Happy 20th anniversary to Buffy the Vampire Slayer! That’s twenty years of sleepover binge-watching, socially symbolic creepy crawlies, 90s fashion and roundhouse kicks to the head.
It was tough to choose just a handful of books to celebrate, just as it’s tough to quantify Buffy’s footprint on the pop culture landscape and the paranormal fiction genre. Here are a few for the Scoobies in your life.
The Coldest Girl In Coldtown, by Holly Black
The tropes of the modern vampire story are used to great effect here, in a story that’s simultaneously genre-savvy, slyly funny, and terrifying. Tana doesn’t have superpowers, but she has fierce determination, a car, and an overdose of adrenaline.
Team Human, by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
What happens when the new boy at school is a beautiful, arrogant, and undead? And your best friend is actually falling for him? Friends don’t let friends date vampires, and Mel is determined to prove that Cathy can do better, even if she has to risk bloodsuckers, brain-eaters, and endless snark to do it.
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
Prohibition-era New York is filled with poets, bootleggers, jazz dancers--and an ancient evil claiming body after body. Much like a 1920s slang-talking Buffy Summers, bubbly flapper Evie is more interested in living it up than fighting monsters, but she’s willing to learn fast.
Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey
In the no-man’s-land between Texas and Mexico in the not-terribly-distant-future, a girl is born with superhuman strength and a genetically twisted inability to feel fear. Loup and her friends in the parish orphanage, disenfranchised and angry, set out to secretly bring hope and justice to their town.
Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan
The village seems normal enough, even picturesque, but there are secrets in Sorry-on-the-Vale. As the school newspaper’s intrepid girl reporter, Kami is determined to solve the town’s mysteries, but the secrets in her home and her own family are darker than she guessed, and the dangers her friends will face are greater than she could have imagined.
Bitten, by Kelley Armstrong
Elena never asked to be transformed into a werewolf, and all she wants is for her old pack to leave her alone so she can have a normal life. But a serial killer, a gang of rogue werewolves, and her half-feral ex all have other plans.
Shadowshaper, by Daniel Jose Older
It’s summer, time for days spent painting murals and nights spent dancing at block parties for Sierra and her friends. But Sierra’s stroke-ridden grandfather is whispering secrets and monsters stalk the night, and she’ll need a power she never knew she had in order to survive. A joyful, thickly atmospheric, fast-paced and genuine start to a new series.
Paranormalcy, by Kiersten White
Evie’s always wanted to try normal teenaged life, with fast food and lockers and a little less tazering the undead. But Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, and her “normal” is full of vampires, prophecies, and a creepy, magical ex-boyfriend. When a boy with strange powers of his own offers a glimpse at a different sort of life, Evie is ready to break the rules.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness
What’s it like to go to Sunnyvale High when you’re not a Slayer (or a wizard or a vampire or a superhero)? Mikey and his friends are just trying to survive the tribulations of high school, get through the hormones and the crises and the drama, and hoping the place won’t get blown up by demons before prom.
Ms. Marvel: No Normal, by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
Kamala Khan’s life gets a whole lot more exciting when she develops superpowers. Now she’s not just writing fan fic about saving the day (don’t tell Wolverine), she’s doing it. Full of lively art and instantly engaging characters, funny and fast-paced and genre-savvy, this is a classic superhero story with a contemporary voice.
Dark Currents, by Jacqueline Carey
Pemkowet is a pleasant little Midwestern town full of local gossip and a thriving tourism business---and it’s sitting on top of an entrance to the Norse Underworld. Daisy is Hel’s new liaison with the world of the living, including the Pemkowet police department (and its visitors bureau). She has her hands full with her job, her friends, and her own demonic heritage. Then a young man is murdered in Pemkowet, and all signs point to something supernatural.
