The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Summary

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown tells the story of Tana; who wakes up in a bathtub after a wild high school party and realizes that everyone has been murdered by vampires.  She finds her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, still alive tied up to a bed; but has been bitten.  Below Aidan, vampires are waking up and ready to kill them. Tana is able to save Aidan and Gavriel, a vampire that had been tied up next to Aiden.  But while rescuing them, Tana is nicked on her leg by a vampire’s fang.  Fearing that she will turn into a Vampire (and thus cold), she travels to the nearest Coldtown with Gavriel and Aidan.    While on their way, they pick up twins, Midnight and Winter, who are obsessed with going to Coldtown and becoming vampires.  The rest of the books chronicles the adventures and struggles that Tana faces to save herself, her friends and her family.  

Commentary on Strengths

This is a great Fantasy Fiction book, that is aimed at Young Adults.  It is a Horror book that deals with vampires and the paranormal and romance.  Ms. Black does a wonderful job explaining to the reader how an individual becomes a vampire and how and why the government set up Coldtowns.  This books was listed as the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year in 2013; on the Texas’s Tayshas Reading List Top Ten in 2014; and YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2014. The book is one that most young adults will like considering the success of other Vampire type books such as Vampire Academy and the Twilight Series and television series such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. 

Readers also enjoyed Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore; The Walking Dark by Robin Wasserman; Nacromancing the Stone by Lish Mcbride;  Relic by Renee Collins;  The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton

Additional books written by Holly Black include The Field Guide; Tithe; Ironside; Whte Cat; and The Iron Trial

Teachers can find ideas to incorporate this book into their lesson plans on the following website: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=35617

     Black, H. (2014). The coldest girl in Coldtown. London: Indigo.

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