''Sweetblood'' is a

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

by Pete Hautman, first published in 2003. It is the story of a teenage girl's encounter with the

vampire subculture The vampire lifestyle, vampire subculture, or vampire community (sometimes spelt as "vampyre") is an alternative lifestyle and subculture based around the mythology of and popular culture based on vampires. Those within the subculture commonly ...

. The novel "was recognized as a

YALSA Best Book for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

and received the

Minnesota Book Award The Minnesota Book Awards are presented annually for books created by writers, illustrators or book artists who are Minnesotans. The award, originally established in 1988, is organized by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. History ...

for Best Youth Literature".

Plot summary

:''"There are only two races that matter: the Living and the Undead. :''And with every year that passes, the numbers of Undead grow. It is inevitable." So says 16-year-old Lucy Szabo. She has a theory: hundreds of years ago, before the discovery of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

, slowly dying

diabetics Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased app ...

were the original

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

. Lucy, a diabetic herself, counts herself among the modern Undead. As Sweetblood, Lucy frequents the Transylvania room, an internet chatroom where so-called vampires gather. But Draco, one of the other visitors to Transylvania, claims to be a real vampire—and Lucy's not entirely sure he's kidding. As Lucy becomes more involved with the

, the rest of her life comes to seem unimportant. Her grades plummet, her relationship with her parents deteriorates, and her ability to regulate her blood sugar worsens dramatically. Then she meets Draco, face to face, and he invites her into his strange world. Lucy realizes that she needs to make some difficult choices—if it isn't already too late.

Background

Pete Hautman himself has

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...

, like the main character. Lucy, who was diagnosed at the age of six, believes she developed diabetes after receiving excessive amounts of rabies shots. Lucy's vampire theory is based on author Pete Hautman's own ideas on diabetes and

vampirism A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

which he first wrote down in 1978.Sweetblood Essay
/ref> Many vampire forums actually exist.

References

2003 American novels American young adult novels American vampire novels {{2000s-horror-novel-stub