The Vampire Blog by Pete Johnson - Revision history

Sue at 11:34, 2 September 2020

2020-09-02T11:34:22Z

Sue at 08:46, 21 April 2018

2018-04-21T08:46:09Z

Sue at 16:33, 13 January 2015

2015-01-13T16:33:40Z

Keith at 14:45, 27 May 2010

2010-05-27T14:45:45Z

Jill: Created page with '{{infobox |title=The Vampire Blog |sort=Vampire Blog, The |author=Pete Johnson |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Confident Readers |summary=Humorous take on all things bitey as poor M…'

2010-05-24T13:43:52Z

Created page with '{{infobox |title=The Vampire Blog |sort=Vampire Blog, The |author=Pete Johnson |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Confident Readers |summary=Humorous take on all things bitey as poor M…'

New review

{{infobox
|title=The Vampire Blog
|sort=Vampire Blog, The
|author=Pete Johnson
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Humorous take on all things bitey as poor Marcus discovers his half-vampire heritage. Easy to read and filled with Johnson's throwaway one liners, the horror element is at a level perfect for late primary school readers.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|paperback=0440869358
|pages=240
|publisher=Yearling
|website=http://www.petejohnsonauthor.com
|date=May 2010
|isbn=0440869358
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0440869358</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0440869358</amazonus>
}}

The night of his thirteenth birthday, Marcus's parents sit him down for a chat. He fears there'll be some fingernails-on-a-blackboard stuff about the facts of life, he'll fend them off with a wry remark or two, and it'll all be over. After all, how bad could it be? Very bad, is the answer. Very, very, very, ''very'' bad. Because this chat isn't about sex at all. It's about fangs and blood cravings, and shape-shifting. Because Marcus is a half-vampire.

It isn't what he was expecting, and it isn't what he wants. So, much to his parents' chagrin, Marcus sets himself to preventing his transformation into a bitey person and for a while he has a degree of success - as he happily notes in his secret blog. It doesn't matter how many vampiric doctors come around, it doesn't matter how much his parents call him Ved, his new half-vampire name, the change stubbornly refuses to complete.

But what Marcus doesn't know is that his life is in terrible danger...

You can't knock a Pete Johnson book. They're highly accessible and always au fait with current tween preoccupations, so they're perfect for readers looking for full length books that don't take too much of a toll. but best of all, they are funny. It's the dialogue that really sparkles. Johnson's tween characters are always wry, ironic and dry, cracking jokes that their parents often miss but their readers notice with glee. They're also reluctant heroes, often geeky, and witty as they are they're often naive and clumsy, so we get an amount of slapstick humour too.

This is not to say that the horror element is completely window dressing - ''The Vampire Blog'' builds some real tension with the threat to Marcus, and there are some creepy scenes in the woods and some gruesome scenes with a goodly dollop of fangly terror.

Perfect.

My thanks to the good people at Yearling for sending the book.

{{amazontext|amazon=0440869358}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7606231}}

{{commenthead}}

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 But what Marcus doesn't know is that his life is in terrible danger...
-You can't knock a Pete Johnson book. They're highly accessible and always au fait with current tween preoccupations, so they're perfect for readers looking for full length books that don't take too much of a toll. but best of all, they are funny. It's the dialogue that really sparkles. Johnson's tween characters are always wry, ironic and dry, cracking jokes that their parents often miss but their readers notice with glee. They're also reluctant heroes, often geeky, and witty as they are they're often naive and clumsy, so we get an amount of slapstick humour too.
+You can't knock a Pete Johnson book. They're highly accessible and always au fait with current tween preoccupations, so they're perfect for readers looking for full-length books that don't take too much of a toll. but best of all, they are funny. It's the dialogue that really sparkles. Johnson's tween characters are always wry, ironic and dry, cracking jokes that their parents often miss but their readers notice with glee. They're also reluctant heroes, often geeky, and witty as they are they're often naive and clumsy, so we get an amount of slapstick humour too.
 This is not to say that the horror element is completely window dressing - ''The Vampire Blog'' builds some real tension with the threat to Marcus, and there are some creepy scenes in the woods and some gruesome scenes with a goodly dollop of fangly terror.
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 My thanks to the good people at Yearling for sending the book.
 {{interviewtext|author=Pete Johnson}}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=The Vampire Blog
 |sort=Vampire Blog, The
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |date=May 2010
 |isbn=0440869358
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0440869358</amazonuk>
+|cover=0440869358
-|amazonus=<amazonus>0440869358</amazonus>
+|aznuk=0440869358
 }}

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=240
 |publisher=Yearling
@@ Line 35: / Line 34: @@
 {{interviewtext|author=Pete Johnson}}
-{{amazontext|amazon=0440869358}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7606231}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0440869358}}
 {{commenthead}}

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |reviewer=Jill Murphy
 |genre=Confident Readers
-|summary=Humorous take on all things bitey as poor Marcus discovers his half-vampire heritage. Easy to read and filled with Johnson's throwaway one liners, the horror element is at a level perfect for late primary school readers.
+|summary=Humorous take on all things bitey as poor Marcus discovers his half-vampire heritage. Easy to read and filled with Johnson's throwaway one liners, the horror element is at a level perfect for late primary school readers. Pete Johnson was kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Pete Johnson|interviewed by Bookbag]].
 |rating=4
 |buy=Yes
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 My thanks to the good people at Yearling for sending the book.
 {{amazontext|amazon=0440869358}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7606231}}
 {{commenthead}}