Does Frankenstein Get Hungry?

Musing on the realities of monster life helps the human narrator of this story feel a little less spooked “in the dead of night/ when I find myself awake.” The more the girl wonders whether Frankenstein would like some of her “Camp Scout” cookies to take the edge off his hunger and whether cycling mummies’ “crusty bandages get tangled in the spokes,” the more she realizes that “Being scared is so silly now that monsters seem so weak!” Debut author Solimine, a graphic designer, works in a bright, playful animation-like style. But the wrap-up may be overly simplified (are monsters really “weak”—or is it really that they’re a lot like people?), and the rhyming lines’ sameness makes the book’s series of questions feel more like a catalogue than a story. Ages 5–8. [em](Aug.)  [/em]