Switched

Switched
by Sienna Mercer
Recommended Ages: 11+

Olivia didn't know she had a twin sister until she moves to a new town, starts attending a new middle school and notices that her science lab partner, Ivy, looks an awful lot like her. Other than Olivia being a perky cheerleader type and Ivy being a pale-skinned, raccoon-eyed Goth, that is. They have the same birthdate and birthplace. They were both adopted. Whoever anonymously dropped them off also left behind anonymous, emerald rings with both of them. Clearly, they're twins. There's just one big difference between them. Ivy is, ahem, a vampire.

No biggie. Lots of people in Franklin Grove are vampires, including a lot of the Goth kids in middle school. Only, the "bunnies" (regular humans) aren't supposed to know. Once Olivia is in on the secret, she and Ivy start switching places to better use their differing skill sets. For example, Olivia is totally on board with helping plan and decorate the vamps-only, secret school dance – something Ivy wouldn't be caught undead doing. Also, she helps break the ice with the Goth boy Ivy has been crushing on forever. Meanwhile, Ivy fills in for Olivia during cheerleading practices, helping take mean, popular girl Charlotte down a peg. Spray-on tanning and skin-whitening and the deft application of makeup can do a lot for a couple of enterprising girls, if only they can fool their friends ... and frenemies. But of course, there are complications. No one can know they are secretly identical twins. No one can know Olivia is in on the vampire secret. How long do you suppose they can keep that secret?

This is the first of something like 18 thin, middle-grades chapter books in the "My Sister the Vampire" series, whose author also put out a quartet of "My Brother the Werewolf" books. I picked up a bunch of them at a secondhand store, which might suggest a strategy for picking up on them. Or you can always shop online, haunt the school media center or public library, do interlibrary loan, etc. Just sayin'. Further titles in this series include Fangtastic! (that's book 2), Love Bites, Stake Out!, Fashion Frightmare! and, most recently, Fangs for the Memories. What I've seen so far is charming, upbeat, and funny, sometimes in a way that tries to sneak by you (like, for example, sneaking the words "Charlotte's web" into the middle of a sentence not overtly referring to the E.B. White book). I have a feeling that when my supply runs out, I might have to go searching for additional installments.