Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, Narrated by Steven Boyer

I will be honest and admit that I've attempted this Printz honor award winner before. On Good Reads I wrote, "Well, Rick Yancey, your wordiness made my attention wander. I have two shelves of ARCs from ALA Midwinter calling my name and I choose them over you....I stopped on page 78." An English teacher at my school will be using this novel in a new course called Monster Lit, so I wanted to give it another shot. And I'm glad I did. The audiobook was wonderful and the narrator grossed me out while I was eating breakfast in the car.

Will Henry is apprenticed to Dr. Warthrop, an self-proclaimed monstrumologist who studies the obscene. When a grave robber brings in a corpse of a young woman with a "thing" wrapped it, the doctor and his boy embark on a strange adventure. There are creatures living in their town and the two of them must call in help and exterminate the population of Anthropophagi. They're ugly, huge, and hunt people for food, and it won't be easy. The Victorian-era language will be difficult for some teen readers, but the gross factor is a plus. I'm glad I returned to this book and see why it's an award winner.

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