Vampire Island [Hardcover]

Adele Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2007 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Life isn’t easy for vegetarian vampires trying to blend in with regular people in a new city. The Livingstone kids are fruit bat hybrids who have left Old World dangers, and immortality, behind for a “normal” life in New York City. But normal doesn’t necessarily mean easy, especially with lingering vampire traits complicating things.

Older sister Lexie’s super speed, amazing strength and knowledge of tragic poets often embarrass her in front of her classmates, and worse—her secret crush. Devious Maddy would rather invent ways to spy on her suspicious, possibly blood-sucking (i.e., rule-breaking) neighbors than stick to her new vegan diet. Hudson, who can still fly like a bat and talk to animals, is determined to save the planet, but with odd habits and vocabulary from the wrong century, how can he rally his classmates to his cause?

In her offbeat portrayal of this not-quite-normal family, Adele Griffin uses her unique brand of humor to introduce readers to three siblings who face challenges growing up that most “normal” kids couldn’t even imagine.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Goths-in-training will be delighted with Griffin's tale of hybrid vampire–fruit bat siblings in Manhattan. Though New Yorkers will get more of the in-jokes, even those unfamiliar with the city will appreciate the adventures of 13-year-old Lexington, 11-year-old Madison, and 9-year-old Hudson. After quitting the Old World (Europe) and relinquishing some of their powers, each preserves different and fascinating vampiric and/or bat-related traits. The siblings' main goals are to rid the neighborhood of the pure-blooded vampires across the street; get the students of P.S. 42 to take recycling more seriously; and develop some social graces and make some friends. All missions are accomplished, with a twist at the end that begs for a sequel. Character development is minimal, but fang-in-cheek jokes carry the swift-moving plot. Too old for Bunnicula? Here's a cuddly, friendly vampire story with nary a (human) death. Carton, Debbie

About the Author

Adele Griffin’s Where I Want to Be was a National Book Award Finalist. She lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (August 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399237852
• ISBN-13: 978-0399237850
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,833,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Look for All You Never Wanted (Random House) coming out in 2012.

Also Tighter is out this spring in paperback. With a really awesome new jacket.

And, if you're still interested, check out www.tighterthebook.com

You can find me on twitter, facebook, or on the web at www.adelegriffin.com.

Drop me a note and I promise to answer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviews by Chloe: Vampire Island by Adele Griffin, September 6, 2007

By 

C. Howard "Reviews by Chloe" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vampire Island (Hardcover)

The Livingstone's are vegetarians. They're vampires, and they live in Manhattan. You just know it's not going to be a walk in the park--Central Park, that is.

Adele Griffin's Vampire Island takes us into the world of Lexie, Maddy and Hudson, a world where vampires and humans live together, but not all vampires are fruit-bat hybrids. I really enjoyed following Lexie through her boy problems, Maddy spying on the neighbors, and Hudson setting out to save the world.

Hudson has a small language problem. He uses old world words (like "yewn," "O' Happy Day" and "whilst") in a new world. He wants to help save the planet from global warming, so he makes people write on both sides of the paper, use the least amount of electricity possible, and sometimes has his sister Maddy scare kids into not using as much throw-away paper or plastic at lunch. By night he loves to fly through Central Park, talking to bat friends. By day he talks to the animals his parent's pet sit.

Lexie can do things only bats can do, echo-sounding, super-fast reflexes (I liked the coin catching trick), double-jointed knees. These attract the attention of the hottest guy in school, Dylan Easterby. Dylan happens to be the same age as Lexie (her human age anyway). Lexie runs into trouble because Mina, the most popular girl in school, also happens to want Dylan.

Of all the vampire children, Maddy has the most trouble adapting to the vegan diet, but she's willing to try some interesting new foods. She drinks hot pomegranate juice every morning, pretending it's blood. She eats mosquitoes and ticks to get the blood they have taken from others. She also has a keen sense for uncovering and hunting down pureblood vampires. When two move in across the street from the Livingstone's, she is not about to let them hurt her family. She's an awful cook, but that doesn't stop her from making cookies with garlic and holy water. She can also be bossy. She gets Hudson, her younger brother, to dress up as a girl elf scout, and has him sell the special cookies to the vampires. She's also disappointed that her brother looks better in her elf scout uniform then she does.

Adele Griffin's Vampire Island is a wonderful, funny, suspenseful story. I read it cover to cover in one sitting, and I would recommend it for anyone who likes adventure, magic, creatures of the night, and garlic cookies.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Angsty Vampires, November 17, 2007

By 

mimagirl "Miss Erin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampire Island (Hardcover)

Vampire Island tells the story of three siblings - Lexie, Maddy and Hudson. These siblings aren't your normal kids - or, I should say, your normal vampires. They're fruit-bat hybrids, so they only eat fruit. Although Maddy is starting to develop a further taste for protein. . . . Mysterious (and possibly dangerous) neighbors aside, these three are mostly just trying to survive there normal lives. Masking their identity and special-powers at school is harder than you'd think.

I have very mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, I loved its dark humor - reminiscent of Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori. I thought it was very cool to have a teenage heroine who quotes dead poets. Almost immediately I developed a sort of fondness for some of the characters, Maddy in particular. All that aside, this book was not exactly satisfying. It seemed to leave off too suddenly with too many loose threads. Obviously there's going to at least one sequel if not more, but this particular episode of the story didn't feel finished. The writing was not spectacular to begin with, and this leaving-off made me even more disgruntled.

It was an OK read. If you're in the mood for an easy-read with slightly-ridiculous Gothic settings and situations (which I was, strange as it sounds) then you'll have fun with this. Just don't go into it expecting something great.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Book!, August 22, 2007

By 

khttk98 "literature addict" (Quincy, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampire Island (Hardcover)

The book Vampire Island is a really fun interesting book. Adele Griffin really captures the fun quirky sides of her characters that all preteen and teenage readers are interested in reading about. My daughter has a copy of this book and I read it too. We both loved the character Maddy. She is a fun fierce girl. I would say anyone who gets this book will enjoy Adele Griffin's world of young Vampires in New York City and just maybe they will see some of themselves in the characters and the social situations all kids face no matter where they live!