The Vampire's Vacation

A to Z Mysteries #22

by Ron Roy

Part of the A to Z Mysteries..The 3 boys see a pale dark haired man in the grocery store that make the hairs stand up on the back of their neck! Then he vanishes but not without a cut on Ellie's neck....

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, 2nd Grade, Audiobook, Vampires

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ron Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the popular A to Z Mysteries®, Calendar Mysteries, and Capital Mysteries. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach tricks to his dog Pal, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books.

Reviews

[Quinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my reading goals is to pick up my old faves and relive the nostalgia of my youth. I was made fun of for being a reader when I was the age this book was geared towards, so why not have the fun now that I wasn't allowed as a kid?

A to Z Mysteries was a series I desperately wanted to read, but I often got scared out of because of the bullies at my school threatening me. But now? I'm free!

The Vampire's Vacation is an absolute delight. It made me smile, want to giggle, and I was very curious how a vampire was in this little town! The plot is an absolute delight and I can see why young middle grade readers would enjoy this book. It's fast paced, easy to read, and completely imaginable. I could see something funny like this happening in my little town.

Four out of five stars!

[Kat V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely better than many of the others. Fun and cute. 3.9 stars

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly but cute.

It was odd that that children never simply asked the adults where the bandages came from, or why they needed one at all but some leeway for being silly is not unreasonable.

[Bridgette · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Donald Duncan(Dink) and Josh Pinto and Ruthrose are following a pale tall skinny man, and every location they go to the owner has a band-aid on their neck. Mr.Linkletter was acting weird and giving everybody(the kids) the room numbers of the vampire(which is not usual) .Ruthrose soon calls them and says she knows what happened they go to The vampire's room and they see a list containing all the people that had band-aids on and their names.They thought they would get bitten next .Then Josh and Dink hear noises and hide they get seen by Ruthrose who was with the vampire and explained that the vampire was an actor playing Dracula in a movie.They get a limo,free tickets,and the special seat with the actor.
THOUGHTS:
I think Ruthrose was very brave and smart when she was scared by him(the vampire)and she went and talked to him and figured out that she was being pranked.

[Gunreet K Brar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our three little detectives saw a man or I would say a Vampire or Dracula!! He was all dressed in black and had a very pale skin. His name was Dr. A. Cula. Dracula- I-I mean Dr. A. Cula was staying in a hotel in Green Lawn. Dink, Josh and ruth rose followed him everywhere he go. First he went to Ellie's Diner, all of them followed him when they went in he disappeared!! Then he went to Book Nook the same thing happened again! Ellie the owner of Ellie's Diner had a band-aid on his neck and the same had mr parkley owner of Book Nook. Ruth rose thought that she had see him!!
Did that Dracula bite those people!? Was he a real man or a Dracula?
Read out to find what happened!!
BE CAREFUL DON'T GET BITE BY A DRACULA!
😊😊

[Kelly Pinkerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this series was around when I was a kid - I might have read more mysteries! This was another book my third grader brought home and insisted I read. The Vampire's Vacation was a fun adventure and a great chapter book for my 8-year-old. Mystery books have so many reading benefits! Playing detective makes you aware of clues, focuses your attention on character description and motives, and sometimes leaves you surprised at the end. I have to admit - I was stumped about the mysterious vampire visiting the town and enjoyed the journey as well as the ending. This is a series I would definitely invest in.

[~Silv (ilpianetadeilibri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questa era una delle avventure dei Piccoli investigatori che ricordavo di meno (perché l'avrò letto si e no un paio di volte dato che non avevo questo libro fino all'anno scorso e ai tempi delle elementari lo lessi tramite il mio migliore amico che aveva tutta la collezione) ma è quello tra gli ultimi che mi è piaciuto di più nonostante non avessi un legame affettivo alto come per gli altri. Misteri e vampiri insieme sono sempre una buona idea, poi il trio formato da Dink, Rose e Josh (nonostante le interazioni tra i personaggi non siano granché descritte) mi fa venire ogni volta in mente di quando ero bambino e volevo far parte anch'io della loro piccola squadra❣️

[Jadyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rate this book at 5 stars because I love mystery books and this was the perfect mystery book for me. These kids think this guy is a vampire because they see him go into stores and when they get in the stores he's not there. They get suspious when they notice that in every store they went to the the person that they talked to had round ban-aids on their neck. they find a list of peoples names and some names are crossed off they think that a list that the guy wrote

[Jessica Loomis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery that my 4-year old insists that we re-read together as we delve into the world of chapter books and vampires. This book is not at all scary, a more humorous introduction to vampires. Three kids try to figure out who the mysterious, pale man-in-black is who is wondering around their town and randomly disappearing into shops.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute. And, of course, I love the theme. I was about to say I wish I had known about these books when I was younger until I realized they weren't written when I was younger! I was 19 when this book came out.

[Audrey Managan Elsasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vampire's Vacation was a good book. It is a series called the A to Z Mysteries. It's about these kids that think they meet a vampire and want to figure it out, figure out why he's in Greene Lawn, they're town.

[Mary Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

students gobbled this one up and didn’t want to go to recess because they needed to know what happened🫡🫡

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to the Skeleton one

[Marlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far out of this series, my children (ages 6 and 10) enjoyed this book more than any of the others. They certainly enjoyed the other books, but this one just totally captivated their attention. They found it fun, fast-paced, exciting, funny, silly, and just great. A great book for young fans of this series.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would place the A to Z Mysteries up on the list of series paperbacks as fun and enjoyable to read. Would definitely read another book in the series based upon the first impression this funny story about a suspected vampire established.

[Luke Ewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh finds out that there is a disappearing, strange person. When he disappears, the store owners have the same bandaid. Is the man a vampire or not?

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read five chapters tonight as a family. I love when our son asks for more chapters to read. I love to see his love of reading growing and what type of books that spark his interest. He is loving mystery books and he loves the characters in the A-Z mysteries.

Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose spot a man dressed all in black at the grocery store. He has pale skin, thin lips, and wearing sunglasses....in the store. Josh believes him to be a vampire. So the trio follow this figure through Green Lawn. He goes to the diner, the bookstore, and the hotel but when the kids go inside he has disappeared. The owners at those establishments have band-aids on their necks. The trio believe this man is going around biting people's necks. Will Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose be next?

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read these books when I was a kid and greatly enjoyed them, figured I'd give them a second read for kicks.

I certainly recommend any young mysteries fan devote time to this series, it's certainly a grand adventure for a young mind, the imagery of Ron Roy's words and his settings and unique character descriptions and personalities really help kids imagine a whole movie in their heads as they read each exciting page.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haha, the jokes on you, guys!

I think by this point the author was really struggling to come up with the premises for the books. I mean seriously, V is a hard letter to do. What I loved though is how much the author just relaxed and had fun with the story. This was silly and even super obvious with a fun conclusion. Let's not forget that mysteries can also be somewhat ludicrous at times. Definitely read because by now you're this far into the series and there's no reason to stop.

[Katie Merkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were some bizarre events surrounding the alleged vampire, and, as an adult reader, I was unable to figure out the logical explanations for them. The reveal at the end was a surprise and answered all my questions. This is definitely one of my favorite books in the "A to Z Mysteries" series.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Dink Duncan, Josh Pinto, Ruth Rose Hathaway, and Ron Roy, for helping me become a lifelong reader and lover of mysteries. I believe that this is the first A to Z Mystery book I read. Thank you, Mom, for putting it in my hands.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible and pretty cute for the age it’s written for - just thought there may be a little more depth for some reason after reading one of the of the books in this series.

Fun and will have kiddos guessing though.

[Ruthann · Rating 4 out of 5]

My little brother loves this series so much and asked me if I wanted to read vampires vacation to him honestly this book was better than I thought ,it took me longer than I expected to figure out l really enjoyed reading this book with him.

[Rebecca Caufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery has a surprise ending and is FILLED with red herrings!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was cute.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cautionary tale about jumping to conclusions. Pretty funny. These books are so fun.

[Nam · Rating 5 out of 5]

They actually had me believing that a vampire was present in Green Lawn. That's impressive!

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't judge a book only from its cover~

[Julie Pagano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated by my 7yo. I enjoyed it too. 🧛‍♂️