From Publishers Weekly
One night, as Jonathan Primave wakes up to have breakfast as usual, he is struck by how odd his life is. His parents work nocturnally at the local blood bank, and while the family moves often, Mother and Dad assure Jonathan that this is how ordinary people live. But when he disobeys his parents one day and ventures outdoors in the sunshine, Jonathan discovers that things are not as they seem. His adoptive parents are vampires, and they don't actually work at the blood bank. The boy insists on starting school, and wants his parents to seem more normal. Numerous complications ensue--How can Jonathan invite friends home?--with many droll touches: Dad swears on Dracula's honor, Jonathan knows his parents are awake when he hears their coffin lids creak. Martin's (best-known for her Baby-sitters Club series) latest novel is a wacky look at an unusual set of domestic troubles and Zimmer's amusingly scary drawings provide zany comment on this less than flesh-and-blood family. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-- An interesting slant on the old "moving to a new neighborhood" plot line. When fourth-grade Jonathan Primave sneaks outside in broad daylight, he meets Tobi, a friendly girl his age who tells him that school, T.V., and telephones are real, not just made - up things in books as he's been told. When he confronts his parents, they reveal their secret--they are vampires. Jonathan convinces them to let him go to school--but it's not easy being the adopted son of vampires, especially when the blood bank is almost exhausted, your parents are very hungry, and your class is coming to your house for a Halloween party. This whimsical fantasy, full of deadpan humor and a few moments of outright slapstick, is very different from Martin's "Babysitters Club" series (Scholastic). There's a certain awkwardness in explaining something ordinary as if being viewed for the first time, but children should enjoy Jonathan's naive description of school. The contrast between courtly, old-fashioned Jonathan and modern Tobi is depicted effectively, especially in the way they speak. This is a quick read with short chapters that should capture readers right away. Jonathan's apprehension at what his parents might do is maintained well without losing the humor, and the ending, in which he puts his parents' needs above his own, is satisfying. While attracting the same audience as Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's My Friend the Vampire (Dial, 1984), this book has a much more defined structure. The illustrations are appropriately humorous, darkly textured pen-and-ink drawings. --Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, MD
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
