“Peeps” by Scott Westerfeld

I’ve been meaning to read books by the uber-popular Westerfeld for some time.  Still unable to grab the first book in the “Uglies” series (it rarely sees the bookshelf here), I picked up his stand-alone “Peeps” which is his take on Vampirism.  Written in 2005, it was long before the whole “Twilight” craze and is a mature, very *different* kind of tale.  Setting:  modern day New York city.  Twist:  Vampirism is actually a parasite-based sexually transmitted disease, with all that “turning into bats, can’t see yourself in the mirror” stuff just myth – built up around various aspects of the infection.  Cal is a 19 year-old parasite positive carrier, who works for a mysterious underground society which monitors and controls infection outbreaks of the disease.  As dark as it sounds (and it is dark) there are lighter moments.  Cal is your typical 19 year-old, and has his various urges.  There is an ongoing joke about the price of New York apartments, which is funny to those of us who have faced that intimidating marketplace.  And there are terribly rich descriptions, like this one: “I gazed out onto the river.  On either side of me, the timbers of abandoned piers rose up from the water like rotting black teeth.  More pieces of my memory were falling into place, like a blurry picture downloading in waves, gradually becoming clearer.”  Did you catch how the memories come like “waves” while he is describing a scene of the river?  How cool is that?  Despite the staccato nature of having to read this book one chapter at a time, it is obvious that Westerfeld’s strong writing technique is what draws students to his work.  I continue to maintain that young people will read any kind of story so long as the characters are real and the tale well-told.  That is certainly the case here.  One note:  This was, perhaps, the grossest book I have ever read.  Interspersed between each chapter are short “lessons” on the parasites of the world.  Described in great detail, the icky glory of this myriad of critters does not make for a good reading during mealtimes (as I quickly determined).  Save this one for before you eat … you may lose weight in the process!  A great read which students will enjoy, maybe even some of those rabid Twilight fans.