is kidnapped by vampires and kept hostage. Violet finds her new world to be a timeless place of vast elegance and immeasurable wealth -- of beautiful mansions and lavish parties -- where a decadent group of friends live for pleasure alone. But it is also a place from where there is no escape, no matter how hard she tries. Nevertheless, Violet ends up in a love triangle with Kaspar Varn, the vampire prince and heir to the vampire throne, and Fabian, Kaspar's best friend. Gruffalo writer warns of nation of illiterates An open letter from the Children's Laureate, Julia Donaldson to the new Secretary of State for Culture Dear Ms Miller, Congratulations on your new appointment. I am writing with a plea. In my role of Children's Laureate I am about to embark on a six-week tour of UK libraries, acting out stories with visiting schoolchildren. The main aim is to celebrate libraries and all that they have to offer children -- the books, the browsing, the author visits, the research facilities, the toddler rhyme sessions and summer reading programmes. But I'm also hoping that the tour will draw attention to the erosion of the library service which is happening in so many local authorities, and to the current government's utter refusal to intervene or to provide any leadership. Recent figures from Public Libraries News show that nearly 250 UK libraries are currently either under threat of closure or else have been closed or left council control since April this