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The Monsters of Rookhaven

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What to expect

Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2022
Waterstones Children's Book of the Month for October 2021
Winner of the Honour Award for Fiction, KPMG Irish Children's Book Awards 2021

'A magnificent, shadowy, gothic adventure full of heart' – Emma Carroll, author of Frost Hollow Hall.

A thought-provoking, chilling and beautifully written novel, Pádraig Kenny's The Monsters of Rookhhaven, stunningly illustrated by Edward Bettison, explores difference and empathy through the eyes of characters you won't want to let go.

Sometimes the monsters take us. Sometimes we become the monsters.

Mirabelle has always known she is a monster. When the glamour protecting her unusual family from the human world is torn and an orphaned brother and sister stumble upon Rookhaven, Mirabelle soon discovers that friendship can be found in the outside world.

But as something far more sinister comes to threaten them all, it quickly becomes clear that the true monsters aren't necessarily the ones you can see.

'A stunning book . . . a brand new take on the monster story' – Eoin Colfer

'A wildly imaginative story . . . a triumph' – Irish Examiner

'Kenny is a thrilling writer and knows how to chill his readers' – Telegraph

Critics Review

Kenny is a thrilling writer who knows how to chill his readers
Telegraph
A stunning book . . . a brand new take on the monster story
Eoin Colfer
Kenny embraces a new Gothic sensibility in this memorable, nuanced novel that pairs real chills with empathy and emotion. He's certainly a name to watch...
The Bookseller
A gloriously gothic and thought-provoking story
Metro
A magnificent, shadowy, gothic adventure full of heart
Emma Carroll
One of the most startlingly original children’s books I’ve read in years. It feels like Pádraig Kenny, with Edward Bettison's mesmerizing illustrations, has created a whole new genre
Piers Torday
Unique, thrilling and moving . . . with its timely - yet timeless - message of choosing empathy over fear, The Monsters of Rookhaven is proof that Pádraig Kenny is one of the best children's writers around
Shane Hegarty
Confidence, imagination and an ability to pluck the reader's heartstrings confirm confirm Kenny as a writer of serious talent
Guardian
Original and inventive, this fantasy adventure with a touch of the macabre features some of the most unusual monster characters I've ever come across in children's literature. Written with such confidence and delight, it's the perfect read for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
Sarah Webb
I loved this quirky tale of family and friendship, set in the Shirley Jackson-esque small town of Rookhaven
Kelly McCaughrain
This is a wonderfully gothic, funny, and spooky tale about all kinds of monsters, from the frightening beasts with sharp teeth and too many eyes to the kind who look just like anybody else. Some of Mirabelle’s family are the kind of creatures you’d be terrified to find under your bed, but Padraig Kenny’s humorous and careful characterization makes each of them feel like an old friend – uncle Bertram’s diary of every human food he’s ever tasted is a funny and sweet glimpse into what monsters might find fascinating about the human world – whilst the evil Malice stalking Rookhaven is straight out of a nightmare
Booktrust
A totally absorbing tale . . . magnificently illustrated by Edward Bettison
Guardian
A wildly imaginative story . . . And if the opening sentence is extraordinary, the last line is a triumph
Irish Examiner
The (much) older reader will thrill at how this book subverts hackneyed monster tropes with glee, and how Kenny drops an S-bomb on page one (“sibilance”), crediting readers with the wherewithal to handle a polysyllable. But make no mistake, this is a children’s book, in a big font size, magnificently illustrated by Edward Bettison.
Guardian
Sinister, sophisticated… infused with a gentle charm… children of ten and up will be enraptured
Literary Review
Written with confidence, verve and a touch of the macabre
Irish Independent

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