Good Ghouls Do by Julie Kenner – Great Young Adult Vampire Book

Author Julie Kenner has written the perfect teen novel or, I guess I should say, the sequel to it, since it is the second book in her “Ghouls” series. Good Ghouls Do has a main character, Beth Frasier, who is a cheerleader, valedictorian, popularity queen (although she keeps saying she is not), and a vampire. She has the cutest boyfriend in the high school and a hot college guy trying hard to win her love. But, you know what they say, if something is too good to be true . . .

Beth has some problems. She thinks her gorgeous boyfriend is trying to kill her, and suspects that the hot college guy is a vampire hunter. She has to try and solve the secret to the formula that will allow a vampire to become a daywalker. And, on top of everything else, she has to kill her maker so she can return to her human form. You see she really wants her humanity back; who can live without hamburgers and fries?

You’d think this list of problems would be overwhelming for your average teenager – even a teen vampire – but Beth is smart and she has her best friend Jenny to help her. Oh, and did I mention that Beth had to turn Clayton, her high school boyfriend, into a vampire to save his life?

This means that if Clayton wants to be human again he has to kill his maker, Beth; not a good scenario when arrows and stakes keep appearing to be aimed at Beth. Very troublesome. Problems keep piling on for Beth but the biggest one is perhaps the most challenging: she has two dates to the Winter Dance and no dress to wear to the special event!

Despite the many issues Beth is working through, she’s funny and sarcastic through it all. It’s clear from reading the book that there’s a whole lot more in store for her in upcoming books. Having not read The Good Ghouls’ Guide to Getting Even, the first book in Julie Kenner’s series, I was concerned that there would be a learning curve to understanding the characters. But this was absolutely not the case. You don’t need to read the first book to understand Good Ghouls Do because it gives plenty of information to help the reader understand what has happened before. Although, since I enjoyed this one so much, my plan now is to go back and get the first one in the series, while waiting for the 3rd one to show up in the book store!

Good Ghouls Do is completely appropriate for both teen and adult readers. It’s one of those great crossover fantasy books that’s funny, suspenseful, full of mystery, and thoroughly entertaining. As such it gets my full recommendation.