Frances and the Monster
by Refe Tuma
Intermediate    Harper/HarperCollins    352 pp.
8/22    9780063085787    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780063085787    $11.99

Ever since a car accident seven years earlier, Frances has not left the old mansion where she lives with her scientist parents, Victor and Mary. While attending a conference, they leave Frances in the care of a robot; she outfoxes the robot and plunges into the secrets of her grandfather’s infamous laboratory. There she awakens a long-dormant creature who rampages through town. Frances pursues the creature, joined by new friend Luca and the head (only the head) of the robot. A furious constable follows them, convinced that the children are responsible for the monster’s swath of destruction. The plot dashes through near-misses and various dangers, with a cinematic sense of pacing and pratfalls. The return of Frances’s parents brings several dire conclusions and a revelation about her past (ample clues may lead readers to it much earlier). The ending teases new ­monsters, both creature and human. This “remix” repurposes Frankenstein’s plot points and characters into a madcap adventure, nicely balancing whimsy and peril. Character arcs and the scope of the plot are incompletely realized, but there is room for a sequel to capitalize on this book’s promise. The lessons (the nature of monstrosity, knowing yourself) may land with a wobble, but Frances is both a terror and a delight. The author clearly had a rollicking good time, and readers will, too.

From the January/February 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.