Hunters for Hire (Monster Club #1) by Gavin Brown, 247 pages. Scholastic, 2019. $17.
Content G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
7th graders Tommy, Spike, and Karim, live in a world where monsters big and small show up. Instead of animal control, besieged citizens can call professionals. When the three schoolmates discover that there is AppVenture, an app that allows people to hire monster professionals, they sign up. Soon they are busy capturing low-level monsters. They discover that there is something fishy about AppVenture that is both sinister and potentially even more deadly than the monsters they are facing.
Told in alternating chapters between the three characters, we get to see more of how each thinks and reacts. Tommy bulks up on protein drinks and provides the muscle, Spike is a fierce girl who isn’t easily intimidated, and Karim, is a little more timid, but finds references to all the monsters and their strengths and weaknesses in Mortimer’s Monsterpedia. If 7th graders can take on monsters, it’s a wonder more of them don’t seem to want to. The plot is predictable, but family dynamics add some depth.
Michelle in the Middle
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