Graphic Novel: Orange

This graphic novel is definitely aimed at mature readers. With themes of violence, suicide, sex and drugs, it gives a teen perspective on a variety of shocking and disturbing topics.

This book tells the story of Orange, a teenager coming of age in the heart of a dense, gritty city. Orange has decided that she's got nothing worth living for: not her shallow friends, disengaged parents, nonexistent future: not even the empty promise of love. But just as she's poised to leap from a barren rooftop, a stranger enters her life, and changes everything.

This is a tale of discovery, growth, loss and redemption. There's no simple, happy ending to this tale; everything is complicated, and there's no easy answer to the terrible feelings of disconnection and isolation that drive Orange to her limits.

Readers will put down this graphic novel feeling confused, frightened, and inspired. The intense, brilliantly-hued art will captivate you; every page is a masterpiece, bursting with emotion and tension. Many teens will find some echo here of the confusion and isolation they feel as they make the difficult transition from childhood into adulthood. Orange's lesson - that life is worth living, even when painful - will inspire even as it hurts.

Graphic Novel

Grades 12 and up

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.

Fantasy: The Demon's Lexicon

This book will strongly appeal to teens who are tired of Twilight readalikes, but are still interested in titles that focus on werewolves, the occult, and other supernatural topics. This book is full of sinister magicians, secrets, an demons who long to possess the bodies of the unfortunate, and destroy the world.

Nick and his brother Alan are on the run. They've been running ever since their father was murdered by a circle of wizards, years before. Alan keeps trying to pretend that their lives are normal, but Nick knows that their family is anything but. They move everytime the witches catch up to them; they carry weapons everywhere; their mad mother hides in her room, and inexplicably hates the sight of Nick. The closest they get to normal is that Nick attends high school when he can...but only because Alan insists.

Things spiral out of control when two of Nick's classmates show up on the family's doorstep, begging for help. Jamie has been marked for death by a demon, and Alan takes a mark of his own defending them from an attack. Nick is furious: his only anchor in their chaotic life is Alan, and the only way to save his brother is to hunt down and kill the magicians and demons who are stalking them.

Nick is strong: he's always protected their family with his sword and his cold indifference for anything but their own future. When he discovers that Alan has been lying to him for years, the foundation of his strength is shaken, though not toppled. But then he discovers that the lie goes deeper than anything he could have imagined...right to the bottom of his soul.

This is a powerfully written book, with a totally unique main character. It's great to find a fresh and fascinating voice in a sea of books about vampires and other supernatural entities. I highly recommend this title.

Fantasy

Grades 9-12

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.