Defanged

On his 12th birthday, vampire Lux Priddy is scheduled to begin his Defanging procedure via a program that turns young vampires into humans. Reluctant to give up the only identity he’s ever known, though, he escapes the Vampirism Sucks clinic and seeks the safety of Nox Urbus, a secret city of rogue vampires somewhere under Brooklyn. There, he meets a motley assortment of outcasts and runaways, including mysterious tween Fennec and the group’s jaded adult leader, Dog. While evaluating whether he wants to live as a vampire or a human, Lux settles into Nox Urbus, slowly learning more about his new friends and his own previously unknown familial ties to the community. But when trouble strikes, Lux and his allies must stand against those determined to eliminate vampires altogether. Via empathetic prose, Edgmon (We Can Never Leave) injects optimism throughout the novel, even as it touches on heavy subject matter relating to identity erasure, forcible conversion, and unethical experimentation. As Lux’s biological and found families overlap, they offer a reassuring sense of acceptance and belonging in the face of adversity and oppression. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 8–12. Agent: Victoria Marini, Volume 5 Literary and Lee O’Brien, Looking Glass Literary. (Sept.)