Semi Finalist
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Rostirolla’s novel takes readers into the intimate storytelling of a child processing trauma within a bigger adult theme of coping mechanisms. Evenly paced and meticulously plotted, her storyline captivates the reader's heart from the first line to the last.
Prose: Rostirolla’s prose is clear, direct, and eloquently self-reflective. Told in the first person, Rostirolla’s voice is wonderfully authentic, vulnerable, and honest.
Originality: Readers will find all the elements of a classic YA in Rostirolla’s work, but the emotional depth and understanding of the world revealed in the main character's narration adds a unique layer to the treatment of common themes.
Character/Execution: The characters in Sandra L Rostirolla’s Making Friends With Monsters are memorable and convincing. Readers will find themselves relating to and rooting for the book’s protagonist, Sam, who is sensitive, observant, and empathetic. Secondary characters serve to enhance the story and bring essential layers to the broader narrative.
Date Submitted: April 03, 2023
This heart-wrenching young adult fiction from Rostirolla (author of the Cecilia series) faces an important, sometimes difficult topic head-on, as told through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. Sam knows the adults in his small farm town in Australia are struggling; the drought has gone on too long. But after the death by suicide of one of his dad’s friends, Sam’s mom begins to worry about his dad, and tells Sam and his siblings to make sure he’s never alone—especially with the gun. Sam is also worried that the same “monster” that is consuming the adults may be trying to take his older brother, Ben. Ben has been increasingly angry and mean, and Sam is determined to keep the Monster away. The only way he can do that is by researching and observing the Monster, and intrepid Sam begins to take notes of what he sees in each family member as they start to crumble.This is not a happy story, but it is vital and gripping. With insight and sensitivity, Making Friends with Monsters takes on upsetting adult topics, offering an unflinching look at how destructive and overpowering depression and many dark emotions can be, especially when people on the outside have no idea the depth and the destruction already done. Sam shares his observations but also his own experiences with the Monster, especially after a farming accident.
Through both the external and internal views of the Monster that Sam observes, readers discover just how sneaky the Monster can be, how hard it is to get rid of, and even, eventually, how safe Sam feels having it, because that meant he didn’t have to feel the fear and sadness he knew was there. The Monster turned it into anger for him instead. Rostirolla does memorable work dramatizing such incisive ideas, even finding some cause for hope, in the end, as characters bond over secrets and scars, the marks of survivors.
Takeaway: An urgent, unflinching YA novel about the “monsters” of depression and family dysfunction.
Great for fans of: Jasmine Warga’s My Heart and Other Black Holes, Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great Is Not Okay.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Clarion Rating: 5 out of 5
Making Friends with Monsters is a sensitive novel that tackles themes of mental health and family dynamics from the perspective of a boy who’s determined to persevere.
Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, Sandra L. Rostirolla’s novel Making Friends with Monsters is a tale about the tragic effects of grief and loss, but also about the ability to overcome both.
Twelve-year-old Sam feels like his life is spiraling out of control. Ever since learning a secret, his once loving older brother Ben has become combative and distant. In response, Sam’s bubbly younger sister Abby has become teary and quiet, and Sam’s parents shout and threaten Ben. Then, in a series of tragedies, Sam loses both his arm and his brother, and the family descends further into chaos. Sam knows that the monsters that live inside people are to blame, and he sets out to discover how to tame them before they swallow him too.
Told from Sam’s perspective, the narrative is descriptive and poignant. Sam’s syntax mirrors his emotions, with short sentences representing sudden realizations or small steps forward, as when Sam reunites with his mother. Strong imagery abounds, with the family’s drought-ridden Australian farm symbolizing their lack of joy and a closing rainstorm mirroring the emotional relief they finally discover.
The plot is dark, with tragedy after tragedy striking Sam’s family and with people, including Sam’s mother and uncle, making choices with terrible consequences. Yet its message is not one of hopelessness. Sam is driven to the edge of despair as he watches his world crumble, but he finds hope and support in unlikely places. He discovers a role model in a fellow amputee and the leader of the local biker gang, Cliff, and a finds shoulder to cry on with Ben’s ex-girlfriend, Stephanie. Later, he uses his lessons about resilience to help his school crush, Becky, deal with the suicide of her father.
The book is unflinching in its presentation of heavy topics, including suicide, violence, and depression, yet it manages to examine them without glorifying them, showing the consequences that such issues have, particularly on children. Rostirolla makes a deliberate decision not to use the term “suicide,” instead referring to it as a monster swallowing someone whole. The monster motif is ingenious: it allows for a way to talk about mental health in its entirety rather than just in terms of one manifestation, like depression or anxiety. The story progresses alongside Sam’s understanding of what a monster is. Whereas he initially views negative emotions as something to be repressed, he comes to understand that grief and anger are a necessary part of healing and that they need to be dealt with and expressed in the right way.
Making Friends with Monsters is a sensitive novel that tackles themes of mental health and family dynamics from the perspective of a boy who’s determined to persevere.
