Marked

April 30, 2007
Cast, best known for her adult fantasy romance titles, enlists the help of 19-year-old daughter Kristin for her first YA book, a teen vampire melodrama that tries a bit too hard to be cool. Zoey Montgomery is "Marked" by a "vampyre tracker" while at school one day, meaning that she too, will become such a creature. Vampirism is an accepted fact of life in this world, but her distant mother and clueless, Christian stepfather don't understand, so she flees to her beloved Grandma Redbird's home. After a frightening encounter with the vampire goddess Nyx, Zoey awakens at the House of Night, a surprisingly dull school with all the usual problems and petty squabbles found in the "normal" world. Girls in this vampire kingdom aren't that different from any other teen milieu: there are fashionista snobs and there are country music fans who have Kenny Chesney posters over their beds. Zoey quickly finds herself running afoul of the former and making friends with the latter. Aphrodite, leader of a group of girls called the Dark Daughters, distrusts Zoey and is jealous of the unusual mark she bears; Zoey learns that the popular girl is using her position for illicit purposes, leading to a power play and ultimately a showdown. There are points of interest along the way-young vampires can die at any moment if their bodies "reject the Change" and Zoey struggles with early-onset bloodlust-but too much time is spent on endless teen-speak conversations and winking asides to the reader. Ages 13-up.