Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho

Bibliographic Information:

Title: Aisle Nine

Author: Ian X. Cho

ISBN: 9780063206809

Publisher: HarperCollins

Copyright Date: 2024

Format/Genre: Hardcover; Horror

Awards and Honors: None

Reading Level/Interest Level: 9th Grade and up (Aisle Nine: NoveList Plus - Powered by EBSCOhost, n.d.).

Plot Summary: This was a super-fun read, especially if you are into demons coming out of portals on an irregular basis to wreak havoc on the Earth. Our main protagonist, Jasper, works at a grocery store where one of these portals happens to be – in Aisle Nine. For the most part, the world has gone back to trying to live life as normal as possible, after Hell Portal Day when tens of thousands of these portals appeared. But when Jasper finds out from his roommate, a talking cat plushie (who is also a demon, but a nice one) that there is a big attack coming, Jasper must team up with his friends to try to shut down the portals for good.

Author Background: Aisle Nine is Ian X. Cho’s first novel. He lives on Australia’s sunny Gold Coast where he writes fiction for Young Adults and works as a freelance graphic designer (Ian X. Cho, n.d.).

Critical Evaluation: This is a perfect horror novel for teenagers! The main protagonists are both young people up against the odds, where the adults all seem to be making the wrong decisions. It is both easy to read and highly entertaining. There is a love interest between the two main protagonists, and they have a best friend who is a talking cat plushie, who is also a demon, but a nice demon, so that’s pretty cool!

Creative Use for a Library Program: I would use this book as one of our reads during “Spooky Season.” As a lover of horror, if I am ever managing a Young Adult program in a library, we’re going to have an October Reading Contest – similar to a summer reading program. It will be a contest to see which of the teens can read the most YA horror novels in the month of October. I would also like them to give booktalks on the novels they read.

Speed-Round Book Talk: Jasper is a teenager working at a grocery store. That sounds like a pretty normal job. The thing is, Jasper’s grocery store has a portal on Aisle Nine that emits demons every so often, and these demons want to eat and kill people. Turns out there are these portals all over the world now, and things are getting worse! Can Jasper do anything to help save the world?

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: There is some swearing and violence in this book, and of course, demons. So some people might consider those things offensive. But this is a book written for the YA crowd. I think any challenge to this book could easily be overcome by providing the collection development policy at the library.

Reason for Inclusion: As I mentioned before, I love horror. So, when I saw the cover of this book in the YA section at the library where I work, I knew it needed to be included in my blog. I will be a huge proponent of horror at any library I work at, as I know so often those books don’t seem to get promoted as much as the others.