Uncle Vampire [Library Binding]

Cynthia D. Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

Sixteen-year-old Caroline and her twin sister Honey know for sure that their Uncle Toddy is a vampire who comes at night to drink their blood but fear of the consequences makes them keep their terrible secret.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-Horror fans will be attracted to and misled by this title. Carolyn, 16, lives a true-life horror story. Her descriptive term "vampire" for Uncle Toddy is a metaphor. Like all vampires, he makes nocturnal visits, but his lust is not for blood. The novel is her journal of vented anger and distress, with hallucinatory descriptions of people and bad dreams thrown in for good measure. Carolyn shares the pain and horror of incest with Honey, her twin sister and fellow victim. Amazingly, both girls lead successful academic and social lives. When their parents plan a two-week trip, leaving them in the care of Uncle Toddy, nonverbal cries for help escalate. No one reacts or notices. Their parents don't want to see. The mother, emotionally unstable, and the father, struggling to "keep up with the Joneses," only want to hear good news. Carolyn's older brother knows what is happening but is powerless to help. Relief comes with a holiday visit to an older sister away at college and a meeting with a guidance counselor. In a shocking conference with the counselor, Honey is revealed as imaginary, an alter-ego created as a coping mechanism. With the secret out, Carolyn races toward recovery. Given the excruciating detail of the girl's mental deterioration, the wrap-up is abrupt and dissatisfying. The stream-of-conscious view of events mars the narrative flow, whose purpose seems primarily bibliotherapeutic, a lead-in to an author's note that includes hotline numbers. Hadley Irwin's Abby, My Love (McElderry, 1985) and Ruth White's Weeping Willow (Farrar, 1992) address the same issues, but offer more balanced, fleshed-out protagonists with whom readers can identify. Uncle Vampire fails to create more than schizophrenic caricatures of Carolyn and her family. Enamored with her vampire imagery, Grant doesn't go beyond it. The girl writes, "It's hard to get rid of vampires. You have to drag them into the light." For Carolyn and other survivors, dragging the beast into the light is the treacherous first step on an arduous road to recovery, which is only superficially alluded to in this book.
Alice Casey Smith, Lakewood Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

At the end of this compelling depiction of the trauma of sexual abuse, Carolyn, 16, summons the courage to tell someone what her uncle Toddy has done for as long as she can remember. She's lucky: school counselor Ms. Johnson is gentle and persistent in making an opportunity for the bright, popular 16- year-old to explain why she's so troubled; and when Carolyn, paralyzed by the conviction that no one will believe her and that there will be terrible consequences, is still unable to speak, Ms. Johnson helps her confide in writing. Carolyn's home is one where such a secret thrives. Her chronically depressed mother was once institutionalized, a fate Toddy suggests awaits Carolyn if she tells; Dad doesn't want to hear about anyone's troubles; an older sister has escaped to college; her brother, who guesses, sees no way out. Toddy is indulged and excused when he can't keep a job, and has made himself essential in his brother's home (where he lives) by doing tasks Mom has abdicated. Grant discloses Carolyn's defenses against her uncle's late-night invasions through a heartbreakingly lyrical first-person: Carolyn tries to dilute the horror by creating a docile imaginary twin who takes on some of her conflicting feelings, and with other fantasies (Toddy as a vampire is less painful than reality), denial, and dreams. A note encourages teens who suffer abuse to get help and tells where to go, including the National Child Abuse Hot line number. Intense, beautifully written, important. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Library Binding: 151 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689318529
• ISBN-13: 978-0689318528
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,799,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not for everyone, January 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Uncle Vampire (Library Binding)

I read this book as a incredibly sheltered 12-year old and did not quite grasp what was going on. The bombshell at the end traumatized me for days. I don't think it was the best way for me to learn about such horrors, and it was not the way my parents wanted me to learn about it (they bought the book thinking it was about vampires). For others (less innocent, older, or more mature than I was) it is probably a very important book. As realistic as it is, be forewarned that it is also very disturbing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't turn away, January 8, 2000

By 

Susan Kester (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncle Vampire (Library Binding)

I read this book after someone I highly respect told me about this "horrible book" her middle school son was reading. She had gone to the school and wanted it removed from the library. I was concerned (same school my son will be going to in a couple years) and I thought I needed to read it for myself. Not only was she wrong about it not belonging in the school library, her "garbage" description (based on one disciminately used F word) was unfounded. The writing was as compelling as the story itself. How can this woman not see how incredibly important a book like this is! With all the things in life that our kids are exposed to in "the wrong way," this is a book that can expose kids to reality "the right way."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book 800 times, October 15, 2005

By 

Kelly E. Tipton "Kellexia" (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncle Vampire (Library Binding)

I had this book back in 7th grade and I used to read it over and over. It is one of those books that really stick on your mind and tear at you after reading it. I lent it out to friends who passed it around. We made it a thing to sign the book after we read it each time. I had peoples signatures I never even knew. So, now the internets around I figured search for it.So I did. And FINALLY found it here.This book is written beautifully and is wonderfully dark with an underlaying message of hope through even the darkest of times.