The Monster Variations
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2009
Fiction
ISBN: 0385737335
Pages
Synopsis
It’s probably the final summer that James, Willie, and Reggie will be able to hang out as best friends. Willie has been struck by a truck and loses an arm, causing him to struggle to keep up with his two friends. Also, another boy is hit with a car and killed and a curfew is enacted to keep boys safe. The story winds it way through the summer, moving from boy to boy and sometimes showing them together. Giving an expose into each young man’s life, it’s apparent that all three of them have different difficult circumstances they must overcome, not to mention that they may be caught sneaking out after the curfew to go on summer adventures. The story delves into the journey between boy and manhood and the inner demons that each of us face as we grow older.
Critique
Ok, so first of all, this book sells itself the completely wrong way. I understand that there are some potentially interesting angles that can create buzz amongst readers if you take the ‘boys are mysteriously’ dying pieces and blow them out of proportion. Given the back cover, I was truly expecting I Know What You Did Last Summer, or Scream, but what I got was more like Hearts In Atlantis, and even that movie was scarier than this book. For those of you looking for Goosebumps, this is not your book.
However, in my opinion, the text is much better. I wasn’t looking forward to a YA book version of a bad horror flick, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that this novel isn’t anything at all like that. It’s a story about growing up, making mistakes, and working through difficult circumstances given the various pressures around you. Kraus’s narrative voice is perfect for the three main characters. Each is unique and each has a different home life that causes tension and struggles that arise as a result.
Honestly, I love coming of age novels because they hearken to a simpler time in all of us when we’re exploring everything life is beginning to offer as we awaken into our teenage selves—weird hormones, friendships forming and dissolving, and the realization that our parents are normal people with problems of their own. I don’t think there are enough good books like this one, and I recommend this to boys, ages 10 – 13.
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For the Classroom
Although this is a good book for 10 – 13 year old boys to read on their own, it’s not something that can be used as a classroom companion for any subjects.
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