Stuff for the Teen Age

The Talking Dead: A Book List

They might not always be walking, but in the books on this list the dead are always talking. Ten books, in no particular order, where the dead sometimes walk, sometimes talk, and always play a huge part in the story. Books with that perfect eerie feel to get you in the mood for some candy... er, for Halloween I mean—obviously.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

The dead are walking in Oakvale, Connecticut—at least some of them are. No one knows why some teenagers come back and some don't. The only certainty is that there are those in Oakvale who'd prefer to see the dead stay buried. (You can also read my review here.)

 

 

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hannah Baker killed herself two weeks ago. There are thirteen reasons that led to her suicide. All of them are explained in the cassette tapes Clay Jensen received in the mail—including what part Clay himself played in Hannah's death. 

 

 

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel Sharpe is perfectly content being the straight arrow, ordinary guy in a family of crooked curse workers. That is when he's not being followed by a white cat that reminds him a lot of his best friend Lila—the girl he killed three years ago. (You can also read my review here.)

 

 

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

The people of Lumatere are scattered, some trapped inside the kingdom walls while others live as exiles, haunted by the ghosts of their tragic past. But there might be hope. It all begins ten years after the five days of the unspeakable, when Finnikin of Lumatere climbs a rock. (You can also read my review here.)

 

 

Curses, Inc. by Vivian Vande Velde

Curses are bought and sold, magic is real, and the dead walk in this eerie collection of short stories.

 

 

 

Drawing the Ocean by Carolyn MacCullough

Sadie is the new girl at school. Her brother keeps telling her to make friends. But it's not that easy to fit in when you still talk every day to your brother who died four years ago.

 

 

Sabriel by Garth Nix

When her father, the Abhorsen, becomes trapped in Death Sabriel has to assume her rightful duties as the next Abhorsen and save her father, and perhaps many others, from the dead that would keep him and claim the world of the living for themselves.

 

 

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Each full moon Jena and her sisters cross the wildwood to visit the enchanted glade of the Other Realm for a night of dancing and revelry. Everyone knows the wildwood is a dangerous place filled with witches, ghosts and all manner of other worldly creatures—and the lake that claimed Jena's cousin years ago. But no harm can come from dancing. Or can it? (You can also read my review here.)

 

 

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

Libby's older sister Kwan has yin eyes and can see the dead who dwell in the realm of Yin. At least, she says she can. When Libby travels to Kwan's native village in China for work, Libby starts to wonder if there is more truth to Kwan's ghost stories than she was willing to believe.

 

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Gemma Doyle doesn't want to have visions or the power to travel between this world only visible in death or dreams. But this other realm might be Gemma's only chance to make sense of her mother's death and her strange new powers.