The Vanishing Vampire

May 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-While walking home from the movies, Sebastian blacks out. The next morning, he feels different. Sounds are louder. Smells are stronger. Sunlight burns him, yet he heals quickly. He has no reflection in the mirror. All the garlic-soaked evidence points to one thing-somehow, he has become a vampire. He enlists his brainy friend, Norman, to help him look for answers. He especially needs a quick solution for his growing hunger that is not satisfied by raw steak, ground-up-liver smoothies, or any of the other concoctions the two boys come up with. When Sebastian tracks down the vampire that turned him, he learns that his condition may not be permanent. He has a small window of time during which he can become completely human again, if he could just figure out how. The pacing and action are right on. Add a couple of school bullies and a vampire hunter and you have a recipe that's just right for light-horror fans. Vanishing Vampire is a revised version of the 1997 Scholastic title of the same name, and it features new art. Libraries owning the earlier edition might want to consider updating.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
Grades 3-6 Like Hyde and Shriek (2013), this second Monsterrific Tale weighs the goods and bads of having supernatural powers in a tale told from the monster's point of view. Here young Sebastian is just nipped by a vampire and acquires a deep thirst along with highly enhanced strength and senses. Fortunately, the effect turns out to be temporary. Unfortunately, while searching for a way to become human again, he has to face challenges ranging from his mother's garlic bread to the arrival of a vampire hunter. Horror of the very mildest sort.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)