Book Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

You don't have to be familiar with H.G. Wells classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau, in order to thoroughly enjoy this thriller. In this skillful re-telling, Shepherd has given the good doctor a daughter, Juliet, who he left behind in London when he fled after the medical community found out about his experiments using vivisection (the live dissection of animals). After her mother died, Juliet was orphaned and thrown to the street.  Living day by day as a maid in the same medical college where her father once taught, she scrapes by.

On what was supposed to be a fun night with her cousin, Juliet encounters a group of medical students practicing vivisection in a closed medical theater.  She sees the diagram they are following to perform the procedure and demands to know where they got it from. There is a mysterious doctor staying at a hotel nearby who gave it to them.  Could Juliet's father be back in London?

After an incident with a professor at the college that causes her to quit her job and flee the city, Juliet decides her only chance at surviving may be to find the mysterious doctor.  She goes to his hotel and does not find her father, but Montgomery, a former servant of their family's who is now grown and quite handsome.  He explains that he works with her father and they live on a secluded island in the South Pacific. She can't understand why her father would have taken Montgomery with him when he fled, but left her and her mother to fend for themselves with no home and no money.  In an act of desperation, Juliet forces Montgomery to take her back with him to the island and her father.

And it is here that the story really takes off. Strange cargo on a scary ship, a shipwrecked man at sea, a jungle island full of very deformed humans and a father who has a serious god-complex are just the tip of the iceberg in this suspenseful romance.

If you are looking for a good read on one of these rainy spring afternoons check out The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd at the Franklin Public Library!

Miss Keri

It's National Library Week!!

Show us how much you love your Franklin Public Library by stopping in and saying hello!  Check out all the new materials we have for teens, participate in our Edible Books Contest on Wednesday, April 17 (details can be found here) and play some quick trivia anytime on Thursday, April 18 to win a prize!

Most importantly, show your support for your local library by walking through its doors and utilizing all the wonderful resources it provides.  No matter where you live, take the time to make National Library Week a success!

Miss Keri

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Book Review: Immortal Lycanthropes by Hal Johnson

This book is like a Wes Anderson movie; a dash of realism here, a whole handful of crazy there and a plot line that makes you want to keep reading, even as you are saying to yourself, "What the ... ?"

Myron Horowitz's face is seriously messed up.  It has been that way since his adoptive parents found him on the coast of Maine, dazed and confused, when he was eight. Consequently, this, as well as his rather short stature (Myron hasn't grown an inch in the 5 years he has lived with the Horowitz's), causes him to be picked on constantly by a particular freshmen named Garrett Bercelli at Henry Clay High School.

After school, Myron, hoping to avoid Garrett, takes an alternate route to leave school.  But Garrett has also taken that same alternate route and this turns out to be very unfortunate for him. After a confrontation, something explodes and sends Garret flying through a window and Myron losses consciousness.  After waking up completely naked, Myron's adventure truly begins.

Myron learns about immortal lycanthropes (animals that can change into humans and can only be killed in their animal form by another lycanthrope),while on the run from the scariest one of all, Mr. Bigshot (the lion).  Is he an immortal lycanthrope, and if so, what animal is he?  Is he the savior of the immortal lycanthropes, a new breed of animal never seen before or one frozen for centuries that has returned to life?

There are plenty of chases, a doomsday device, encounters with the with the Nine Unknown Men and the Rosicrucians, a gorilla, a lemur, a bear and more in Myron's attempt to figure out who (or what) he is. Told from the pen of the Arthur (the binturong), this is one adventure I wouldn't miss.

If you are looking for a fun, wild ride, check out Immortal Lycanthropes at FPL:  http://countycat.mcfls.org/search/?searchtype=t&sortdropdown=-&searcharg=immortal+lycanthropes&searchscope=11