Fat Vampire

June 28, 2010
As vampires go, 15-year-old Doug Lee is an abysmal failure. Forever frozen as an overweight teenager, he's stumbling through his unlife. He can't seem to master his powers, can't score a quick nibble off a cute girl, and risks bursting into flames every time he goes to school. Worse, his escapades attract the attention of other vampires, and a sensationalistic cable show dedicated to proving that he exists (before staking him). Things take a turn for the better when he gains a mentor, learns there may be a way to reverse his vampiric nature, and falls for a cute Indian exchange student. But in typical Doug fashion, the more optimistic he gets and the more he embraces his new powers, the more it all stands to fall apart. Filled with a self-aware cleverness, Rex's (The True Meaning of Smekday) deconstruction of the vampire mythos draws some thought-provoking parallels between vampirism and elements of contemporary society, particularly the consumptive power of technology and the Internet. But like its subject matter, it seems to lack heart, and the ambiguous ending may leave readers cold. Ages 14–up.

May 15, 2010
Grades 9-12 The title says it all for this indulgent and delightfully macabre spoof on the current vampire craze. Doug Lee is 15 and overweightand will be for eternity. He may be a vampire, but he is not a romantic figure by any means. An opening scene at the San Diego Comic Con neatly captures the events unabashed geekiness, while Dougs efforts to get some blood from a panda in the San Diego Zoo bring him to the attention of a reality TV show, Vampire Hunters. Back home in Philadelphia, Doug is smitten by a new exchange student from India, Sejal, who does not return his affection and tries to let him down easy. When he is not busy trying to win Sejals affections (or at least suck her blood) or fending off the TV show host, Doug gets tutored in vampire ways by a most unusual mentor. Rex successfully sustains the wonderfully dry humor and calculated silliness and then surprises the reader with a thoughtful, poignant, ambiguous ending that is bound to inspire discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2010

Teen vampires are a dime a dozen nowadays, but how many attend Comic-Con? Doug does, under a white poncho because sunlight sears his pale, new-vampire skin. The title word "fat" stands (gratuitously) for dorkiness; this geek-culture romp bubbles with computers, comics and bodily teen-boy awkwardness. It's hilarious but also sharply meaningful—exchange student Sejal arrives from Kolkata ill and wounded from a traumatic case of "the Google." As Doug seeks blood (deer's better than cow, but human's best) and chafes at vampiric education from a creepy elderly enigma, Sejal bonds with her host family's daughter and tries to recall her sense of self, recently misplaced on the Internet. Cable TV's cult show Vampire Hunters tracks Doug, who's ever more powerful—and ever less palatable. Rex addresses kindness, ethics and racism directly but also indulges in a hipster irony peppered with race and disability jabs, romanceless-but-Twilight–esque gender dynamics and a troubling sort of post-homophobia exploitation of gay stereotypes. Nevertheless, horror chills, humor, crisp prose and excellent secondary teen characters make this one fun read. (Humor/horror. YA)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2010
Gr 10 Up—-nlike most vampires who are drop-dead gorgeous, sexy, and irresistible, Doug is the exact opposite. Overweight, unpopular, and dorky, he seals his fate by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and as a result was attacked by a starving, newly made vampire. Now he must spend the rest of his immortal life as an unattractive 15-year-old, feeding off cows to satisfy his need for blood. With the support of some local vampire guardians and his friend Jay, the teen must now learn how to "live" life as a vampire. If events aren't complicated enough, he falls for the "new girl" at school, and has the star of the TV show "Vampire Hunters"hot on his trail, trying to expose him to the world. Rex's story falls flat. The back-and-forth narration between Doug and Sejal is confusing and slows down the plot. There are some promising moments, funny scenes, and intriguing themes that unfortunately just don't pan out.—"Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2010
Not every undead teen has Robert Pattinson abs. So Doug, destined for eternal tubbiness despite his liquid diet, tries to attract girls with his sense of humor. He doesn't exactly succeed, but Adam Rex does, more or less, with this funny, biting foray into vampire lit. The plot, involving a secret vampire society and a vacuous reality TV show crew that bumbles onto Doug's trail, tends to lose focus, but Rex nonetheless offers freshly worded observations on modern life and teen angst. A group date to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show pairs Doug with a girl, an exchange student from India, whom he desperately wants to impress. He fakes having a good time, but really "the evening was giving him the same feeling of anxious dread he got whenever he passed a couple of guys tossing a football around, or a Frisbee. You never knew if it would suddenly come your way, and you'd have to show that you couldn't catch or, should you somehow manage to catch it, throw. This theater was swarming with existential Frisbees." Rex's novel is a lot like his main character: a little flabby, but worth sticking with for the often-comical philosophical insights it tosses your way.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2011
Vampire Doug, destined for eternal tubbiness despite his liquid diet, tries to attract girls with his sense of humor. He doesn't exactly succeed, but Adam Rex does, with this funny, biting foray into vampire lit. Rex's story is a lot like his main character: a little flabby, but worth sticking with for the often-comical philosophical insights it tosses your way.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)