Scream street: Blood of the witch, book two by Tommy Donbavand.

117 pgs.
Target audience: Ages 9-13
Rating: Wizard

G.H.O.U.L., Government Housing of Unusual Life-forms, has designated Scream street a community for the supernatural. Luke and his parents are forced to move there after Luke transforms into a werewolf on his tenth birthday. His parents, however, live in constant fear of their new monstrous neighbors. Luke quickly befriends two other kids – a mummy named Cleo and Resus, a normal boy in a vampire family. In order for Luke to open a doorway and return his parents home, he must find all six relics listed in the ancient book, Skipstone’s Tales of Scream Street. But before they can even begin their quest, the blood supplied to resident vampires on tap is suddenly blocked off. Sir Otto Sneer, the landlord of Scream street is infecting all the rats and residents with vampire energy to raise an army and obtain the powerful relics for himself. Will the children unblock the blood supply in time? Will Luke save his parents from becoming vampires? Perfect for Goosebumps fans, this story sizzles with grisly, ghoulish, and ghastly fun. Each volume focuses on getting one of the sacred relics. The black and white illustrations sprinkled throughout range from full page pictures to strategically placed globs of blood, spider-webs, claws dripping with gore and bats. The author includes a pictorial gallery of residents, a keyed map and a short synopsis of the series so far. (Book provided for review by Children's Lit www.childrenslit.com)

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 )