Otto Normal's Monsterton: The Disappearance of White Pine Beach by Danielle McKechnie , illustrations by Simon Estrada

Otto Normal's Monsterton:  The Disappearance of White Pine Beach by Danielle Mckechnie, illustrations by Simon Estrada
Publisher:  Andrews McMeel Publishing
Format:   Digital review copy
Number of pages:  432
Source:  Publisher
Publishing: August 27th, 2024

Links: Website / Facebook / 
Goodreads

Opening Line:  "A young girl made her way through a dense forest."

On the day that 11-year-old Otto Normal was born, his father tragically died. His mother, Cherry, has been working as a waitress to make ends meet, but their life takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious man offers her a job as a news reporter in Monsterton.  Monsterton is an island that border's the Belcarra Forest, a place that is both mysterious and dangerous.  As soon as they arrive to Monsterton, Otto senses that they've made a huge mistake, but his mom hopes that they can run toward this next adventure together.  And boy did they pick an adventure because in a world of monster's, two humans really stand out among all the zombies, ghosts, and vampires. 

In an effort to fit in, Otto begins attending school, which is where he meets Hamish, who's stitched together by his pirate father; Remi, a ghost girl with the ability to teleport; Darby a shy, and timid slime girl; and Luck, a zombie girl.  Otto and his new odd group of friends decide to venture into Belcarra Forest to locate the mythical White Pine Beach, known for its ability to randomly shift locations.  Eager for some adventure, Otto tags along, but the outing soon turns tragic when one of their group vanishes. Will Otto and his newfound friends muster the courage to return to the forest and save their missing friend?

Otto Normal's Monsterton is a delightful story filled with gorgeous full color illustrations which begin with these lush shades of blue and dark cut outs of tree's, moving to a darker shade of purple which nicely highlights Gretchen's eyes, a black-winged Strix who is part human, part bird. The prologue is suspenseful, immediately immersing you in this new world as she tries to outrun the keeper or guardian of the forest.  I really liked the mix of full pages of text with illustrations, ranging from one to three panels per page.  And the creative way the illustrator used differing colors to standout various features of the characters.  Specifically, the panel of green that resembled Frankenstein's skin.  I loved how there were black and white illustrations that sort of had a faded yellowish hue when discussing events from the past.  And how one image looked a cover of a comic book.  Yeah, just gorgeous!

The story takes on alternating storylines as Hamish's brother and his friend Kit go into the forest in search of one of their friends, Cricks.  While Hamish and his gang are in a different direction jumping off of a train.  Each chapter header includes a small picture of one or two of the characters beginning with Otto and then switching to the perspectives and illustrations of Darby, or Ben and Kit.  Overall, Otto Normal's Monsterton was a compelling read, especially after the disappearance.   I was eagerly turning pages to find out how the story was going to end and was completely vested in finding out what happened in Belcarra Forest. Oh, and the mysteries that unfolded, like how did Remi become a ghost, why are monster's so afraid of the Strix and some of those threads and deceptions that were revealed in the final pages.  Can't wait to read more.  A truly delightful, spooky and compelling debut that begs to be read under a blanket with a flashlight to get you in the mood for Halloween. 

 **A huge congratulations to Danielle McKechnie and Simon Estrada on their wonderful book and thank you to the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.**        

Here's a sample of the audiobook from @evanduffycomposer

and narrated by author Danielle McKechnie

 Otto Normal's Monsterton: The Disappearance of White Pine Beach releases on August 27th.