500
I think high school students love books that are "thrill rides" and/or page turners. Look at all the series that include zombies and vampires! Many of the most popular authors at my high school come up when I do a subject search on horror: Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Andrew Smith, Julie Kagawa, Chris Wooding, Rick Yancey, Darren Shan, Alexander Gordon Smith, Neil Shusterman, Neil Gaiman, and Daniel Kraus (whose audiobook of Scowler was both horror and horrifying!) This list just scratches the surface.
Kids love books that get their adrenaline going. Some like the fear, some like the freaky or the paranormal aspect, some just want an exciting read about serial killers. Certainly books like Scowler ramp things up more than a notch, with a combination of physical and psychological trauma, edge-of-your-seat action paired with gut-wrenching fear, and superb, nightmare inducing true horror. Not all kids will like Scowler -- it's too far on the edge of the continuum. Many, many teens however, love books that fall somewhere on the horror continuum. I must admit that so do I!
Pam
Pamela A. Gardow, Librarian Memorial High School Teen Literacy Initiative Authors in the Schools Chippewa Valley Book Festival 2225 Keith St. Eau Claire, WI 54701 715-852-6309
-----Original Message----- From: Emily Townsend [mailto:etownsend_at_wisc.edu] Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 11:12 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] CCBC-Net in October: Finding the Scary
Rob, I'm still haunted by Margo Lanagan's The Brides of Rollrock Island and a few of her stories in Yellowcake. These have powerful narratives and beautiful writing. Lanagan sets such a strong mood through the setting and characters. I'm transported to the eerie, impossible and melancholy, island in the instant I think of The Brides of Rollrock Island. I can still feel the tension, confusion and anger of the main character in the story "Catastrophic Destruction of the Head" in Yellowcake.
Another frightening or upsetting read for me was the beginning of Patrick Ness's More Than This. Ness struck on a truly frightening scenario for me -- waking up alone in a world devoid of people and resources. I actually had to stop reading for a while.
I think I was surprised by the impact of both of these books on me. I've learned to like some of horror because of the easily recognizable tropes of the genre. Knowing what to expect but not knowing when, I can enjoy the roller coaster ride instead of the fear. Lanagan and Ness, definitely not writing in the traditional horror genre, were able to strike on the fear element for me.
I've worked with kids who enjoy both the thrill-ride roller coaster and the fear aspect. I feel as though I've seen new interest in horror style reads -- fiction and non-fiction -- with tween readers in the past few years. I personally connect this interest to a number of movies or TV shows based on books. Pretty Little Liars, a TV series that uses every horror trope repeatedly, is popular with a number of tweens and teens. Also, Hunger Games, Divergent and the Maze Runner all have frightening scenes. I'm wondering if others have seen this connection? Or, is it this middle school age? Are tweens more likely to embrace horror regardless of pop culture trends or news of the day?
Emily Townsend, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Room 401 Teacher Education 225 N. Mills Street Madison, WI 53706
608-890-0258 etownsend_at_wisc.edu
On 10/7/2014 12:55 PM, Reid, Robert A. wrote:
> I've read a lot of horror fiction in my life and enjoy a lot of it. I've read most of Stephen King and Anne Rice. For young readers, I've booktalked Alvin Schwartz, Joseph Bruchac, Neil Gaiman, Betty Ren Wright, and Mary Downing Hahn's works. I debate with my college students if Harry Potter can be classified as horror.
>
> Therefore, I was surprised about how bothered I was by the YA book Scowler by Daniel Kraus. There was something about the mattress scene that just "ruined" the peaceful, happy mindset I had going into the book. Daniel Kraus, if you're on this listserv, score! Our local YA book club is discussing it this Halloween-y month.
>
> Another horror piece that impresses me, and I don't think a lot of folks would consider it classic horror, is the short story "Singing Down My Sister" by Margo Lanagan from her collection Black Juice. It reminds me a lot of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," a story that could have come straight out of any Twilight Zone show.
>
> Rob Reid
> UW-Eau Claire
>
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: pgardow_at_ecasd.k12.wi.us.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
****************************************************************************** This email was scanned for viruses at the gateway of the Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD). ECASD is in no way responsible for the content of this email or possible damage to your computer or network as a result of opening it or any attachments associated with it. (PM2)
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Wed 08 Oct 2014 03:51:24 PM CDT
