"An ambiguously coded figure, a source of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century." ~ page 2 introduction to Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture
Intellectual Vampire Quote
"If the vampire is an other, he or she was always a figure in whom one could find one's self...the despicable as well as the defiant, the shameful as well as the unashamed, the loathing of oddness as well as pride in it." ~ Richard Dyer
Tagline: Sent away because of her feelings for a girl, she discovered a birthright of magic at her aunt’s lake house.
Book Description:
Thirteen-year-old Zinnia is about to turn fourteen when her life is flipped upside down. With her parents on the brink of a divorce, Zinnia is sent to spend the summer with her eccentric great-aunts on their lake house away from her home in Manhattan. Zinnia arrives at her aunt’s massive Victorian house, with a heavy heart.
After a recent falling out, she had with her best friend Charlotte, who betrayed her trust by showing the meanest and most popular girl in school a letter Zinnia wrote confessing her feelings for Charlotte. The aunts rely on practical magic, acceptance, and old family friends to help heal their great-niece in more ways than one.
But what no one expected that summer was for Zinnia to meet Billie, another girl who was more like Zinnia than she would have guessed.
Charlie flashed me a big, fatherly smile. The
wrinkles around his eyes traveled down the sides of his face, and for a moment
I couldn’t believe how time had caught up to him since my last visit. “Well,
look at you, Zinnia! You’ve shot up like a string bean.”
Charlie reached straight for my suitcase and threw
it into the truck. His hearty laugh filled the cabin as we both buckled in. “I
almost didn’t recognize you there with how you’ve grown.” I looked down at my
cramped legs, desperate to stretch out as my knees touched the glove
compartment. Charlie patted my back and turned the key inside the ignition,
bringing life to the beat-up truck as the engine groaned like an old dog too tired to wake from its
nap. “Here we go, String Bean! Off like a herd of turtles at the races.”
I cracked a smile at this, almost
by accident, before wiping it away and looking out of the window. I could admit
that I liked Ole Charlie. He’d been neighbors with my aunts for over forty
years, and I’d known him all my life, so I thought it was safe to say that he
was basically family. “Wait till your aunts get a look at you, string bean.”
I rolled my eyes as I tried, and
once again failed, to conceal my smile. Every time I visited my aunts, Ole
Charlie gave me a new nickname. I suppose my nickname for this summer is
going to be string bean. I whispered it to myself for a test drive and
annoyingly, it wasn’t so annoying.
“It’s been a few years since you and your mom
visited us on Ambrosia Hill.” Charlie looked over at me with his old brown eyes
full of affection. “Not ashamed to say we’ve missed you, string bean.”
About the Author:
Rebecca Henry is an American author living abroad in England. She is a devoted vegan who gardens, practices yoga, crafts, travels the world, and bakes. Rebecca’s favorite holiday is Halloween, and she is obsessed with anything and everything witchy! Besides writing fiction, Rebecca is also the author of her vegan holiday cookbook collection and green living lifestyle book. Her love for animals, baking with her family, having a plant-based diet, and cruelty-free, green lifestyle inspired her nonfiction novels. You can find all Rebecca’s books on Amazon and Goodreads.
Five Fangs: Extremely Fang-tastic, The Book Totally Rocks, Really Love It, Highly Recommended Read Four Fangs: Fabulously Fang-tastic, Loved It, Recommended Read
Three Fangs: Fang-tastic book, worth reading
Two Fangs: Not so Fang-tastic
One Fang: This book totally sucks and not in the good vampire way
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3 comments:
I love the cover! The colors and graphics graphics are amazing!
Thanks so much for having me on your blog!
Excellent excerpt, Amethyst sounds like a book that I don't want to miss and I love the cover! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a sunshiny day!
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