Vampire High (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-When Cody Elliot's parents receive his less-than-stellar report card, they decide it's time for a change. His options are Our Lady of Perpetual Homework and Vlad Dracul Magnet School, so the choice, for Cody, is obvious. After his interview with the headmaster at Vlad and meeting Charon, the school's yellow-eyed wolf, Cody knows there is something decidedly different about this place. He also learns why he gets admitted: most of the students are vampires and they will die if they get wet. State standards require a water-polo team, so the school takes in gadge (non-vampire) students for the team. Cody makes fast friends with two classmates by defending one of them against bullies, but eventually the differences in their vampire status cause friction. By the end, however, Cody finds a simple solution to meeting the state standards, and everyone lives happily ever after. Rees has created a very familiar plot in a less-than-familiar setting. The school is well described down to the marble foyer and the librarian who can morph into a wolf to control unruly students and wayward mice. Characters are more caricatures than well-drawn individuals, but that may work to the book's advantage. Some students will relish the familiar plot line and people, and the vampire angle is sure to attract a few readers.
Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. There's barely a false note in this rollicking tale of horror, humor, and light romance that will appeal to both girls and boys. Transplanted from California to an archetypal New England town, ninth-grader Cody Elliot flunks out of the local public school; but he's accepted at Vlad Dracul Magnet School, where most of the students are tall, pale, and prone to Edwardian mannerisms. The school timber wolf accompanies Cody to his first day of classes, and it doesn't take the new kid long to figure out that the school is populated by--and organized to continue the traditional social life of--vampires. Rees keeps things moving and delightfully off-balance as Cody rescues a classmate from bullies, falls in love with a vampire princess, and designs a way to save the school. The parody of New England society adds yet another level of hilarity, but at the center are Cody and his toothsome friends, inspired and inspirational teens discovering the world as it is and making it renew for themselves. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044023834X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440238348
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #395,583 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gad-je! Gad-je! Gad-je!, February 9, 2004

By	Jesse Penitent "zekaille" (Somewhere, Out There) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampire High (Hardcover)

Vampire High is a rollicking delight from beginning to end. True, the ending is telegraphed waaaaay ahead of time, but in Rees's hands, it is the journey, not the destination that is important. Cody's awareness that having things handed to you on a silver platter is not a satisfying way to live life and his growing maturity as he navigates both adolescence and a vampire high school sends a very clear message to the readers without being didactic, heavy handed or dull. Rees knows his pacing, his humor and his subject well. The teens I have recommended this to came away laughing themselves silly while at the same time realizing that how you live your life and taking responsiblity for yourself is more important than the concerns of our status seeking, easy does it culture. Can't wait to read more by this author.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wildness and wonder at Vlad Dracul High, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vampire High (Hardcover)

What a great book! I wish Rees would write more so I could read more of his stuff. He has managed to weave the general weirdness of high school (regular being only slightly less strange than vampire-type) into an exciting tale about the interconnectedness of wolfpeople, selkies, vampires and plain old people, to say nothing of lawyers who work for Leach, Swindol and Twist in the seemingly quiet New England town of New Sodom. His characters are very likable without being goody-goodies, and he's able to portray both teenagers and adults with perception and sympathy.

The novel begins with Cody in a classic sulk because his father has changed jobs and the family has had to move from California to New England. He's determined to show his displeasure by flunking every class at Cotton Mather High, and seems well on the way when his father announces that he's going to transfer him to one of the town's two private schools: Our Lady of Perpetual Homework or Vlad Dracul. At Vlad Dracul Cody finds, much to his surprise, a friend, a beautiful girl to fall in love with, and an astonishing lack of work - he can get straight As just by breathing, apparently. What could be better? Nothing - for a few days. And then he becomes determined to unravel the mystery of this school where everyone else seems to do loads of work, and he does nothing except lounge around and sit in the pool every day pretending that there's a water polo team and he's part of it!

Buy two copies - one for yourself and one for a very good friend who is guaranteed to love it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful blend of contemporary fantasy and satire, September 17, 2005

By	Alan Gratz "Young Adult Author" (Western North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There probably isn't too much more to say about this book that the good reviews above don't already say, but I had to chime in in agreement. I picked up a paperback of Vampire High off a Halloween table because of the engaging cover, and bought it because of the clever conceit and a brisk first chapter. And I'm so glad I did - I devoured this book in all of a day and a half, and found myself hungry for more when it was finished.

Quoted VOYA comparisons to Rowling and Snicket on the back cover aren't really fair to the individuality of this book. Yes, it has the clever wit of Snicket, though here it is channeled through a likeable teenage protagonist and isn't overdone. Yes, it immerses us in a school for exceptional students - in this case, of course, vampires - down to the odd yet enthusiastic teachers and administrators, but expectations for Cody are certainly not what they are for Harry and the gang over at Hogwarts. Instead, challenged not with being a "chosen one" but a "meaningless one," Cody chooses to rebel - which in this case means doing his best to make the grade.

What I liked most about this book was how it blended a bit of what's being done with contemporary vampire horror fiction by adult authors the likes of Dan Simmons (namely in Children of the Night) and contemporary YA fiction. I cared equally about Cody's relationships with love interest Ileana and new best friend Justin as I did about the tantalizing hints of vampire social structure in America.

This is a well-conceived and entertaining book that should appeal to both boys and girls, and I for one hope there are more books like it to come from Mr. Rees!