The Curse Box

Interest age 13+, Reading age 3rd grade. Tony is used to some odd customers, but when a stranger steals a box from the shop, he’s dragged into a war between some of the town’s odder citizens. In a battle between two rival vampire tribes, who will win? And will Tony make it out… er… not undead?

This terrifically taut and short novel is targeted for reluctant/struggling readers or kids with dyslexia. The interest level is aged 13 and up, while it is at a 4th grade reading level.

“Highlighted by an exploding slime monster and a face-off between gangs of vampires, this British import will draw both chills and chortles.

With his father away on the Continent, 17-year-old Tony Kim is in charge of the family magic shop, which deals in the real thing. When he is distracted by a speed potion that has grown into a corrosive, sluglike club, a disguised vampire steals a box holding a deadly ghost snake. Tony reluctantly sets out to track it down. Tony’s investigation trots along past visits to the spooky lairs of local vampires and several broad clues to a helter-skelter subterranean climax—capped by the even more shocking sight of rival vampire gang leaders Malik and Sophie snogging. The humor carries through to the writing: Short, spread-out paragraphs of terse prose are punctuated by hilariously lame spellcasting (“Ghost, your bones are in the ground, / Buried long and deep. / You should be where they are found, / Go back there and sleep!”).

A slender romp that will tempt reluctant readers in particular to bite.(Horror/humor. 11-17)” – Kirkus Review