When I was young I read all of the A to Z Mysteries religiously. I loved them.But I love "The Vampire's Vacation" all the more now because I have used it in the classroom. As an ESL teacher in Tajikistan, I selected this book because it was one of the few the American Embassy's library in our town had that was of an appropriate level. It was a wonderful success.The book is written in plain and simple but real English. It has new vocabulary words like "grin," "band-aid," "gasp," and "fangs," but these appear many times so students become familiar with them effortlessly. The book is written in a way that even children and non-native readers will pick up on what's going on without it feeling boring or repetitive. In this country there is not a reading culture. There are very few non-religious and non-historical texts published in Tajik at all. Even the older students absolutely loved reading "The Vampire's Vacation." For most of them, it was actually the first work of fiction they had ever read. On the test, I asked them to write briefly about a part of the book they liked and why. All of them wrote very favorable accounts. Actually more than half of them said it was their favorite book ever.I warmly recommend "The Vampire's Vacation" to any ESL teacher.
