All These Monsters

Clara Rivera Pratt, 17, lives in Dallas with her abusive father and codependent mother, so when the opportunity to join Grayson St. John’s vigilante monster-killing squad arises, Clara forges her father’s signature and hops a bus to try out. St. John’s recruits are trained to battle scrabs; the humanlike creatures with nearly impenetrable skin and long, sharp claws—fairly contained in America—are wreaking havoc in Asia and Europe. Under the leadership of Grayson’s friend Julian, Clara and a handful of others are dubbed “Team Loser” due to their inexperience, but they’re cleared to head to Paris for training. The team miraculously survives the first scrab attack, and after enduring several hard-fought battles, its members become minor social media celebrities. But not everything Clara has been led to believe about the scrabs is necessarily true. Tintera (the Ruined trilogy) has created a fully fleshed alternative world in which monsters, both literal and figurative, lurk around every corner. Peppered with explosive fight scenes, this action-packed novel moves at a swift pace, featuring robust, emotionally resonant characters. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Stonesong. (July) [/em]