Dracula

Stoker, Bram

ISBN 10: 0763647934 ISBN 13: 9780763647933

Publisher: Templar, 2010

Synopsis

Enter the realm of Count Dracula! Bram Stoker’s masterpiece is adapted for a younger audience with all the sinister intrigue of the original novel.

English solicitor Jonathan Harker is on a journey to see a new client—the enigmatic Count Dracula. But when the unfortunate Harker finds himself held prisoner in the count’s remote castle, he must use all his faculties to escape. With the help of Professor Van Helsing, can he prevent the evil that has been unleashed from destroying his world? Illuminated in all its gothic majesty through the vivid artwork of Anne Yvonne Gilbert, this rich edition is adapted for younger readers but retains the mystery and shocking twists of Bram Stoker’s classic.

About this title

About the Author:

Nicky Raven, the author of an award-winning retelling of Beowulf, likes to write books for children that combine classic stories with a feeling for modern popular culture. He lives in London, England.

Anne Yvonne Gilbert is an acclaimed artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. She has illustrated many books, including some titles in the best-selling ’Ology series. She lives in Canada.

From Booklist:

Though not as revelatory as Beowulf: A Tale of Blood, Heat, and Ashes (2007), Raven again successfully abridges a vaunted classic. His Count Dracula is mostly a noncharacter—a blond-haired presence who utters but a few lines of dialogue. Bucking current trends, the focus is instead on the friends who band together to take out the vampire. Raven does a great job fleshing out characters that even in Stoker's original felt bloodless; blokes like Holmwood and Seward finally hold their own against the likes of Van Helsing (depicted as a head-shaved and bespectacled badass). The choice to abandon Stoker's dependence on journal entries is a smart one; in fact, the two times Raven employs the device, the font makes for uncomfortable reading. Gilbert's gothic drawings, the crosshatches of which often conceal layers of spooky elements, are a perfect fit for the somber tone. Today's teens will be hard-pressed to gasp at bat transformations and missing reflections, but this will certainly whet appetites for the full Bram—and in fewer than 100 pages. Grades 5-8. --Daniel Kraus

About this edition

• Publisher: Templar
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0763647934
• ISBN 13: 9780763647933
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 96
• Illustrator: Gilbert Anne Yvonne