For the Love of Death

Teens have become fascinated with the morbid world so much, the covers represent it all.  Discover some stories where death is only the beginning.  Is it the main who died or is it part of the whole backstory take a dive into stories that are beyond the living.  

Looking to get personalized reading recommendations from DC Public Library staff?  Click below and a curated list will be sent directly to your inbox!

Get a Personalized Reading List

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh 

Welcome to the realm of the dead called Karthia.  Odessa is a necromancer with amazing talents that she is assigned to the Kingdom's ruling Dead.  Odessa is assigned to raising the nobles from the underworld of the Deadlands.  Dangerous creatures called Shades are made when the flesh of the dead is exposed.  There is a greatly growing number of shades and they are attacking the living.  Is Odessa's strong type of magic able to help.  Uncover the mystery of the attacks in this part one of a duology.  

Scythe by Neal Schusterman 

What if illness was completely eradicated, how does one's life actually end...you have to be gleamed, to actually be killed, by a Scythe - a professional reaper.  Follow two teens named, Citra and Rowan, as they are selected to be Scythe Apprentices.  Do Citra and Rowan really want to be Scythe's?  This is a role neither want, nor care for.  Despite their lack of interest, they are going to be taught about the amazing vocation of death and killing as it is a necessity of the world they live in.  Their path to becoming an apprentice ends when one of them kills the other...What better way to prove oneself as a scythe.  Uncover the morbid world of Citra and Rowan as they try not to kill each other.  

 Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are talented young women who keep to themselves.  The rest of the humans around don't realize that they are Streghe, witches of long Sicilian heritage and knowhow. When Emilia notices her sister is not home, she goes to look for her and finds her dead, not just being murdered but also desecrated.  Emilia now will go on the hunt for the murderer and this will take her down forbidden paths of her magic, to find the justice Vittoria deserves.  

Open Mic Night at Westminster Cemetery by Mary Amato

Lacy wakes up in a cemetery.  She apparently is dead and is being showed the ropes around Westminster Cemetery by Sam a soldier who died in 1865.  Sam will give her the guidance needed to stay with the others and to forego a more doomed afterlife.  Lacy always having been one who questioned the rules when she was alive, will now question the rules of the afterlife.  In order to keep herself and others entertained, she wants to put on an Open Mic night, hoping to include the Edgar Allen Poe.  

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Prosper Redding, one of the many wealthy family members of the Radding's, is doomed.  He has been chosen to be marked to be sacrificed by his family to continue their wealth and prosperity.  In Conjunction of a contract, he is paired with a dreadful demon prince, Alastair, who takes the shape of a White Fox.  The very cunning Alastair will do everything to be able to roam freely again and not be tied to the Redding family, especially with young Prosper.  Follow Prosper in his journey to finding out why he had to be sacrificed, why his family his dreadful, and if he can break the apparent contract with Alastair.