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The Monsters of Rookhaven

Ages 9 to 11

Synopsis

Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2022
Waterstones Children's Book of the Month for October 2021
Winner of the Honour Award for Fiction, KPMG Irish Children's Book Awards 2021

Sometimes the monsters take us. Sometimes we become the monsters.

Mirabelle has always known she is a monster. When the glamour protecting her unusual family from the human world is torn and an orphaned brother and sister stumble upon Rookhaven, Mirabelle soon discovers that friendship can be found in the outside world.

But as something far more sinister comes to threaten them all, it quickly becomes clear that the true monsters aren't necessarily the ones you can see.

A thought-provoking, chilling and beautifully written novel, Pádraig Kenny's The Monsters of Rookhhaven, stunningly illustrated by Edward Bettison, explores difference and empathy through the eyes of characters you won't want to let go.

'A stunning book . . . a brand new take on the monster story' Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl

'A magnificent, shadowy, gothic adventure full of heart' Emma Carroll

'A wildly imaginative story . . . a triumph' Irish Examiner

Details

17 September 2020
352 pages
9781529050509
Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books

Reviews

One of the most startlingly original children’s books I’ve read in years. It feels like Pádraig Kenny with Edward Bettison's mesmerizing illustrations, has created a whole new genrePiers Torday

Unique, thrilling and moving . . . with its timely - yet timeless - message of choosing empathy over fear, The Monsters of Rookhaven is proof that Pádraig Kenny is one of the best children's writers around

Shane Hegarty, author of Darkmouth
A stunning book . . . a brand new take on the monster storyEoin Colfer, Eoin Colfer
A magnificent, shadowy, gothic adventure full of heart, with the best first and final sentences in any book you'll ever read.Emma Carroll, Emma Carroll