Rhett McLaughlin

Link Neal

Lance Rubin

It's 1992 in Bleak Creek, North Carolina, a sleepy little place with all the trappings of an ordinary Southern town- two Baptist churches, friendly smiles coupled with silent judgments, and a seemingly unquenchable appetite for pork products. Beneath the town's cheerful fa ade, however, Bleak Creek teens live in constant fear of being sent to The Whitewood School, a local reformatory with a record of putting unruly teens back on the straight and narrow-a record so impeccable that almost everyone is willing to ignore the mysterious deaths that have occurred there over the past decade. At first, high school freshmen Rex McClendon and Leif Nelson believe what they've been told-that the students' strange demises were all tragic accidents. But when the shoot for their low-budget horror masterpiece, PolterDog, goes horribly awry-and their best friend, Alicia Boykins, is sent to Whitewood as punishment-Rex and Leif are forced to question everything they know about their unassuming hometown and its cherished school for delinquents. Eager to rescue their friend, Rex and Leif pair up with recent NYU film school grad Janine Blitstein to begin piecing together the unsettling truth of the school and its mysterious founder, Wayne Whitewood. What they find, with Alicia's life hanging in the balance, will leave them battling an evil beyond their wildest teenage imaginations-one that will shake Bleak Creek to its core.

A Novel

The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek

'Denton's funny, self-effacing genuineness will keep readers rooting for him' Kirkus Reviews 'Full belly-laugh funny' Notes From The Underground 'Freaking hilarious' goodreads.com 'Very, very funny . . . fresh, original and an absolute joy to read' thebookbag.co.uk 'This book! Oh my god, this book is brilliant! … It's so exciting and awesome! Who has ever heard of a teen angsty, hilariously funny, fast-paced, exciting dystopian? I love it!' Once Upon a Bookcase The first of two books, Denton Little's Deathdateis an utterly gripping read - with a killer plot twist, hilarious characters, and atruly memorable voice. Imminent death has never been so funny!Denton Little's Deathdatetakes place in a world exactly like our own - except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that's in just two days - the day of his senior prom. Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life - but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle (the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend's sister. Though he's not totallysure - see, first hangover). His anxiety builds when he discovers a mysterious purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? Then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton's long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious characters . . . Suddenly Denton's life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers. Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, gripping, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager's life as he searches for love, meaning and (just maybe) a way to live on . . .

Denton Little's Deathdate

Living sucks when you have to pretend to be dead. SPOLER ALERT: Denton didn't die. But as the only person in the world, apparently, not to have kicked it on his deathdate, there are lots of people after him. And some of those people are not good people. And some of them would rather just kill him than have to deal with it. And also his Mum's involved. Even though he thought she was dead too. It's all pretty confusing. Lance Rubin's incredible sense of humour shines through once again in this laugh-out-loud sequel to DENTON LITTLE'S DEATHDATE. An outrageously funny read, perfect for fans of Judd Apatow, The Big Bang Theory and John Green. Praise for Denton Little's Deathdate: 'Denton's funny, self-effacing genuineness will keep readers rooting for him' Kirkus Reviews 'Full belly-laugh funny' Notes From The Underground 'Freaking hilarious' goodreads.com 'Very, very funny . . . fresh, original and an absolute joy to read' thebookbag.co.uk 'This book! Oh my god, this book is brilliant! … It's so exciting and awesome! Who has ever heard of a teen angsty, hilariously funny, fast-paced, exciting dystopian? I love it!...' Once Upon a Bookcase 'Nothing short of incredible' Diva Booknerd 'This page-turner sparkles with hilarious dialogue, deadpan drollness, roller-coaster plot twists, and wryly presented coming-of-age revelations' School Libraries Journal

Denton Little's Still Not Dead

A tragicomic story of bad dates, bad news, bad performances, and one girl's determination to find the funny in high school from the author of Denton Little's Deathdate. Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already knows: she's hilarious. It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration. Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he's even . . . flirting? Just when Winnie's ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he's been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad's still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie's prepared to be his straight man if that's what he wants. But is it what he needs? Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie's struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through. **A Junior Library Guild Selection**

Crying Laughing

"Denton and his quirky friends are laugh-out-loud funny, even as their riotous adventures raise deeper questions about science, government control, life, and death." -- SLJ You only live once—unless you’re Denton Little! Denton Little lives in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. The good news: Denton has lived through his deathdate. Yay! The bad news: He’s being chased by the DIA (Death Investigation Agency), he can never see his family again, and he may now die anytime. Huh. Cheating death isn’t quite as awesome as Denton would have thought. . . . Lance Rubin’s debut novel, Denton Little’s Deathdate, showed readers just how funny and poignant imminent death could be. Now in this sequel, he takes on the big questions about life. How do we cope, knowing we could die at any time? Would you save someone from dying even if they were a horrible person? Is it wrong to kiss the girl your best friend is crushing on if she’s really into you instead? What if she’s wearing bacon lip gloss? Praise for Denton Little’s Deathdate: “Highly original, fantastically entertaining, and laugh-out-loud funny, Denton Little’s Deathdate is a wild romp through a night like no other.” —Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Geography of You and Me “Let’s all pray the grim reaper is even half as witty (and wise) as the deadly talented Lance Rubin. Till then: skip this book at your own peril.” —Tim Federle, author of Better Nate than Ever and The Great American Whatever “Rubin is really funny, but like John Green, he manages to be poignant. . . . In other words, it’s a keeper.” —Bustle

Deathdate

Boot Camp For the Tattoo Apprentice

Denton Little ha diciassette anni e una sola certezza: morirà la notte del ballo di fine anno. Ma – escluso il pessimo tempismo – nulla di strano. Perché il mondo di Denton funziona così: tutti conoscono la data della propria morte, e tutti aspettano il fatidico momento contando i minuti. Per questo, fino a oggi, la vita di Denton è stata piuttosto normale: la scuola, gli amici e Taryn, la fidanzata. Ma ora mancano due giorni al ballo... e Denton sente di non avere più un secondo da sprecare. Non soltanto perché vuole collezionare più esperienze possibili in meno di quarantotto ore – la prima sbronza, la prima volta, e il primo tradimento – ma anche perché le cose sembrano essersi improvvisamente complicate. Chi è l’uomo sbucato fuori dal nulla che dice di avere un messaggio da parte di sua madre, morta ormai da molti anni? È soltanto un pazzo? E allora perché suo padre ha iniziato a comportarsi in modo tanto bizzarro? D’un tratto le ultime ore di Denton Little si trasformano in una corsa contro il tempo, una disperata ricerca della verità. E forse di una via d’uscita. Dalla straordinaria penna di Lance Rubin, il primo romanzo di una nuova serie distopica. Una lettura brillante, irriverente e provocatoria. Una storia che vi lascerà con il fiato sospeso e che metterà in dubbio tutte le vostre certezze. “Divertente e toccante, come solo John Green sa essere.” - Bustle “Finalmente una nuova voce sulla scena letteraria Young Adult.” - School Library Journal

Cynthia Kuhn

Reading Chuck Palahniuk examines how the author pushes through a variety of boundaries to shape fiction and to question American identity in powerful and important ways. Palahniuk's innovative stylistic accomplishments and notoriously disturbing subject matters invite close analysis, and the new essays in this collection offer fascinating insights about Palahniuk's texts, contexts, contributions, and controversies. Addressing novels from Fight Club through Snuff, as well as his nonfiction, this volume will be valuable to anyone with a serious interest in contemporary literature.

Lance Rubin

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