Two For Tuesday

It’s finally April! Only a few weeks until school is out and summer begins! But, not yet, so I will continue to blog about this morose topic until the end of the month. Here’s how this is going to work: Some of these books are just regular deaths, and others are murder mysteries. The murder mysteries will be scattered as part of my Find the Killer Mystery Week (even though it won’t be one consecutive week). Some of these books are critically acclaimed, and others are less well-known, but are very good. I’m going to officially kick it off with two books.

Me & Death: An Afterlife Adventure by Richard Scrimger

Jim is a fourteen-year-old wanna-be gangster and car theif. One day, after stealing some fruit, he is run into by a car. Jim is in a coma, but while he is, an old friend who has passed on is going to take him on a journey through the afterlife. Jim is not a good person, but he has a chance to save himself. He gets a chance to see what happens to you after you die, and what you lost from when you were alive. Too bad he's hardly interested, or he thinks this is all a dream.

But, Tadeusz, an old hero of Jim's, and some other afterlife-dwellers are going to surprise Jim. There is Denise, a Mourner who is always sad. There is Wolfgang, who is a new Grave Walker, and Morgan, who comes off as mean and angry, but for good reason; he is and always will be a Slayer. They show Jim his life from a new prespective in hopes that he will change his ways and save the people he knows on Earth, including his crazy sister and his wimpy former target, from the neighborhood psychopath.

RED'S ALL STAR RATING: 3 1/4 out of 5. I loved the storyline and the characters. Click here! to buy this book on Amazon.

The Afterlife by Gary Soto
Chuy thinks he is such a cool guy. He is meeting Rachel, a girl from his English class, at a dance in the local club. While he is in the restroom, looking at himself in the mirror, a guy comes up next to him. After Chuy gives the guy a compliment, the guy thinks he is making fun of him. So, he grabs Chuy and sticks a knife into him twice. He leaves Chuy there to bleed out on the floor of this dirty restroom in a club. Some luck, huh?

But, Chuy, whose real name is Jesús, hasn't exactly finished his time on Earth yet. Not alive, but he is a ghost next to his own dead body. And, strangely enough, his body parts dissapear every once and a while. He goes to his own funeral, has a strange conversation with Rachel, and meets a new ghost. Crystal was a cheerleader, vice-president, and a major jock. She is also dead, and the only person who understands Chuy.

RED'S ALL STAR REVEIW: 3 out of 5 stars. I know Soto's work, and this isn't my favorite book, but it pretty good. Click here! to buy this book on Amazon.

Now, both of these books are extremely short. Less than 200 pages, for you non-readers. An easy start to a month that includes authors like Todd Strasser, Gabrielle Zevin, Lauren Myracle and Carol Plum-Ucci. These books will be coming quick, so keep up with the readings and have a bloody good time.