• Age: 12 to 17
• Grade: 7 to 12

A mesmerizing blend of Gothic thriller and modern coming-of-age novel, The Night Wanderer is unlike any other vampire story.

Nothing ever happens on the Otter Lake reservation. But when 16-year-old Tiffany discovers her father is renting out her room, she’s deeply upset. Sure, their guest is polite and keeps to himself, but he’s also a little creepy.

Little do Tiffany, her father, or even her astute Granny Ruth suspect the truth. The mysterious Pierre L’Errant is actually a vampire, returning to his tribal home after centuries spent in Europe. But Tiffany has other things on her mind: her new boyfriend is acting weird, disputes with her father are escalating, and her estranged mother is starting a new life with somebody else.

Fed up and heartsick, Tiffany threatens drastic measures and flees into the bush. There, in the midnight woods, a chilling encounter with L’Errant changes everything . . . for both of them.

Ojibway writer Drew Hayden Taylor is from the Curve Lake Reserve in Ontario. Hailed by the Montreal Gazette as one of Canada’s leading Native dramatists, he writes for the screen as well as the stage and contributes regularly to North American Native periodicals and national NEWSpapers. His plays have garnered many prestigious awards, and his beguiling and perceptive storytelling style has enthralled audiences in Canada, the United States and Germany. His 1998 play Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth has been anthologized in Seventh Generation: An Anthology of Native American Plays, published by the Theatre Communications Group. Although based in Toronto, Taylor has travelled extensively throughout North America, honouring requests to read from his work and to attend arts festivals, workshops and productions of his plays. He was also invited to Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in California, where he taught a series of seminars on the depiction of Native characters in fiction, drama and film. One of his most established bodies of work includes what he calls the Blues Quartet, an ongoing, outrageous and often farcical examination of Native and non-Native stereotypes.

Drew Hayden Taylor's profile page

• Commended, Book of the Year Award, Honorable Mention, Foreword Reviews
• Short-listed, Children’s Book of the Year, Ânskohk Aboriginal Book Awards
• Joint winner, Books of the Year List, Quill & Quire
• Short-listed, Stellar Book Award
• Short-listed, Arthur Ellis Award
• Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
• Short-listed, Sunburst Awards
• Nominated, Snow Willow Award
• Short-listed, Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award

“Teens who devour vampire fiction will enjoy this unusual slant on the oft-told legend.”

VOYA, 04/08

“[A] unique multicultural selection.”

Allison’s Book Bag, 06/12/15

“Refreshingly creative.”

Canadian Literature, 10/08

“Thoughtful and descriptive writing will keep the reader engaged from cover to end.”

New Tribe, 10/07

“Offers food for thought as well as frights. Taylor sensitively works several important themes (redemption, coming of age, ties that bind) into his treatment of discussion-worthy issues (prejudice, bullying, suicide). His representation of life on a small reserve is authoritative, his Anishinabe vocabulary is authentic, and his refreshingly smart humour runs liberally through the book. Hats off to Annick Press for approaching a writer of Taylor’s stature to write a novel for young teens. The Night Wanderer is a quality offering.”

Quill & Quire,*starred review, 07/07