4 Star Review from TeensReadToo!

I'm very happy with this. And Vlad? Well, Vlad loves stars...they remind him of the night. :)=

WARNING! This review does contain some spoilers. So, here's a link, but for all of you who prefer something spoiler-free, here's the light version:

EIGHTH GRADE BITES by Heather Brewer
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 8/16/07
Publisher: Dutton
Reviewed by: Grandma Bev
Rating: 4 Stars

Thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod is being raised by "Aunt" Nelly, his mother's best friend. His human mother and vampire father were both killed in a fire, leaving their young vampire son an orphan. Life is not easy for Vlad...the school bullies harass him, the principal seems to have it in for him, and the girl he likes best and wants to ask to the dance seems to prefer his friend, Henry.

Aunt Nelly understands his problems and helps him to hide the fact that he is a vampire and must have fresh blood to survive. Vlad's best friend, Henry, is the only other person who knows his secret, although Vlad did bite Henry once when they were eight years old.

The one teacher that Vlad had real rapport with has disappeared and no one knows where he is. Vlad and Henry are determined to find out what happened to him. The substitute teacher begins to question Vlad too closely -- and there is just something strange about Mr. Otis Otis (yep...first name and last name are the same.) Vlad worries that Otis might suspect the truth, and then when Otis assigns vampires as Vlad's research project, and the teacher scribbles "I know your secret" across the bottom of his essay, he is really frightened.

Vlad discovers his father's journal in the attic and is learning about the reality of being a vampire and the powers that he may possess. Vlad also becomes convinced that there is a vampire killer in town, and that he is next on the killer's list. Things go from bad to worse when Aunt Nelly [SPOILER REMOVED].

There is some gross-out vampire stuff in this story. How about chocolate chip cookies dipped in blood? [SPOILER REMOVED] at the climax of the novel is electrifying in this well plotted, exciting, supernatural adventure. I loved the great characters, and the fast action kept me reading most of the night, with my door firmly locked.

Well, CRAP!

I just wrote a loooong blog explaining why I've been absent from Bleeding Ink, why I haven't been returning much email, why I'm so lax on mailing Minion Bling. But then my Stupidity Switch flipped on and that's all gone now, deleted by the Blogger gods. Grr.

Okay, so let's try the Crib Notes version:
1. Publishing is the hardest part of writing.
2. Black eyeliner smudges easily when you cry.
3. DEVON'S PLAYGROUND is the bane of my existence, but all is better now as I begin an all new version.
4. Lazy, depressed, mopey, need chocolate.
5. Please forgive me.

Now, who wants to win Vlad's hoodie?

OMG...Vlad's NAKED!!!

Well...in one pic anyway. And it's technically not Vlad, but Vlad's book.

Yes, yes, my Minions, Auntie Heather's camera mysteriously came back from the dead (hey, who knew two months in a hot car could fix it??) and I snapped off some pics of my copy. Not great pics...because it's only 2 Megapixels, forcryingoutloud. But pics, still. (Be sure to gawk with wonder at all my foil!)

Here it is! All goodly and matte...you can kind of make out how shiny the black ink on the front is.

The back. You can see how shiny the title is. SQUEE!!! And LOOK! It's my NAME! And DJ MacHale is RIGHT THERE, saying such GOOD THINGS about Vlad! (for the full blurb, head to my "Read It" page)

And what do you see when you strip Vlad's jacket off?Ta-daaaaa! How kick-butt is this foil smiley? Pictures cannot do this book justice. Just GORGEOUS. (Thank you, Christian!)

Okay, two more and I'll stop gushing for now. First, the spine not naked (and upside down):

And the spine naked (and not upside down...and full of foily goodness):

Random Whats-It-Calleds

How cool is this??

Oh, and Diana Peterfreund's July 9th entry? Oh yeah. Absolutely dead-on, people.

"gleeful gross-outs" ~ Kirkus Reviews

Oh yeah, baby. That's what Kirkus pointed out about EIGHTH GRADE BITES (we're ignoring the rest). Gleeful gross-outs. A ton of them. And if you like your gleeful gross-outs with a side of "cheesily referential names (town of Bathory; classmate Edgar Poe)", then man oh man, do I have a book for you. :)=

Vlad & Lexie Are Blogging!

Please stop by and say hello (that means comments, Minions...lots of comments)...and stay tuned! They've got quite a story to tell...