Between Monsters and Marvels
- Subject
- Monsters
- Age
- 6-8 years
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 400
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Size
- 14.7 cm × 21.1 cm
- ISBN
- 9780063244870
A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn.
Monsters are still lurking on Barrow’s Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare’s mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father’s death.
Dare’s suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father’s death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she’s always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunters and Lauren Oliver’s The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
About the author
Alysa WishingradAuthor
Alysa Wishingrad writes fantastical stories for young readers, tales that ask: Is the truth really true? Her favorite stories are those that meld the historical with the fantastic and that find ways to shine a light on both the things that divide and unite us all. The Verdigris Pawn, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, was her debut novel. Alysa lives in the Hudson Valley with her family and two demanding rescue dogs. You can find her at alysawishingrad.com or on Twitter at @awishingrad or Instagram at @alysawishingradwrites.
Data provided by BiblioShare.
What reviewers said
Parts of the book are like an extended bestiary, others a coping manual for grief. The detailed quasi-Dickensian setting and memorable characters give Wishingrad’s complex world the guardrails it needs to succeed.
"Wishingrad (The Verdigris Pawn) tackles themes of exploitation, perception, reality, and trust in this high-stakes tale. An engaging and optimistic exploration of how power and privilege can be wielded for both good and bad, as observed by one take-charge heroine who seeks to define her place in the world."
A twisty, crafty, creepy tale with a wonderfully warm heart.
Dare has an outwardly cantankerous nature that hides a desire for acceptance. This works to endear her to readers even as her thorny exterior provides entertainment. Dare’s true nature reveals itself piece by piece, like the clues dropped in every so often that help expand the worldbuilding as well as the moral conundrums Dare becomes embroiled in. Questions of what constitutes a monster and who decides what’s true add depth to an already feisty caper.A quirky examination of true monstrousness with a memorable protagonist.
In a world abound with monsters, a spiky, independent girl named Dare dares to unearth the truth about her father’s death. At once a mystery, a fantasy, and a good, old-fashioned yarn, BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS will keep kids turning the pages until the last secret—and the most dangerous monsters of all—are revealed.
"A stunningly original fantasy. A richly built world of intrigue and illusion. Alysa Wishingrad's brilliant Dare is an entirely unique protagonist who braves deceptions at every turn as she tries to distinguish the monstrous from the marvelous.”
