The Monsters of Rookhaven (Rookhaven #1)
by Pádraig Kenny (Author)
From award-winning author Pádraig Kenny comes an action-packed middle grade fantasy about a family of monsters, perfect for fans of Jonathan Auxier and Victoria Schwab.
Mirabelle is part of a very unusual family. Between Uncle Bertram transforming into a ferocious grizzly bear and Aunt Eliza's body being made entirely of spiders, it's safe to say they are an extraordinary lot. To the human residents of Rookhaven Village, the family is a threat. So long ago, a treaty was reached between them--in return for sundries and supplies, the monsters won't eat the townspeople--and an invisible glamour was set around the perimeter of the Manor to keep strangers out. But the glamour serves a second purpose: to keep Mirabelle and her family hidden from those who would do them harm. When two orphans--siblings Jem and Tom--stumble upon a tear in the magical field and open a door that was meant to stay locked, Mirabelle and her family are put in grave danger. A very real monster has locked onto their scent, and he has a hunger for their kind.
At turns chilling and thought-provoking, and stunningly illustrated by Edward Bettison, Pádraig Kenny's The Monsters of Rookhaven explores difference and empathy through the eyes of characters you won't soon forget.
"A stunning book...a brand new take on the monster story." --Eoin Colfer, international bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series.
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Publishers Weekly
Mirabelle, an otherworldly being in girl guise who looks "no more than twelve," lives with the Family, a close-knit group of monsters, at the House of Rookhaven. The group is protected from a nearby village by the Glamour, a magical barrier resulting from a generations-old monster-human pact, through which nothing may cross without a key. To the confusion and horror of the Rookhaven household, all rendered toothily macabre in inky b&w illustrations by Bettison, a tear appears in the Glamour soon after the arrival of a new Family member, allowing 12-year-old Jem and ailing 13-year-old Tom, orphan siblings on the run, to stumble through. Pivoting between the cued-white characters in a third-person narration, this elaborately cast adventure by Kenny (Tin) begins languidly, gathering momentum and turning grim when a Family member escapes just before an unsettling hitchhiker's arrival, and the human (and human-seeming) children must fight desperately to maintain relations between the Family and the postwar English village nearby. Full of gruesome charm and heart-wrenching pathos, this story offers a satisfying gothic fantasy at once chilling and affecting. Ages 10-14. Agent: Sophie Hicks, Sophie Hicks Agency. (Sept.)
Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"A magnificent, shadowy, gothic adventure full of heart." —Emma Carroll, author of When We Were Warriors
"Unique, thrilling and moving...with its timely—yet timeless—message of choosing empathy over fear, The Monsters of Rookhaven is proof that Pádraig Kenny is one of the best children's writers around." —Shane Hegarty, author of Darkmouth "[A] totally absorbing tale, where the most fearsome monster is one that reveals everyone's deepest fears to all the others." —Guardian "A wildly imaginative story...a triumph." —Irish Examiner Between the incredible descriptions, unique cast, and dark and lovely illustrations, readers will be enveloped by Rookhaven. They will experience the tragedy and grief that follows not only Jem and Tom but the people from the village, as well as Rookhaven, and they will stay up long into the night to discover who the real monster is. A breathtaking novel about family, loss, and truly seeing those around us. —Booklist, Starred Review Full of gruesome charm and heart-wrenching pathos, this story offers a satisfying gothic fantasy at once chilling and affecting. —Publishers Weekly Themes of grief, empathy, and the nature of monsters play out as danger arrives from an unexpected source . . . A dreamy, imaginative premise gives way to pensive catharsis. —Kirkus Reviews Twelve-year-old Jem is an effective lens for readers to understand the monster world through human eyes, and her grief over the parents recently lost to World War II adds a more serious note that contrasts with the traumas the monsters have faced. Readers will be compelled to keep turning the pages to discover the intriguing workings of this bizarre world and the fate of the Family. —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksJUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV052000 - Juvenile Fiction | Monsters
