  | Let the monster out Author: Lucas, Chad | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
Bones Malone feels like he can't do anything right in his small new town. He's one of the few Black kids in Langille. To make matters worse, things in town are getting weird. Kyle Specks feels like he can never say the right thing at the right time. He thinks he might be neurodivergent and his parents are overprotective about it, but he can't stand by as the town gets weirder. He and Bones find a mysterious scientist's journal that might hold answers about what's going on.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (03/15/22)
School Library Journal (05/01/22)
Booklist (02/15/22)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/05/22)
The Hornbook (00/07/22)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/15/2022 In a tale that’s part creep show, part mystery thriller, and part about the healing powers of friendship and baseball (whew!), a small Canadian town falls victim to the literally nightmarish experiments of a virtual reality company’s evil CEO. Lucas does a good job juggling all these elements as he tracks 12-year-old Quentin “Bones” Malone, newly arrived and saddled with control issues that stem from his white father’s abuse as well as the predictable tensions associated with belonging to only the second Black family in town. Bones forms an alliance with autistic outfielder Kyle and other teammates to discover why they are suddenly sharing each other’s lurid, frightening dreams, as well as to discover what is sparking scary behavioral changes in their parents and other adults. The author caps his suspenseful climax with a forcibly tidy resolution, but along with some baseball action and a premise based on plausible (if vaguely described) technology, he delivers memorable portraits of two strong-minded young characters probing each other’s needs and boundaries on the way to creating firm bonds. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
Booklist - 02/15/2022 - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 05/01/2022 Gr 5 Up—Twelve-year-old Bones Malone and his family move to Langille, a quiet Canadian town, for a fresh start after facing domestic issues in their old town. Coping with being one of the only Black kids there, Bones finds a place for himself on the baseball team. When Langille announces free Wi-Fi for the entire community, people around town quickly begin to transition into a zombielike state. After Bones's mom is infected, he teams up with Kyle, the baseball team's homeschooled genius, to get to the bottom of the Wi-Fi's effect on the community. Lucas crafts an enjoyable science fiction mystery with characters who travel into different dream dimensions based on their greatest fears. Bones struggles to control his temper while Kyle desires to understand his neurodivergent brain, and the dream-traveling allows the friends to take a walk in each other's footsteps. As the team works together to conquer the evil forces controlling the town, they learn the value of community and friendship. While this text offers a light, humorous tone, some scenes are juxtaposed with heavier content, including descriptions of the parental abuse that shapes Bones's fears. VERDICT Perfect for fans of Stranger Things, this science fiction novel should be on school and public library shelves.—Angie Jameson - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
