Monster of the Month Club - Hardcover

Grade 4-6?When Rilla Harmony Earth receives a subscription to the Monster of the Month Club, she expects to get a year's worth of stuffed animals. However, when she opens the January shipment, she is greeted by a live creature with seven eyes, fluffy silver fur, and a taste for popsicles and frozen yogurt. She manages to hide him from her mother, the guests at their bed-and-breakfast inn, and the members of her home-schooling group. However, when February arrives, bringing a new monster that requires constant companionship, Rilla decides that she's had enough...and there are still 10 months to go! The girl's creative ways of concealing and feeding her strange pets are funny and her unusual home situation adds interest, as do the occasional, humorous black-and-white illustrations. An unresolved subplot involving her absent father is a bit distracting, but this is still an enjoyable fantasy.?Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3-5. Rilla Harmony Earth lives with her mother and aunt, who run the Harmony House Bed and Breakfast. The sign out front reads "Peace to Every One," but chaos reigns in Rilla's attic room when she starts receiving packages from the Monster of the Month Club. Feeding the beasts, keeping the peace, and hiding the little monsters is turning into a full-time job. Readers will enjoy the humor and mounting tension as Rilla seeks to cope with her charges, her family, and her infatuation with fellow home-schooler Joshua Banks. Entertaining light fiction with a catchy title and a snappy jacket illustration. Carolyn Phelan