From: Elsa Marston <elsa.marston>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:51:59 -0500

Well, now--thanks to Lee Bennett Hopkins' latest statement--I am getting interested in this vampire discussion. First, I certainly agree with him on the value of good YA literature (and even, gritting my teeth, mediocre fiction if that's what it take to get a book into some kids' hands). But I often wonder, as many of us do, what effect the availability of good fiction has on the target audience, teenagers. Do they really read the books we admire so much? I can only hope so.

As for the passion for vampires, I dare say that This, too, shall pass away.

I must confess to having read only one vampire novel, THE SILVER KISS, some years back. I thought it was quite terrific. Not because of the romance and neck-chewing, though that was handled inoffensively, but because I thought the concept of evil--possibly starting with an innocent person--being passed down the generations, continuing to affect some innocents, was intriguing.
(Cain and Abel? The Human Condition?) The scene where the innocent-appearing child lures someone to help him sticks in my memory as a classic in horror writing. I forget how the spell is broken--presumably by trust, love, some sort of sacrifice (Flying Dutchman? Christianity?), but I recollect feeling that the book gave me a good ride in terms of both ideas and emotional involvement. That's all I have to say about vampires.

Elsa www.elsamarston.com
Received on Tue 14 Jul 2009 01:51:59 PM CDT