About the Author

Laura J. Burns has written more than thirty books for teens and kids, and hopes to write at least thirty more. She lives in California with her husband and kids.

Melinda Metz is the author of over sixty books for teens and middle-grade readers, including the YA series Roswell High and Echoes (originally published as Fingerprints). She has worked on TV shows such as Roswell (based on her series) and Missing. Melinda lives in Concord, North Carolina with her dog, Scully.

Reviews

Gr 8 Up-In this sequel to Crave (S & S, 2010), readers catch up with Gabriel, a vampire, and his girlfriend, Shay, a human (she thinks) who suffers from a mysterious blood disease that is killing her. Gabriel's close-knit family hates humans. Shay's evil stepfather is a scientist who experiments on vampires in an effort to develop a serum for human longevity. Pacing is even as the scenes shift between the main characters' experiences, and tension mounts as Gabriel struggles with loyalty to his family and his love for Shay. She bemoans her physical weakness, yet is devoted to Gabriel, and to finding out why her dad left before she was born. Suspense builds as both teens begin to question the real motives of their respective families. While there is plenty of action in the form of foot chases and kicking down locked doors, the scenes that are more ambient are just as strong. In a riveting 18-page passage, Gabriel risks his life to save Shay by having her drink his blood. As she drinks, her thoughts undulate from her present reality, to her past, to Gabriel's past. In a vision, "Shay stood in Gabriel's place, thinking his thoughts, feeling his emotions, watching the world with his eyes." With this literary device, details about each of them and other characters come to light. The authors provide enough background information so that Sacrifice works well as a stand-alone read.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Library, NC (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.