Teen Frankenstein

October 5, 2015
Shelley’s classic gets a modern makeover in this first book in the High School Horror series. Seventeen-year-old Victoria “Tor” Frankenstein is a science whiz who, along with her best friend Owen, is researching how to revive the dead through electricity. When Tor accidentally hits a teenager with her car and kills him, she seizes the opportunity to put her theories into practice. After succeeding, she names her amnesiac subject Adam and enrolls him at her school to help him assimilate and learn. But Adam’s resurrection leads to social and romantic complications, his condition requires increasingly intensive upkeep, and his unknown past may be linked to a series of gruesome murders around town. While Baker (Alive) draws on the raw material of Shelley’s Frankenstein for inspiration, she deviates considerably from the original plotline and themes—far from a reviled outcast, Adam manifests as a swoon-worthy football star, one even Tor finds hard to resist. Tor’s moral bankruptcy outstrips even that of her namesake, making for a bleak, grisly story with a healthy dose of atmospheric horror. Ages 12–up.

October 15, 2015
A loose Frankenstein retelling set in small-town Texas. With her fellow nerd and best friend, Owen, Victoria "Tor" Frankenstein has been experimenting with electricity and dead rats, with the goal of reanimation. In a tragic car accident, she hits and kills a teenage boy--then brings the corpse and Owen to her cellar laboratory to try to fix things. The boy wakes up, but he's lost his memory. Tor dubs him Adam and, with Owen's help, surreptitiously enrolls him in her high school. While Adam is even more socially awkward than Tor (who doesn't understand social niceties), he's also handsome and athletic, and he quickly joins the in crowd via football. Meanwhile, boys are turning up dead, and Owen isn't the only one suspicious that the killings, which started when Adam arrived in town, are related to him. There's a lot of humor--especially in Adam's not-too-successful attempts at imitating teen behavior. Tor is a prickly, unintentionally abrasive character whom some readers will find downright refreshing. While the mystery--and the question of how much violence Adam is capable of--is a terrific ride, the writing's broad strokes (especially high school clique behavior) and the overly telegraphed conclusion to the killer storyline create minor story speedbumps. The best twist comes after the denouement. A fast, fun popcorn read and promising series opener. (Horror. 12-16)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-In this trilogy opener, Baker takes the essence of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; throws in heaps of high school drama; mystery, and murder; and then sets it in the small town of Hollow Pines, TX. The protagonist, Victoria "Tor" Frankenstein, could win a Nobel Prize, if only she could tell people how she brought a cute guy back from the dead. Tor and her best friend, Owen, are outcasts among the football-crazed students, until they show up at high school with her creation, Adam, who wins the hearts of the cheerleaders and the respect of his fellow football teammates-all in the name of scientific research. Then the bodies start to pile up. In a detached, scientific tone, Baker provides gruesome details of the multiple murders and Tor's continuous reanimation process to keep Adam alive. The pacing lags at times under the elaborate play-by-play of events, but the mystery surrounding Adam, and who he really is, propels the story forward. Teens might guess the identity of the killer early on, but they'll keep reading to learn the shocking reason behind the murders. Baker manages to weave all the horrifying events into a grotesque but fitting conclusion. VERDICT A serviceable addition for fans wanting a new series that blends equal parts horror and science fiction.-Karen Ginman, BookOps: The New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Grades 10-1 Tor Frankenstein wants a Nobel Prize. Sure, even Marie Curie didn't have one at 17, but that's all the more reason why Tor wants one, and she knows she has what it takes. And, true to her name, she wants to win it by reanimating the deadrats and lizards for now. But when she accidentally hits and kills a teenage boy with her car, her first instinct is to continue her experiments on him. When he revives, she does what any mad-scientist wannabe would do: names him Adam and takes him to school with her. Murder comes into play, too, elevating this from simple science fiction to full-on horror. Tor's story is interspersed with her lab notes, first about reanimated rats, then Adam, giving this a creepy, methodical feel. First in the proposed High School Horror trilogy, this offers some scares as well as a strangely compelling protagonist. Recommend to fans of Shelley's original and teens ready for more intrigue than R. L. Stine's Fear Street series has to offer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)