Man Made Boy
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Love can be a real monster.
Sixteen-year-old Boy’s never left home. When you’re the son of Frankenstein’s monster and the Bride, it’s tough to go out in public, unless you want to draw the attention of a torch-wielding mob. And since Boy and his family live in a secret enclave of monsters hidden under Times Square, it’s important they maintain a low profile.
Boy’s only interactions with the world are through the Internet, where he’s a hacker extraordinaire who can hide his hulking body and stitched-together face behind a layer of code. When conflict erupts at home, Boy runs away and embarks on a cross-country road trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde, who introduce him to malls and diners, love and heartbreak. But no matter how far Boy runs, he can’t escape his demons—both literal and figurative—until he faces his family once more.
This hilarious, romantic, and wildly imaginative tale redefines what it means to be a monster—and a man.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fleeing a claustrophobic life in a New York City theater that shelters mythological monsters from trolls to Medusa herself, Boy the 17-year-old son of Frank-enstein's monster seeks self-understanding and an identity in contemporary America. Pursued by Viral Intelligence, or VI, a computer virus Boy created that seeks his love, he finds a traveling companion in Claire/Sophie, the granddaughter of Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. Their shared experiences and her revelation of a tortured past lead Boy to evolve from self-pity to compassion in this tumultuous tale of attachment and growth from Skovron (Misfit). The abundance of nonhuman characters and Boy's search for answers underscore pointed references to yet another literary influence The Wizard of Oz and the fiery interactions between Boy and Claire/Sophie keep the tone light. The efforts of Skovron's hero to fit in with the world, as well as his lack of control over his own life, appeal directly to teenage angst, and Skovron resolves the VI dilemma in a way that suggests a union between creators and that which they create. Ages 12 up.
