Happy Halloween, friends! I am the biggest scaredy cat in the world. In 2nd grade, I got so queasy when the teacher said blood that for our spelling test it was called “the b word” before the other kids spelled out B-L-O-O-D. I had to leave the theater during Parent Trap for the ear piercing scene. The only horror movie I’ve ever seen is Pet Cemetery – and I still think about it and get freaked out fifteen years later. Here are ten books featuring suspense, magical realism, witches, vampires, ghosts, or just some great spooky vibes. None of these were too scary for me (including There’s Someone Inside Your House – the only horror novel on the list) and I hope they won’t be for you! Continue reading “Not Too Scary Books for Halloween”
Julia and her family are grieving the death of her older sister, Olga. Olga was a perfect Mexican daughter to her immigrant parents. She didn’t go away to college. She didn’t move out after graduation. She happily cleaned and cooked with her mother and brought her father water to soak his feet in when he got home from his factory job. With her gone, Julia knows she can’t fill Olga’s role. She dreams of moving to New York City and becoming a writer, and has never been the obedient child her parents wanted. But when Julia discovers a pair of sexy underwear and a hotel key in Olga’s room, she learns that her big sister might not have been the perfect daughter everyone thought she was. In her grief, she focuses on finding out the truth about her sister’s life. At the same time, she struggles through growing pains with friends, the odds against her in applying for college, first romance, and her own mental illness. 
Through blogging and grad school, I’ve collected a few friends who are now published authors (some are even a few books deep). While I’m still waiting … waiting … waiting for my writing career to advance, I’ve been delighted by a lot of good news in the last few months for my friends and their books. Two pieces of good – no great – news are still unannounced, so I’ll keep those to myself for now. But in the meantime, here’s some book news that’s keeping me extra happy!
Alison Doherty 