The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites - a Mom's Book Review

As an uptight and overprotective mother, I wanted to read the book Eighth Grade Bites from The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod written by Heather Brewer before my kids did. I also wanted an excuse to get my hands on some more vampire books. With the popularity of the Twilight books it seems as though vampires is the new "in" thing. This book Eighth Grade bites just happens to be about a vampire named Vlad.

The mom in me who has also read all of the books in the Twilight Saga wanted to make sure that this book and series about Vladimir Tod were not so violent or too romantic. There is death, dieing and vampire blood sucking mentioned several times throughout the book. I suppose that is somewhat expected in a book about vampires. If your child is immature or cannot handle violence then you may want to choose a different book for them. As far as romance, there is talk about making out in the band room, but not much more than kissing and crushes on girls by Vlad and best friend Henry.

The eighth grade does indeed bite for Vlad. He is an outcast who gets bullied on a daily basis. Vlad has a best friend Henry who he bit when they were eight. Vlad and Henry tell all kinds of vampire jokes and use vampire puns throughout the book. Is there a moral to the Eighth Grade Bites? Near the end of the book Vlad finally begins to stand up for himself. Which is a nice thing for kids, who always get picked on at school, to read about.

Vlad does not know anything about his vampire fathers past or his vampire heritage. While Vlad does begin to learn bits and pieces about his fathers past it seems more questions arise than are answered. I already knew that there were several more books in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, but if I had not I would have been able to tell just by reading the first book. They definitely left this book wide open for a sequel or series to continue answering questions brought up in this first book.

This books target audience seems to be Middle School or for Junior High School aged children. I think the book Eighth Grade Bites was relatively well written for this age group. Relating to daily life as a middle schooler and some of the different groups or cliques at schools. There was a reference in Eighth Grade Bites about Romper Room that seemed out of place. I understood the reference to Romper Room but I am guessing the about 99% of the Middle Schooolers will not get what the author meant.

There were a few humorous parts in the book by Heather Brewer. At one particularly funny paragraph I even laughed out loud. There are also a few things that seemed unbelievable, like how the vampires are able to go outside in the sun. While The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod may not become classic literature, it is a good way to get kids reading because of the popular vampire theme it revolves around.

Overall, I thought The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites was a good fit for the Middle School aged kids. I think they will enjoy this book and identify with most of it because of the realistic school setting. I enjoyed reading The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod and so did my kids. I went on to read Ninth Grade Slays; it does get a bit more risqué in my opinion, making that book better for older kids.