41. Eighth Grade Bites - Heather Brewer

Book #1 in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod
for: Middle School
Speak paperback, 2007
$8.99
182 pages
Rating: oh, I don't know....

There are a dearth of vampire books out their for young adults right now, and I wasn't going to read another one. However, one of my fourth graders was reading this particular book, he said his high school sister loves them, and I decided to find out what one of my ten-year-olds was sinking his teeth into. (Har-de-har-har)

Vlad Tod is half vampire. Born of a human mother and vampire father, he is learning about how he must live with only the aide of his aunt/guardian, because his parents were killed three years before. He is small, pale, a bit of an outcast, and usually dresses in black. He lives a fairly normal life, getting most of his sustenance on the leftover blood his aunt brings home from the hospital where she works. She puts capsules of blood into his peanut butter sandwiches so that he can eat at school. His best friend, Henry, knows he is a vampire, but no one else. O....kay.....

When Vlad's favorite teacher disappears, the substitute who takes over is named Otis Otis. He introduces the 8th graders to research on werewolves, witches, vampires....and tries very hard to get to know Vlad. The story goes into fast forward from there.

This does not appear to be a romance in the way that many of the previous vampire novels I've read recently have been, although there are already three sequels with Vlad moving into ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades, so surely this will become more prominent. This first installment is the introductory one, with Vlad and Otis winning out over the bad guys and with hints of an upcoming romance between Otis and auntie (they're holding hands at the end). There was some adventure and not many surprises. The story moved swiftly. I can see why kids would like it. And although there's nothing particularly innappropriate for a fourth grader, I'll wait a year or two before suggesting it to most of them. It will be very interesting to see where Brewer takes the story in the sequels. Does that mean I'll read them? Well, maybe.....