So many books come out each week making it hard to decide what to read. We want to make that a little bit easier on you by sharing our favorite release from the week and telling you our top 3 reasons why we think you’ll love it too!
This week our selection is The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Are you ready to listen to us go on and on about this AMAZING book and its author? Here we go…
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Also by this author: The Serpent King
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on March 8, 2016
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 384
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Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.
He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.
Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.
3 Reasons You Should Read
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
- Sometimes we finish a book and what comes to mind when we flip the last page is a never-ending string of feelings, reactions, and adjectives. This was one of those books. Here are just some of the things that were swirling through our heads- Holy crap. Wow. Damn that was good. WHOA. No, seriously. Whoa. SWOON. SWOON. SWOON. Is there more? We need more. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Painful. Amazing. The friendships! The swoon! Feelings, such strong feelings.
- That should be enough to sell it, but just in case it wasn’t let’s talk characters. There is one heck of a crew on these pages. We could gush about our love for Travis, Lydia, Dill, and Lydia’s parents for an eternity and still not be sure that we did them justice. Just trust us when you say that you are going to fall hard for these guys and find yourself wishing they were your friends too.
- Still need another reason to read this one? What if we tell you that the book we’ve been gushing about was written by a debut author? That always grabs out attention. Especially when their debut is so strikingly memorable. This is a book you are going to want on your shelves, and one that will stick with you for a very, very long time.
***Meet Jeff Zentner***
Jeff Zentner lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He came to writing through music, starting his creative life as a guitarist and eventually becoming a songwriter. He’s released five albums and appeared on recordings with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Thurston Moore, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, and Lydia Lunch, among others.
Now he writes novels for young adults. He became interested in writing for young adults after volunteering at the Tennessee Teen Rock Camp and Southern Girls Rock Camp. As a kid, his parents would take him to the library and drop him off, where he would read until closing time. He worked at various bookstores through high school and college.
He speaks fluent Portuguese, having lived in the Amazon region of Brazil for two years.
