The Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black

Summary:  The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a book about a teenager, Tana, whose mother had been infected by a vampire when Tana was younger. Her father tries to save her mother by locking her away in the basement for the required 88 days to let the infection run it's course. Unfortunately, his efforts fail. Tana attends a party where she and one other boy, Aidan, her ex, are the only survivors after a vicious vampire attack.  While Aidan is infected, she fears she may be too. In the process of escaping, she also saves a vampire, Gavriel. In order to protect her family from herself, she runs to a coldtown, a vampire compound to protect society.  Once you go in, you can never leave.  

Tana is trying so hard to stay human but is betrayed by two strangers, Midnight and Winter, they had helped get to Coldtown. Tana is infected by Midnight and ends up falling in love with the vampire she saved, Gavriel. With lots of twists and turns and casualties, Tana stays true to her word and tries her best to stay human to get back to her father and sister, Pearl, who shows up in Coldtown after receiving a text from Tana. The story ends with Tana sitting on the floor after killing a number of vampires, much the same way her mother was locked in the basement trying to "sweat the infection out." She has Gavriel by her side offering to help her every step of the way. 

Black, H. (2013). The coldest girl in Coldtown. New York:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Commentary:  The strengths of this book are that the brave, young character draws you in with her quick thinking, survival instinct and ingenuity. She takes it upon herself to get to Coldtown for the fear that she may infect others, also to protect her father and sister.  It relates to YA readers with it's social media and reality TV aspects. It does a good job of being relatable to just about every possible teen with references to straight, gay, transgender, bi, etc.  Tana's desire to stay human is deep seeded in her family's history. Despite her new love interest being a vampire, it might lead you to believe there may be a sequel someday. However after reading the author's FAQs, she states that she wrote this book as a stand-alone.

Connections:  I would consider this book a Fiction, Low Fantasy book being that it is set in a world that we could recognize despite some obvious fictional aspects like vampires, walled cities to keep the vampires from infecting anyone else, etc.  It mainly focused on the characters and their development. If my library were genrified, I would have a hard time categorizing this book, as it could go in Horror, Paranormal or even Action/Adventure.  I found this chapter book to be a typical Young Adult Literature book with the young protagonist literally running for her life, falling in love with the wrong person and lots of teenage angst.   I have always loved the Spiderwick Chronicles and wasn't surprised this book was by the same author.  She has a great imagination.


Link to the author's page for The Coldest Girl in Coldtown  

Book Trailer

Interview with Holly Black (which includes a reference to The Coldest Girl in Coldtown)