The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
A few years back, while walking through Borders after just discovering The Twilight Saga, I was on a vampire kick and I still am. It was about this time I started to pick up The Vampire Diaries and Vampire Academy and all the while looking for more young adult vampire books.
The bright colors are what caught my attention, not to mention the seemingly cute boy on the cover and a smiley face with fangs.
The series is called The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod.
Below here, there will be some minor spoilers, just to warn you, but nothing too big to fret about.
The first book, Eight Grade Bites, follows fourteen year old Vladimir and his search to find out what exactly happened to his parents who died in a house fire three years before and also to try and debunk why people are turning up missing and dead in his small town of Bathory.
Not to mention, the girl he likes seems to me enthralled with this bestfriend, Henry, who knows he’s a vampire and has since they were both eight when Vlad bit him. Ever since then, Vlad can read his mind and the two have been inseparable.
The only other person to know about his situation is his ‘Aunt’ Nelly, who actually was the nurse that delivered him and took the whole vampire thing in stride. She’s the one responsible for keeping Vlad in check with his appetite, allowing him only to drink the blood from the bags she brings home from work, cleverly disguising as tea, in capsules for sandwiches and injecting it into twinkies.
The book begins on Halloween, where Vlad satirically dresses as a vampire, complete with plastic fangs, and Henry playing the meal. They head out to a Halloween party and scare a few kids for candy, but Vlad’s night ends up getting ruined when it looks like Henry is hitting on the girl he likes, Meredith.
The book progresses to the introduction of Otis Otis, the substitute English teacher for John Craig, whose been missing for a while. He seems like a real hip teacher, who decides to teach the kids through mythology. He then has the kids pick from a hat that contains mythological creatures to write a paper on.
Vlad of course ends up with vampire after some confusion, trying to change it, he still gets vampire.
He starts to suspect that Mr. Otis isn’t all what he seems to be.
And he’s right.
With the nagging suspicion his parents didn’t die in a freak accident, but were rather murdered he and Henry go to his hold house. There he finds his dad’s journal and begins to read it, uncovering the world of Elysia, the vampire community and learns about his parent’s courtship and the trials surrounding it.
After witnessing an exchange between Mr. Otis and another man, who questions the whereabouts of Tomas, Vlad’s dad and him, Vladimir sets hit eyes on Otis as a suspect for the killings in town and he’s not too thrilled when his eyes are set on his Aunt Nelly.
At 175 pages, there isn’t a whole lot more I can talk about without giving away some of the major plot details.
Overall, it’s a fun read, but so far it’s not too much on the romance side of the coin, but that may change in future books, especially when they enter high school. That’s going to be fun. Also, for me to want to continue reading the book without even the littlest bit of romance no matter how platonic, is saying something. It’s cute and innocent, something you may or may not like in the end.
The story is simple to follow, funny and has enough suspense and story to hold your attention.
If you want to move away from heavier readings and want something light, I would suggest looking to this series.
I know I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series, and I do hope that you give this book a chance. It really is a fun read.
Until next time, enjoy yourself and happy readings.
Charmaine.
Char!
Great review. I cant wait to try, what seems like an adorable series. I know you’ve tried to get me into this one before, and now i am more excited than ever to read it.
Love, Sassy.