The Monster Garden

Frankie Stein and her home-grown monster, Monnie? Unlikely stuff? On the contrary, this is a wonderful book aimed at top juniors or 1st-year secondary classes, perhaps. Frankie's father is a scientist engaged in research and her three brothers are similarly preoccupied. When the youngest, David, steals some cells from an adjoining lab, Frankie begs a share and - in a fine humorous touch - after a night of electrical storms finds herself with a monster. The book is beautifully written, gradually evoking the reader's sympathies with Monnie's plight - a gentle, trusting creature hated and feared by a suspicious world. The writing treads with great delicacy the fine edge of compassion, never degenerating into sentimentality. Prejudice, loyalty and alienation are concepts fearlessly explored here and the small but memorable cast of characters is vividly created. Buy a set, read it, discuss it - you'll be repaid a hundredfold.