The Disappearance of White Pine Beach (Otto Normal's Monsterton #1)

Rich illustrations amp up the delightful eeriness with deeply saturated colors and a playfully rendered cast of ragtag characters who will leave readers eager for the next installment.

For 11-year-old Otto, moving with his mother to Monsterton--an island off the coast of Oregon--is both a nightmare and a dream. Monsterton boasts scary yet fantastical items, creatures, and mysteries, including boney dry winger sandwiches, ghost classmates, and missing sirens. It's a paradise for monsters--but Otto and his mother are human. Otto does his best to fit in with his new paranormal pals, befriending zombie Luck, "Frankensteinian funnyman" Hamish, and slime monster Darby. When Hamish claims to have ventured into the ominous nearby Belcarra forest and found the illusive White Pine Beach, a mythological shore located deep inside the woods, Otto and company are doubtful. Nevertheless, the gang follows Hamish into Belcarra in search of said beach. Upon their arrival, Darby falls into the water and vanishes, sending the friends on a quest to find her, all the while unearthing the treacherous secrets of the wilderness. McKechnie capably balances the characters' humorous antics with steadily rising stakes while Estrada's animated illustrations expertly utilize light and shadow to deepen the atmosphere of this promising series opener, a dual debut. Otto reads as white; monster characters are described as having varying skin tones, some fanciful. Ages 8-12. (Aug.)

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