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)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-525-47811-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He...
Another ingenious but leaky story from Sleator (The Boxes, 1998, etc.), likely to leave readers more puzzled than intrigued.
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He eagerly accepts, only to discover that the past has a stubborn momentum; he’s killed again, gets another chance, and blows that one, too. Convinced that the key to survival lies in winning the appreciation of his clueless, cold-hearted parents, Peter displays consideration by waiting hand and foot on his pregnant mother, creativity by putting on an elaborate puppet show to explain his feelings, and cleverness by predicting local events that haven’t yet happened, then contriving to shift the resulting public furor onto a bullying classmate. Apparently, all of this makes him a more thoughtful person, so his fatal attraction to passing automobiles ceases. The premise, with its echoes of many books and movies, will only be new to very inexperienced readers, but the cheerlessness of Peter’s home life gives the whole story a drab cast, and the internal logic seems more convenient than consistent. Sleator has a following, but he won’t win any new fans with this one. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46130-2
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
A futuristic society that requires fish to feed its populace begins an underwater habitat designed to increase sunlight on the seafloor in order to produce plankton. Unknown saboteurs suddenly threaten the existence of the habitat and all humankind by destroying one-third of the habitat’s sunlight. Young Imina uses her grandmother’s shaman magic to narrow in on the culprit; her friend Ivan uses logic and technology, i.e., computers. The villains are not the obvious choice—the Unificationists, who created a crop virus that made the underwater habitat necessary—but rather, angry whales. They are trying to disharmonize the habitat’s motors to drive human beings away and prevent additional whales from being hunted. A truce must be swiftly attained or humans will starve. Imina’s ability to use mental telepathy and “speak” with the whales saves the habitat and reminds the reader of the importance of preserving the sea and its creatures. This unlikely combination of science fiction, Inuit lore, and ecology also brings a much-needed wake-up call about being a thoughtful steward of the earth’s resources. It would be hard to miss the final message: human technology alone will not bring about desired results if environmental harmony isn’t also considered in the equation. Imina’s determination to become a skilled shaman and claim her Inuit name will strike a nerve with all young women coming into their own. All in all, a delightful first novel. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0561-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
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