Synopsis From Back Cover:
When Teddy Mathews moves to Richland, his main concern is making new friends. But something is not right about this quiet desert town: All the boys he meets seem to vanish before hie eyes, while the imposing shadows of the giant tree outside his home appear to be hiding more than darkness.
With the branches of the massive sycamore scratching at his window, Teddy's life becomes a waking nightmare that no one else believes. Can Teddy escape the tree's terrifying grasp and solve the mystery of the missing boys before he becomes the next boy to disappear?
I've been debating whether or not I wanted to stop reviewing YA until my son is a little older to read them. It seems that for the most part I either really like them or can do without. I think I'm going to have to keep reading them if they are anything like The Dead Boys.
This book is only 201 pages, but where it lacks in length it more than makes it up in storytelling. It's not every boy that can move to a new town and deal with a tree that is trying to eat him. Teddy is a strong young man who rather than hiding and being scared by the events surrounding him, decides to get to the bottom of it. From his first encounter with one of the missing boys, Teddy is determined to figure out why his new "friends" keep disappearing and why things don't quite add up.
Part of the reason why I wanted to read this book was because I've always been rather fascinated by "vampire" stories that don't quite fit into the typical mold. Two of my favorite short stories are about trees, "The Man-Eating Tree" by Phil Robinson and "The Sumach" by Ulric Daubeny both feature trees that feed off non traditional sources. The Dead Boys smoothly fits into that tradition and I'm looking forward to the day Aidan reads this all by himself.
This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.
5 comments:
I just review this one too and loved it. It is a fantastic middle school novel and I think it will appeal even to my more reluctant boy readers. Love your view of it too.
Excellent review and don't stop reading YA as long as it's something you want to read. I just read Jan's review and now yours...I'm ordering this one for my middle school shelves!!
This sounds great! Thanks for the review!
I have the same thoughts about young adult. I guess I will have to give this one a try, though.
So glad you enjoyed this book. :) You should keep reading them so you can have a nice stash of books for him when he is old enough. :) You can still chat about them with him then. :) Great review.
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