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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
Library Binding, 256 pages
Published
August 11th 2009
by Random House Children's Books
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Karen Keyte
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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 h...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, fak...more
The title refers to all the different types of monsters people have in their lives - family members, unseen monsters, internal monsters, fak...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....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....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...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 mu...more
I mu...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
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 a...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 a...more
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!
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Dark, but wonderfully written.
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.
I couldn't get into this book. It all felt forced. I gave up and didn't finish.
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DANIEL KRAUS is a Chicago-based writer and filmmaker. He is the director of six feature films, including Sheriff (2006 season premiere of PBS's Emmy-winning "Independent Lens") and Musician (2007 New York Times Critics' Pick). His novel THE MONSTER VARIATIONS (Random House, 2009) was selected to New York Public Library's "100 Best Stuff for Teens." Fangoria called his second no...more
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