Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
Genre: Young Adult/ Fantasy/ Vampire
Released: August 16, 2007
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 182
Junior High really stinks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh and Vlad has a secret: His mother was human, but is father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers and no one to teach him, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a strange substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he realizes he has a much bigger problem: He's being hunted by a vampire killer who is closing in ... fast!
Over all, I found the first book in this series to be a fast and entertaining read. As one can guess from the title, Eighth Grade Bites contains a decent amount of fresh humor when it comes to the legend of the vampire. I'm a tough person to please when it comes to reading a vampire novel. This is because when I start a vampire book I find myself asking, "What are the rules? What are these vampires capable of and equally incapable of?" Honestly, the rules of a vampire for me tend to be high ranking in these novels, because other wise I find it hard to digest them. I can't stand it when vampires, or other mythological creatures for that matter, are ALL powerful or ALL knowing.
Now with that said, I thought Heather's Brewer's take on vampires was interesting. It wasn't completely new, Vlad and his fellow vamps are still incapable of being near garlic and he wears sun screen as protection from day light, which I thought was a fun idea. I thought Brewer added a fun sense of humor to this story, which was good for other wise I am not sure how much fun it would have been to read.
The story as a whole is basic: Vlad's an orphaned vampire. He doesn't fit in and someone is after him. There is also a new teacher in school. I was waiting for him to be revealed as Vlad's mentor or something (Hem Hem... Rupert Giles to a Buffy Summers maybe?) Alas, it didn't happen that way. Not exactly.
Still, there are some fun ideas that Brewer add to the vampire myth which I enjoyed. Vlad lives with his aunt, Nelly the nurse who steals blood for him. However, he can also consume normal foods, as long as there is blood infused in them. (There is a fun scene where Vlad dips his chocolate chip cookies, not in hot cocoa or milk, bud deep, red, juicy blood.) Vlad's still a kid after all.
His best friend, Henry, knows he's a vampire and supports him like a brother. They talk about girls and share other secrets, and Henry basically does whatever Vlad tells him to. This is not because he is afraid he will be bitten, but because he is a drudge, a vampire's human servant. (Neither of the boys know of this power.)
As for the mystery: I thought it was kind of vague. Some evil vampire is searching for Vladimir, but we don't know why. All we know is that the reason somehow involves Vlad's parents and possibly their deaths. (I was definitely reminded of Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)
All in all, I would say that Eighth Grade Bites is a fun, fast read and if you're looking for a good vampire book for boys, this may be your ticket. (There's no sparkling vampires or love triangles found here.) It contains some fun characters, lots of vampire puns and a story that moves. I wish there was more to it, but I am hoping to find all I am looking for in the next installments of Vlad's story.
Oh! And bonus points for mentioning my favorite slayer: Buffy. (But that's really incidental in my judgement - It just made me smile.)
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