  | Monster like me Author: Swore, Wendy S. | |
| Price: $22.38 | ||
Summary:
Convinced that if she looks like a monster on the outside (a blood tumor covers half of her face), she must be a monster on the inside as well, Sophie tries to find a cure before her mother finds out the truth.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.00 Points: 11.0 Quiz: 501029 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 5.30 Points: 15.0 Quiz: 76869 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (-) (02/01/19)
School Library Journal (02/01/19)
Booklist (+) (02/01/19)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/01/2019 *Starred Review* For as long as she can remember, Sophie has identified herself as a monster. She either shrouds her face with her long hair or hides behind her Big Book of Monsters to keep others from seeing the hemangioma on her face. She knows that people will think if she’s disfigured on the outside, she must be on the inside, too. Now, starting in her new school in Portland, she’s speechless when a lively girl in her class (never even looking at her mark) declares they will be best friends. Smart, but self-consciously quiet, Sophie thinks she can identify other people as various types of monsters, witches, or fae folk. Bullies may surround her, but Sophie must confront her own fears. Will she ever allow herself to be “just a human girl?” Swore integrates The Big Book of Monsters into the fabric of the book by beginning each chapter with the description of a different monster, creating a disruption in the first-person narrative but also adding insight into how Sophie views the world. Swore’s character-driven debut, in the vein of R. J. Palacio's Wonder (2012), allows readers to step inside Sophie’s thoughts and to understand and empathize with her, leaving them to wonder how they would react if they were Sophie. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 02/01/2019 Gr 4–6—Sophie's got a big secret that she's desperate to keep hidden: she's actually a monster. She knows this because of the blood tumor bulging on her face, and from the Big Book of Monsters that she's carried around since she found it in her kindergarten library. Sophie doesn't expect anything to change after a big move, but her new neighborhood in Portland, OR, offers a new friend named Autumn (who Sophie thinks is a fairy), Autumn's kindly grandmother (definitely a witch), and Kelsi, a mechanic with a scarred face who rescues Sophie and her mom when their car breaks down (almost certainly a shape-shifting demon). In fact, Sophie believes that nearly everyone she meets is some kind of monster or fairy, which raises the stakes of every interaction. Sophie is sure that if she and Autumn can find the right spell in Mrs. Barrett's spell book, she will be able to be a normal human girl—free of any facial disfigurements. Sophie is a compelling if difficult protagonist; she is constantly self-sabotaging, and it is hard not to be frustrated by many of her choices. Chapters are interspersed with pages from Sophie's favorite book describing different monsters; while this device is sure to appeal to avid creature enthusiasts, the monsters described do not always relate to the story. Swore makes the questionable choice to bring in a Native character for the express purpose of briefly explaining the behavior of a crow, which is an unfortunate and unnecessarily tokenizing choice. Notably, no other characters' origins are designated as non-white. Overall, the story is engaging and likely to appeal to middle grade readers. VERDICT Give to readers who enjoy books like R.J. Palacio's Wonder, Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind, and Raina Telgemeier's Ghosts.—Kelsey Socha, Ventress Memorial Library, Marshfield, MA - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
