The Vanquishers: Secret of the Reaping

Kalynn Bayron's The Vanquishers: Secret of the Reaping is a spooky, funny vampire story for 9 year olds, and the second adventure for Boog and her friends.

What happens

Everyone in San Antonio believed vampires were wiped out years ago by the masked Vanquishers. Everyone was wrong. The vampires are back, and Boog now knows her own parents (and her friends' parents) were those famous slayers.

So Boog, Cedrick and Jules have lessons after school in her basement with grumpy Mr Rupert, the Vanquishers' historian. He writes on the whiteboard in impossible handwriting and sets quizzes on Vanquisher history. Cedrick draws him with bat wings and gets an F.

Their fourth friend, Aaron, can only come round after sunset these days (the first book explains why, and I'm not spoiling it). Mr Rupert has it in for Aaron, and Boog is NOT having that.

At home the grown-ups have gone into full slayer mode. There are silver gates, UV lights in the garden and garlic on every windowsill. Boog's mum never lets her crossbow out of reach. 'Lita, who is basically everyone's grandma, carries a silver sword that pops out of a stick. It's brilliant.

Boog tells the story, and the friendship is what makes it. Cedrick is a comedy genius without meaning to be. His "painting" of his dad gets mistaken for a werewolf. Jules asks whether silver braces would work if you bit a vampire. These kids would do anything for each other, and you believe it.

There's a heavier moment in the second chapter. Cedrick's dad explains why the slayers first wore masks. In 1850, Black slayers who killed a vampire were hunted down themselves, because the vampire was a white man. The kids cry, and he tells them it's OK to feel it. It's handled with real care, and it might bring up questions at home.

Otherwise the fear is mostly waiting and wondering. Where is the new hive? Who is behind it? It's spooky without being grim, at least in the opening chapters.

What to read next

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting is a great next step for slayer fans. Serwa's parents are Slayers too, and her mum is teaching her to throw a magic axe (after a long lecture about never touching it without them).