The Monster Who Wasn't
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
It is a well-known fact that fairies are born from a baby's first laugh. What is not as well documented is how monsters come into being …
This is the story of a creature who is both strange and unique. When he hatches in the underground lair where monsters dwell, he looks just like a human boy – much to the monsters' dismay. Even the grumpy gargoyles who take him under their wings and nickname him "Imp" only adopt him to steal chocolate for them from nearby shops. With feet in both the monster and human worlds, Imp doesn't know where he fits.
But little does Imp realize that Thunderguts, king of the ogres, has a great and dangerous destiny in mind for him, and he'll stop at nothing to see it come to pass. . .
With rich, atmospheric writing, debut author T.C. Shelly weaves a story of unlikely friendship, family, strange magic, and finding one's place in the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Shelley's highly imaginative, immersive debut, Monsterkind is born from a human's last sigh. When dying patriarch Samuel Kavanagh meets his newborn granddaughter, Beatrice, he sighs and she laughs, spawning a half-monster, half-fairy imp who looks discomfitingly like a human preteen. Deep in The Hole, where ogre king Thunderguts reigns over trolls, brownies, banshees, and the like with a stone fist, he and his loyal crone have monumental plans for the newly hatched imp boy. But before they can snag him, gargoyles Wheedle, Bladder, and Spigot take the child "upstairs" to the world's surface where other monsters cannot stand direct sunlight. Cared for by the gargoyle pack and an angel, the unnamed boy has an eventful first few days. When he coincidentally meets the Kavanagh family in a chocolate shop, a shocking resemblance convinces them he has the soul of dead relatives. Naming the boy Samuel and inviting him into their home, the Kavanaghs believe they're due for a happily ever after but in Shelley's cluttered fantastical world, danger threatens Sam and his newfound family. Allusions to Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" and considerations about what makes a monster round out this engaging if packed series starter. Ages 8 12.
