Gr 9 Up—The all-star lineup of authors of these supernatural tales will attract readers, but none of the selections truly surprise. The settings range from the French countryside to a Jamaican villa and the protagonists include a vampire, a witch, and a couple of normal girls whose vacations turn into nightmares. The most winning entry is Maureen Johnston's "The Law of Suspects," in which two sisters are exposed to a story that turns its listeners into killers. It succeeds more as a black comedy of errors than as a chilling horror story. Bray's "Nowhere is Safe" is refreshing because the narrator is male and the characters don't fit the blond-haired, blue-eyed mold. But the author makes such a to-do about her characters' Haitian, Japanese, and Jewish identities that it feels sort of like an after-school special, and the Slavic village's sacrifice ritual is neither funny nor particularly scary. Overall, this is a good beach read for some, but the collection won't attract a diverse audience.—Emily R. Brown, Providence Public Library, RI
Written by some of today's most exciting teen authors, Vacations from Hell offers five unique takes on a universal experience-unforgettable trips.
This third Hell collection features stories of vacations that take a serious turn for the worse when paranormal elements interfere.
Claudia Gray's teen witch falls for the wrong guy on her family's yearly beach trip,
Cassandra Clare's heroine confronts a vengeful and powerful woman while taking in the Jamaican sun.
The cruise ship in Sarah Mlynowski's story carries some dead, soon-to-be-dead, and even some un-dead passengers aboard.
Libba Bray takes us to a town in Eastern Europe with a dark and bloody past.
And a paranoid madness born in the French Revolution reaches across time to turn sister against sister in Maureen Johnson's tale.
Written by some of today's most exciting teen authors, Vacations from Hell offers five unique takes on a universal experience-unforgettable trips.
This third Hell collection features stories of vacations that take a serious turn for the worse when paranormal elements interfere.
Claudia Gray's teen witch falls for the wrong guy on her family's yearly beach trip,
Cassandra Clare's heroine confronts a vengeful and powerful woman while taking in the Jamaican sun.
The cruise ship in Sarah Mlynowski's story carries some dead, soon-to-be-dead, and even some un-dead passengers aboard.
Libba Bray takes us to a town in Eastern Europe with a dark and bloody past.
And a paranoid madness born in the French Revolution reaches across time to turn sister against sister in Maureen Johnson's tale.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940172964619 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins |
Publication date: | 12/14/2011 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Sales rank: | 976,612 |