Adele Griffin
Putnam Juvenile (2008)
ISBN 9780399250644
Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 13) for Reader Views (7/08)
Fans waiting for a sequel to the first VampireIsland book will not be disappointed by the second installment in the series, “The Knaveheart’s Curse.”
Maddy and her family are fruit-bat vampire hybrids living in New York. They hope that by living a blood-free life they can truly become humans. I haven’t read the first book so I won’t pretend to be an expert on Maddy, Lexie and Hudson. From what I gather, the first book follows all three children. “The Knaveheart’s Curse,” however, is centered on Maddy.
Maddy has zero social graces and a love for mildew so it’s not hard to see why she has zero friends. Most eleven-year-olds don’t have much in common with her. The day she blackmails sweet DakotaUnderhill to be her friend for just one day changes a lot. On the day they were supposedly meant to be friends, the leader of the most vicious gang of Old World vamps, the Knavehearts, came to town. And the leader is here for none other than Lexie, Maddy’s older dead-poet-obsessed sister. Maddy has to save her sister with the help of Hudson and, surprisingly, DakotaUnderhill. Her only problem is which one is the evil Old World vampire and which one is her sister?
Maddy takes on an evil much bigger than herself, with help from her brother, friend, unlikely allies, and a new cape. Oh, and that Box of Disgusting should come in handy too. “The Knaveheart’s Curse” is a short and funny story by Adele Griffin. I can’t help but think of mini-Goths every time I think of it. Hudson doesn’t do much except freak out Old-World-style and then help a little at the end. Dakota is an unlikely but useful ally. All in all, it’s a funny and enjoyable book that gives yet another new set of vampires and vampire lore to love and remember with fondness.
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