New Reads - The Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Much more violent than I expected... Cringingly so. This one makes me wonder what YA genre is, exactly. I compare it to the style of The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, which was marketed as adult, albeit not horror. I actually think teens might have a difficult time with the language in this book, but they probably deserve the challenge.

And cheers to the Printz committee for awarding this book an Honor. The story is not typical awards fare (and thank goodness for that!), but it definitely stands out for the authentic voice and beautifully written, and effectively nauseating, prose.



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Help Me Create the Ultimate Nightmare!

Hello Everyone,

Last October, in celebration of The Stone Child's release, I presented a contest on this blog where I wrote a ghost story a day and asked you all to guess whether it was "real" or "fiction."

THIS YEAR, to say "cheers" to The NIGHTMARYS, my newest book, I'm doing something different.

I invite you to participate in my next writing project. I want to hear about your greatest fears, nightmares, and phobias.

In the comments section of this post, leave me a little story. It can be a description of your worst nightmare. It can be an experience that totally freaked you out or something you fear might happen.

At the end of the month, on Halloween, I will read through your comments, plucking elements from each to create one huge, epic Nightmare story which I will post on this site. And I will choose at random a commenter who participates to receive a signed hardcover copy of The NIGHTMARYS.

How's that for a Halloween surprise?

A couple caveats: to win, you must follow this blog. AND, if I feel like I'm not getting enough comments from you, dear readers, the game is forfeit. SO SPREAD THE WORD. If you want to help me write my next scary story... direct your friends to this site. And tell them to scare me!

Together, we can frighten the WORLD. Mwah-hah-hah!

All best nightmares,
Dan

Oh Look! A Nightmarys Giveaway!

Head over to Books and Literature for Teens if you want to win a free copy of The Nightmarys...

AND there's a great fat interview with moi, if you're into that sort of thing.

Click here:

http://booksandliteratureforteens.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-with-dan-poblocki-and.html

My New News...

So after long last, I can officially make this announcement.

Actually, this is from Publishers Lunch:

"Dan Poblocki's HAUNTINGS AND HEISTS (The Mysterious Four #1), [is] about four kids in the oddball community of Moon Hollow who come together to solve crimes and puzzles big and small: debunking sea monsters, thwarting bullies, or revealing who threw out mom's asparagus; they will figure out the truth in six clues or less, and readers are invited to guess alongside them each step of the way..."

What this means is I have THREE books coming out next year! The Mysterious Four will be a lot of fun. I can't wait to share them with you...

xo Dan

Mom and the Nightmarys

So my sister forwarded me this pic from my mother and Bruce who had to go searching throughout Massachusetts to find a copy of my new book because she didn't want to order it online!


She found a bunch of copies in Framingham! Go Framingham! Go Mom and Bruce!

Ha!

xo

Wait Wait This One is So Much Cooler!

Arcade Fire and Local Natives

I got some new music! I recommend you get it too.