Tag Archives: heather brewer

The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer

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cemeteryboys_heatherbrewerStephen’s life is already bad enough, with his mom in the hospital and his dad going broke from paying the bills. It gets worse when his dad tells Stephen that the two of them are moving to the small town his dad grew up in. No one wants to live in Spencer, let alone move there, so to Stephen is very bad news. They are forced to live with Stephen’s grandmother who despises the very idea of them both. As much as they hate to live there, his dad promises it is just temporary, saying that he just needs enough time to get a job and get back on his feet. Then, they can leave Spencer for good. But as weeks drag into months, it’s clear the two won’t be going anywhere for a while.

However, things begin to get better when Stephen meets punk girl, Cara, who he may or may not have a huge crush on and her interesting and protective twin brother, Devon. As nights hanging out in the harmless “Playground”, also known as the town’s cemetery, Stephen starts to realize there is much more going on here than just a few drinks with some friends and he begins to suspect Devon may not just be a regular friend but a leader, leading them all to a fatal end. Stephen wants more than anything to get his life back to normal, or as normal as it will ever be. But what he doesn’t know is that nothing normal can come out of his move to Spencer, Michigan and that he may never know normal again….

I could not put this book down no matter how hard I tried. This amazing thriller will have you on the edge of your seats with every word. And the ending was something I never expected! Everything in this book was just so fascinating, that I couldn’t wait to find out what happens. Because of some mature content, I would recommend this to readers 13 and up. Be sure to look out for this book at the library. The town legends and beliefs will make you wonder that if you were there, would you believe them too?

– Sabrina C., 9th Grade

The Cemetery Boys is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library.

Book Review: Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer

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eighth_grade_bites_coverAre you tired of waiting for the next Rick Riordan book to come out, or sad that the Harry Potter series is over? If you said yes to either of the two questions, then Eighth Grade Bites might be the next thriller for you.

Meet Vlad Tod, a boy who has been a vampire all his life. The only few people who know this are his dead parents, his best friend (who’s human) and his guardian (also human). However, all he wants to do is to live a normal life, even though he has to put on sunscreen every day, his teacher is too mysterious, and some evil vampire is chasing after him. Besides that, he’s just your average middle schooler who gets bullied, doesn’t have good grades, and is in love with the most popular girl in his
class.

While this book is about vampires, it’s not a gushy romance like Twilight. For one thing, there is no mention of guys taking off their shirts, since it is through a guy’s point of view and not a girl’s. Secondly, while Vlad does fall in love, it’s more like a teenage crush than soul mate sort of love.

I believe that fans of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson would love this book. First of all, Vlad believes himself to be the only vampire in existence before he meets others like him. Secondly, like in Percy Jackson and the seventh book of Harry Potter, someone is always chasing after him. Finally, he has to face the decision of being a special “chosen one” and what is happening in his mind. However, Vlad, like Percy, is very comical and pretty clueless sometimes.

This book contains some materials that are not suitable for anybody who is under 13. These materials include bullying, numerous mentions of blood, talk of what boys desire in girls, and movies that have gore in them.

I would give this book a very high rating. Brewer makes Vlad so realistic with him having average teenager enjoyments and problems, making him seem like he is not a vampire at all (except for the fact that he drinks blood every day after school). Additionally, Brewer puts in some many plot twists that it would make readers want more and learn about some important characteristics of books, especially if the reader doesn’t always read books.

-Megan V., 8th grade

Book Review: Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer

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eighth_grade_bites_coverFirst might I start out saying I love The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod. I read the entire series and would love to own all of them. The story follows our current eighth grade hero Vladimir Tod. He is a vampire– but he doesn’t sparkle. Vampires are hurt and even killed in the sun light in this mythos about vampires.

Vladimir has a very depressing life; his parents died when he was much younger. They died in a fire at his house and he now lives with aunt Nelly. Nelly isn’t his real aunt, but she and Vlad’s mom were best friends so he refers to her as aunt because she practically is. And the most important plot point in the early story is Vlad’s teacher– his favorite teacher goes missing and is never seen in the series ever.

Of course, Vlad is bullied and not many people besides his best friend Henry like him. That being said, he does have a crush on a girl as most boys around that age do. As she is put up to be the most beautiful girl in the school, Meredith tends to hang around Henry more, which throws up a bit of tension between the two till further in.

Down to the good old heart of this book: it’s a vampire story; but no matter how hard you look at, it’s not Twilight. It’s more for men. It’s funny, it’s mean at times, and it can be rather clever. No matter what you think of vampires, the book is at least mildly interesting, and it can be a great way to read away a late Sunday night. Personally I love these books, and it makes me very happy to read them over again.

And lastly, the most important joke of the book for me; in the first few chapters Vlad and Henry go to a Halloween party of Elm Street; clearly a reference to Nightmare on Elm Street.

There are a few problems here and there, but I really enjoyed this book. I would go more into detail, but that would spoil a lot of the book, which I think is just sick. The story works really well, and of course it’s a nice story for kids and teens. It’s more child friendly than, say, Van Helsing, but teens will like it because it is rather relatable. It has a lot of points where it can hit home for all those kids who were loners, who can sympathies with this character. Teens should give it a look even if your not sure if it’s your type of story, you will enjoy it as long as you like a good tale of vampires who hate garlic, don’t sparkle, and bite people like they are supposed to.

Vladimir Tod gets a 7/10 for his first outing in the book world, and the books only get better and more emotional. I strongly recommend putting this on your “must read” list as soon as you can.

-Cameron S., 12th grade