Nightschool, Vol. 1: The Weirn Books (v. 1)
Grade 9 Up–The first installment in this series follows sisters Sarah and Alex and the vampires, werewolves, and weirns who attend PS 13W as night students. Sarah's new job as Night Keeper has her busy learning the ins and outs of the school and its students and homeschooling Alex, who possesses special talents as a weirn. While Sarah is at work, Alex sneaks out with her astral companion to practice spells and encounters a group of supernatural creatures who call themselves Hunters. When Alex mysteriously awakes back at home with no memory of how her encounter ended, she hopes that there won't be any further problems. But when Sarah's image starts disappearing from photographs, Alex must travel to the school to find out what's going on. This volume introduces many characters and sets up multiple story lines involving the Hunters, evil monsters called Rippers, and other students that aren't resolved here. The various plotlines lead to a jumbled narrative that can be confusing. Chmakova's artistic skill is displayed to the highest effect in her black-and-white illustrations of spooky locations like the darkened school and cemetery, and the Rippers' appearances are truly frightening. Minor flaws aside, manga fans and teens looking for vampire stories will devour this one and will want to find out more about these characters.–Laura Amos, Newport News Public Library, VAEND