This consideration of the rise of paranormal young adult fiction focuses on popular contemporary titles lightly contextualized in a historical frame. Bodart prefaces her discussion with commentary on the “culture of fear” surrounding today’s young adults, and how the perceived increased dangers in their lives make supernatural monsters a vicarious way to deal with them. The book is divided into four sections: “Vampires: The Aristocratic Monster”; “Shapeshifters: The Transforming Monster”; “Zombies: The Reanimated, Resurrected Monster; and “Angels, Unicorns, Demons: The Unexpectedly Deadly Monsters.” Each section opens with an overview of the literary and, when applicable, folkloric history of each supernatural being. Plot summaries of four popular contemporary offerings (single titles and series) follow, such as the Cynthia Leitich Smith’s “Tantalize” series (vampires) (Candlewick), Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate (shapeshifters) (Delacorte, 1997), A.J. Whitten’s The Cellar (zombies) (Houghton, 2011), and Diana Peterfreund’s “Rampant” series (unicorns) (HarperCollins). Excerpts from author interviews, including book-and-author related online resources, enrich the accessible text. Effort is made to connect the nature of the particular monster being discussed to the developmental stages of young adults, as well as to occurrences such as the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. . . . Bodart uses sources such as pop-culture icon Stephen King, developmental authorities Piaget and Erikson, and professional LIS journal articles to expand her discussion and inform her conclusions. This is an informative look at a popular publishing phenomenon. An appendix lists recent paranormal series titles (stand-alone, continuing, complete, and unknown) and provides a solid core for collections of this particular genre.
