Rachel Delahaye

Frankie is the youngest in a long line of Frankenstein’s monsters. You would think that’s impressive, but the other monsters in his school treat him like he is worthless. Because what kind of monster can’t take its head off, stick its tongue through its ears, or fold its bones to the size of a box? If Frankie tries to do tricks, his stitches rip, and his mother has to fix him. Not very spooky at all. Poor Frankie is all alone and gets bullied daily. Fortunately, the Frankensteins are also known to be fantastic scientists. An idea pops into his mind: Why not create a friend who will spend time with him and stand up for him against his bullies? He isn’t allowed to create more monsters, but nobody said he couldn’t make a human. And the human couldn’t be more perfect until he is not. Can Frankie fix his mistake and not risk all of Monsterweld in the meantime?

I loved Frankie. He is such a sweet monster who cares deeply. And I felt emotional about him being bullied and having no friends. I completely understand why he would break all the rules to create a human. What I didn’t expect was how bad this experiment would turn out. Humans in this book, are depicted as careless creatures who destroy themselves and the planet. I guess, ultimately, that’s true. Having a society like in Monsterweld just isn’t possible for us because of multiple flaws that we haven’t outgrown yet. And that’s exactly what makes this story - where monsters are the good guys, and humans are the bad ones - so believable. I was scared of the human Frankie created. And that says something. It made me reflect that we have a long way ahead of us.

The process of growing this human felt slightly underdeveloped, and I was hoping Suki had more of a part in the story instead of looming in the background until the last chapter.

But overall, When Frankie Made a Human is a story about much-needed kindness towards the planet, friendships and humanity’s flaws. A fun spooky read with not-so-scary monsters but scary humans.… (mer)