Hautman, Pete. Sweet blood, a vampire novel.

Simon & Schuster. 180p. c2003. 0-689-85048-4. $16.95.

This is quite an amazing novel. I remember when many YA novels featured a disease and then an after-school special followed up on the "educational" story--very contrived. Sweet Blood is not contrived. Perhaps it helps that Pete Hautman himself suffers from insulin-dependent diabetes and knows all about it, because this is the disease that the narrator Lucy is dealing with. Anyone with any firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be monitoring blood sugar throughout each day, with fluctuating moods and energy levels, will recognize the reality of Lucy's life. Highly intelligent. Lucy considers what it must have been like for diabetics in the past, before doctors understood the disease and insulin was available. She does some research and writes a report for history class, proposing that the descriptions of vampires could be descriptions of those suffering from diabetes--this is how vampires get connected to this novel. Lucy struggles with defeated parents, with herself, with deceptive people she meets. She is angry and stumbling, making bad choices, but generally progressing toward some acceptance of her situation and herself. I like the respect Hautman shows for her--she's smart and she really is trying to come to grips with her body and her life.