Switched by Sienna Mercer

Egmont, 2009. ISBN 9781405240864
(Ages 10+) Telling us that this the first in a series called My Sister, the Vampire, then boldly claiming to be a younger version of the Twilight series, made me curious. It's a claim I've seen often lately, and none has been any better than the Twilight series, which I thought was, at best, mediocre. Still, many millions have bought the books and read them, then sighed over the film versions. So I look at claims like this with some trepidation.
When Olivia goes to her new school, fearful and concerned in her pink outfit, she spies a girl she thinks she knows. The next chapter, from the other girl's point of view, allows us to see that Ivy feels the same. The two eventually meet up and compare backgrounds and come to the astonishing conclusion that they are sisters, better than that, twin sisters. As each girl gets to know the other, the reader can see that the Goth Ivy is hiding something. With the pages littered with nods to Charlotte's web, blood imagery, talk of stakes and garlic, to name a few, then we know that Ivy is probably a vampire and the race is on to read how and when Olivia will find out.
A funny look at vampires, this book, the first in a group of four, will be a hit in upper primary and lower secondary schools as they sink their teeth into the series.
Fran Knight