Creature of the Night - Hardcover

Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—Rebellious and resentful Bobby, 14, is ripped from his world of drugs and theft in Dublin and forced to move to a seemingly sleepy farm community. After stealing and demolishing a car that belonged to a man who inexplicably disappeared, he is required by the simple, very human Dooley family, from whom his mother is renting a house, to make amends in the form of farm labor. At home, his mother is too worn out and irresponsible to care about her son's indiscretions unless they impact her directly. And they both ignore four-year-old Dennis when he talks about his new nighttime friend, "a little woman." Bobby makes grand plans to escape the farm and the Dooleys' imposed servitude for the wild nights of Dublin. But when his city friends sell him out and he is left wandering the streets alone, the honesty and integrity of sore muscles and a hard day's work become more appealing. Bobby is a powerful character, hard and devoid of feeling, initially, due to the harshness of his own reality. His transformation is empowering, however, and the Dooleys demonstrate how the smallest pat on the back can change the course of an entire life. This novel will draw in reluctant readers with the mysterious supernatural element as well as the mayhem and defiance. Once hooked, they will be moved by the way that Bobby reassesses his expectations for himself due to the kindness and mentoring of a neighbor.—Kat Redniss, Brownell Library, Essex Junction, VT
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