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Monacello #1
Monacello: The Little Monk
An orphaned child is dressed as a monk and ostracised by everyone except the roaming wild cats of Naples for his scary looks and his seeming ability to bring both good and bad luck. Monacello searches above and below ground for his parents and finds help from a little girl with mysteries of her own.
- GenresFiction
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
18 people want to read
About the author
Geraldine McCaughrean
334Ìýbooks312ÌýfollowersGeraldine McCaughrean is a British children's novelist. She has written more than 170 books, including Peter Pan in Scarlet (2004), the official sequel to Peter Pan commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the holder of Peter Pan's copyright. Her work has been translated into 44 languages worldwide. She has received the Carnegie Medal twice and the Michael L. Printz Award among others.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 11, 2014
I picked up this book to read mainly because it has a creepy cover and I quite like the illustration style. It is an unusual story for children. Set in Italy in an historical setting, it is about a baby boy abandoned at a nunnery. He is christened Monacello by the nuns and dressed in monk's robes: hence the title. He does not grow, remaining short, and so the people become superstitious and think he brings bad luck. He is particularly targeted by some boys belonging to a powerful family in the town.
Monacello becomes obsessed with finding his mother, and so leaves the nunnery and ends up living under the city in its sewer network, with his family of cats. The story has themes of isolation, loneliness, rejection, and belonging. Monacello is very unhappy, and not many good things happen to him, although he meets a girl and saves her life. She becomes his first human friend. The overall tone is bleak, and Monacello at once despairs and revels in his outsider status. It is hard to tell how the story is meant to be interpreted by the author. I expected this to be a one-off tale but it blatantly sets up for a sequel at the end. Interesting for something that is obviously not a blockbuster trilogy. Still, I am intrigued as to how Monacello's story turns out.
Monacello becomes obsessed with finding his mother, and so leaves the nunnery and ends up living under the city in its sewer network, with his family of cats. The story has themes of isolation, loneliness, rejection, and belonging. Monacello is very unhappy, and not many good things happen to him, although he meets a girl and saves her life. She becomes his first human friend. The overall tone is bleak, and Monacello at once despairs and revels in his outsider status. It is hard to tell how the story is meant to be interpreted by the author. I expected this to be a one-off tale but it blatantly sets up for a sequel at the end. Interesting for something that is obviously not a blockbuster trilogy. Still, I am intrigued as to how Monacello's story turns out.
December 26, 2014
my 8 year old son picked this up in the library and I started to read it, as I wanted to make sure it's not too scary for him. While I know it's not his kind of book at all, I on the other hand loved it and will order part 2 and can't wait for part 3 to come out.
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October 7, 2013Not really sure what to make of this. It sort of has a gothic feel, but the grown ups in it are just so mean. Even the nuns! It made me really sad, but I imagine it would be a good read for demonstrating the effect of hurtful words on others and the power of kindness.
March 5, 2015
Matt (9) said amazingly brilliant. The book had lovely illustrations. It was a bit strange. Loved that the boy in the book made friends with cats. It is the first in a series. Will definitely read the rest.
September 10, 2014
Quirky, odd and totally in my brain. I'm going to read the second book now
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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