Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26475800-20181105035146/@comment-4849011-20181105142659


 * Cracker Jackson by Betsy Byars- One day, this boy named Jackson receives an anonymous message reading, "Keep away, Cracker, or he'll hurt you." Although it's anonymous, he knows who sent it because his favorite former babysitter is the only one who ever called him "Cracker" (a nickname inspired by Cracker Jacks).  He goes to investigate, discovers she's being abused by her husband, and is determined to help her.  The whole book blends serious and humorous moments very well and has a number of interesting and human characters.
 * House of Stairs by William Sleator- This is a science-fiction novel, but I would also categorize it as psychological horror. Five teenagers wake up to find they've been put in a building with endless staircases, a toilet/drinking fountain, and no escape.  What ends up happening to them shows the darker side of the human psyche. Sleator does a good job of establishing the dark future these characters live in with simple dialogue.  For instance, one conversation tells us that not only does this world have massive highways over eight lanes wide, but also that the urban areas are so polluted that all cars now come equipped with gas masks.  It's also a little chilling when one character claims that computers are so much better than books because there are so many people today who are obsessed with technology and condemn anyone who doesn't have the same obsession.
 * The Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol- I've loved these books since childhood and they never get old. The characters are funny & engaging and the writing is great.  Of particular interest is Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake! which is described as both a casebook and a cookbook.  That's because it has a mystery and then has recipes related to the case.  For instance, one case has a stolen pinata, and the section that follows has Mexican recipes.  Sobol also wrote three books of two-minute mysteries, and it's interesting to compare the two series because some of them have the same mysteries/solutions, but A) they're written differently and have different scenarios and B) people straight up die in Two-Minute Mysteries while they're only knocked unconscious in Encyclopedia Brown.