Dancing with the Moon
The Dragon's Tear Chronicle 1
By David Conlin McLeod 

       The first book in an intriguing vampire/fantasy trilogy tips its hat to Charles Dickens, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, Lemony Snicket, and Harry Potter, but this time Harry's counterpart is a mentally disabled but suspiciously wise (of course) 13-year-old girl, whose special magic is a boundless optimism not unlike Troy Tomler's in Troy's Amazing Universe: M For Mall. Mental disability, a topic no one likes to think about, gets a mature treatment in contemporary literature (and in this case far more believable than "Forrest Gump"). David Conlin McLeod combines this with a riveting, action-packed, well-planned-out vampire blood war, and the tender portrayal of a girl's relationship with her vampire grandmother.

      Thirteen-year-old Amy Cavanaugh doesn't know that in addition to being mentally handicapped because of her father Adam (who gets the Mike Tyson Award for violence and immaturity and the Enron Award for greed), she's the target of centuries-old vendetta against her loving grandmother Colette, transformed by being bitten by a vampire in WWII France. It seems the vampire elders, including one Whitworth, dislike anyone getting into their vampires-only club, and for Whitworth in particular, a would-be Viktor Frankenstein, the idea of a female receiving immortality is particularly disgusting. Interestingly, in a subtle comment on sexism and prejudice, Amy's father Adam creates the mental handicap he so loathes because Amy isn't the son he desired.

     But Amy and Colette, through their deep affection, prove stronger than sexism, ancient blood feuds, Whitworth's Stepford house of horrors in England, and Whitworth's gruesome creation that hunts Amy and her Colette-sent protectors, a pair of ancient gypsy vampires named Tsigane and Moon, who find Amy's personality more powerful than Colette's magical Dragon's Tear jewel, a mysterious artifact from a sinister vampire bloodline that Colette promises to Moon. Amy's ability to see the truth, her pure love, and her passion for dancing transform lovers Moon and Tsigane so that they emerge as fully rounded dimensional people, not just the stereotypical evil vampires, although there are plenty of vampire villains. The riveting surprise cliffhanger ending makes us, like Amy, eager to continue the dance with the moon.