Shapeshifters, ghosts, androids, gods, MMORPGs, goblins, and more. This collection of short stories has it all. Each story is based on a traditional tale from the author's East or South Asian culture. Some stories stick closer to their traditional roots while some are set far in the future. But every one has a fantastical element that will transport you to another time and place. My favorite was Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong but they're all great. After each story is a brief note from the author explaining their inspiration and giving you a peek behind the scenes. A must-read for fans of speculative fiction looking for a global perspective.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh
Erica's Picks
7th & 8th
​tags: fantasy, fairy tales, global perspectives, People of Color, retellings, science fiction, supernatural

Miles Morales is done being Spider-Man. His spidey sense has gone haywire and got him in trouble at school. He has enough to worry about with a confederacy-obsessed history teacher who has it out for him and the nightmares about his uncle that have been plaguing Miles ever since his death. His best friend thinks he should just use his powers to pull stunts and make money. But when people from his neighborhood start disappearing, he discovers a supernatural conspiracy designed to keep Miles and his family down. Miles knows he has to don the suit once more and fight for what's right.

I love how this story has a solid grounding in real-life issues that teens can relate to. As an educator, I hated every moment reading about Miles's awful history teacher obsessed with teaching the lost-cause propaganda of the civil war. Unfortunately, teachers like that do exist and I love how Miles and his fellow students stand up to him. I love all the supporting characters from Miles's mom to his best friend Ganke. A great mix of real-world social justice and super hero justice.

Miles Morales Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
Erica's Picks
5th - 8th
​Tags: adventure, family life, friendship, issues fiction, people of color, school stories, social justice, supernatural

Daniel's grandmother is always warning about spirits that take children away, especially if they go out in the snow. Nevertheless, Daniel and Iris sneak out on the night of the first snowfall. When they see a ghost and discover they've been accidentally playing in an abandoned graveyard, they run back home. But even in her warm room, the cold doesn't leave Iris entirely. Ever since that night, strange things have been happening. She has the overwhelming urge to go back, into the dark and the cold and find the ghost again.

This is a spooky story about forgotten histories. Daniel and Iris start to research the graveyard and discover that it was an African-American cemetery from when the town was segregated. They try to discover more about the ghost of the girl that's haunting them, but the forgotten spirit has plans of its own. Strongly recommended.

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown
Erica's Picks
3rd - 6th
​Tags: family life, friendship, horror, people of color, school stories, supernatural

Years ago, shayateen djinn attacked the city of Noor and killed all the humans except three: Fatima, her adopted sister, and their elderly neighbor. Fatima discovered on that day that her blood can repel the creatures, but she has no idea why. Her past is a complete mystery to her. After the attack, Fatima and her sister forget the mystery in the daily struggle to get by. Until Noor once again becomes the victim of supernatural attacks, and Fatima is caught up in palace intrigue and the world of supernatural creatures. Could a girl from the slums be the city's only hope for survival? Or will the secrets from her past consume her?

I loved this fantasy novel set in a world based on Middle Eastern history and mythology. I was completely immersed in the world and enjoyed each twist and turn of the plot. 

The Candle and the Flame  by Nafiza Azad
Erica's Picks
​7th & 8th
Tags: character driven, family life, fantasy, global perspectives, people of color, romance, supernatural

In a Viking village plagued by supernatural foes, warriors must pass a trial when they come of age. If they fail, they are banished from the village unless they can accomplish an impossible task. Most don’t even survive a week. As the chief’s daughter, Rasmira has been training her whole life to take over from her father and lead her people in battle. But when she’s sabotaged in the trial, she’s sent away on her own. Her task? To kill the God that terrorizes the village. In the wild, she meets two others who have failed their trials and been banished. Together, they vow to help each other complete their tasks so they can return to their villages.

A viking adventure with a supernatural twist. This is a classic adventure full of monsters, quests, and revenge. The Norse setting makes it a little different and the characters are really well developed. The fast-paced plot will have you turning the pages and puzzling over how the characters can complete their impossible tasks. 

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller
Erica's Picks
Grades 7-8
​Tags: adventure, fast-paced, friendship, historical fiction, 

​If you believe in faeries, you should read this book as everything you thought about truth and the fierce beauty of that in-between world will be confirmed. If you don’t believe, you should even more so read this book so that you can experience that twilight world where dreams can be real and faerie “makings” encompass everything from transfiguration to keys made of poems and dance.
Clare is 14 and returned to Ireland and the domed underground house of her birth and the yew tree that grows within.  She is the latest of the tree’s guardians; her dead mother and all those grandmothers before her are a legacy.
Within the tree’s between place, she meets Finn, a boy part fairy, part human who she knew as a toddler.  Together they embark on quest to save the two worlds from forever closing which would cut the human world off from the ability to dream and create and the fairies from the ability to love.
Finn’s father Balor is a hideously fierce and unfeeling opponent to be faced and bound before he can destroy the gateway for ever. Here be true magic, both bright and dark. Gorgeous, haunting and wonderfully strange.  Dare to enter this world.


​Tessa's Picks, 5th-8th grade, Fairy tales, Fantasy, Supernatural

Fighting vampires is in Micheline's blood. It's been the family business ever since Van Helsing fought Dracula, and her bloodline gives her a distinct advantage: the ability to see the aura of the undead. For her, exorcising ghosts and shooting vampires is just another day in the office. Micheline and her crew respond to emergency calls armed to the teeth with weapons both mundane and specialized, including a modified camera that can capture the spiritual energy of ghosts. But for Micheline a bad day at the office doesn't mean a paper jam. It results in her and her crew getting infected with a soulchain that will kill them in a week or less, unless they can exorcise the ghost that cursed them. With new purpose and higher stakes than ever before, Micheline does what her family has been doing for centuries: she hunts.

This is a fantastic horror story. It pays homage to Dracula while creating its own world. The explanations of the science behind the supernatural elements is satisfyingly detailed.  The horror elements are truly terrifying and the plot fast-paced, except for a few passages of backstory. I particularly enjoyed that it's set in the SF Bay Area.

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Erica's Picks
8th grade
Tags: fast-paced, horror, retellings, supernatural

Imagine a vampire outbreak occurs: what would you do? Hunt them down? Stock-pile canned goods? Or would you wall them all up in cities and turn them into fodder for reality TV? It's hard for the camera or the public to resist vampires' unnaturally good looks and outlandish antics. At first when vampires were revealed to society it was terrifying, but now people are used to them. Many are rabid fans of the live streams from cold towns where the vampires live. Tana knows more about the dangers of vampires than most of her peers: her mother was turned years ago and the disease caused her to attack her own daughter. Tana still bears the scars. But it isn't extra caution just pure, dumb luck that keeps Tana alive when she wakes up after a party to find all her friends slaughtered. She doesn't know how the vampires got in, but her ex-boyfriend is the only other person still alive, and he has been infected. She saves him with help from the most unlikely source and together they venture to the nearest cold town knowing they may never come back out again.

The characterization was great even for characters with minor roles. The way vampirism is handled in the novel is interesting from the way people turn to more philosophical questions of whether it changes a person's nature or simply exaggerates it. There's a lot of action and narrow escapes but the characters never lose their sense of humor. I'd give this to anyone looking for a new twist on vampire stories.

Erica's Picks
8th Grade
Tags: Character Driven, Horror, LGBTQ, Romance, Supernatural,

When World War III ravaged the world a small group managed to survive in the remote Alaskan wilderness.  Juneau is one of the children of these survivors and has learned how to live off the land and tap into the heart of nature to work magic. When her tribe is taken while she's out hunting she ventures out of the safe zone for the first time and what she discovers shakes her to the very core: a whole city, completely untouched.  Is everything she was ever told a lie?  But her tribe is still missing and she must find them.  Now she has to survive in an environment she is completely unprepared for in a world where she has no idea whom to trust.

This story is told in the alternating perspectives of Juneau and Miles, the son of a pharmaceutical exec who wants to find Juneau to unlock the secret of why the adults in her tribe never age.  The pacing is quick and fans of Katniss will enjoy the capable Juneau.  Fans of supernatural stories will enjoy Juneau’s nature-based magic and animal lovers will enjoy Juneau's pets (dogs and a bird.)  

After the End by Amy Plum


Erica's Picks
7th & 8th Grade
Tags: Fast Paced, People of Color, Supernatural, Survivor