Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Berkley Publishing Group/Ace Books, New York, 2001.
ISBN: 978-0-441-01699-0

Plot Summary:
Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress at Merlotte's, a bar in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps. She has what she calls a "disability," that is, she can read people's minds. She tries as hard as she can not to, and this leaves her somewhat mentally exhausted, to the point that people think of her as crazy Sookie. One day Bill, a vampire comes into the bar and sits at her table. She is excited about this, and when she goes to serve him, realizes that she can't hear his thoughts.

The vampires in this novel are sort of "coming out of the closet" and living amongst humans or "mainstreaming." The bar Sookie works at even stocks synthetic blood for them, even though there aren't many in her town. Sookie and Bill start dating, to the dismay of some of her friends and co-workers. Sookie loves that she can't hear Bill's thoughts. Soon, however, women start dying. All of these women have slept with vampires. Then Sookie's grandmother is killed, and it is obvious it was supposed to be Sookie. Sookie asks Bill to take her to a vampire bar in Shreveport to investigate and hopefully clear her brother's name, who has slept with all the women who have been killed (except her grandmother). At the bar, Sookie attracts the attention of Eric, an older vampire who wants her for himself.

When Bill goes out of town for a few days, he sends the vampire Bubba to guard Sookie. The murderer ends up giving Bubba a drugged cat. Sookie goes out to investigate and is chased down by Rene, Sookie's friend Arlene's boyfriend. Since Sookie can read his mind, she knows he is the one who committed the murders because he was upset that his sister was dating a vampire, and used it as an excuse to kill others and have sex with their dead bodies. Sookie is able to fight him off, since she is strong from drinking vampire blood, and they both wind up in the hospital after a long struggle. Bill returns to her side, and all seems well, with the exception of Eric the vampire, flying outside her window...

Critical Evaluation:
I was a little weary of another vampire book, but like Dracula and the Twilight series, this was a lot of heart-pounding fun as well. Sookie is easy to love and says the cutest things, it's impossible not to root for her. It's easy to understand why she likes Bill so much after she lets us in on other people's thoughts. I don't think I could handle listening to all of that either.

The book is sexy and fast-paced, with a lot of action. From the first few pages when Sookie confronts the Rattrays in the parking lot all by herself, we know she is a different type of woman. The writing is simple, and is not going to win any awards, but for a quick, fun read, it fills the bill.

Reader’s Annotation:
Crazy Sookie Stackhouse has finally met her match in Bill the vampire, but they have to face much prejudice and other meddling vampires in order to be together.

Information about the Author:
Charlaine Harris is from Southern Arkansas and has written a few different mystery series. The first features a librarian from Georgia, Aurora Teagarden, and then the Lily Bard series set in Shakespeare Arkansas. Finally the Sookie Stackhouse series, where she combines mystery and fantasy.

Genre: mystery/fantasy

Curriculum Ties: none

Booktalking Ideas:
I would introduce Sookie Stackhouse and her "disability." Then I would talk about how the vampires are living amongst the humans and being grudgingly accepted into society. Then I would talk about Bill and how Sookie can't hear his thoughts, and why this is attractive to her. Then I would talk about the murders and the suspicions everyone has.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
This book would be appropriate for older teens, 16 and up.

Challenge Issues:
This book could be challenged for a number of issues including sexuality, violence, and dealing with the occult. I would explain the library's selection policy and give the challenger a complaint form to fill out.

Why I chose this book:
This book was recommended to my by a few friends and was also on the list of recommended readings for this class.