teens | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Prom Can Be Hell

As we “spring into terror” it’s time to recognize a truly special time of year- prom season. As anyone who survived high school can testify, it’s a dangerous (and angsty) time of year. Even if you don’t read horror, you probably know of Carrie, Stephen King’s terrifying novel, made into a movie starring Sissy Spacek. I read it in high school, during study hall, and just as the bell rang in the book, the bell for class dismissal rang in my classroom. I jumped right out of my chair. It’s hardly King’s scariest book, but the cruelty other girls show towards Carrie is unforgettable to me.

If it were only one book, maybe I wouldn’t have seen a trend. But it’s not just one book. It’s hard to write about high school at all without some kind of (to paraphrase Lewis Carroll)”will he, won’t he, will he, won’t he, will he join the dance”? I don’t read a lot of adult horror (and, in spite of the number of teens who read Stephen King, he wasn’t targeting that audience with Carrie) but there sure are a lot of YA titles that center on the prom, or some other important high school dance. I can’t say I’ve read them all, and we definitely don’t have reviews up for all of them (I have linked to the reviews for the ones we have) but especially lately there have been enough of them for me to provide you with a list of related books here, if you’d like to go beyond the classic King title.

Some recent ones include:

ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley (centers on a Halloween dance)

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Love is Hell by Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr, Justine Larbalestier, and Gabrielle Zevin

Never Slow Dance With A Zombie by E. Van Lowe (features a “winter formal”)

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Prom Nights from Hell by Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Meg Cabot, and Lauren Myracle

Suzi Clue: The Prom Queen Curse by Michelle Kehm

Zombie Queen of Newbery High by Amanda Ashby

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier. “Prom Night”, by Libba Bray, is a strong finish to this fantastic anthology.

And here are some oldies, including a couple by tween horrormeister R.L. Stine.

Prom Dress by Lael Littke

Prom Date by Diane Hoh

Fear Street: The Prom Queen by R.L. Stine

Fear Street Seniors: Prom Date by R.L. Stine

If you know of any other great scary stories that take place at a school dance, leave a comment so we can add to the list!

Parents, because prom can (obviously) have all kinds of hazards (beyond the ghosts and zombies attracted to the teen dance scene), you might want to look into some prom safety tips. And, for all you prom-goers, please don’t drink or text while driving or get in a car with someone who is, keep your cell phone charged, and stay sharp. Call your parents or 911 if things get bad. I mean, I hope you do that anyway, but please take extra care.

The “Ick” Factor in YA Fiction

A trend I’ve noticed lately in YA fiction, especially the paranormal titles aimed at teen girls, is something I call the “ick” factor.

When I’m reading a YA paranormal and all of a sudden I’m knocked out of the story because the situation is so wrong I can’t buy it, or because the characters are acting in ways that make me want to shake them…. usually, that’s because of the “ick” factor.

“Hush, Hush” is a great example of this. Nora, the narrator, intuitively KNOWS that Patch, who she’s been paired with for a school unit on human sexuality is creepy. She asks to change partners, and the teacher not only refuses, he singles them out in class and requires her to tutor her partner. This goes beyond just icky behavior to disturbing. And that doesn’t even touch on the way Nora starts to act when she is around Patch. He acts creepy. He’s a jerk to her. He even tells her he’s a threat to her. Yet she constantly puts herself in danger to be with him. “Hush, Hush” is a bestseller, so lots and lots of girls are reading about Nora and Patch. I’ll also say the cover art is amazing, and screams out “pick me up”! A lot of people obviously have.

But that’s just one outstanding example of the “ick” factor. Sometimes the “ick” factor is almost under the radar. I hate to pick on Jackson Pearce, but the age difference of five years between the romantically involved characters in “Sisters Red” (he’s 21, she’s 16)… well, frankly, most people who see a 21 year old getting involved with a high school aged girl wonder what’s up. I like “Sisters Red”, but the age thing bugs me.

Now, I don’t see this in all YA books. The Generation Dead books by Daniel Waters are great, with strong protagonists and organically flowing plots… I don’t get that icky feeling (even though many of the characters are zombies… THAT’s an accomplishment}. So I know those books, the YA books I can feel good about reading and recommending, are out there. The question is, are they finding their way to those voracious YA-I-loved-Twilight readers? I would hate to think that a lack awesome cover art and marketing are keeping good YA books from getting into the hands of people who would love them, if they only knew.

Suggestions, anyone?