When a gentle vampire who prefers plants to plasma suddenly sprouts fangs in the middle of math class, staying hidden becomes the ultimate survival test.
When a gentle vampire who prefers plants to plasma suddenly sprouts fangs in the middle of math class, staying hidden becomes the ultimate survival test. Marker Snyder’s debut graphic novel, First Kiss with Fangs, offers a fresh spin on the monster genre for middle-grade readers. The story centers on Ivan, a thirteen-year-old vampire who breaks all the traditional vampire rules: he loves sunlight, sticks to a plant-based diet, and secretly attends Day School with humans. His careful routine crumbles on the first day of eighth grade when his adult fangs erupt, triggering a humiliating fainting spell at the mere scent of blood. Matters get more complicated when he is paired with a new lab partner, Damien, whose steady heartbeat draws him in even as he wrestles with shame. Caught between the safety of the vampire Night School and the human life he loves, Ivan must decide if he has the courage to stop hiding his true self.
For educators working with students who find standard novels daunting, this book is a practical addition to your shelves. The text complexity is approachable, with an estimated Lexile range of 451–500, relying mostly on simple and compound sentences rather than dense paragraphs. Snyder’s artwork helps hugely here; he uses a distinct color palette—yellow for the human world, blue for the vampire realm, and sharp red accents for emotional intensity—to instantly signal setting and mood shifts. This visual coding helps students track the narrative context without getting lost in descriptive text. The dialogue is also straightforward, avoiding obscure idioms that often trip up non-native speakers. With starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, this story handles mature themes of identity and bodily change through an accessible lens, giving reluctant readers a story that feels age-appropriate without the barrier of difficult syntax.
