Making Friends With Monsters -- Sandra L. Rostirolla, Hardcover

He longs to chase everyone's personal demons away. Until a tragic twist of fate leaves him with a beast of his own...

Rural Australia, 2006. Sam Nolen is filled with misery. With a drought ruining his family's farm and his older brother moody and distant, the sensitive twelve-year-old wishes he knew how to make his loved ones happy. But when the loyal preteen is left to help his dad after his older sibling storms out, Sam's world shatters when he suffers a terrible accident.

Struggling to recover and feeling like a freak, the imaginative boy discovers an inner monster whispering dark thoughts in his mind. And when he learns the seductive joy of hiding behind his anger, he starts following his family down a self-destructive path.

Can Sam find his own way out of the shadows before they become all-consuming?

In a timely and urgent story, Sandra L Rostirolla offers an unflinching look at coping with grief, stress, and dysfunction. Viewing these issues through the eyes of a child, she delivers an honest, compelling, and ultimately hopeful narrative about the beasts all of us wrestle with inside.

Making Friends with Monsters is a gripping YA novel. If you like relatable young characters, striking twists, and perceptive approaches to tough topics, then you'll enjoy Sandra L Rostirolla's engaging and rewarding read.

Themes: Suicidal ideas, death of a family member, family dysfunction, and severe bodily trauma.

Buy Making Friends with Monsters to see past the pain today!

Author: Sandra L. Rostirolla
Publisher: Pinkus Books
Published: 04/04/2023
Pages: 300
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.16lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.81d
ISBN: 9780999189177

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2023
Foreword 01/03/2023
PW Booklife Reviews 02/06/2023