Monday, February 26, 2018

Bibliophile's Corner

Mary's Monster
Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein
by Lita Judge

Flap Copy Description:
A young adult biography of Frankenstein's profound young author, Mary Shelley, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of its publication, told through free verse and 300+ full-bleed illustrations.

Mary Shelley first began penning Frankenstein as part of a dare to write a ghost story, but the seeds of that story were planted long before that night. Mary, just nineteen years old at the time, had been living on her own for three years and had already lost a baby days after birth. She was deeply in love with famed poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a mad man who both enthralled and terrified her, and her relationship with him was rife with scandal and ridicule. But rather than let it crush her, Mary fueled her grief, pain, and passion into a book that the world has still not forgotten 200 years later.

Dark, intense, and beautiful, this free-verse novel with over 300 pages of gorgeous black-and-white watercolor illustrations is a unique and unforgettable depiction of one of the greatest authors of all time.

My Thoughts:
Ms. Judge has created a dark and painful vision of author Mary Shelley in the recently released Mary's Monster. Readers of young adult novels will be swept up by the art and language in this beautiful book; it is surprisingly relevant in today's turbulent times. This intense and heartbreaking story is a testament to the strength and perseverance of the iconic author's life. I highly recommend Mary's Monster to readers aged twelve and up.

Click here to learn about the amazing author, Lita Judge.