In Defect by Will Weaver, we meet David, a 15-year-old who was born defective. In fact, he kind of looks like a bat with his bug eyes, pinched face, and pointed ears. But he hides several secrets from everyone including his loving foster parents. Even though he wears hearing aids, his hearing is super human and extremely acute. He also has a thin layer of skin hidden under each arm enabling him to fly.

David soon meets Cheetah, a girl with a defect of her own – she has epilepsy. They form a friendship and eventually a romance. But soon David’s secret is out. Should he get surgery to become more normal? Or should he consider his defects a special gift from God?

Teens who are struggling with feelings of being different because of medical problems will relate to Weever’s book. But everyone who reads Defect will care about David, a special boy who turns his curse into a blessing. (From Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishers.)

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Bat Chips
Turn plain tortillas into scary creatures with Halloween cookie cutters. Serve these chips with mashed monster brains (also called hummus or guacamole)or maybe some monster guts (uh, salsa).

Ingredients:

1. 1 large flour tortilla per person
2. 1/4 cup olive oil
3. salt (try a seasoning salt, like garlic/sea salt, for variety)

Directions:

1. Preheat your broiler. Using Halloween cookie cutters, cut each tortilla into bat and ghost shapes.
2. Lightly brush both sides of each creature with oil. Even better, use an olive oil no-stick spray.
3. Arrange on a cookie sheet.
4. Broil, flipping once when they begin to brown. Keep an eye on things or they will start buring pretty quickly!
5. When brown on both sides, lightly sprinkle with salt.

Picture courtesy of FamilyFun.com.

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