Following the critically acclaimed story of Man Made Boy, Boy Frankenstein, the lead protagonist, finds himself in Geneva, Switzerland, with the Frankensteins. When an unwanted encounter with a mermaid occurs, suddenly, Boy is whisked back to New York City for the holidays with his girlfriend Claire Hyde, virtual companion Vi, and cousin Henri Frankenstein. At “The Show”, a monster-run show in NYC, Boy and his friends soon learn that an old enemy is on the loose again. Claire is a human, who was like her grandfather, Mr. Hyde, while her other “side” is Sophie Jekyll, whose grandfather was Dr. Jekyll. Sophie’s brother turns out to be the one on the run again, and they are sent to find him. Soon they have traveled to Peru and combined forces with Mozart (a werewolf), Maria (a martial arts specialist), Agent Holmes, and La Perricholi to fight an evil scientist, named Dr. Moreau. With monsters turning sides, how will Boy and his friends ever fight the opposing force, and convince this world that monsters and humans can live together?
I thought this was an amazing book bringing all sorts of monsters into the reader’s imagination. I do not think I have read a book about monsters, and loved it so much. This book was great, but not perfect. Every writer knows that in real life not everyone lives to tell the story. That is why you hear the phrase “kill off,” when writers talk about killing a character. I know that Skovron is fully aware of this, as he definitely kills off some people, but it is not in a good sense. So many people die in Dr. Moreau hands, yet their deaths do not seem meaningful.
The memorable thing about this book is how esoteric the author is. For example, Ruthven the vampire is actually one of the first vampires in English literature. Another funny example is how he makes Mozart (the werewolf) the music composer at “The Show”. W. A. Mozart was one of the greatest composers of all time, but the interesting part is on W. A. Mozart’s first name: Wolfgang. The best example is that Dr. Moreau is a known literature character that lives on a small island, as there is a book and a movie about this. Obviously, Skovron knows how to delight his readers.
Reviewed by Edward, Grade 6, Tuckahoe Area Library
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