Review: Eighth Grade Bites

Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To start your journey with one of the best authors to ever live, begin here, with this magnificent debut novel. Vladimir Tod, thirteen-year-old vampire, is without a doubt one of the best kidlit heroes you've probably never heard of, and now, ten years after he was first introduced (and six years after I first read all his Chronicles all in a row), I'm happy to return to his world and rediscover, in bite-sized form, this first piece of literary wonder with with Z Brewer blessed us. Sure, it's a tiny book, not even 200 pages, but that comes with the territory because this starts the series in middle-grade territory (it's more clearly YA by the end, though). And it's just a taste of the promise to come as Vlad grows up and comes of age in a world that proves ever more deadly and dangerous for him.

Re-reading this, I've also rediscovered how, even more so than any other Z Brewer books, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod have proven particularly strong secret influences on my own work. Mostly in terms of style, and also in terms of how much I relate to Vlad because, like me, he's a perennial misfit and one of the awkwardest turtles to ever awkward. And back to style for a moment - those covers. Breaking the rules by putting the book's title on the back instead of the front (and very tiny on the spine too), bearing the iconic fanged-smiley-face symbol (I need a T-shirt of that one, especially if they start making one in bi-pride colors), and helping showcase Vlad growing from boy to man over the course of the series. Judge a book by its cover? From the covers alone, I'd judge this entire series six stars out of five.

Soon, I'll be rereading the rest of the series as well - and while this book was fast-paced and fun, all the sequels raise the game a little more each time, and I can't wait to rediscover those next four bloodthirsty rides. :)

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