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Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series #1)

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Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series #1)

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Overview

Vlad has to keep his vampire urges under control while dealing with the pressures of middle school.

Thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod really hates junior high. 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 his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: He’s being hunted by a vampire killer.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142411872
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/13/2008
Series:	Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	190,924
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.48(h) x 0.49(d)
Lexile:	780L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Heather Brewer was not your typical teen growing up. She wore black, danced under full moons, and devoured every book in sight. She hasn't changed much. Today, Heather can be found writing in her funky, black Happy Bunny jammie pants, dancing under a full moon, devouring every book in sight, and attending renaissance faire in full costume (and in character).

When Heather's not writing, dressing up, dancing and reading, she's answering email, which she loves to get over at her website.

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Editorial Reviews

Brewer's first children's book, first of the planned Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, is like a Laurell K. Hamilton toned way down for the elementary school set. Vlad is miserable. His mother and vampire father died years ago in a suspicious fire, and he lives in a small town with his maternal aunt, a nurse who regularly raids the blood bank for him ("Could you get me O positive this time? That's my favorite," he nonchalantly asks her as he spoons "a big, sweet glob of half-frozen blood" into his mouth). His best friend, Henry, is the only other person who knows why Vlad is so meticulous about applying sunblock and why he brings lunch to school. But when Vlad's English teacher goes missing (readers know he's been murdered), the substitute teacher, Mr. Otis, seems uncannily wise to Vlad, leaving Vlad to worry that he may be exposed. The mystery and suspense angles never get scarier than, say, a Goosebumps installment, and the tone stays mostly light, with plenty of descriptions of Vlad's diet that are to gag for. Brewer catches the wretchedness of adolescence: the hero's crush on a classmate is dead-on in its understatement and inaction, and his friendship with Henry encompasses lots of banter and insults. The uninitiated will appreciate the ample stock of vampire lore, while the more knowledgeable will sink their teeth into the puns. Ages 10-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Gr 5-8
Vladimir Tod's is a vampire-or at least sort of; he's not quite sure. His father was a vampire, but his mother was human, and they died three years ago in a mysterious accident. Now Vlad has only his friend Henry and his "Aunt" Nelly, his mother's best friend who is raising him, to confide in. He has a hunger for blood, although he's been trained since babyhood to be "normal" and not to act on it. He gets by because Nelly, who's a nurse, brings home bags of blood from the hospital where she works, and he hides one or two in his backpack for when he gets hungry. But Vlad realizes that his father had a history he didn't know about when his English teacher vanishes mysteriously, to be replaced by a tall, thin substitute teacher in a purple top hat who seems to know a little too much about him. This story comes with all the usual eighth-grade angst, and none of the characters is particularly gripping. While some vampire fans will enjoy it, others will find the way that Brewer plays fast and loose with the standard vampire lore hard to swallow. Eighth Grade Bites reads like the novelization of an unexceptional made-for-TV movie.
—Walter MinkelCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Proving that you can't have your blood and drink it too, this shallow vampire tale waffles between vamp/camp and purported somberness. Eighth-grader Vladimir has a secret: He is (he thinks) the only living vampire. Pandering Aunt Nelly, a nurse, goes to "great lengths to sneak blood from the hospital" for Vlad's vital nutrition. His parents were mysteriously murdered, and now his teacher's missing. The odd substitute suspiciously demands research on vampires. Who's stalking Vlad, and why? It's unclear which hints are real clues and which are sloppy narration. Cheesily referential names (town of Bathory; classmate Edgar Poe) and gleeful gross-outs (cookies dunked in blood) undermine the supposed gravity of Vlad's situation and lineage. Brewer evades the problematic nature of blood-sucking, hiding behind quips like Vlad's refusal to kill because "just think of the looks he might get at the next block party if he got caught. This one just tries too hard. (Fantasy. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series #1)

Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series #1)

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