The Monster in Me [Hardcover]

Mette Ivie Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

In a small town near Salt Lake City, Utah, a caring foster family and her love of running help twelve-year-old Natalie Wills feel that she can be part of normal life, despite having been raised by a drug addicted mother.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9-Long years of neglect with her drug-addicted mother have left Natalie, 14, emotionally distant, willing herself to need no one while enduring recurrent dreams in which she is nonhuman and powerless. Temporarily living with loving and stable foster parents, the teen begins to use her ability as a runner, takes tentative steps to connect with the caring people around her, and realizes that her ambivalent feelings toward her mother include love. Natalie's first-person narrative is filled with dialogue, short sentences, and bursts of emotion. Memories pepper present events, allowing readers to understand the protagonist more fully without slowing the story. The writing style, together with the book's trim length and large type, makes this a good choice for reluctant readers. Despite minor flaws, including too readily resolved friction between Natalie and a foster sister, this is a highly readable first novel.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library,Elgin, IL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Thirteen-year-old Natalie Wills, a foster child, has been removed from her drug-addicted mother's care and placed first in a group home and then with the Parkers, a caring family determined to make Natalie's life a bit better. But Natalie is both a cynic and a realist; she knows her new, peaceful life is only temporary. Eventually Mom will convince yet another social worker that she is clean and wants her daughter back. All that Natalie can control is her running, a skill that allows her to escape, not lingering long enough to get close to anyone at home or at school. This first novel is a foster-child story with a twist. The Parker family is loving and sincere in trying to help Natalie; and she, in turn, gradually--very gradually--responds. Yet the underlying truth of a child's deep need and longing for her mother, regardless of Mom's ability to parent, is always present and unresolved. While the book is hopeful, it is tinged with resignation, feelings readers will understand and appreciate. Frances Bradburn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823417131
• ISBN-13: 978-0823417131
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,592,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hopeful ending, March 1, 2003

By 

Erin J. (Herndon, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monster in Me (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are likeable and real, with weaknesses and quirks that are subtle enough that they don't turn into caricatures. I liked that Natalie, the main character, learns to like and trust people who are legitimately annoying in some ways, since that's how life really is. I thought her development was realistic and important; she discovers that she has more control over how she sees the world than she thought at the beginning. That's a great message and an important one these days.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One-Minute Rewiew, May 27, 2004

By 

Karen (Dresher, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monster in Me (Hardcover)

"I'm lying flat with my arms and legs strapped to the corners of a large metal table. There are vials and tubes everywhere and it's dark, with mist covering the floor. I'm in Frankenstein's laboratory -like in the movies. And I'm the monster. I'm the creature Dr. Frankenstein has made, the creature who wants desperately to be human, but isn't."
Natalie has been having these nightmares ever since she was put into a group home because of her mother's problems. She can't escape these nightmares no matter how hard she runs in the mornings. When she moves in with a new foster family, they really seem to like her, but she knows that they are going to send her away, it's just a matter of when. Natalie believes that no matter how kind her foster parents are, no stranger can love her because her own mother doesn't. Natalie needs to learn to trust and accept people before she can escape her monster.
I would recommend this book, The Monster In Me, to any one who is alone in feeling unloved, out of place, and who needs to learn what trust really and truly means.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Monster in Me, October 13, 2004

By 

Sharlee Glenn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Monster in Me (Hardcover)

This is a remarkably well-written book. Harrison has done a fine job of establishing and maintaining tone, drawing believable characters, and telling a story that is both compelling and poignant.