Guys Read: Thriller edited by Jon Scieszka

This book is a collection of short stories with a thriller theme. While the stories are "guaranteed to thrill, [and] chill," it falls a little short depending on the audience. It is a great introduction, though, to many popular young adult authors, such as M.T. Anderson, Walter Dean Myers, James Patterson, Anthony Horowitz and others.

Ten stories form this collection. They range from haunted houses and ghost to missing people to threatening people like pirates and thieves and even mysterious monsters. Young boys are the main character of each story - hence the "guy" read aspect. That doesn't mean, though, that girls cannot read this book, although they are not the target audience. As with most story collection, some stories are more exciting than others, but they all seem to fit the theme. Initially I had been a bit disappointed in the book because I didn't feel that the stories were exceptionally thrilling or scary - I felt no chills. I figured this could be from one or two reasons - audience or the fact that these are short stories. Although I'm sure Edgar Allen Poe would disagree, sometimes short stories don't offer enough development or details in terms of stories to really catch you. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't - the same can be said for regular novels. Audience is another factor. This book is targeted for ages 8-12, which definitely explains the PG quality of stories. In no way is that a bad thing, except when you're expecting and hoping for PG-13 or higher like I had been expecting. This book is great for kids who want a few thrills without it being too scary or for the younger audience getting into thrilling stories. It might be a disappointment, though, for experienced thrill seekers.

This novel has an amazing assortment of popular young adult authors. They all come together to write thrilling but a bit tame stories. It was a good book and the stories are enjoyable.
MMK