The Monster Hypothesis by Romily Bernard (review)

Bernard, Romily The Monster Hypothesis. Disney Hyperion, 2019 [304p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-368-02855-4 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-368-05155-2 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6

Karis, or Kick, Winter, has just moved in with her grandmother, a professional (fake) psychic in the swampy southern town of Bohring, where it is said that a curse descends every 100 years and turns all the children into monsters. In order to attract friends at her new middle school, Kick performs a psychic reading and then sets out to prove that the town curse is a scam. She recruits a reluctant assistant, her cousin Carolina, to help her investigate unexplainable events: two children disappear, a classmate hears voices, townspeople report glow-in-the-dark monsters, and unusual foul smells waft from the swamp. Kick's stellar sleuthing skills, informed by her passion for science, make the puzzle solving here highly enjoyable. The possibility of paranormal activity will draw readers along until the last minute when all the pieces of the mystery fall into place at a town hall where Kick and Carolina help reveal the secret behind the fakes (they're a result of political maneuvering and unethical social experiments) in a satisfyingly complex climax. Appended are fairly complex and somewhat tangential recipes for experiments like glow in the dark slime.