Buy These Books! Or Else! –The Monstrumology Series

This blog was originally going to be a lament about the loss of one of the most literary YA series to grace the shelves of bookstores and classrooms this decade, The Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey. Earlier this month, the series was cancelled by Simon & Schuster, and Yancey spoke about his disappointment on Leila Roy's Bookshelves of Doom blog. Then Stephanie Oakes from her Stephanie Reads blog started a campaign to save the series. Less than a week later, Simon & Schuster announced they would publish the fourth book, supposedly the last in the series (come ON Rick, PLEASE don’t stop…).

In anticipation if the third book, “The Isle of Blood”, it is time for those of you out there who love quality YA fiction to go out and buy the first two books anyway you can, and show up in HOARDS on Sept. 13 and buy “The Isle of Blood”. There is a lot of “buzz” out there about this series, but “buzz” obviously does not keep books in print, buying books does. I buy books all the time, from Barnes & Noble, several used bookstores where I live, and even Goodwill. I flood my classroom with books that matter (and some honestly, some that don’t). This fosters a culture of reading in the classroom that is second to none. I have five copies of “The Monstrumologist” in my classroom, and two at home. I loved “The Curse of the Wendigo” too, and have shared my personal copies with students who couldn’t wait for the library to get them in stock.

There is just enough of everything in the Monstrumologist series to make it cross over several genres, making it appealing to a broad group of readers. Speculative fiction has probably the broadest umbrella, but this is definitely for the horror/thriller aficionado, historical fiction fan, it has elements of steampunk and is deep in detail and grand in scope. This is a book written by a man, with male leads, that appeals to a male (and female) audience, and is challenging. If you are a fan of Young Adult Literature (and this IS literature) you MUST make room on your shelf for this amazing series. If you have “The Hunger Games” on your shelf, good for you, it’s great. Now, slide it over and make room for the Montrumologist series.

Monstrumology has been saved, for now. Make sure it stays that way, and in print, buy the books! Heck, buy the ebook, too! Tell your friends! Drive them to the store on Sept. 13th! Because if you don’t we’ll just be stuck with dreck that can be cranked out by plot engines, composed by computers and tapped out in ebook form, with someone’s “name” on it but no author required. There is a reason the industry is downsizing and book sellers are going bankrupt. Here is your opportunity to say, “Not today!”

The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard

So people are finally starting to figure out that Elmore Leonard is a master of fiction writing, and especially pacing and dialogue. Why Leonard is still "under the radar" is beyond me, but it would appear with his recent film successes he is finally getting some notoriety.

The Hot Kid is an excellent novel where Leonard has left his somewhat traditional Detroit for the dusty Prohibition Era Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bank robbers, gun molls, and U. S. Marshals make up the cast of characters that come alive as part of the intricate world that Leonard has created. U. S. Marshal Carl Webster is the at the center of the action, making a name for himself as a marshall who always gets his man. As we see Carl develop as a man and marshall, we see the parallel life of Jack Beaumont, and his rise to a nationally infamous wanted criminal.

Leonard excels in crime writing, and obviously the western. One of my all time favorite western short stories is The Tonto Woman. Now he can add historical fiction to the numerous feathers in his cap. Leonard has a way with dialogue and characterization that makes the reader even like the "villains". He name drops and alludes to activities that are not elaborated upon in the novel, but it gives a depth to the narrative and allows Leonard to jump off at any point and stick a short story in here and there to develop his world even further out side the confines of the novel. I had read two short stories, Louly and Pretty Boy (Louly becomes Carl's wife), and Tenkiller (the story of Carl's grandson), are both excellent stories in their own right, and it is definitely something I have learned from Leonard. The story does not end on the page. If you know, REALLY know your characters (enough to write tons of material about them) then that will translate directly to the page.