Fake Blood

Graphic Novel Title: Fake Blood
Author and Illustrator- Whitney Gardner
Fiction
Published in 2018
Simon and Schuster Books for Young readers
Cover art design: Lucy Ruth
Ages 10 and up
Hard cover, soft cover and e book formats sold by Simon and Schuster books
333 pages
Reviewed by: Allen Klingelhoets

I enjoyed reading Fake Blood. It had been quite some time since I read a vampire story set in modern times. I was reader of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I noticed that Whitney Gardner must have also read lots of Buffy comic books. The story of Fake Blood is set at Spoons Middle School. The main characters are eleven year old AJ and girl he likes from school named Nia. She is into vampire stories. AJ tries to get her attention by pretending he is a vampire. He gets fake blood and uses fake vampire teeth. He even uses sun glasses when goes outside. What AJ does not know though is Nia is a vampire slayer. She tries to slay AJ. He has very hard time making Nia comprehend that he was just faking being vampire. Nia had plenty of vampire slayer items. I almost said to myself: “I wonder if she got her training from Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?” It was interesting to see Fake Blood never really was Buffy spin-off book. The book just was reflection of something Nia probably read as child. Whitney Gardner never once mentioned Buffy in her graphic novel “Fake Blood”. I though could feel influence of Buffy. I still really enjoyed graphic novel. I also could feel some influences of Twilight series. I think better than attempting to create all new vampire story without any past history of vampire ideas from other authors.

This is what inside cover said about Fake Blood:

It’s the beginning of the school year and AJ feels like everyone is changing but him. He hasn’t grown nor had any exciting summer adventures like his best friends have. He even has the same crush that he has harbored for years. So AJ decides to take matters in his own hands. But how could a girl like Nia Winters ever like plain-vanilla AJ when she only has eyes for vampires?

When AJ and his crush Nia are paired up for a group project on Transylvania, it may be her chance to win her affection by dressing up like the vampire hunk of her dreams. But soon enough he’s got more of Nia’s attention than he bargained for...when AJ learns she’s a slayer.

In her debut middle-grade graphic novel, Whitney Gardner illustrates a coming-of-age story for anyone who’s ever felt to young, too small, or too average.


Allen Klingelhoets



I got this image online to give example of what pages of Fake Blood looks like. I also learned that all the illustrations were rendered digitally.