Vampire Island

Lexie, Maddy, and Hudson aren't your average kids. Their parents are in a rock band called The Dead Ringers and walk dogs for a living. Hudson calls the oven the yewn and nags his classmates about saving the world to the point that no one wants to speak to him. Maddy spies on neighbors while eating ticks. And Lexie, well, she quotes dead poets - mostly the classics, but let us not forget Tupac and Kurt Cobain. Oh and they're not exactly human, but not exactly bats, but not exactly vampires either - they're fruit-bat hybrids and they're just learning to fit into the new world of New York. They're also just learning about aging, crushes, school age politics, embracing their uniqueness, hiding their uniqueness. The usual. I really struggled with what to rate this. It is a quick, fun, fast read. Maybe too fast. Without spoilers: The main Maddy storyline, which the main storyline of the book really, it seems to just sort of end in a rushed cop out sort of way. Tied up neatly with a bow on it. In such a way that made it feel as though this whole book was nothing more than a set up to ensure further books would happen. Which is fine, it actually worked, as I said this book was fun, I've already purchased the next. But given how the main storyline went on seeming rather important and just ended, it did feel as though there was room for more here. Either more in that storyline. Or more of the other siblings. Or more of the parents. I'm not sure what exactly was missing. A little of all of the above maybe. For this "what was missing?" feeling alone, 4 stars. For fun factor it would have been 5.

The Livingstone's are vegetarians. They're vampires, and they live in Manhattan. You just know it's not going to be a walk in the park--Central Park, that is. Adele Griffin's Vampire Island takes us into the world of Lexie, Maddy and Hudson, a world where vampires and humans live together, but not all vampires are fruit-bat hybrids. I really enjoyed following Lexie through her boy problems, Maddy spying on the neighbors, and Hudson setting out to save the world. Hudson has a small language problem. He uses old world words (like "yewn," "O' Happy Day" and "whilst") in a new world. He wants to help save the planet from global warming, so he makes people write on both sides of the paper, use the least amount of electricity possible, and sometimes has his sister Maddy scare kids into not using as much throw-away paper or plastic at lunch. By night he loves to fly through Central Park, talking to bat friends. By day he talks to the animals his parent's pet sit. Lexie can do things only bats can do, echo-sounding, super-fast reflexes (I liked the coin catching trick), double-jointed knees. These attract the attention of the hottest guy in school, Dylan Easterby. Dylan happens to be the same age as Lexie (her human age anyway). Lexie runs into trouble because Mina, the most popular girl in school, also happens to want Dylan. Of all the vampire children, Maddy has the most trouble adapting to the vegan diet, but she's willing to try some interesting new foods. She drinks hot pomegranate juice every morning, pretending it's blood. She eats mosquitoes and ticks to get the blood they have taken from others. She also has a keen sense for uncovering and hunting down pureblood vampires. When two move in across the street from the Livingstone's, she is not about to let them hurt her family. She's an awful cook, but that doesn't stop her from making cookies with garlic and holy water. She can also be bossy. She gets Hudson, her younger brother, to dress up as a girl elf scout, and has him sell the special cookies to the vampires. She's also disappointed that her brother looks better in her elf scout uniform then she does. Adele Griffin's Vampire Island is a wonderful, funny, suspenseful story. I read it cover to cover in one sitting, and I would recommend it for anyone who likes adventure, magic, creatures of the night, and garlic cookies.

The book Vampire Island is a really fun interesting book. Adele Griffin really captures the fun quirky sides of her characters that all preteen and teenage readers are interested in reading about. My daughter has a copy of this book and I read it too. We both loved the character Maddy. She is a fun fierce girl. I would say anyone who gets this book will enjoy Adele Griffin's world of young Vampires in New York City and just maybe they will see some of themselves in the characters and the social situations all kids face no matter where they live!