Vampire High

Rees, D (2003). Vampire High. New York: Delacorte Press.

Plot Description: Cody’s family has just moved to New Sodom, Massachusetts from California and he is not happy.  In order to express his anger he gets all F’s on his report card which backfires on him when his parents put him in a new school, Vlad Dracul.  The school is different than most and the majority of students are Vampires, or jentis as they like to be called.  The school has to have regular people like Cody in order to fill the water polo team which is part of the curriculum.  Vampires are deathly afraid of water because of the longtime legend that they will melt.  Cody becomes fast friends with Justin and Ileana who are both jenti and later falls in love with Ileana.  He is constantly sticking up for Cody and at one time even gives him his blood so he can attend Ileana’s party.  Cody also helps Justin, and other jenti similar to him, discover that they actually are great swimmers and transform into seal like creatures when in the water.  The jenti help fill the water polo team which keeps the school open and Cody and Ileana develop a relationship. 

Genre: Fantasy

Age Group: This book would be appropriate for grades 5-8.

Similar Books: Vampire High: Sophomore Year by Douglas Rees and The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks,

Personal Thought: This is another good book with vampires as the main theme and would be a good recommendation for students interested in that subject.

Subject/Themes: Vampires, Friends, Loyalty, School

Character Description: Cody Elliot has been enrolled at Vlad Dracul due to his bad performance at his last school.  Ileana has marked him so that he is safe from the other vampires.

Ileana is a student at Vlad Dracul.  She is a direct descendant of Dracula and is considered royalty in the vampire world.

Justin is another jenti at Vlad Dracul.  He becomes Cody’s best friend.  He is smaller than most of the other vampires.  He is saved by Cody on the first day from getting thrown in a creek by other vampires.

Charon is a wolf that seems to understand people very well and to always be watching.  He patrols the school and shows Cody to all of his classes on the first day.  At the end we find out that he is actually Dracula and has been watching Ileana the entire year.

Annotation: Cody has just enrolled at Vlad Dracul where he finds out that he is only there to play water polo and does not have to do any homework.  The majority of the school is vampires and they cannot get into the water or can they?  Read along to find out what Cody finds out in his journey at this new school.