Where Reading Is, Like, Cool

Others discovered it only a couple of weeks ago, at the club, but have since immersed themselves in the stories of a regular teenage boy whom circumstances force into becoming a half-vampire.

In a question-and-answer session with Shan, some technical questions about vampires came up, such as what is a vampire-general (it is someone who has command over ordinary vampires but is lower in the hierarchy than a vampire-prince.)

Some students wanted to know whether Shan was in fact the series' main character, who is also named Darren Shan. "Are you really a vampire?" one boy asked. After a weighty pause, Shan said no.

Seventh-grader Brandon White, 12, asked a couple of questions about the books' characters. Then he asked one thing more. "Can I have a hug?" he said. "I love you."

Shan gave him a bear hug, then, in his best tough-guy voice, growled, "Get outta here."

Back at his table, Brandon and his friends discussed the merits of Shan's work.

Most books at school, they said, are for girls. But Cirque Du Freak is so good, said Brandon, that "you, like, kind of read it really fast."

"It's, like, blood and gore and snakes and spiders," Chris Platt, 12, explained, adding, "when I sit down to read I'm only supposed to read for 30 minutes, but I sit down at home [with Cirque Du Freak] and then when I look at the clock it's been two hours."