Mister Creecher

Gr 5—9—Billy, 15, is a street urchin and pickpocket in 19th-century London when he meets Mister Creecher. The huge and hideous-looking man saves him from the evil Fletcher and his henchmen, who are out to get Billy. Soon the teen likes the protection and added thieving and bargaining power that come from having the powerful and terrifying Creecher by his side, and in exchange he works as a detective for him by tailing Victor Frankenstein and his Swiss colleague around London. Eventually they follow the scientist to Oxford and then toward Scotland. As the friendship between Billy and Creecher grows, readers learn of Frankenstein's promise to create a mate for Creecher, and of the troubled past of both characters. Literary allusions referencing both Shelley's Frankenstein and Dickens's Oliver Twist will be lost on middle schoolers, who should be the target audience. While boys might seem like the obvious audience gauging from the cover art, it will be girls who buy in more to the exploration of matters of the heart and the dawning realization for Billy of why a female mate is so critical to the monster's happiness. This book may have trouble finding a wide readership, but for young diehard fans of Frankenstein's reanimated creature, it might be a good fit.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO