Night Runner by Max Turner

Zack Thomson is 15 years old and lives in the pschychiatric ward of a hospital in Barrie. He's not mentally disturbed although he certainly has some unusual problems. For instance, he has a severe allergy to sunlight which means that he can only go outside at night. And he can't tolerate any solid food - he only drinks a frothy red beverage that Nurse Ophelia whips up for him every night.

His monotonous life, enlivened only by visits from his friend Charlie, changes abruptly when an elderly man on a motorcycle crashes into the lounge room of the ward. From him, Zack learns that his condition is vampirism, and further, that another vampire is out to kill him.

Zack bolts from the hospital, and with an unknown person (thing?) on his heels ends up at Charlie's family cottage in the Muskokas. Here, his would-be killer is still on his heels, but at least he gets to do some late-night partying with other teens and a tiny bit of a romance before the action heats up again for him.

Short chapters, lots of action, humorous dialogue make this a fast and absorbing read even for the reluctant reader.

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier

Reason Cansino has spent her whole life on the run from a grandmother who supposedly practices black magic. Now, she is forced to live with her grandmother and learns that she herself has inherited magical powers. But she faces a terrible dilemma. If she practices magic she will shorten her life by many years. If she doesn't use her magic powers, she will go mad. Determined to find a way to avoid either fate and to escape her grandmother, Reason steps through a portal which leads from sunny Australia into wintery New York. Only now she is being pursued not only by her grandmother, but also her grandfather who seems much, much worse.

This is a wonderful book, first in a trilogy.