The Vampire diaries: The Awakening and the struggle by L. J. Smith

492 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Wizard

 Regular or decaf, chocolate or vanilla? – Dark, moody, and mysterious or Dark, secretive and dangerous? Choices, choices, choices – what’s a girl to do? Elena is queen of Robert E. Lee High School and has it all including a doting boyfriend, Matt. The arrival of Stefan, the yummy new Italian student, has her mesmerized so much so that she’s willing to dump Matt in a heartbeat. But much to her annoyance Stefan seems completely indifferent to her presence. That is until she makes him notice. At the same time a dark shadowy force appears to dog her every step. Soon Stefan’s brother, Damon, joins the ranks of students. Elena gets caught up in a triangle with the Salvatore brothers unaware that their battle for her love stems from a long ago betrayal. How far will Damon go to steal her away from Stefan? This is an extremely fast moving, thrilling, can’t stop reading book. It is more about the characters and motivations and how they interact then a blood and gore vampire story. Recommend over the Twilight Saga for vampire fiction.

The  compelled. Vampire diaries, Stefan’s diaries; v. 6.

L. J. Smith
222 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Wizard

Stefan and Damon Salvatore are brothers bonded by blood and with completely opposite views on vampirism. Damon likes the devil may care, do what you want, take what you need approach. Stefan prefers the quiet life with humans hiding his true nature. The pattern is always the same – Damon creates a mess and Stefan cleans it up. These diaries are a chronological account of Stefan’s life as a vampire. The current crisis finds them in London in the late 1800’s  battling against a particularly vile and extremely deadly vampire named Samuel Mortimer, a foe whom they’ve failed to vanquish once already. Samuel has succeeded in compelling his way into the back pockets of the wealthy and the powerful. All he needs now is the heart of a purebred witch and he can take his final vengeance out on the Salvatore brothers whom he blames for killing his beloved Katherine decades earlier. A young girl, Cora, recently rescued from Samuel’s clutches joins forces with Stefan and Damon as well as a secret coven of witches to bring down Samuel and save the city of London. These volumes may be read individually with the understanding that they reflect a timeline. The author does fill in a few blanks about Katherine, the woman who started it all. This fast paced, thrilling vampire adventure pulls you in immediately with familiar faces and a wonderful cast of secondary characters. The London of Jack the Ripper is portrayed quite well. What is most compelling about this story is the relationship between the two brothers, their motivations, their choices, how their vampire nature reacts to each other and the human world around them. Instead of the Twilight saga, recommend this series to fans of vampire fiction.

(Book provided for review by children's lit www.childrenslit.com )