Stuff for the Teen Age, Biblio File

Remembering the Chills and Thrills of Lois Duncan, YA Lit Icon

                      

Pioneering Young Adult author, Lois Duncan passed away on June 6th at the age of 82. You can ask pretty much anyone who grew up in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s in the U.S. and they will remember reading one of her iconic, teen suspense-thrillers with relish. Titles such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Stranger with My Face, Down a Dark Hall and my favorite, The Third Eye.  In fact, I can remember very clearly going to the library in my hometown, checking out The Third Eye and then racing home to read it. I could tell you what the cover looked like, how I savored every plot twist and swooned over the hot police detective with ice blue eyes. For whatever reason, the plot about a psychic girl who helps finds missing children has stuck with me all these years as has my respect for the author.

Duncan infused darkness and adult themes into her plots such as revenge, betrayal, secrets, jealousy, murder, and, of course, the most complicated theme of all,  love. She never talked down to her audience; she knew her readers could handle whatever she gave them. As sensational as some of her plots were, they were never salacious or gratuitous and they were very much grounded in reality. Sure, her books had ghosts, serial killers, and evil dopplegangers but ultimately her stories were about our need to belong, find family, and find acceptance. With her dark themes, supernatural twists, complicated characters, and ability to craft a page turner, Ms. Duncan helped create the YA genre as we know it today with it's rich, diverse characters, plots, and stories. In 1992, she was honored with the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to writings for teens.                                                                          

In later years, Ms. Duncan was swept up into her own mystery with the 1989 murder of her daughter, Kaitlyn, who was shot and killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When the police investigation went nowhere, she used her own money to investigate hiring reporters, private detectives and even psychics. She wrote a book on the search, Who Killed My Daughter in hopes of generating leads but to this day the case remains unsolved. After her real life mystery, her desire to write fictional ones dwindled. Her last YA novel, Gallows Hill, was published in 1997.

                                                                                   

Hard to believe that it's been almost 30 - 45 years since many of her teen novels were first published and have since been reissued multiple times and yet they continue to have the power to spark the imagination and send shivers down the spine. If you haven't read one yet or read one lately, now's your chance.
 

stranger

Stranger with My Face 
Laurie's friends keep accusing her of being some place she wasn't or saying things she never said and now her boyfriend is accusing her of cheating on him. However, Laurie remembers none of it. Either she's going crazy or there's something more malicious at work. (e-book)

 

 

killing

Killing Mr. Griffin 
They only meant to scare him. He was there toughest, meanest teacher and it was only supposed to be a harmless prank - until it wasn't.  Soon those involved start to die too. Turns out one of the pranksters could be a cold blooded killer.  (e-book) (audio)

 

 

summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer 
Four partying teens, out celebrating  graduation, hit and kill someone with their car. But to tell anyone could ruin their very bright futures and so they all agree to keep their responsibility a secret and drive away. Now it's a year later and one of them just got a note that calls them out for their lies. They'll need to outsmart their blackmailer or one of them could be the next to die. (e-book)

 

look

Don't Look Behind You 
After April's father testifies against a notorious drug dealer, the FBI puts the entire family in witness protection. April must change her name, move, and never talk about her past. When she tries to call her boyfriend she gets an agent killed. The wolves are circling and April doesn't know who she can trust. (e-book)

 

third

The Third Eye
Karen usually tries to hide her psychic abilities from people, but when she begins to see children that have gone missing and been found murdered, she finds herself in a life or death race against the clock! (e-book) (e-audio)

 

 

magic

A Gift of Magic
Nancy has been gifted with remarkable abilities. She can control the minds and actions of others. She soon realizes the dark implications of her new found skills. Until she learns to control them, bad things could happen, or someone could use her to control others. (e-book) (e-audio)


 

fear

Summer of Fear
From the moment Rachel's family takes in her orphaned cousin Julia, strange things start to happen. Rachel grows suspicious and soon finds herself alienated from her own life. With everyone charmed by Julia, it's up to Rachel to prove that Julia is putting them all in grave danger. (e-book

 

 

twisted

Twisted Window (e-book)
Tracy is attracted to Brad, the intense new boy in school, but there's something about him that isn't quite right. It's as if he knows too much about her. Then one day he confides in her: his little sister has been kidnapped by their stepfather and he needs Tracy's help to get her back. Even though she agrees to help him, some things just aren't adding up. 

 

RANSOM

Ransom (e-book)
Five teens all take the school bus to the last stop, Valley Gardens, the wealthiest neighborhood in town but instead letting of them off at their stop, the subsitute driver keeps going. Their kidnappers demand cash from the families, and if they can't or won't the teens will have to rescue themselves or face the consequences.

 

Locked

Locked in Time (e-book)
After Nore's Dad suddenly remarries, she goes down to Louisana to meet her new step-family. She finds a Southern mansion looking like something out of a Civil War movie and a family that is clearly hiding something. Going on purely instinct, Nore starts investigating but what she uncovers may even be more insidious than she realizes. (e-audio)

 

Dak Hall

Down a Dark Hall (e-book)
Out of the blue, Kit is recruited for an exclusive boarding school, Blackwood Hall. With it's towers and iron gates the place seems sinister and unwelcoming. Cut off from their families, she and the other students begin to show off new extraordinary talents and have strange dreams, and soon Kit wonders just what kind of school she's going to.

 

Daughters

Daughters of Eve (e-book)
Fed up with the sexism at their high school, girls start a club rooted in feminist philosophy, the "Daughters of Eve". Led by a teacher, Ms. Stark, it becomes a sisterhood, a secret society and their actions began to change how boys treat them. But Ms. Stark encourages them to take more drastic action, something more like revenge or vengeance.  (e-audio)

 

gallows

Gallows Hill
Working as a fortune teller at the school carnival, Sarah discovers that she really can see the futures of her classmates in the crystal ball. However, the town where she lives, has a dark history of hanging people they suspect of being witches. When some of kids at school become upset by her predictions coming true, the town's dark past could become it's present with Sarah first on the list!