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Science Solves It!®
The Case of Vampire Vivian
Solve kid-sized dilemmas and mysteries with SCIENCE SOLVES IT! These fun science books for kids ages 5–8 blend clever stories with real-life science. Why did the dog turn green? Can you control a hiccup? Is that a UFO? Find the answers to these questions and more as kid characters dive into physical, life, and earth sciences.
Watch out! The new girl in town, Vivian, wears a bat T-shirt and bat earrings. Suddenly, there are bats flying all around at night! Does she have something to do with them? Is she really a vampire? Books in this perfect STEM series will help kids think like scientists and get ahead in the classroom. Activities and experiments are included in every book!
Watch out! The new girl in town, Vivian, wears a bat T-shirt and bat earrings. Suddenly, there are bats flying all around at night! Does she have something to do with them? Is she really a vampire? Books in this perfect STEM series will help kids think like scientists and get ahead in the classroom. Activities and experiments are included in every book!
Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
About the author
Michelle Knudsen
71 books392 followersMichelle Knudsen is a New York Times best-selling author of more than 50 books for young readers and a writer of speculative short fiction for adults. Her titles include the award-winning picture book Library Lion (Time magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time) and the novels The Dragon of Trelian (VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers) and Evil Librarian (YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults; Sid Fleischman Humor Award). Her most recent books are the YA webcomic novelization Cursed Princess Club: A Most Unusual Princess and the middle grade novel Into the Wild Magic, which is a finalist for the 2025 Andre Norton Nebula Award(!). A lifelong musical theater lover, Michelle is thrilled that two of her books (Library Lion and Evil Librarian) have now been made into musicals! Visit her website for more information and upcoming performance dates. Michelle lives in Brooklyn, New York. Find her on Instagram @michelle.knudsen, Bluesky @michelleknudsen.bsky.social, or at michelleknudsen.com.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 9, 2021
The overall goal of these books is admirable, but there are bound to be some hits and misses within the series. I picked this book up because I was looking for a Halloween-themed read. That's not what this is at all, though. It's a science-based book that's mostly about bats, and that also misses an opportunity to focus on first impressions and snap judgements.
There's a new girl at school named Vivian. She really likes bats, and her wardrobe reflects it. So, naturally, the other kids assume she's a vampire. (Whatever.) Things only escalate when Molly notices bats flying around outside her house, and she and her friends start doing research about bats to try to figure out if the new girl is actually a vampire or not. (The boys are convinced she is.) Eventually, Vivian sees them doing their research and approaches them, at which point she teaches them lots of bat facts.
The whole dynamic between the kids rubbed me the wrong way. Molly, Frank, and Louis spend much of the book talking about Vivian behind her back, and the whole thing seems like it could've devolved really easily into bullying. There's a throwaway line at the end about how Vivian was a good sport about the whole vampire thing, but in reality, it would be tough for the new kid to be whispered about by ignorant classmates and accused of being a mythical monster.
There were some interesting bat facts sprinkled throughout the book, and the goal seemed to be to make bats not so scary. But that was blown away with the second-to-last of these facts, which was a big red warning not to touch a bat because they carry dangerous diseases like rabies. This was after trying to convince kids not to be scared of bats, so I'm not quite sure what they were going for with the message.
So... this is neither a vampire book nor a Halloween book. It will most likely only appeal to kids who are fascinated by bats. Even then, I'm not sure I'd recommend it due to the questionable way the kids were behaving toward their new classmate.
There's a new girl at school named Vivian. She really likes bats, and her wardrobe reflects it. So, naturally, the other kids assume she's a vampire. (Whatever.) Things only escalate when Molly notices bats flying around outside her house, and she and her friends start doing research about bats to try to figure out if the new girl is actually a vampire or not. (The boys are convinced she is.) Eventually, Vivian sees them doing their research and approaches them, at which point she teaches them lots of bat facts.
The whole dynamic between the kids rubbed me the wrong way. Molly, Frank, and Louis spend much of the book talking about Vivian behind her back, and the whole thing seems like it could've devolved really easily into bullying. There's a throwaway line at the end about how Vivian was a good sport about the whole vampire thing, but in reality, it would be tough for the new kid to be whispered about by ignorant classmates and accused of being a mythical monster.
There were some interesting bat facts sprinkled throughout the book, and the goal seemed to be to make bats not so scary. But that was blown away with the second-to-last of these facts, which was a big red warning not to touch a bat because they carry dangerous diseases like rabies. This was after trying to convince kids not to be scared of bats, so I'm not quite sure what they were going for with the message.
So... this is neither a vampire book nor a Halloween book. It will most likely only appeal to kids who are fascinated by bats. Even then, I'm not sure I'd recommend it due to the questionable way the kids were behaving toward their new classmate.
June 7, 2023
Facts about bats are woven into the story of a girl who might be a vampire.
January 15, 2014
I like this book because it is really nice how Vivian and her friends get along. At lunch, some students were talking about vampires, and Vivian loves vampires. At first students thought that Vivian was a weird girl, but they found out that she wasn't. I recommend this book because it is about friendship, and acceptance.
February 14, 2016
A great way to inspire children to learn about something they may initially fear in order to understand and love! When a new girl in school has a thing for bats the kids decide to educate themselves and see what's the big attraction.
October 23, 2011
1071st - 2011
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews