After Dark - Perma-Bound Books

After Dark

Leck, James

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Kids Can Press

Annotation: When fifteen-year-old Charlie Harker moves to the sleepy town of Rolling Hills, he hears rumors of strange creatures and discovers a mysterious illness spreading across town that may not be what it seems.

Genre: [Horror fiction] [Mystery fiction]

Reviews: 1

Catalog Number: #5787703

Format: Paperback

Common Core/STEAM: Common Core

Publisher: Kids Can Press

Edition Date: 2016 Release Date: 04/05/16

Pages: 252 pages

ISBN: 1-7713-8344-5

ISBN 13: 978-1-7713-8344-8

Dewey: Fic

Dimensions: 20 cm.

Subject Heading:
Epidemics. Juvenile fiction.
Paranormal fiction.
Epidemics. Fiction.
Paranormal. Fiction.

Language: English

Reviews:

ALA Booklist

At the end of tenth grade, slacker prankster Charlie Harker is on the verge of getting kicked out of his exclusive boarding school. He is ready to lay on a beach all summer, so imagine his chagrin when his recently divorced mom whisks him off to Rolling Hills instead, where they will be converting a cobwebby old house into a B&B. Charlie is already in a bad mood when notoriously paranoid local kid Miles Van Helsing shows up and starts babbling about paranormal activity and humanoid creatures, but soon the clues are hard to ignore. In a snarky voice, Charlie narrates his adventures with Miles as they uncover secrets about not only the weird goings-on but also the whole town of Rolling Hills. Die-hard horror fans will delight in shout-outs to horror classics: Charlie's and Miles' last names are from Dracula; the town diner is called Romero's; and the coffee shop is run by the Frog Brothers, a nod to the 1987 movie The Lost Boys. Clever plot for junior fans of the X-Files.

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
ALA Booklist

Word Count: 63,139

Reading Level: 5.2

Interest Level: 5-9

Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.2 / points: 10.0 / quiz: 188037 / grade: Middle Grades

Lexile: 800L

Fifteen-year-old Charlie Harker is pretty disappointed to learn he'll be spending his summer vacation helping his mom renovate an old family inn in the ?hick town? of Rolling Hills. He much preferred his plan of lounging on a beach in Hawaii. And now he has to deal with his annoying neighbor Miles Van Helsing, who's been trying to convince him there's paranormal activity going on in town. Charlie knows this can't be true. Miles is just nuts, right? Although he has to admit, it is getting harder and harder to explain all the odd situations he keeps finding himself in, particularly once the sun goes down. And it does seem like an awful lot of people are getting sick ...

Author James Leck hits all the right notes in this young-adult novel: adventure, suspense, funny dialogue and, best of all, zombie-vampires! This fast-moving page-turner will be a favorite read for pre-teens. Leck has created an appealing character in Charlie: the lovable slacker and consummate prankster at Choke Academy boarding school who's always quick with a clever or sarcastic comment. But Charlie proves in the end that he can step up to a challenge and show leadership and courage when he needs to. With characteristics of several different genres, this book makes a great choice for a language arts discussion of literary genres. Despite the zombie-vampires, Leck deftly avoids the carnage, so the story never reaches the level of horror.

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