VAMPIRE CRUSH

Sophie’s a loner, and all she really cares about is making editor-in-chief of the school paper. Her first assignment for the year includes interviewing the new kids, who are distinctly odd. Her popular, pretty, clued-in stepsister Caroline falls hard for Vlad, one of the newbies, and complications ensue: Vlad and three of the other new students all turn out to be vampires (surprise!), as does James, the boy who used to live next door and has suddenly returned. Sophie doesn’t immediately suspect this, but when she does, the comedy ratchets up a notch. Death, fangs, romance and all kinds of convoluted revised vampire lore are all packed in, but with a vampire-lite tone it hews to entertainment rather than angst. Sophie’s voice is smart, sassy and full of humorous asides—“They’re vampires, or at least under a number of severe delusions”—and her distinctive take makes this a smoothly enjoyable ride to its happy(ish) ending. Sure to be popular with readers weary of the heavy-handed purple prose that typically (over)stuffs the genre. (Paranormal. YA)