Elsewhere and Peeps

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin


Elsewhere is a place you go after your life here ends. You take a boat ride there and other people you know who have died are usually there to meet you. It looks a lot like here and seems a lot like here except people grow younger rather than older, when they become babies they are sent down the river to return to our earth as newborns. If you think of life as a giant tree the earth we know is the part above ground, Elsewhere is the roots, just a big and just as important but not seen or thought about. Life is seen as a series of circles along a line. This and much more is what Liz Hall learns after her tragic death at the age of 15. This is a story that gives a new explanation of what might happen after death and is an interesting read. Liz has a journey where she learns more about herself and life. This book is one of the ALA Top Ten 2006.



Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld once again gives us an exciting adventure story. Legends of vampires have been around for almost as long as people have been recording history. What if the stories are true, not that they are vampires but that there is a condition that results in vampire like traits. While most people with this parasite fall victim to its symptoms others are just carriers with controllable symptoms who train and hunt down the others, they call themselves Peeps. There seems to be something new happening to this system which has been in place hundreds of years to control the infected population. Cal has been infected for over a year now and thinks he has a handle on his parasite. He will be one of the first to discover these strange changes and must try and figure out what is going on and what he can do about it before its too late. This book was also an ALA Top Ten 2006