Friday, November 30, 2012

Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy)

So, is she dead or what? No, she isn't, she's just been busy. Life you know. And, actually, reading. Yes, busy reading. This has happened several evenings now, that I have found myself not turning on my xbox, but rather grabbing for a book. Very odd indeed.

Someone who actually is dead, though, is Skulduggery Pleasant. He is however even busier than me. And also quite odd. He is, in fact, both a skeleton and a detective. I found out about him researching literature that might suit the male population in my classes. In general, girls like reading more than boys do, and language teachers are more often female than male. This means the the books we suggest to our students, perhaps tend to suit the tastes of girls a little better than those of boys. So, I looked for books for boys. Imagine my surprise, then, when I started reading the first book about Mr Pleasant (Scepter of the Ancients), and the main character is 12 years old Stephanie. A girl. Wouldn't boys like a book about boys? Perhaps they would, but I would very much advise them to give Skulduggery and Stephanie a chance.

Stephanie inherits her uncle's huge house, and, staying there alone because of a storm, meets a completely new reality, of which the living skeleton detective is a part. This book isn't very difficult to read. It has fairly large letters, the language isn't very complicated, and it is very exciting. I just had to keep reading to see what would happen next. And that is, I think, what many young readers are looking for. Excitement on pretty much every page. Or, at least every second. If this is what you are looking for, give Skulduggery a try.