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Alex Awards - Anansi Boys
If You Like Neil Gaiman Booklist
Page Modified:
April 7, 2008
If you like fast paced books that cross genres ( Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction for example), packed with literary & mythical allusions, with engaging and strong characters, dark overtones tinged with humor . . .
- Anansi Boys

Author: Gaiman, Neil
Publisher: Morrow $ 26.95 ISBN: 006051518x Date: 2005
Kirkus
PW
Booklist
Alex Award
Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spirit of rebellion able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. When he dies on a karaoke stage, things get very interesting for Charlie.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Legendary Characters | Speculative Fiction for the Reluctant | Adult Books for Teens
Updated 8.15.05
These are adult titles suggested for teens - not all books are suitable for all readers. Please use your judgement when considering these titles.
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram
Book Magazine, unless noted.
- Running With the Demon
Brooks, Terry
Fawcett Books Date: 1997-09 $ 25.95 ISBN: 0345379624 Date:
1997
Publishers Weekly
In a sleepy steel-mill town, the ultimate battle between Good and Evil is about to begin. The brewing conflict draws John Ross, a Knight of the Word, to town. Nightmares tell him that an ancient horror is coming. Caught between them is Nest Freemark, a 14-year-old-girl with the gift. Now the future of humanity depends upon a man haunted by his dreams and a gifted young girl--two who will discover what survives when hope and innocence are shattered forever.
- Land of Laughs
Author: Carroll, Jonathan
Publisher: Viking $ 10.95 ISBN: 0670417556 Date: 1980
Thomas Abbey doesn't know what he wants in life, or in his relationship with the intense Saxony Gardner. Nothing in his life has touched him so deeply, though, as the magical children's novels of Marshall France, who died at 44. Thomas and Saxony arrive in France's hometown in Missouri to write his biography, and slowly begin to see that the magic of Marshall France extends far beyond the printed page.
Updated 5.22.06
- Widdershins
Author: De Lint, Charles
Publisher: Tor $ 27.95 ISBN: 0765312859 Date: 2006
Booklist
Introduced in the first Newford story, "Timeskip," Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell's story is finally being told in this stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford's Crowsea area.
Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy | Adult Books for Young Adults
Updated 3.16.06
- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Author: Gaiman, Neil and Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Workman $ 18.95 ISBN: 0894808532 Date: 1990
Two manic British guys, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, present an irresistible story of the world's end, in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Monty Python meeting Stephen King. The Apocalypse has never been funnier.
Updated 5.22.06
- Neverwhere
Author: Gaiman, Neil
Publisher: Avon $ 24 ISBN: 0380973634 Date: 1997
Kirkus
A masterful work of dark, haunting power by the author of the bestselling graphic novel The Sandman. The day after Richard Mayhew rescues a young girl he finds bleeding on the sidewalk, his life is radically changed. He finds himself living in an underworld that exists in a subterranean labyrinth beneath London.
Updated 5.24.06
- Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
Author: Gaiman, Neil
Publisher: Avon $ 24 ISBN: 0380973642 Date: 1998
Kirkus
A mesmerizing collection of short stories that combines rare mythic power with profound human insight, from the bestselling author of Neverwhere.
Updated 5.24.06
- Stardust
Author: Gaiman, Neil
Publisher: Avon $ 22 ISBN: 0380977281 Date:1999
BL
PW
Kirkus
From the extraordinary imagination of Neil Gaiman - bestselling author of
Neverwhere - comes a haunting fable of love, duty and magical lands.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
- American Gods
Author: Gaiman, Neil
Publisher: Avon $ 26 ISBN: 0380973650 Date:
2001
Kirkus
LJ
Alex Award
A master of inventive fiction pens the story of an ex-con who is offered a
job as a bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, a trickster and a rogue. Shadow soon
learns that his role in the man's schemes are far more dangerous and dark
than he could have ever imagined.
Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars
- The Tooth Fairy
Author: Joyce, Graham
Publisher: Tor Books $ 22.95 ISBN: 031286261X Date: 1998
BL
Kirkus
PW
The award-winning author of Requiem returns with a blackly comic,
disturbingly erotic tale of an ordinary boy named Sam - and the unearthly
being only he can see. Is she real - or is she just a figment of his turbulent
imagination? All Sam knows, as he grows from childhood to adolescence, is
that she is never very far away.
Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars | All Stars
| Legendary Characters
- Dark Sister
Author: Joyce, Graham
Publisher: Tor $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312866321 Date: 1999
PW
BL
Alex and Maggie think they live in an ordinary townhouse, until they discover
a diary containing secret Wiccan herb-lore - and awaken a malevolent force
they can't control.
Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars
- Eyes of the Dragon
Author: King, Stephen
Publisher: Viking $ 21.95 ISBN: 067081458x Date: 1987
Stephen King takes the classic fairy-tale form and transforms it into a captivating tale of archetypal heroes and sweeping adventures, of dragons and princes and evil wizards.
Updated 5.24.06
- The Lies of Locke Lamora
Author: Lynch, Scott
Publisher: Spectra $ 23 ISBN: 0553804677 Date: 2006
Booklist
Debut author Lynch pens a witty and fast-paced narrative that is nearly as much of a con as the wily schemes of its hero.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Adult Books for Teens
Updated 5.4.06
- Sunshine
Author: McKinley, Robin
Publisher: Berkeley $ 23.95 ISBN: 0425191788 Date: 2003
PW
Unfortunately, she wasn't alone. She never heard them coming. Of course she
wouldn't, when they're vampires. A new direction for an already successful fantasy
author.
Suggested Reading: Contemporary Fantasy Stars | Adult Books For Teens
Updated 10.2.03
- Monstrous Regiment
Author: Pratchett, Terry
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 006001315X Date: 2003
PW
The 29th entry in Pratchett's internationally bestselling Discworld series
explores the art of war and the brave women who wage it.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Douglas Adams
Updated 9.08.03
- The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
Author: Rankin, Robert
Publisher: Gollancz $ 9.95 (paper) ISBN: 0575074019 Date: 2004
PW
Toy Town...now older, bigger, and certainly not wiser. The Old Rich, who have made their millions from the royalties on their world-famous nursery rhymes, are being murdered. One by one. Horribly. A psychopath is on the loose. He must be stopped at any cost. It's a job for toy Town's only detective--but he's missing, leaving only Eddie Bear, and his bestest friend Jack, to track down the mad killer. A hilarious, very irreverent fantasy from the cult creator of Web Site Story, The Sprouts of Wrath, and the five-book Brentford Trilogy. - Publisher Marketing
Suggested Reading: If You Like Douglas Adams | Rhyming Stars
Updated 1.21.04
- Celestial Dogs
Author: Russell, Jay S.
Publisher: St Martins $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312150768 Date: 1997
In the 1960s, Marty was the teen heartthrob of TV's "Salt & Pepper". Now Marty is in his 40s and P.I. work is his gig. When some subhuman begins eviscerating street girls, Marty finds himself caught in an investigation that will take him to the absolute bottom of Hollywood--only to discover that he's been there before, when he thought he was at the top. Series includes: Burning Bright and Greed and Stuff
Updated 5.16.06
- Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy
Author: Sarrantonio, Al (ed)
Publisher: Roc $ 24.95 ISBN: 0451459776 Date: 2004
PW
This daring, all-new anthology showcases some of the genre's biggest names and
best newcomers--and sets the standard for fantasy in the 21st century. Included
are new stories by Neil Gaiman, Harry Turtledove, and more.
Suggested Reading: Adult Books for Teens
Updated 5.17.04
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