RAYLEIGH MANN IN THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS

A 12-year-old boy discovers that he belongs to a world of monsters.

Rayleigh Mann, a Black British boy, has always been a bit of a troublemaker. It’s All Hallows’ Eve, and he’s excited to meet his friends for tricking—and the occasional treat—even if it means sneaking out of Brutely Estate, the London high-rise where he lives with Mama and Nana, who is from Jamaica. But Rayleigh can’t find his friends, and the government-imposed curfew to save energy (“Lights Out to Help Out”) in a world affected by climate change is rapidly approaching. Instead of trick-or-treating, Rayleigh is captured by a brown-skinned northern girl called Marley and meets his Uncle Thelonious, a jumbie. Rayleigh learns that he’s a monsterling; his missing dad is the Bogey Mann, “Supreme Scarer for the entire Confederation of Lightless Places”; and now he has the opportunity to pass trials in Below-London that will allow him to become a citizen of a world where monsters scare kids into behaving properly and produce Volence, a renewable energy source harvested from “rehabilitated children.” Rayleigh must race against time to complete the trials and rescue his father before evil triumphs over good. Rayleigh rises to the occasion and stands out due to his great courage and curiosity. The diversity of monsters from various cultures present in the story is refreshing. Readers will be left on the edges of their seats, waiting for the next series installment that may fully unravel the mystery behind his dad’s disappearance.

Fantastic, frightful fun.