Alex Van Helsing

Alex Van Helsing : Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson

Fourteen-teen-year-old Alex has no idea that he's descended from the world's most famous vampire hunter, but that changes fast when he arrives at Glenarvon Academy and confronts two vampire in his first three days.
Turns out Glenarvon isn't the only school near Lake Geneva. Hidden deep underground lies an ancient university for vampires called the Scholomance. And the deadly vampire clan lord known as Icemaker? You might say he's a visiting professor.
When two of Alex's friends are kidnapped by Icemaker, it's up to Alex to infiltrate the Scholomance and get them back - alive. Assisted by the Polidorium, a top-secret vampire-hunting organization with buried ties to the Van Helsings, Alex dodges zombies, bullets and lots - and lots - of fangs on his way to thwarting Icemaker's plans and fulfilling his family destiny.

The book trailer.

Hearts at Stake

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey - The Drake Chronicles

From the inside cover:
Solange Drake always knew she was destined to become a vampire queen. and as the only female vampire ever born, not made, she is surrounded by danger on all sides - from vamprie suitors who want to join with her lineage to bounty hunters who are set on destroying her and her family. When she is kidnapped, it's up to her older brother Nicholas and her human best friend, Lucy, to save her. But can Lucy save herself from Nicholas, who tempts her with his every look? And what will be Solange's own fate if she surrenders her heart to the vampire hunter helping her survive the deadly intrigue at the royal court?
Let the Drake family be your guide into the secret vampire society full of epic battles, undead drama, and wicked humor.

And there's even a book trailer.

End of Days

End of Days: Night Runner II by Max Turner

Whoa!! I feel like I've just been riding the best and longest roller coaster ride all night long. This books rockets you from one event to the next, with crazy twists and turns along the way. Just when I thought I had things figured out, and thought I knew who the evil was - bam- they kill that character off, and I'd have to start figuring it out all over again. Even though it had been awhile since I had read the first book, I felt at ease with the characters right away. And this is one of those books where the action starts right away, so no worries there. I highly recommend this and Night Runner to anyone who needs their next thrill ride.

Summary:

Zach Thomson has spent the past year getting used to the idea that his best friend Charlie, and the lovely Luna are now vampires - just like him. As they all learn to cope with the changes this strange new state of affairs brings, a mysterious creature appears. Likened to the Beast of the Apocalypse, it begins to dismantle the network of support around Zach, who discovers he is more than just an orphaned vampire - he is the subject of an ancient prophecy that relates to the End of Days. As friends and enemies, old and new, throw his world into chaos, Zach is forced to re-examin what it means to be good at a time when it seems that only the strong and the ruthless can survive.

The end leaves me believing that we'll be seeing a third book in the future.

Thank you Max Turner for a creative guy option to a vampire book, and to keeping it Canadian.
Read On.

Here's an alternate cover that might be appearing on Amazon or in bookstores.

Too Funny!!!

Buffy vs. Edward
This is too funny!

Dead is the new black

Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

(from the back cover) - Everyone in the Giodano family is psychic - except for Daisy. When her mother, who uses her power to solve crimes, enlists Daisy's older sister to investigate a teenage girl's mysterious death, Daisy feels utterly useless. But she takes matters into her own hands when she learns the victim has losts of company - teenage girls are being attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy is a junior. And when she discovers a vampire may be the culprit, Daisy suspects head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new "look". She looks a little... well, dead.

Is looking dead just another fashion trend for pretty, popular Samantha, or is there something more sinister afoot? Daisy will stop at nothing to find out - she even joins the cheerleading squad. And with a little sleuthing help from Ryan, an old friend (who may be turning into something more), Daisy not only reveals the identity of the vamp, she also discovers powers that she never knew she had.

This one is a little like cotton candy for me, it's sweet and likeable when your reading it, and then when it's over you hardly remember having it. There are more titles available in this series - Dead is a State of Mind and Dead is so Last Year.

Something to read for those after the whole Twilight series

Night Runner by Max Turner

This is for those of you who now need your next great read after the Twilight series. I picked up this book on the recommendation of my old boss and mentor Diane, and she is usually right on the mark, and she's done it again. This was an action-packed trill ride of the vampire kind. The action sequences reminded me of The extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp and I just couldn't put it down. It had elements of suspense, humor, action, adventure and romance all within its 261 pages.

From the back cover -

For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward wasn't so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly look after. As strange as it seems, it was home.

He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie, visited him often enough; and Nurse Ohelia -- the pretties no-nonsense nurse ever -- sometimes took him bowling. Of course, that didn't mean he had it easy. His allergies restricted his diet to strawberry smoothies, and being the only kid at the hospital did get lonely. But it never once crossed Zach's mind to leave... until the night a stranger crashed through the front doors and told him to run.

Now he's on a race for answers -- about his past, his parents and his strange sickness -- even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths.

This had a crazy amount to twists to it, and I was kept guessing right to the last chapter.

Congratulations to high school science teacher/author Max Turner of Ottawa for what is sure to be a hit with the kids at Lakie. We need more authors like you, who know how to keep them reading past that first page, first chapter, first hundred pages. Way to hook em!

Read on

More summer reading

Being back a school for a week now has been terrific, once I got things back in order that is. As I was shelving books, I realized that I have tons that I want to review here on the blog, as well as books that I'm currently reading. So here's what I read this weekend, followed by some more of what I read this summer.


What my mother doesn't know by Sonya Sones. This is a girlie book, a fast read because it's told in the form of a series of poems (also known as a novel in verse), and covers the topic of Sophie's old boyfriend, new boyfriend and falling for an unexpected potential other new boyfriend? What I really liked about the book was how the titles of the poems chronicle the passage of time through Sophie's year. These were a few of my fav's - Art Class, I hate her, and But we're just friends. Overall I enjoyed the book, I think Sonya Sones totally nails the teenage girl voice in her writing.



The bronze pen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Twelve-year-old Audrey Abbott dreams of becoming a writer, but with her father's failing health and the family's shaky finances, it seems there is no room for what her overworked mother would surely call a childish fantasy. So Audrey keeps her writing a secret. That is, until she meets a mysterious old woman who seems able to read her mind. Audrey is surprised at how readily she reveals her secret to the woman.
One day the old woman gives Audrey a peculiar bronze pen and tells her to "use it wisely and to good purpose." It turns out to be just perfect for writing her stories with. But as Audrey writes, odd things start happening. Did Beowulf, her dog, just speak to her? And what is that bumping under her bed at night? It seems that whatever she writes with the pen comes true. However, things don't always happen in the way that she wants or expects. In fact, it's quite difficult to predict what writing with the pen will do. Could the pen be more of a curse than a gift? Or will Audrey be able to rewrite the future in the way that she wishes---and save her father's life? Perfect for grades four to six.




Suck it up by Brain Meehl. Well this was my vampire book of the summer. Morning McCobb is a very unlikely vampire and he's been chosen to represent the IV League (International Vampire League) as their poster boy for the major coming out event. Why Morning? well he's young, geeky, and not a threat to humans because he's never even had blood from human or animal, Morning exists on Blood Lite a soy substitute. PR rep Penny Dreadful has been hired as Morning's handler and as well as pumping up the media on the day when the two worlds come together (that of the vampires and ours). There's one hitch with all of this and that's the fact that Penny has a teenage daughter and Morning is starting to like her more than a little. Will his true vampire colors show through?
There's great word play (dare I say -tongue and cheek) in this book, I really liked some aspects of this one and would recomend it for grades seven and eight.


Read on