Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

It's almost Halloween, and my mind always turns to dark suburban streets, and the rattle of dry leaves blown by the first cold wind of the season.  We all love creepy stories because we never think it could happen to us.  That's what Kerry thought too, and no good deed goes unpunished.  When Kerry's little brother asks her to go get the teddy bear he forgot at the laundromat, she figures the worst that could happen is a scolding from her father. Sure it was eleven'o'clock at night, and she didn't have permission to take the car, but it's just the laundromat.

When Kerry walks in, the laundromat is deserted and creepy, but she finds the teddy bear and turns to go.  Then a group of thugs burst through the door with a boy about Kerry's age, tied up and bleeding. Once they notice Kerry, they take her prisoner too while they try to determine is she's "one of them." One of what Kerry isn't sure, until they pull out Bibles and start talking about waiting until dawn.  They think the boy is a vampire, and they plan to kill him.  And Kerry too if she can't convince them she's human.  And that's just chapter one.  Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde is about making bad choices, falling in with dangerous people, and how hard it can be to tell a truth from a lie.  Plus, there's kidnapping, murder, and maybe a vampire.  These are a few of my favorite things.  Happy reading.
~ gothbrarian

This Book Sucks

In a vampiric way.  Wait - don't leave!  All bad jokes aside, the comic Life Sucks is actually pretty cool.  Assuming you like vampires of the non-sparkly variety. 

Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece have put together a comic exploring some of the less romantic sides of vampirism.  Like how you explain it to your mom and dad.  (You don't.)  And what sort of jobs are available for people who are permanently nocturnal.  (The night shift at a convenience store, for example.)  Also, the person who turned you is now your master.  (Which makes you his permanent wage slave.)  Dave Miller is not having the time of his undead life.  To make matters worse, the human girl he loves is now being romantically pursued by the guy he hates: psychopath surfer vampire Wes. 

Time for Dave to figure out how to get the girl and save the day.  Too bad he can only come out at night.

~ Book Ninja

Marked

Marked, by P.C. Cast, starts off as just a normal day for Zoey Redbird at her high school, until a tracker showed up and marked her. Now Zoey has to go to a new school, meet new friends, and, worst of all, tell her mom and step-loser about being marked and having to go to a special school for marked kids where she will either die or complete the change into a vampire. Sadly, her parents don't accept the fact that she was chosen, along with many others, to become a fledgling and attempt to go through the change.

Zoey escapes her parents grasps and heads for her new school just in time, because when she gets there the headmistress is waiting for her to arrive. Zoey is told to head to the courtyard and wait there, but on her way she witnesses a strange encounter between between a really cute guy and a way too desperate girl named Aphrodite. When Zoey is seen she flees from the scene and runs to the courtyard, where she meets up with the headmistress Nefrete and tries to forget about the strange encounter. After being introduced to all of her new teachers, Zoey is exausted and ready to rest her head on her new pillow and start her new life as a vampire fledgling or die. Will Zoey complete the change or will she die? Read the book and find out.

~ Morgan Le Fay