Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Yeah, I spaced my last post, which is what happens when you’ve been gone and you’re tired and suddenly out of the habit. On the other hand, I finished Whitney Gardner’s Fake Blood today, which makes my review choice a no brainer–and an unexpected pleasure. Now, full disclosure: I’ve had this book checked out for YEARS, because it was on the Granite Battle of the Books list in 2019. I kept not getting to it, however, until I finally decided (in the last couple of months or so) that I was going to make a concerted effort to catch up on the graphic novels languishing on my shelf. I’m not sure what made me pull Fake Blood out–maybe knowing that I’ve had it forever?–but I’m seriously glad I did.

So…if you took Northanger Abbey, and you made it a contemporary graphic novel spoofing vampire stories of the last 35 years, and then you crossed it with Barbra Streisand’s “Yentl”, I feel like you might a)think I’m a little nuts for suggesting it but b)get a decent sense of Gardner’s graphic novel. This book is HILARIOUS, people. As someone who worked at Borders (may it rest in peace) during the Twilight craze and who’s seen at least an episode or two of “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”, this spoof/adventure/school story/all of the above cracked me up. I hate to spoil any of the plot for you, but I suppose it’s safe to say that AJ wants to impress Nia, who’s super into vampires, and…complications ensue. Middle graders should enjoy this, but my generation ought to enjoy it as much or more; do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy this week.

It’s totally worth it.