Suck It Up by Brian Meehl
Released: May 13, 2008
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 319
At sixteen, Morning McCobb is a recent graduate of the IVL. No, Morning isn’t a genius. He is a sixteen-year-old vampire just graduating from the International Vampire League. But this League of Vampires isn’t what you would expect, their motto is to "drink culture, not life." They exist peacefully by blending in with humanity that is until now.
Morning McCobb is going to be the first to "come out of the closet." Morning is the kind of vampire the League has been waiting for. Young, nonthreatening, the kid is a sangv! Sangv translation: blood virgin, he’s never drunk human blood. In fact Morning has never drank blood belonging to a living organism, human or animal. He drinks Blood-lite, a soy-based blood substitute!
To help with his coming out process, Morning is teamed up with Penny Dredful, the owner of PR Agency. It is her responsibility to turn Morning’s fifteen minutes of fame into 24/7. Credibility is the least of their worries, once Morning pulls a couple of CD’s (cell differentiation) and turns from a boy into a dolphin, back into a boy and then into a tree and back again, most people are believers. But not everyone is a Morning McCobb fan, there is a group of vampires called Loners that haven’t conformed to the Leaguer way and still feed on humans. They want Morning eliminated before he reveals all of their secrets. Is the world ready for Morning McCobb, a real vampire?
Suck It Up is another rendition, to the growing array of young adult vampire novels. Meehl’s take on the vampire lore is interesting, refreshing and humorous! Debunking the myth of vampires and sun as "solar phobia" as well as their fear of garlic, hello bad breath! I also enjoyed the references to super heroes and comic characters’ being a fan of the genre myself! Morning wants to be a super-hero as well as a firefighter, after his experience from 9/11. The characters are original, although I didn’t hold a strong liking to any one of them. Overall, Suck It Up was funny and original, and it is a book that I think boys as well as girls would like. I would especially recommend this book to readers who enjoy the vampire sub genre!