The Society of S
Susan Hubbard
Simon & Schuster, May 2007, $25.00
ISBN: 1416534571

In Saratoga Falls, New York Ariella Montero lives with her father, a scientist who limits her time to near zero with outsiders. The only people she encounters besides her dad are his research assistant Dennis, housekeeper Mrs. McGarritt and at times her thirteen year old daughter Kathleen.

However, now turning thirteen, Ari learns the truth behind her home schooling and her mother Sara who vanishes after the afterbirth. Her dad explains that he became a vampire just prior to marrying her mother. The teen learns that she has been kept on a unique diet and home away from her peers to keep her safe until the moment of reckoning for her, which is now. She must choose between the life of a vampire like her dad and that of a mortal like her mom. Ari cannot decide until she learns more about her mother so she begins a quest to find the elusive S.

Though growing up with a single dad, Ari's vampire heritage plays a secondary role in this wonderful coming of age tale of a girl's struggles with the end of the innocence while dealing with adolescence and being a mixed breed offspring. Much of the tale is Ari searching for her mom as she tussles with the seeming estrangement between her parents and the apparent abandonment of her mom. The poignant Ari makes this a strong character study with obvious societal connotations.

Harriet Klausner