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91st out of 186 books
—
269 voters
The Monster Variations
by
Daniel Kraus (Goodreads Author)
This fast-paced read will keep readers on the edge of their seats!
Someone is killing boys in a small town. The murder weapon is a truck, and the only protection is a curfew enacted to keep kids off the streets. But it’s summer—and that alone is worth the risk of staying out late for James, Willie, and Reggie.
Willie, who lost his arm in the first hit-and-run attack, finds...more
Someone is killing boys in a small town. The murder weapon is a truck, and the only protection is a curfew enacted to keep kids off the streets. But it’s summer—and that alone is worth the risk of staying out late for James, Willie, and Reggie.
Willie, who lost his arm in the first hit-and-run attack, finds...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
August 11th 2009
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Reviewed by Breia "The Brain" Brickey for TeensReadToo.com
The story begins in the present with James, who on his way out of town runs into Reggie. The story then switches to the year when they were twelve.
Most of what you read will be from this year, when one of their friends is hit by someone in a silver truck, causing him to lose his arm. About two months later, another boy is hit and killed by what everyone suspects is the same truck. This leads the parents and the town to enact a curfew.
Seen...more
The story begins in the present with James, who on his way out of town runs into Reggie. The story then switches to the year when they were twelve.
Most of what you read will be from this year, when one of their friends is hit by someone in a silver truck, causing him to lose his arm. About two months later, another boy is hit and killed by what everyone suspects is the same truck. This leads the parents and the town to enact a curfew.
Seen...more
Let's be totally fair here: I've never been a twelve-year-old boy. I know, it's a sad fact that means I'm missing out on some experiences, but I chose the other route, the one that involved experiencing a year as a twelve-year-old girl (and by "chose" I mean "lacked the Y chromosome"). I suspect my lack of time as a boy means I'm not the target audience for this book, although in spite of the marketing, I'm not sure middle-grade kids are, either. It read to me like a nostalgia book, the sort of...more
Excellent coming of age novel, that follows three 12-year-old boys, best friends, during one eventful summer. The three come from different backgrounds: James is an overachiever, with parents constantly pushing him to succeed, to keep his eye "on the donut, not the hole." Reggie is the largest and the least book-smart of the three, the son of a single mother who works as a waitress in a diner and doesn't give him much attention. And Willie, the smallest and clumsiest, has just lost his left arm...more
Apr 22, 2011
Karen Keyte
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
best-teen-books,
teen-boys-adventure-mystery
Whoever wrote the synopsis that appears on the jacket flap of this book should be ashamed of him or herself. By making it appear as if The Monster Variations is a horror thriller, the unknown blurbster has done both the potential reader and the book's brilliant author, Daniel Kraus, a great disservice. The Monster Variations is a visceral tale of twelve-year-old boys on the cusp of manhood. The story is riveting, the imagery remarkable ("his heart scraped itself across the sharp blades of his ri...more
I really liked this book, although it was very complex. Made me think a lot. It's a combination mystery and coming-of-age story about boys living in a small town. It starts with one of the characters leaving for college, meeting a childhood friend who is pumping gas outside of town, and then launches into the story of their summer when they were 12.
The title refers to all the different types of monsters people have in their lives - family members, unseen monsters, internal monsters, fake monster...more
The title refers to all the different types of monsters people have in their lives - family members, unseen monsters, internal monsters, fake monster...more
I didn't know what to expect from The Monster Variations at first glance. I picked it up after reading a review posted on the A.V. Club; I mean, if someone was throwing the name of Stephen King around, and you were a fan, you would too. What I got was so much more, and unique, and much to admire, that it will be some time before I forget this book.
This tale involves three junior high friends, James, Reggie, and Willie, and the summer that changed their lives forever. The story is recounted as Ja...more
This tale involves three junior high friends, James, Reggie, and Willie, and the summer that changed their lives forever. The story is recounted as Ja...more
"Willie Van Allen's arm was gone. The truck that hit him escaped, silver and purring, and it swept up a gust that was almost refreshing. In the hazy afterburn he lay, his face blank as sand, white as foam.
Willie's arm, or what was left of it, was tamped into the dirt, now part of the old tar road along with stones and bugs and beer cans and scrub-grass. There was blood, but it had mixed with dirt, become mud. There was bone, too, but the bone dove beneath the mud like a tree root."
This book foll...more
Willie's arm, or what was left of it, was tamped into the dirt, now part of the old tar road along with stones and bugs and beer cans and scrub-grass. There was blood, but it had mixed with dirt, become mud. There was bone, too, but the bone dove beneath the mud like a tree root."
This book foll...more
I really appreciate stories that are about a turning point in somebody's life -- that "one summer" that changes everything. I would definitely say that this book falls into that category. The book starts off in the present, and the reader is given a slight glimpse into the lives of a couple of the main characters. You are then taken back to learn about the summer that brought them there. Some of the situations were never fully explained, as if the author had a genuinely creepy idea and then forg...more
A pretty solid, creepy coming-of-age story that manages to combine the symptoms of growing up with fear in a pretty effective way. The jacket description isn't entirely accurate: it describes the story as someone being out to kill young boys, but really there is a series of mysterious accidents in a small town that induces a curfew and puts everyone on edge. Within that dread, three twelve-year-old friends, one of which lost his arm to this series of accidents, grow apart, decide to do daring th...more
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...more
I probably would have enjoyed this more had I read it before reading Rotters. Maybe it's not fair for me to compare the two (since they're totally different books), but this one was kind of a letdown. It was very well-written, and it held my interest through to the end, but I just didn't enjoy as much as some of the folks who've reviewed it before me. In fact, I'm even willing to go so far as to say that I don't think I got my money's worth. And I paid less than $5 for my copy.
I must agree with...more
I must agree with...more
1. I read Rotters by this author so I picked this up thinking it would be equally eerie, but it wasn't. It was more a coming of age story.
2. I didn't dislike the book in any way. I gave it a three because it took me forever to read because it isn't a book that screams for attention. It's complex so I really had to take time to digest each chapter and think about the metaphors the author was writing about.
3. I loved how each chapter name was a mnemonic device that Willie used.
4. Willie's dad's...more
2. I didn't dislike the book in any way. I gave it a three because it took me forever to read because it isn't a book that screams for attention. It's complex so I really had to take time to digest each chapter and think about the metaphors the author was writing about.
3. I loved how each chapter name was a mnemonic device that Willie used.
4. Willie's dad's...more
I was hoping this book would be horror, but it wasn't really, despite what the cover looks like. Kind of disturbing and sad? Yes. The book is about the summer of 3 12-year-old boys, a monster who turns out not to be a monster, death, and a terrifying kid who turns out not to be terrifying. There's sort of a mystery in there as well--a kid gets run over by a truck and killed and within the same week a kid loses his arm from being run over by the truck. The 3 boys try to figure out the mystery as...more
I loved the book. I love mysteries because the story itself makes me want to read more and more. I liked the mystery in the book. The book shocked me when the mystery was revealed. I would recommend it to any one who likes mysteries and likes the feeling when books make you want to read more. I would give this book 4 stars because its kinda scary to think that there is a person that kills people around town. But the most feared thing in this book is where will the killer strike next.
sulla falsa riga dei vari "Stand by me", "una estate incantata", "quell'estate di ... , "l'estate della paura", etc, arriva questo nuovo racconto ambientato in un posto imprecisato della provincia americana con protagonisti ragazzini in et�� prepuberale.
Pur con una trama strabattuta, il libro si fa leggere volentieri ed offre un colpo di scena imprevedibile che gli fa meritare una sufficienza pi�� che abbondante.
Pur con una trama strabattuta, il libro si fa leggere volentieri ed offre un colpo di scena imprevedibile che gli fa meritare una sufficienza pi�� che abbondante.
The organization of the book was good. I liked the circular nature. I did not feel like the author did a good enough job making the characters relatable. This may be because I am a woman and can’t get into the minds of 12 year old boys. The dialogue in the beginning was a little stilted but eventually, I was able to get into it.
The author was in many of my filmmaking classes in college. I always liked his work, although we had differing sensibilities.
But this book, this book is really great! Rich and truthful, painful and poignant, page turning and yet deep. Good job, Dan!
But this book, this book is really great! Rich and truthful, painful and poignant, page turning and yet deep. Good job, Dan!
I enjoyed this book. Really makes you ask the question, which is more of a monster, the parent, the child, or the unknown stranger that harms others.
Who are the monsters in our lives? Boys in a small town are dying and choices are made that change all of their lives. Mature themes.
Finished it last night. I think Rotters was his better book, but I really liked the way Kraus captured the voices and emotions of the boys.
I can’t think of another book I’ve read where I liked it so much and disliked it so much at the very same time. The story was demented in parts yet the writing was brilliant. Very unique.
Well written story of three boys and the summer of their 12th year. The characters are well drawn and the book is reminiscent of movies like Stand By Me and the current, Super 8.
Mar 10, 2009
Barry
added it
Not quite sure what to make of this. There was some genuinely lovely language in places, but the structure and pacing left me a bit cold.
The concept behind the story is better than the actual story.
Good. Not as strong or tight as Rotters but I still gobbled it up in a day.
More depressing than I usually can put up with this book was interesting and held my attention. This is a mystery about what happens to a group of friends during their childhood. It's a coming of age story about a group of boys in a small town.
It reminded me a little bit of Steven King's, "IT" but not terrifying and not supernatual at all. But it had that feeling of friendship, sadness, belonging/not belonging, etc.
It reminded me a little bit of Steven King's, "IT" but not terrifying and not supernatual at all. But it had that feeling of friendship, sadness, belonging/not belonging, etc.
All I can say is... WTH? Pretty bad.
I couldn't get into this book. It all felt forced. I gave up and didn't finish.
May 20, 2013
Maryanne Tran
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Kristy McRae
is currently reading it
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Daniel Kraus is a Chicago-based writer, editor, and filmmaker. His debut novel, THE MONSTER VARIATIONS, was selected to New York Public Library's "100 Best Stuff for Teens." Fangoria called his Bram Stoker-finalist, Odyssey Award-winning second novel, ROTTERS, "a new horror classic."
Upcoming novels include the Junior Library Guild selection SCOWLER (2013) and TROLLHUNTERS, co-written with Oscar-wi...more
More about Daniel Kraus...
Upcoming novels include the Junior Library Guild selection SCOWLER (2013) and TROLLHUNTERS, co-written with Oscar-wi...more
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Jan 16, 2013 04:36pm