Red Moon Rising

November 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-Dante, aka Danny Gray, is half-vamp and half-wulf, and in his world, this means disaster. There are only three distinct and very separate classes. The elite are the vampyres-rich, powerful, and beautiful. In between are the humans, tolerated because they admire vampires and acknowledge their dominance. Then there are the werewolves, who are poor, ugly, despised. They must register themselves and during the time of the "Change" are forced to live in prisonlike compounds. Danny and his sister had genetic treatments when they were young to suppress their wulven genes and allow their vampyre side to take control. The treatments worked for his sister, but Danny became sick and was unable to finish them. As a result he has vamp-blue eyes but the darker coloring and the stockier build of a werewolf. Everyone in his almost all-vamp high school assumes that he is half-vamp and half human; only a few close friends know the truth. When he starts exhibiting wulf behavior, Danny is terrified but realizes that he must accept who he is before time runs out. Red Moon Rising is a well-written coming-of-age story with a diverse cast of characters. Moore tackles important issues such as self-esteem, prejudice/discrimination, loyalty, and acceptance, all woven into a teen paranormal adventure drama. The ending leaves some unanswered questions that hopefully will be addressed in a sequel. Fans of the genre will enjoy this different spin on the supernatural.-Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 7-10 Vamps, humans, and then wulves: that's the popularity food chain in high-school freshman Dante Danny Gray's world. He's half-vamp and half-wulf, and has undergone genetic treatments to mitigate the wulf in him, but his body appears to be betraying him. The full moon is only weeks away, and changing could be not just socially but physically fatal. Moore has contemporized a basic story about class and discrimination by tapping into the craze for vampires and werewolves. Danny's world is an alternate version of our own, with government compounds where undesirables are isolated to protect the general (privileged) population, and activists make speeches and are gunned down for their efforts at reform. The details are imaginative and believable, as are the social interactions at school and in Danny's home. This is a nifty book to pair with discussions about race and class, and a few direct references to Nazis also make it potentially useful for history connections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)