The Dead by Charlie Higson

The Dead by Charlie Higson takes place just over a year prior to his first novel, The Enemy.  This is when the dangerous disease that turns anyone over the age of 16 into a decaying, flesh eating zombie is just taking over all of the adults.  This story follows a group of boys from a private school as they fight to escape their teachers, and make their way through the streets of London, trying to find safety.  Along the way, they pick up several other kids who have had their own struggles dealing with losing their parents and friends to this terrible disease.  Whether they're called zombies, strangers, sickos or mothers and fathers, the diseased adults are the walking dead - covered in pus filled boils and oozing blood.  The only thing they seem to want is children... for dinner!  For the children, survival seems bleak and some simple give up.  Others create their own religion to give them solace, and still others just take everything one step at a time, becoming leaders despite believing they never could.

This was just as awesome as the first book!  It is filled with excitement, suspense, horror, adventure - everything you could want in a good sci fi action thriller!  I really liked the way the author took a closer look at the disease and developed theories for the driving force behind the sickos' need for human flesh.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has a strong stomach (definitely for more mature readers who can handle the violence) and who enjoys a good thriller.  Fans of The Hunger Games Series and The Maze Runner Series will enjoy this!

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Hate List by Jennifer Brown is about Valerie, a high school senior who has never quite fit in.  She has been the victim of the meanest school bullies since she started dressing and acting differently in middle school.  Valerie found a soul mate in Nick when he moved to town when they were both freshmen.  Together, they could weather the bullying.  Valerie started the Hate List in a red spiral notebook as a way to vent about being constantly picked on my the other students at school.  Each time something happened, she'd write down the bully's name.  Eventually, the list grew and grew, with names on the list multiple times.  Valerie always thought of the list as a way to get out her pain, but Nick took it to a different level.  On May 2nd of their junior year, Nick brought a gun to school and shot several of the students on the Hate List.  Valerie, once she realized what Nick was doing, threw herself in front of the last victim and took a bullet in her leg.  Immediately after accidentally shooting Valerie, Nick shot and killed himself.  Now, Valerie is left to deal with her injury, the loss of a boyfriend she truly loved, and the accusatory attitude of most of the people in her small town - including her own parents.  Bravely, Valerie returns to her high school in the fall, only to find that her friends have abandoned her.  She does, however, find a friend in the most unlikely place.  It takes her awhile to accept it, but Valerie eventually becomes friends with the girl she took the bullet for - the queen bee of the school, the one who was at the top of the Hate List due to her constant bullying and nastiness.  With the help of her psychologist Dr. Heiler, her art instructor Bea, and a new notebook filled with her sketches, Valerie learns a lot about herself and her classmates, and realizes that she has never quite looked at anything in her life in a way that allows her to "see" what is really there.

This was an awesome book.  I really liked the way it alternated between Valerie's current reality, her relationship with Nick, and the newspaper clippings.  After reading the Author's Note at the end, I realized that I read the story exactly the way she intended it - as Valerie's story, not the story of a school shooting.  It truly is the story of Valerie's survival and growth as she works through what happened.  I would recommend this book to mature readers who like the works of Sarah Dessen and Jodi Picoult.

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser is about Gary and Brendan and what happened to them as a result of constant teasing and bullying. These two boys were bullied by the jocks and popular crowd every single day. Finally, they'd had enough. They stole guns from a neighbor and made homemade pipe bombs from plans thy found on the Internet. They set up an elaborate plan to eliminate everyone who had ever contributed to their misery - and even those who hadn't. On the last night of their lives, Gary and Brendan crashed a dance at their high school and held everyone hostage, intent on exacting revenge for everything they'd been put through just for existing and being different.

This was an extremely powerful story. I really related to it for two reasons: I am a teacher, and have strong feelings about protecting all students from teasing and bullying, and because the Littleton, Colorado school shooting at Columbine High School, where 15 people lost their lives happened on my birthday. The story is told through bits of interviews, text messages, and testimonials from classmates, friends, teachers, and parents of the boys who tried to teach their town a lesson about how people ought to be treated.