{"id":54,"date":"2011-10-21T23:12:37","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T23:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/?p=54"},"modified":"2011-10-25T02:54:13","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T02:54:13","slug":"book-review-teeth-edited-by-ellen-datlow-and-terri-windling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Teeth edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/teethvsmp.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55\" title=\"teethvsmp\" src=\"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/teethvsmp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"128\" height=\"192\" \/><\/a>Teeth<\/em> edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling<br \/>\nHarper Teen, 2011<br \/>\nISBN: 978-0-06-193515-2<br \/>\nAvailable: New Paperback<\/p>\n<p><em>Teeth<\/em> is a ripping collection of nineteen vampire stories contributed by proven authors, including Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix and Tanith Lee. Each one is dark and original, and many are ethnic tales, making the collection a great world legends anthology. There is some humor, and plenty of teen angst, but mixed among these benign elements are stories with gruesome themes and vampire violence.\u00a0 Overall, the subjects stay securely in the young adult arena, but most are sophisticated enough for adults.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cIntroduction\u201d by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow is fascinating reading, dealing with legends and the evolution of the genre. Vampire lovers and short story readers will all find something to love about this collection. Here are a few of my favorite stories:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings to Know About Being Dead\u201d by Genevieve Valentine<br \/>\nSue is a high school student\u00a0 who doesn\u2019t quite survive her best friend slamming their car into a tree. It\u2019s not easy to hide being Jiang-shi, an undead blood drinker; and it\u2019s a nasty state; the usual vampiric perks do not apply. Plagued by anxiety over her difficult immortality, Sue takes comfort in her ghostly new friend, Jake, a suicide victim she somehow brought back into the living world. Without the advice and sacrifice of her grandmother, Sue would surely deteriorate into a demonic dirt-sleeper.\u00a0 How will she cope when her grandmother dies?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBaby\u201d by Kathe Koja<br \/>\nCreepy and stylistic, \u201cBaby\u201d deals with the unsavory relationship of a little girl, Jani and a jealous, doll size demon-creature who sweetly \u201clatches on\u201d to her, drawing blood and creating a permanent bond. Bizarre psychological turmoil is uncovered as Jani\u2019s needs change and she outgrows her \u201cbaby.\u201d This is a short, haunting tale of obsession and dependency, and, while the text isn\u2019t graphic, the dark implications are effectively disturbing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll Smiles\u201d by Steve Berman<br \/>\nSaul manages to escape from a boot camp for teen offenders, only to land in a far worse spot: the front seat of a sleek sedan driven by Marley and Dutch, gorgeous siblings with dazzling smiles and a demonic will to party. Saul\u2019s happy with the ride until he reveals his tattoo of Hebrew scripture, and the pair reveal their true natures. The ink prevents them from eating him, and Saul will have his chance to be a hero. The choices Saul makes once he\u2019s out of danger are bold and leave the reader hoping for a sequel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Perfect Dinner Party\u201d by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black<br \/>\nJenny, Charles\u2019 little sister, describes the finer points of Southern etiquette. Courtesy counts, even if you plan to kill your guests and drink their blood. Charles just wants a girlfriend he can keep with him forever; unfortunately, no one measures up to Jenny\u2019s ideal.\u00a0 As the pair entertain a potential mate, their maker, Mr. DuChamp enters and spoils the whole party. Reminiscent of Anne Rice, the veteran authors paint a gorgeous American Gothic tale with a cool sensitivity to the perils and perks of being undead.<\/p>\n<p>Highly recommended for 6<sup>th<\/sup> grade to adult.<\/p>\n<p>Contains: mild violence, veiled sexual and drug references.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">Reviewed by: Sheila Shedd<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Teeth edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling Harper Teen, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-193515-2 Available: New Paperback Teeth is a ripping collection of nineteen vampire stories contributed by proven authors, including Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix and Tanith Lee. Each one is dark and original, and many are ethnic tales, making the collection [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,8],"tags":[11,7,12,9,10,126,6],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-vampires","tag-book","tag-book-review","tag-review","tag-teen-vampires","tag-vampire","tag-vampires","tag-young-adult-vampires"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Eu9f-S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}