Sunday, July 13, 2008

THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD: EIGHTH GRADE BITES by Heather Brewer



Vladimir Tod is your typical eighth grader. Tall, thin, black hair, pale complexion - many would describe him as "goth." Although, one thing makes him less than typical - he is a vampire.

Vlad lives with a woman he calls Aunt Nelly. She is really a family friend who took him in when his parents died in a mysterious house fire. She knows Vlad's secret. His father was a vampire who broke the eternal vampire code and fell in love with a human, Vlad's mother. The three had been living a fairly normal life until the fire. Now the closest thing to family Vlad has is Aunt Nelly and his best friend Henry.

Living the life of a normal teen hasn't been as difficult as one would expect. Being only half vampire makes things a bit easier. Using sunscreen makes it possible for Vlad to go out during daylight hours to attend school and do regular teen stuff. The issue of food is made easy since Aunt Nelly is a registered nurse and can bring home bags of blood the hospital will soon mark for disposal. His dark hair and pale skin often result in comments from class bullies, but Vlad takes it all in stride and lives quite happily.

Things begin to change when Mr. Craig, Vlad's English teacher, suddenly disappears. The substitute hired to replace Mr. Craig is a strange character who focuses his attention on Vlad. Mr. Otis Otis (yes, that's his name) assigns some weird classroom projects. Much to Vlad's discomfort, he is assigned the topic of vampires. Mr. Otis begins asking some pointed questions about Vlad and his family that inspire Vlad to begin an investigation of his own. The resulting investigation uncovers his father's journal, another mysterious volume, tattoos, and other markings that turn up in the most unexpected spots.

EIGHTH GRADE BITES has intrigue, humor, and enough scary moments to satisfy most readers drawn to the recent increase in vampire related tales. Also, if you like it, author Heather Brewer, has written a sequel titled NINTH GRADE SLAYS.





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

this is such a good book. there are so many unexpected plot twists, it will hurt your head trying to remember what happened in the previous chapted. Mr. Otis is the one character that you change your views on at least 5 times throughout the book. i have to read the next book!