Great Reading: Bookmark It!
Volume 30, Number 5, June
2003
Weird Families
Grades 6-12
Rosemary Chance
Abarat. Clive Barker.
Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins,
2002. $24.99. 0-06-028092-1. This odd fantasy peopled
with weird but fascinating characters contains traditional
elements of fantasy: a battle between good and evil,
a quest and an invented world. The story begins in
boring Chickentown, USA, with Candy Quackenbush as
an unlikely heroine.
Abhorsen. Garth Nix.
HarperCollins, 2003. $17.99.
0-06-027825-0. This sequel to Sabriel and Lirael by
Australian author Nix ends the trilogy with Lirael’s
emergence as a capable Abhorsen, a necromancer who
returns souls to death. She and Prince Sameth join
their talents to subdue Orannis, an evil force intent
on destroying the world. This is the darkest, most
menacing of the three fantasies.
Feed. M. T. Anderson.
Candlewick, 2002. $16.99.
0-7636-1726-1. Titus lives in a future society where
everyone has computer implants with constant messages,
advertisements and programs running through their heads.
Titus meets a girl whose “feed” was implanted
late, and she dies a terrible death. Before her death,
she plants the seeds of nonconformity in Titus. This
chilling, fast-paced story will mesmerize readers.
 Rosemary
Chance is assistant professor in the School of
Library and Information Science at the University
of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She can
be reached at rchance@student.necc.cc.ms.us.
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