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The Children’s Book Review
Eddie and the Vegetarian Vampire
Written by Dennis M. Desmond
Illustrated by Jan Miller
Ages 8+ | 249 Pages
Publisher: Saguaro Books LLC | ISBN-13: 9781088063293
What to Expect: Friendship, orphans, family, belonging, vegetarianism
Set in 1940s Boston and written with dark humor reminiscent of Bugsy Malone, Eddie and the Vegetarian Vampire is both touching and hilariously funny.
Being an orphan is tragic, but Eddie is even more tragic than the other orphans because he is pudgy and shortsighted, ineligible for adoption, fond of vocabulary, and in love with one of the nuns. Then, Eddie gets a shock – it turns out the bat he’s made friends with in the orphanage basement is actually a vampire. Not just any vampire either; Count Bloodless is a vegetarian vampire, and he’s starving.
Eddie’s not sure how a vampire can be vegetarian, nor why his accent is so strange. Still, one thing he is sure about is that being a cast-out vegetarian vampire is even more tragic than being an unadoptable orphan with glasses. When a vampire-hunting monk turns up, Eddie decides he must help Count Bloodless, and in turn, the Count may be able to help Eddie unravel his secret past. As a tragic orphan, you have to take your friends where you find them.
Readers will love Eddie’s candid insights about life as an orphan, his sharp wit, and the absurdity of his vegetarian vampire friend’s antics (there are consequences if you choose to live mostly on beans). Along the way, they’ll also pick up some impressive vocabulary (“phenomenal” and “egregious”) and some thought-provoking ideas about what it means to belong, to fit in, and to be loved. The ending is hopeful without being saccharine, leaving readers to wonder for themselves where Eddie will end up after the orphanage.
Eddie and the Vegetarian Vampire is sweet, funny, and thought-provoking – perfect for Halloween reading.
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About the Author
Dennis M. Desmond is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and the Antioch School of Law. Eddie and the Vegetarian Vampire is his debut novel. The father of three adult children, he lives with his wife in the Washington, DC, area.
For more information, visit https://www.dennismdesmond.com/.
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