The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding (0-439-54656-7)
This amazing teen novel has a setting that is completely captivating and overwhelming: a gas-lit London filled with fog and all sort of monstrous horrors.
This London is filled with wych-kin, monsters that suddenly appeared in London after the bombings during the war and have taken over a section of London. Thaniel is a wych-hunter, who hunts down the wych-kin when they begin to encroach on other sections of London. But there are more horrors in store for Thaniel when he finds Alaizabel Cray who is possessed by another spirit named Thatch. Who is Alaizabel and how did she come to be possessed?
It is one of the most terrifying novels for teens that I have ever read and also one of the best written and most fascinating. What a combination to be able to offer horror fans! They will be unable to put it down.

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > At a Click, a Clique of the Uncool
An interesting piece on the world of websites created to promote squips, the device central to Be More Cool, a novel for teens by Ned Vizzini. The best part is that kids who are interested are given a chance to contribute material to the sites.

LISNews.com | The Very Hungry Caterpillar turns 35
LISNews links to an article about the 35th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

New York Post Online Edition: entertainment has a very nice interview with Walter Dean Myers who has just released his 80th book, Here in Harlem.

Charlotte Observer | 10/22/2004 | Filmmakers take approving look at the political Seuss
Independent Lens, a PBS program, will be showing “The Political Dr. Seuss” on October 26th. It is a look at the politics within Seuss’ picture books and how his politics progressed through his life.

TownOnline.com – Wayland Town Crier – Opinion & Letters
Gary Burton, the Superintendent of Wayland Public Schools, has written an opinion piece stating that reading is the number one skill children learn in school. In his argument, he has several wonderful things to say about what reading brings to children’s lives.

LeGuin returns to young adult fiction with ‘Gifts’
One of the greatest fantasy writers for young adults returns with Gifts. The new novel has gotten good reviews and serves as the first book in a new series.

Runny Babbit; A Billy Sook; Poems and Drawings by Shel Silverstein
“HarperCollins Children’s Books announced today the March 2005 publication of Runny Babbit, an exciting new book by the incomparable Shel Silverstein. Completed before his death in 1999, this collection of poems and drawings was a work in progress for over 20 years and is as ground-breaking, insightful, witty, and wondrous as Shel Silverstein’s imagination. Runny Babbit is destined to be a classic for readers of all ages.”
Woo hoo!

DesMoinesRegister.com has a nice article on Tamora Pierce, author of the new Trickster’s Queen. Pierce speaks about why she writes for young adults and why she primarily writes female heroes.